Translator: Nox

Chapter 16

~Chapter 16~

Now that Harriet had already been branded a problem child, no one would blame John even if he ended his role as her guardian.

‘Did he plan this from the moment he pinned Bella’s misdeeds on me?’

Harriet felt utterly deceived.

In disbelief, she let out a breath mingled with emptiness and anger as she looked around. Then she flung the gold trinkets she held onto the bed and stormed out of the room.

The place she headed to was the chapel.

With the days growing shorter, candles were already lit in the chapel, but no one was there praying. At this hour, everyone was likely resting in their rooms.

Harriet, who had run there in one breath, stood panting in front of the altar. And she slowly walked toward it.

“Have I… done something wrong?”

One step, one step.

“Wasn’t it enough that you took my parents? Do you still have more despair to give me?”

One step at a time.

“This is too much. If suicide is a sin, then at least leave me some hope to live!”

Before she knew it, she stood right in front of the altar.

Tears suddenly fell from her eyes as she stood before the statue gazing down at her with a benevolent smile. That smile infuriated her so much she wanted to rush forward and slap its cheek.

“What should I do? What am I supposed to do now? Stop smiling and say something!”

Powerless words of resentment poured out.

Harriet collapsed to the floor right there and burst into loud sobs.

She wanted to resent her uncle, but she knew he had no obligation to raise her like a daughter. In fact, as he had said, she had already been fortunate that he had taken care of her until adulthood.

So was it her fault for trusting him?

‘But what could I have done? What power did I have?’

As Harriet was swept away by her emotions and sobbing uncontrollably, a stern voice came from behind.

“What are you doing? How dare you cause such a commotion in this sacred chapel!”

Normally, Harriet would have jumped to her feet and clasped her hands politely the moment she heard Abbess Catherine’s voice. But right now, she didn’t even have the energy for that.

Instead, seeing the familiar face only made her grief well up even more.

“Abbess! Abbess Catherine! Waaah!”

“Sister Harriet?”

Abbess Catherine had already sensed something serious had happened upon hearing the wailing, but her expression grew even more worried when she saw that the source was Harriet.

“Calm yourself. Nothing will be solved by crying like this!”

“Sniff, ugh, what should I do? Really, what can I even do…?”

“Get up. You’ll catch a cold sitting on this cold stone floor.”

Abbess Catherine carefully led the distraught, sobbing Harriet to a pew in the chapel and sat her down.

She sat beside Harriet, gently patting her back, waiting for her to calm down.

It took a long while before Harriet’s sobs subsided, but even then, she stared blankly into space like a lost person.

Abbess Catherine took Harriet’s hand.

“Tell me what happened.”

At that point, Abbess Catherine thought the worst that could have happened to Harriet was having to stay at the convent for another year.

But the words from Harriet’s mouth left her speechless.

“What? Ending his guardianship? That means…”

“It means that if I leave here next June, I have nowhere to go. No relatives or friends to turn to. Not a penny to my name.”

“So he’s just ending his guardianship without introducing you to anyone or giving you any money?”

Of course, it was clear from the fact that John had abandoned her at the convent and tried to cut ties that he was the sort of man capable of this.

Abbess Catherine began to understand John’s intentions.

‘He wants her to stay at the convent and become a nun.’

For Harriet, who had nowhere else to go, the convent was her only refuge. The convent wouldn’t cast out a pitiful girl in such circumstances either.

“What a vile man.”

Abbess Catherine unwittingly muttered a quiet curse.

Tears began to fall onto Harriet’s face again.

“My life is over. The only choice left is to die.”

“What are you saying? Die? What nonsense is that!”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to become a nun. To be honest, my faith isn’t that deep either. Rather than… sell the gold trinkets I have and at least pay for my funeral and end it all…”

“Harriet Listerwell! Get a hold of yourself!”

Unlike her usual demeanor, Abbess Catherine scolded Harriet in an angry voice. The force of it was enough to make Harriet’s tears retreat.

“Are you really someone who can do nothing without your uncle? To entrust your entire life to someone else’s hands—what an irresponsible attitude!”

“But… what can I do?”

“Anything! But first, you need to clearly think about what kind of life you want to live. Even when you left your future in your uncle’s hands until now, wasn’t it all just vague and uncertain?”

Harriet couldn’t find a response.

The life she had imagined was simply marrying a ‘decent person’ and living ‘comfortably’ and ‘peacefully.’ And she couldn’t deny that all those thoughts had been vague.

Abbess Catherine gripped Harriet’s shoulders tightly and continued.

“Picture concretely the life you truly want to live. And think about what connections and skills you have, even the smallest ones. If there’s even the tiniest possibility, you must seize it.”

“People will point fingers and call me pathetic.”

“Is that scarier than trying to die?”

Abbess Catherine’s resolute gaze captured Harriet’s wavering eyes.

“Your life is yours to forge. That’s how fortune will follow.”

---

That night, Harriet couldn’t sleep.

Her mind swirled with tens of thousands of thoughts, like little dwarves causing chaos.

The first realization was that she had been avoiding deep thought about her future until now.

She had vaguely thought things would work out somehow, that she could live like everyone else. Looking back, it had been far too complacent and foolish.

“Clearly think about what kind of life you want to live.”

Abbess Catherine’s voice urged her on.

For the first time, Harriet analyzed herself. Ignoring others’ gazes, she looked into her true desires.

She had desperately wanted marriage before, but she had never properly imagined building a happy family.

‘I wanted to escape my uncle’s house and live freely.’

But now, thinking about it, would marrying and running away really have let her live freely?

‘What do I need to gain the freedom I want?’

The answer came quickly.

In this era of humming factories and iron horses racing along tracks, something more important than honor, something that could wield power—money.

But for Harriet, who had nothing, earning money in the commoners’ world wouldn’t be easy.

A woman who looked every bit the noble lady wandering the streets seeking work would only be seen as easy prey to exploit or something to sell for a high price.

So she needed to find a way to make money within noble society, where she at least knew the rules.

‘To do that, I need to find another guardian.’

The problem was she hadn’t seen any relatives besides her uncle’s family since she was twelve. Who would welcome someone who hadn’t contacted them in years and suddenly asked to take over guardianship? Especially with her reputation in the gutter.

‘Not having any proper skills to earn money is a problem too.’

She sighed.

The悩 without answers tormented her for days.

In the meantime, a few nuns and monks who had heard of her situation came to comfort her or even urged her to stay and live with them here.

For a moment, Harriet thought living as a nun with these kind people might not be a bad choice.

But that thought vanished in an instant when someone came to see her.

---

“Pardon? Who did you say you are?”

“I’m Alfonso Billy. I hold a baronial title, but since it’s not a particularly renowned family, you probably haven’t heard of me.”

An elderly gentleman Harriet had never seen before visited the convent.

He appeared to be in his early seventies. For someone his age to ride a carriage for four hours meant he had important business.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember ever meeting you. Are you perhaps an acquaintance of my grandparents?”

“No, not that… I’ve come regarding your parents.”

Harriet’s eyes widened.

It had been so long since she’d heard anything about her parents.

“What about my parents…?”

When Harriet asked, Alfonso Billy hesitated for a long moment, as if steeling himself, before finally speaking.

“I heard that Viscount Listerwell has ended his guardianship of you.”