CH 3

Chapter 3 – A New Beginning (2)

Translator: Lioness

She opened the door with determination which flabbergasted the maid and tried to catch her. Momentarily, her piercing eyes looked at the maid and looking at those, the maid hesitation before saying,

“The Marquis said you’re not allowed to go out…”

“Even if my father said that, it doesn’t change the fact that I am a noble. You’re a commoner, but are you blocking the nobles’ path now?”

At her sharp words, the maid shuddered and opened the blocked path. The maid, frightened by the spirit emanating from her, involuntarily shrugged her shoulders.

‘My lady… Was she always like this?’

She thought it was weird, but she didn’t make the mistake of saying it out of her mouth. Alice walked down the aisle, passing by the maid, who hurriedly lowered her head and as she was doing that, the butler dashed to her.

“My lady! The Marquis said you must not get out—!”

“Lead ahead.”

“Yes?”

“I won’t go alone, I’ll go with you, so take the lead.”

She had to meet the Marquis. She had to meet him and convince him to let her go out on her own. Going to another country is hard enough, adding that she doesn’t have any trustworthy men to escort her so she had to hire someone who could help her.

‘An envoy from another country is here.’

A slight interruption on their way back would guarantee Alice’s safety. She moved right away after the calculation, and the moment she came out, she met the butler. The butler, embarrassed by her confident words, asked back.

“Yes?”

“Is that all you can say, butler?”

Even the butler was taken aback by her cold words. The current Alice right now is different. Looking at the hesitant butler’s face, Alice opened her mouth again.

“Guide me to my father. After that, I’ll take care of myself.”

“Absolutely not. What will you do outside…”

“Would you say that even if your salary was cut in half?”

​From the way the butler’s shoulders slumped as she glared at her, Alice knew she had gotten her point across. This was the beginning.

As Alice walked, she was lost in thought the whole time. She has to get out of this house. Fortunately, it was the day after the Crown Princess’s birthday party. The royal family’s birthday party was a five-day event. It was clear that envoys from other empires had not yet returned to their home countries. Alice decided to stake her all on it.

“It’s only now.”

“What did you say?”

She ignored the question of the butler, who was watching her and Alice closely mulled how she could get hold of a pod. There was nothing good about mixing her words with the butler. Everything she says now will be reported to the Marquis.

“Miss. The Marquis…”

“I know. I said I came.”

I saw two knights standing guard in front of the Marquis’s office. The knights’ eyebrows twitched at Alice’s attitude of not pretending to hear even though she could hear what the butler was saying next to her. They say that she is the daughter of a marquis, but they were knights who quietly ignored Alice, who always tarnished the prestige of her successor.

‘Hmph, but this isn’t it.’

Her knights, who took her money from the Marquis of Hamilton as her salary, were not to be acted upon by her. She is the only descendant of the Hamilton family. If nothing else happens, all the property of the marquis family will belong to Alice from now on. Of course, her plan was to run away before then, but they had no way of knowing. A word fell from Alice, who thought that her knights should pay tribute to her.

“Didn’t I tell you to?”

The butler sighed as he watched Alice speak in a high-pressure manner. She shook her head at the ridiculousness of his attitude, but she put up with it for once.

‘Does he really regard me as a noble?’

It was a society with a strict caste system. Even though Alice is an adopted daughter, she is the one who is officially registered as Hamilton’s only daughter. She is a noble and the successor of Hamilton’s. Even if she was arrested for contempt of nobility for showing such an attitude towards her, she had nothing to say.

Even though the butler’s attitude is inconsiderate, the servants in the house are horrendous. Alice realized that she had been too hunched over all this time. Since the original story was over, wouldn’t it be okay to shout according to her personality?

“You’d better confess before you accuse me of blasphemy, butler. My patience is thinner than a fingernail.”

The butler was taken aback by her words and he lowered his voice. Her knights standing in front of her office also looked at her with surprised eyes. As if Alice’s changed attitude was not adaptable, her eyes grew colder as she watched them.

