Chapter 49
Riina couldn’t readily open her mouth at Jane’s answer, which came out with a faint smile.
It was a response far from what she had expected.
Moreover, Jane’s calm expression, as if there was no other answer but this, was exactly the same as her expression from before the regression when she always said only correct and proper things, which made the disconnect even greater.
Tea… party preparation?
Was it because she mentioned the tea party season? No matter how generously she tried to interpret it, wasn’t it an answer that completely failed to read the context?
“Tea party?”
“Yes. Since the season has started, a tea party hosted by you, my la… lady.”
“No.”
Riina cut off Jane’s words.
She had asked again in case there was some other intention, but having confirmed that Jane simply didn’t understand properly, there was no need to listen further.
“The tea party is a matter for later.”
Riina’s voice remained as calm as before.
She neither mocked Jane for confidently giving the wrong answer, nor did she dismiss her by saying, “Don’t you even know this?”
Although it was much less compared to before the regression, she was confident that Jane would do well from now on.
But Jane’s cheeks stiffened slightly.
To reveal her shortcomings in front of this fake.
She knew rationally that this was inevitable because her knowledge was limited.
But seeing the fake who had taken her place trying to teach her, the real one, after learning and absorbing what should have been hers originally, made her insides twist involuntarily.
A few hours ago.
‘The… lady will do it herself?’
‘Yes. That’s what she ordered. You should go there at this time.’
The butler of the annex just notified her without giving a proper answer and left.
Originally, she would have received a certain level of education from someone else before taking this position.
Looking at what this fake was doing now, it seemed like she was deliberately trying to humiliate her and constantly remind her that she was lacking in order to drive her out.
How shallow.
I absolutely can’t fall for it. I absolutely can’t lose to a fake like this.
Despite the storm raging inside, the faint smile on Jane’s lips remained.
Jane hid her fists, clenched so tightly her nails creaked, behind her skirt and asked politely.
“Then what should I start with?”
Riina didn’t answer immediately and stared at Jane blankly.
It’s indeed very different from before the regression.
Although she tried to hide it, Riina could clearly see that she was feeling humiliated.
She knew that despite her gentle outward appearance, Jane had strong self-esteem and belief… or rather, strong self-assertion.
What if I just told her outright that I’m going to leave the family and you’ll be leading Bolshevik?
Riina soon swallowed a sigh.
It would be a problem whether Jane believed it or not when she brought it up.
If she didn’t believe it, it would be a problem because she wouldn’t trust the heir she should serve thoroughly as a shadow.
If she believed it, it would be a problem because she’d readily believe such an absurd and sudden story that anyone would find implausible.
Moreover, if she believed it without any suspicion, who knows whether Jane would become lax afterwards or not?
Thinking of Jane from before the regression, it seemed unlikely, but she didn’t want to leave even the slightest possibility in a matter concerning the entire family.
Well, if Jane becomes the heir to Bolshevik later, she would naturally have to learn everything from hosting tea parties to participating in them and so on.
But as a shadow, and one who has just started learning the job, there are other things she should prioritize right now.
“What’s important now is trade. The Empire’s trade negotiation period means that envoys and merchants from countries across the continent will be coming. Some may already be here.”
As Riina nodded slightly, Jane simply nodded her head.
“Yes.”
At this, Riina added a bit more explanation.
“It’s also a time when regulations on merchants targeting imperial citizens are somewhat relaxed.”
“Yes.”
Although Riina didn’t point it out specifically, not just Jane but anyone living in the imperial capital would already know.
That at this time every year, outsiders flood into the empire, and accordingly, large-scale auctions and smaller auctions are held several times.
She probably just realized now that this was related to trade.
Jane unconsciously tried to swallow dry saliva but barely held back.
She absolutely didn’t want to do anything undignified in front of this fake.
Hadn’t she paid quite a high price to learn the etiquette of the so-called ‘blue-blooded’ nobles?
The corners of her mouth, wearing a faint smile, trembled and twitched slightly, but Jane didn’t lose her smile.
She had learned from experience that to get what she wanted, she had to endure even if her face cramped up, or even if it became paralyzed.
A few days before she picked up Hans by chance, it was probably a day when her teeth were chattering from the cold that chilled her to the bone due to continuous rain.
