Chapter 3

After barely getting rid of Lansier, she had to attend the tea party.

“Would you like to change into another outfit?”

Febraiz asked her calmly as she returned from kicking out Lansier.

“It’s not dirty, why would I want to change?”

She looked at the clothes she was wearing.

A plain white shirt with a black skirt, decorated with some golden threads.

Of course, she had more colourful clothes than the current outfit she was wearing. However, she insisted on wearing comfortable clothes as she spent most of her time working.

“The tea party consists of young lady Aronia, Dolce, and Brochelle.”

“So?”

“This is a gathering of noble ladies who have just debuted in society. If you attend in such a simple outfit, you might get looked down upon.”

Febraiz said with an unchanging expression.

Skyla was well aware that Febraiz was just being honest and truthful.

Because that was how she is.

Haa…. My young lady is so beautiful that her beauty can destroy the world.. Could you just wear the blue sapphire dress that the duchess has brought for you… At least I would be able to preserve that memory for the rest of my life and safely keep it in my heart.…

She is her loyal follower.

“Febraiz.”

She called her maid with a bright smile.

“I am a member of the Kaerun family. It would be crazy for anyone to look down on me after hearing my name, right?”

In other words, no one in this empire dares to hear her name and act rude in front of her without knowing their place.

……The problem is that not many people recognize me.

Was it because she had been stuck staying at home for a couple of years now?

Recently, every time she goes out, there were recurring incidents where the commoners could not recognize her and were even rude to her.

She’s afraid that if she continues to wear this style of clothes as Febraiz said, she would be mistaken as a commoner but…..

But I will be going out for a while only, what’s the big deal?

She tried to suppress the feelings of worry that were slowly creeping up to her as she had that thought.

“…I see. I was out of line.”

Febraiz apologized briefly as she slightly lowered her head.

At the same time, the sound of her thoughts rang through her ears.

Oh my god my lady! What an inspiration! The confidence! It’s incredibly cool! I think I fell in love with you! I’m going to go home and write down what you said in <Skyla Kaerun’s Quotes>.

…..Febraiz what the hell are you writing?

As she listened to her maid’s thoughts, she had no choice but to let out a stiff smile.

Febraiz remained expressionless as she didn’t know that her thoughts were heard by Skyla.

When she walked towards the front door with Febraiz, the private carriage was ready for her.

She mainly used this carriage to go to social gatherings.

This was an ordinary carriage that the common people would use.

There was no silk curtain, decorations, nor the family’s seal that would indicate this was a noble’s carriage.

When she was asked why the Duke of Kaerun’s precious young lady rode in a carriage like this,  the answer was simple.

It’s annoying.

The aristocratic circle is small.

That’s why she didn’t want to tell anyone who she was going to meet.

Otherwise, unnecessary rumours would’ve been easily circulated throughout the whole empire.

“Lady!”

Her private coachman, Tishef greeted her with a bow.

“Just to be sure, you are going to the Marchioness Garnett’s place, correct?”

“That’s right. I need to be there by two.”

“Alright, I will drive safely and quickly so we can be there on time.”

Tishef answered sharply as he swiftly climbed onto the horse’s back.

The horse’s neigh and the sound of the carriage’s wheels began to be in sync with one another.

“Phew…”

She sat down looking through the carriage window with her chin resting on her hand, she closed her eyes and let out a shallow sigh.

Her eyes were so tired that they grew heavy as time went on.

Febraiz was quick-witted and lowered the curtains on the carriage’s window to block out the sunlight.

“Are you feeling sick?”

“It’s not a big deal. It’s just that I’m tired of dealing with Lansier.”

“Should I ask the imperial knights to ban Lansier from being near you?”

“Forget about it, someone will get hurt.”

“The imperial knights are powerful people, so I’m sure they’ll take care of it in a way so that he won’t get hurt.”

“No, that’s not it.”

With her eyes slightly open, she glanced sideways at Febraiz.

“What if the imperial knights were the ones who got hurt, not Lansier?”

“Oh…… I understand.”

Only then did Febraiz nod slowly.

She meant it.

As anyone may have already noticed, God had blessed Lansier with powerful mana, but unfortunately, he did not give him any common sense.

As her childhood friend, Lansier would mindlessly come to her, as if it came naturally to him.

[T/N: The sentence has “사족을 못 쓰다”, which literally translates to “hands and feet cannot be used.” However, it’s a metaphor that means “You really love something so much that you cannot move your body with your own will.” Basically, Lansier loves her so much that he’ll do whatever he can to get her, but I shortened it to naturally since that was similar enough and wouldn’t be too wordy.]

Thanks to him, she was dying every day.

She once thought of breaking the friendship between them.

