Chapter 1

Chapter 1

1. Be kind and make me your mistress.

The Elpertz family squandered their fortune with elegance.

“What did you just say, Noah?”

“I asked you to make me your mistress, milady.”

Honestly, it was an utterly absurd thing to hear from someone she hadn’t seen in so long.

“And why would I do that?”

“Because you carry the blood of Elpertz as well, milady.”

The Count’s House of Elpertz had long been a noble and distinguished lineage. A pureblooded house, passed down through the most noble of lines—Elpertz’s decline was as graceful as the length of its history.

“Even if now…”

Of course, this elegance wasn’t what commoners might imagine. They didn’t donate their wealth to help the weak, nor did they run businesses to grow their assets. As if to prove their detachment from money, Elpertz simply spent it. They spent it, gambled it away, and lost their territory. Such dignified nobility was rarely seen.

“Even if it means being beneath Ramfley.”

A strange gleam flashed in the man’s eyes as he said those words, then vanished.

* * *

Kashika Elpertz had worked as a governess since she was sixteen.

Putting a sixteen-year-old to work was clearly child abuse, but she had no money. She lived in a mansion with towering ceilings, but there wasn’t even a chandelier—no light, nothing. If she didn’t work, she couldn’t even afford a single piece of black bread for a meal.

César Elpertz, Count of Elpertz and Kashika’s grandfather, was as prideful as his noble name suggested. Though he had squandered the family fortune with grace, he was a man who didn’t know how to let go of what he still clung to.

Despite their poverty, they still had a maid. Even though they lived poorer than the maid herself.

She once suggested they sell the Elpertz estate, but César Elpertz refused. The mansion was already mortgaged, and once César died, it was certain the bank and the creditors would carve it up between themselves.

She couldn’t fathom how her eleven- or twelve-year-old uncle would survive in the future.

Yes, even so—

César Elpertz had gone and sown a seed.

To carry on the family line, he said.

Because Kashika Elpertz was a woman, and would leave for another family anyway.

With no dowry, not even a penny.

Who would take her?

Even if she managed to save money working as a governess, it would only be used to feed the Elpertz family. At most, it was enough to make some black bread and watery soup.

And even that, Kashika didn’t touch. She said it was to save money. Fortunately, the household she taught at provided lunch. Three times a week, she could enjoy at least one proper meal.

And since the carriage came all the way to the front of the mansion, she didn’t have to spend on fare either.

Riding in the carriage, Kashika headed to her employer’s home once again. It, too, was a count’s house, but it was wealthy beyond comparison. That was how landed nobles were. They paid a lot in taxes, but they took in just as much.

The Elpertz family, too, had once owned land. But those before César Elpertz had squandered it all—it had been sold off in pieces.

Some of that land had reportedly been bought by the Lambroiche family.

It was said that Lambroiche had developed the sea route along that coastal land and now collected hundreds of gold a year in trade taxes. It made her sick. She felt jealous, as if they were enjoying what should’ve been hers.

But it was also Lambroiche who kept Elpertz fed.

Kashika worked as a governess at the Lambroiche estate. Specifically, she taught etiquette and law to Noah Lambroiche, the younger of the count’s two sons.

When she first took the job, Noah had been ten—six years younger than her. It had been three years since, so he was still only thirteen. He was tall for thirteen. The elder son, Caden Lambroiche, was also tall, so the younger one would probably grow even taller.

How annoying. The second son of a wealthy count’s family.

To Kashika, the eldest granddaughter of a ruined count’s house, it was the stuff of dreams.

“Teacher.”

Great family, good looks—how irritating.

And on top of that, he was a boy. His path in life would be smooth.

Truthfully, Kashika often thought that if she had been born a boy, things would have been different. César Elpertz would’ve done anything for her—just as he did for her uncle, César II.

Even if not, there would have been some way to maintain the house. She could have joined the military, perhaps. But César Elpertz would surely have opposed it. Her father had entered the military academy young, trying to revive the family name, only to die early in war.

She still remembered César Elpertz wailing over her father’s corpse. “You could’ve at least left me a son,” he cried.