‘Could you please give it up?’
‘I need it too, I’m sorry.’
Jane, who had missed the item she wanted by a hair’s breadth, chased after the person who had taken the last item and asked, but was refused.
Of course, Jane didn’t give up.
‘I absolutely need this item, so if there’s anything else you want…’
‘Really, I said no.’
At first, the person shook their head with a troubled face, but as Jane became excessively persistent, they hardened their expression and walked away quickly.
But if she had given up there, she wouldn’t have been Jane.
‘Are you crazy?’
The person who hurled insults at Jane, who had waited all night in front of their house until her face became numb, eventually gave up the item to her.
She couldn’t forget the numbness in her face and the cold that chilled her to the bone, but more than that, the ecstatic satisfaction of holding that item in her hands.
It probably wouldn’t be forgotten no matter how much time passed.
Although the item ended up stuck in a corner of the warehouse after being used for a few days, the item itself wasn’t what was important…
Riina’s voice pulled Jane, who had been drifting through the past, back to the present.
“From now on, what you need to do is…”
Riina gave step-by-step instructions on what Jane should do.
No, it would be more accurate to say things she should learn, rather than things to do.
In fact, if she were a ‘shadow’, she should have already mastered these basic tasks before coming to Riina’s side.
But Riina shook her head.
‘Practical skills are learned fastest and most efficiently on the job.’
That’s why Jane, an unprepared shadow, was learning the job directly from Riina.
Of course, Jane didn’t think of it that way at all.
-Scribble scribble.
How much time had passed with only the sound of the pen moving across the paper?
“It’s done.”
Although it was faster work than expected, Riina wasn’t that surprised.
The person in front of her was none other than Jane, wasn’t she?
Although Riina had hated her so much before the regression that she wanted to chew her up to the bone, she wasn’t stupid enough to belittle her abilities.
She might not have been a genius to be counted on one hand, but she did have above-average abilities and, above all, above-average luck.
“Next is this.”
“Yes.”
Eventually, as Riina examined the documents Jane had reviewed, her eyes blinked rapidly.
Not because it was perfect.
It was the complete opposite.
It would have been unreasonable to expect perfection for a first attempt, but this was Jane, wasn’t it?
As Riina looked up from the messy documents, Jane immediately bowed her head.
“I’m sorry.”
At this, Riina started explaining again step by step without any particular reprimand.
But Jane couldn’t keep up quickly.
She didn’t particularly ask anything, but she didn’t seem to understand the explanation either.
“Let’s stop here for today. Just leave the documents I gave you and organize them according to priority and topic.”
“…Yes.”
Riina, who had assigned a very simple task that even an aide’s assistant might do, took her eyes off Jane, who was returning to her seat with a stack of documents.
Riina, who had reviewed and pushed aside the documents Jane had messed up in just a few seconds, tapped the pen shaft with her fingertips.
She’s doing much worse than expected.
At this rate, there was a high possibility that the time for her to leave the family would be much slower than anticipated.
She remembered that Jane had learned extremely quickly before the regression…
Of course, before the regression, she had come already familiar with these basics, but shouldn’t she be able to learn these basics even faster?
Was her memory beautified, or had she overestimated Jane too much before the regression?
If anything, she seemed rather slow in learning.
Well, if she’s lacking, we can just fill in the gaps.
It would be enough to bring her up to the level of Jane from before the regression by the time she leaves the family and becomes free.
-Knock knock.
“My lady, there’s something you need to see.”
At Becky’s voice from behind the door, Riina got up from her seat without hesitation.
“Once you’ve finished organizing the documents, you can return to your room.”
However, for a long time, a very long time after Riina had left, Jane kept her head buried in the desk.
Her jaw was trembling from gritting her teeth too hard, but no sound of teeth grinding came out.
How much time had passed like that?
Jane raised her head and looked at the documents she had messed up and Riina had corrected with bloodshot eyes, the capillaries burst, then got up.
“I… can’t lose. It’s not me who should disappear, but the fake.”
Jane moved her pen frantically without blinking an eye.
seikagojo
Any scenes with jane is so cringe. Cant bring myself to read it ughh