However, she soon gave up that thought.

She was the only one close to Lansier in this empire except for his family.

What would’ve happened if she were to abandon him?

She wouldn’t know what that immature soul would do.

Mana is largely influenced by emotions.

If a person like Lansier, who is born once every thousand years, fails to control his emotions and explodes, this empire may be destroyed.

Actually, Lansier’s father was well aware of this fact — the Duke of Soli himself came to her and asked her for a favour.

“Skyla, I beg you. Please don’t abandon my son.” 

The Duke of Soli bowed his head down so much that she could not refuse him.

Moreover, she herself did not want to see his magic run wild and be involved in such dangerous acts.

That is exactly why she did not stop Lansier from meeting up with her.

Of course, her being cold to him hasn’t changed from when they were kids till now.

You’re the same age as me, yet you’re acting like a kid.

It was a fleeting thought that she had in her mind as her eyes closed.

“Argh! Ahhh!”

“Hiingg!”

The screams from both the coachman and the horse pierced her ears.

The carriage stopped abruptly with a very loud screech.

The rattling coming from the wheels had an impact on her.

“Ah!”

She momentarily lost her posture and fell sideways.

“Oh, my lady!”

It has been a while since she had heard Febraiz’s worried voice.

“Are you alright, my lady!”

Tishef’s cry was heard. He quickly calmed down the frightened horse and opened the carriage’s door.

“Oh, I’m fine. What’s going on?”

She asked him as she rose to her seat again with the help of Febraiz.

“That’s…”

Tishef opened his mouth in a hurry but he had no time to answer her.

Just behind him came a roar.

“Hey! How the hell are you driving this carriage?”

Who is it?

She frowned at the tone and opened the window leading to the coachmen’s seat to examine the situation.

There was a big carriage standing in front of her own carriage.

It was surrounded by decorative tents and silk flags. The carriage was clearly owned by aristocrats.

However, the family’s seal attached to the wagon was a seal that she had never seen before.

Which noble family is that?

No, let’s just put that aside first.

She looked at the position of her carriage and the carriage in front of them.

Their carriage was stopped right next to hers on the right side of the main road.

It looked like their carriage tried blocking hers by forcefully cutting in front of her carriage as it was standing slightly bent.

This fact had caused her blood pressure to rise.

Shouldn’t the carriage that was ahead go first? Or they should’ve at least ring the bell and give them a signal!

It was obviously their fault.

She got off the carriage to protest against the other coachman.

“You were wrong. Why are you mad at my coachman?”

“Who the hell are you?”

The other coachman turned his head angrily towards her.

At that moment, she could hear his thoughts.

Who the hell is this girl? Who are you to arrogantly interfere in the conversations between men?

At the same time, he rolled his eyes at her. His eyes seemed to be scrutinizing her.

She shook off that unpleasant look and questioned the other coachman.

“My carriage was going to the right. Shouldn’t you let my carriage go first if you know how to drive?”

“Yah!”

The other coachman shouted when he heard her.

“Listen. Listen real good. You can’t even drive a carriage, so what would you know about driving one?”

[qc puppy: HAGHDJJS R U D E ]

At that moment, Febraiz and coachman Tishef screamed together as they stood behind her.

“Yah, you’re talking too much!”

“How can you be rude to my lady?”

“You both.”

She quietly opened her mouth to Febraiz and Tishef as they were on the verge of going on another tirade against the other coachman.

“Stay still.”

“But, my lady…!”

“Stay-”

She smiled gently as she looked at both Febraiz and Tishef.

“-still.”

“….Yes.”

Only then the two of them bowed quietly at her command.

At that moment, the other coachman’s thoughts rang through her ears.

Who is that lady? Ha, it looks like you are a rich merchant’s daughter, right? But either way, you are still a commoner…

What did he just say? He’s literally creating a third-rate novel within his mind.

She frowned slightly.

She didn’t think she would end up meeting people like him.

She came out so casually dressed that she was misunderstood as a commoner again.

She anxiously glared at the other coachman with a sharp look.

However, the other coachman crossed his arms and clenched his jaws.

“What? Do you have something to say? If you have anything to say, go visit Viscount Artisina and talk to him.”

Viscount Artisina?

What an insignificant family. I’ve never heard of that name. You didn’t recognize me even after working as a coachman for them.

She was speechless and looked at the coachman in front of her for a moment.

But he seemed to think she was too embarrassed to say anything.

He glanced at her once again and spat on the ground.

“What the hell! Since the afternoon, I have been arguing with an useless girl. Yah! Get your carriage out of the way.”

The other coachman seemed a little relieved as he said whatever he wanted to say.

But his relief did not even last for three seconds.

Because after exactly three seconds, she opened her mouth.