What a wretched old bastard.

“Teacher?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“I don’t understand this part.”

The reason she’d grown up so twisted was mostly César Elpertz’s fault. In contrast, the boy before her was kind, considerate, and thoughtful. Rich, noble, handsome, and even good-natured.

Seriously, how irritating. But what would it feel like to be born someone like that? She was genuinely curious.

A boy born with everything, who had never once been on the losing side, who could always stay in a good place, who had never been desperate enough to become cruel.

How unfair.

Putting on her usual professional smile, Kashika looked at the section Noah was pointing to.

“Ah, this part… this is how you interpret it.”

But this job, too, would soon be over.

Kashika was getting married and leaving the capital. She was being sold off without even a dowry. It might sound dramatic, but that’s exactly what it was—a sale. To a small marquessate far from the capital.

That house had no heir, so they adopted a child from a collateral branch. But that child had no heir either, so they searched further and further down the line to find someone with blood ties and placed him in the marquess seat.

Even then, there were no children.

At that point, she figured the problem must lie with the seed, not the soil, but they never blamed themselves—only the women. Yet they still insisted on marrying noble women, as if compensating for a complex about their lineage. But who in their right mind would marry into that house?

Kashika Elpertz would.

Because at least the marquessate had money, and they were offering some financial support. For her uncle, César Elpertz II.

It was truly disgraceful.

That old geezer was selling her to another old geezer. The marquess was already seventy-two.

An old man barely clinging to life. And he had no other heirs, either. Kashika’s future was bleak. Sometimes, she thought it might have been better to be born a commoner.

“Anything else you don’t understand?”

To her question, Noah quietly said, “Actually, there is.”

Thinking again that her days as a governess were numbered, Kashika asked, “What are you curious about?”

“These days I’ve been trying to follow a cat, but it keeps running away. The closer I get, the faster it runs.”

“A cat…”

What a trivial problem. She had told him to ask about the lesson. Kashika looked at the boy. He was watching her with shining eyes.

“Don’t chase it. Try luring it instead. Cats like toys, don’t they?”

“Lure it…?”

“Or offer it food.”

Noah nodded at her words. That bright smile—why did it feel so irritating? It was all because of her inferiority complex. Sometimes, Kashika found her own life disgusting. Even while wishing to see that smiling face twisted in misery, she hid her true thoughts and said:

“Noah, I’m sure you’ll do well. Even at the academy.”

“I’m not confident about the academy. I like Miss Elpertz better.”

Well. Thanks for saying it, at least.

“I wish you could stay with me.”

Be realistic.

But Kashika didn’t speak of her situation. It wasn’t something she should share with a boy this young.

“Let’s stop here for today.”

“But there’s still time…”

“I have something to tell the countess. I’ll use a bit more time the day after tomorrow.”

When Kashika stood up after saying that, Noah looked disappointed, but sensing her cold tone, he didn’t say anything more.

* * *

Whether or not Kashika wanted to quit being a governess was not up to her. The decision belonged entirely to the head of the household.

“Marriage?”

Countess Lambroiche repeated the word, her expression not showing the slightest trace of surprise. After all, it wasn’t unusual for a noblewoman around Kashika’s age to get married. True, as women’s education became more widespread, the age of marriage was generally pushed back, but noblewomen in the countryside still mostly married young. In the capital, marriages tended to happen later. Kashika was from the capital, but she was marrying early. Watching Kashika nod, the countess let out a soft, regretful sigh.

“So you won’t be able to continue working as a governess, then.”

“Yes, especially since it’s quite far.”

“Where is the match?”

“The Marquessate of Ramfley.”

“…Ah, that marquessate near the border. Ramfley, is it?”

The Countess Lambroiche’s eyes narrowed slightly. She seemed to have heard the rumors.

“That’s not a very good match.”

Of course it wasn’t. There was never any chance it would be. Kashika had never once expected her marriage to be a good one. She had imagined she might one day be sold off to another family, but even then, she hadn’t thought Count Elpertz would bring Ramfley into the picture.