Missed Gold (1)
The engagement with Count Felt’s family was broken off several months ago.
Unable to afford hiring many servants, only cheap maids remained.
"This is bad. What is this?"
"It's not our usual tea."
"Yes, we don't have money to buy tea leaves."
What are you talking about?
That can't be right.
Tea leaves were supposed to be a special product of the Ranford family.
"Lately, due to poor harvests, the quality of tea leaves has declined, and they have been returned."
"What are you saying?"
"The trading company we had a contract with is claiming damages."
The maid spoke dispassionately, which irritated me.
"How insulting! You should report properly!"
"The other party is a merchant noble, after all."
She really is useless.
Even if they are merchant nobles, they used to be commoners.
The maid in front of me was also a former noblewoman who fell into poverty.
"If you can't do the job, there's no point in paying you."
"Yeah, anyone can do your job. Even that worthless Marie."
Though she had no particular talent, she could at least brew tea.
But even commoners' children can do that, yet the noblewomen in the Ladies' Association overrated Marie skills.
Oh, how delicious Marie's tea is.
The blend is exquisite.
Comparable to that of an herbalist.
I thought we must have hired a terribly inept handmaid.
"This room smells musty."
"Are they not cleaning properly? They are slacking off completely."
I had Marie take care of cleaning the mansion.
She can only handle menial tasks, and it was just right to reduce the number of maids.
The new maid cleans, but it's not thorough.
"Also, the bedsheets aren't crisp."
The bedding was disheveled.
The garden's flowers have withered, cracks have appeared on the mansion's walls, and the old mansion was showing signs of wear.
And the worst of all was the dress.
"Lady Ranford, your back..."
"The zipper is digging into my body..."
At the recent ball, my corset didn't fit properly, and the reflection in the mirror showed an unsightly backside.
How dreadful!
"Your back flesh is bulging."
"How unsightly."
The noblewomen who opposed me laughed scornfully.
"What on earth happened to you?"
"It can’t be helped. After all, she drove a respectable husband out of the mansion and disowned her talented daughter."
"When Lady Marie, who had such a great sense of fashion, was here, she looked so beautiful in her dresses."
"Lady Ranford lacks any sense of fashion."
"So the one with a great sense of fashion was Lady Marie.”
What is this?
Everyone is mocking me!
There's no way a useless girl like that is better than me.
"But now, Lady Marie is the belle of the social scene in the Capital."
What?
"And Lord Diaz has obtained the title of Count and is now... you know?"
What are you saying?
Marie, who is plain and useless, and that incompetent man?
What do you think about this chapter?