Facing those cold eyes, the knights and butlers were embarrassed. It didn’t seem like the Alice they knew. Her outward appearance was the same as hers, but her behavior and her eyes were completely different. Alice’s cold voice resounded to them bewildered.

“Why, or should I formally hand it over to trial?”

Anyone who has been knighted will, of course, testify for the nobility. The Marquis was a well-known merchant in the country and famous for his money. Many knights followed him because of the money, and for a time, they believed that Alice would be their lady.

However, after entering the Marquis family, Alice was a child who was not good enough to become a lady of famous knights since she never had the qualifications an aristocrat must have. She doesn’t come out of the room no matter if she was asked to come out, and she often asks the butler to give her money. So, none of her knights would make her their lady.

‘It’s all my fault. She had to pretend to be an aristocrat anyway.’

She did not move in the room, compelled not to distort the original plotline. No, exactly didn’t want to be away from the Marquis. Since she didn’t show her aristocratic side, it was only natural that her servants looked down on her.

‘Hmph, but now the original story was over.’

So she didn’t have to pretend anymore.

“Tell me.”

“All right.”

The butler, who took a deep breath for a moment, finally spoke out.

“Marquis. Miss Alice asked to see you.”

“Let her in.”

Again, the Marquess of Hamilton was a very wealthy man, video seat everywhere. With that kind of environment, he would have heard the commotion at his door, but he didn’t open it. If he didn’t like the commotion outside, he would have opened the door and yelled at her, but he didn’t. He didn’t, which means he was curious about what she had come for.

“Didn’t I tell you not to come out?”

“Staying out of the room is not the solution.”

Seeing the Marquis not even inviting her to sit down, she quickly came up with what to say. If she said a few words wrong here, she would be imprisoned without even stepping outside the Marquis, but she couldn’t.

“It’s usually not difficult to go to fix what you did at the banquet hall.”

“Didn’t you ask me to come in because you thought I could solve it?”

Alice spoke proudly, pointing to the video seat right next to the Marquis’s desk. In fact, that video seat reflected the situation in front of the office.

“That doesn’t mean I have to listen to you.”

“Under normal circumstances, you will.”

“A normal situation?”

“You wouldn’t have listened if it weren’t for the situation where I was rude to the Crown Princess.”

“Do you act like that knowingly?”

The enraged Marquis hit the desk violently with his hand.

‘That will only hurt his hand…’

“I told you to stay in your room, so why did you go out?”

“Father. I definitely said no. But you insisted me to attend.”

‘I had to leave even though no one told me to leave…’

She felt sorry for the Marquis. He was the only one in the house who could be said to care about her. Even now, his eyes were filled with affection.

“This person!”

The expensive-looking mahogany desk rang several times with a dull thud.

‘After all, expensive is different. Even the sound is quite catchy.’

Alice let go of the Marquis’ nagging thoughts while thinking about it. The Marquis had no choice but to listen to her anyway. It was a disrespect committed to the Crown Princess, and to the person who was loved by the Crown Prince. In order to resolve it, the parties themselves must step forward, openly.

The original story was finished, but it had to be repaired. Even if the prince didn’t know the truth, he needed to keep other people’s mouths shut. Only when Alice showed a sincere apology publicly could the marquis be safe. And going out was essential in order to escape to another country in the current situation, but it seemed that the Marquis would let her go if she at least pretended to apologize to the Crown Princess.

‘No matter what happens, I have to continue participating in the imperial banquet.’

“So… are you even listening?!”

“I can apologize.”

“What did you just say?”

The Marquis, who had a dumbfounded expression, asked Alice. She then sternly said to him, who asked if he misheard her.

​

“I said I would apologize.”

“Apologize?”

“Yes. Apologize to Her Highness.”

At my words, she saw the marquis who was lost in thoughts- an important moment. The Marquis had to let herself out of the house, no, let her go to the banquet in the imperial palace in order to plan the next task. After a moment like ten years passed, the marquis opened his mouth.

“Why do you do something you can easily apologize for then?!”

“Well, that is highly possible but it was my fault, so I should apologize.”