CH 21.1

Grace’s opinion may have been unilateral, but Cleta understood immediately what Grace’s proposal meant.

It meant creating a space where mothers could always be with their children in the form of employment.

“That’s a good idea. Then we won’t need funds to find a place to make tea bags.”

“Right?”

Grace smiled brightly.

“The process of making tea leaves for black tea takes some time, but I heard that there are already stored black tea leaves that were originally made in the tea field we know.”

“Lucky us.”

“I guess we’re lucky, but the quality wasn’t good enough to sell, so we were able to trade it at a lower price.”

It was a small tea field attached to a small estate a little away from the island. Still, the location was good, so I thought it wouldn’t be cheap, but we were able to trade it cheaply.

‘Last year, there was a significant loss due to the low quality of the tea leaves harvested. But I believe that land will do well in the future. Aria will pass by and bless it while resolving the contamination in the western region.’

Instead of buying all the low-quality tea leaves at a slightly higher price than the market value, Grace decided to monopolize the land and the tea leaves for two years. She would think about what to do two years later.

‘I have no intention of selling them as they are since the quality is low.’

Grace nodded her head and asked Cleta.

“Can you ask them when they can move to the new workplace?”

⋆★⋆

There are a total of 13 children in the orphanage.

Among them, 7 children have mothers.

Out of them, only four women accepted Cleta and Grace’s proposal.

‘Why?’

Grace returned home with a sad face after hearing Cleta’s report.

‘Well, I can understand to some extent, but… why?’

She thought everyone would agree to the proposal, if it meant being with the children, regardless of whether or not the tea bags were successful.

‘If everyone doesn’t agree, it’s meaningless.’

We have to do it together.

Although the scale is small now, we need to divide the work in advance for the future. Grace was going to step down as president in name only once things were established.

The tea bag business couldn’t have the name of a noblewoman attached to it. As Grace was planning to divorce.

‘If I divorce the Duke, even if the business is doing well, it could fail. In the Empire, being a divorced woman is such a thing.’

There was no such thing as a small inconvenience.

It was a life-or-death business. It wasn’t about rebranding oneself or preparing to live well, but just a complicated matter that arose while helping Cleta, a kind person.

There was also a way to simply and quickly find the director and force him to hand over the embezzled money and give the land documents to Cleta by buying the land of the orphanage.

However, Grace couldn’t handle this alone secretly, and without her, Cleta would have no way to keep the land.

The moment she finds the director and forces him to hand over the money, she would be caught by Benjamin.

Then Benjamin might take off his affectionate mask and prepare to get rid of Grace, saying, “Oh, I didn’t know My lady was quite aggressive.”

Of course, Benjamin was unlikely to actually do such a thing, but in Grace’s imagination, he was like that.

‘As long as there is no progress between Aria and Crown Prince Sylvester, and I pose no threat, he will leave me be.’

Grace wanted to cry a little.

Every time Benjamin became affectionate, Grace’s heart would flutter, but then he would suddenly distance himself, leaving her feeling cold. And in the midst of all this, she would suddenly think of Benjamin and become anxious.

Sally, who was watching Grace toss and turn while hugging her pillow, was also feeling uneasy.

“…Sally.”

“Yes?”

“If someone made a really, really good offer. It’s not about me, but someone else I know.”

“….”

Grace was really telling the truth.

“Their situation might be like living in hell. Of course, it may not be a real hell, but everyone thinks it is… Anyway, if they are offered better treatment than there, why would they refuse?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“…You don’t know either.”

Are they working in a good place?

Grace thought of the children’s clothing.

She wondered if the mothers were dressing their children similarly to avoid making other children feel inferior, but that shouldn’t be the case. Judging from Cleta’s reaction, the situation of all single mothers was similarly difficult.