After meeting Zen, Dia stared blankly out the window like someone unable to wake from a dream.

Deborah gave a bitter smile.

‘Didn’t you say you’d treat her kindly, Mr. Baker…’

Deborah, who found it awkward to ask what had happened, brought up a topic to change the atmosphere.

“Young lady. There’s someone I’d like to introduce to you.”

“…Yes?”

As Dia responded a beat late, as if deep in thought, Deborah spoke kindly once again.

“I’d like to introduce you to a tutor. Would that be alright?”

“A tutor…?”

Life sparked in Dia’s endlessly empty eyes. Finding it lovely, Deborah smiled brightly and replied.

“Yes. A tutor.”

[This is the timeline separator]

“Pleased to meet you, young lady. My name is Irene Brown.”

As Irene curtsied in greeting, Dia waved her hands, flustered.

“Please don’t greet someone like me that way. It’s fine.”

Surprised, Irene glanced up at Deborah behind her. Deborah signaled with her eyes, a skill honed from her life as a maid, to let it go, and the experienced Irene understood immediately.

“I’ll be teaching you etiquette, common sense, and culture so that you can confidently present yourself as a lady in high society. I look forward to working with you.”

“I, I look forward to working with you too.”

Dia replied in a thin voice. Though Deborah couldn’t see Dia’s expression from behind her, she could tell that Dia was in her most excited state since arriving here. Because…

‘Her neck has turned red.’

How cute. Hehe. Suppressing a small laugh, Deborah observed Irene’s expression. She was worried Irene might look down on Dia for acting naively, but fortunately, Irene seemed to view Dia’s enthusiasm positively.

“Before making a study plan, there’s something I’d like to ask.”

“Yes? What would you like to ask me…?”

“Do you have any hobbies?”

Irene’s question was quite simple. However, Dia pondered for a while as if she didn’t even know what a hobby was, then answered like this:

“I like taking walks.”

“Ah…”

Not expecting such an answer, Irene slightly smiled and spoke again.

“Walking is a fine hobby too. Then, do you perhaps not enjoy drawing pictures or composing poetry? Or embroidery…”

“Ah. I’ve never tried those things…”

Dia’s face turned red with embarrassment. As Irene also looked perplexed, Deborah quietly spoke up.

“Perhaps you might be interested in gardening?”

“Pardon?”

Dia turned around and answered. Deborah nodded with a smiling face and said:

“Gardening, tending to a garden.”

“I’m not very good at such difficult things…”

“Oh. Gardening isn’t that grand. It’s enough to know which flowers are most commonly planted in each season, and which trees are fashionable. Ah, and it’s good to memorize flower meanings too.”

Hehe. Deborah laughed peacefully and continued.

“All you need is the ability to beautifully decorate the garden according to the season, and appropriately adorn dinner parties or ballrooms. Plus, the gardeners will help, so perhaps the only thing you’ll need to memorize specially is flower meanings?”

“That’s right.”

Irene nodded lightly in agreement. Fidgeting with her fingers, Dia mumbled in a small voice.

“The only flowers I know are lily of the valley, roses, and such… I wonder if I can learn well…”

“My goodness. That’s plenty. Isn’t it?”

When Deborah asked Irene, she nodded without hesitation and opened her lips.

“Of course. Then for the first lesson, let’s start lightly with learning about flowers, and afterwards we can learn dancing, singing, and poetry. After all, these three can’t be avoided.”

“Come to think of it, Mrs. Brown, you said you can play the piano, right?”

“Yes. Though only at the level of struggling through famous dance tunes or short sonatas.”

“My, that’s impressive.”

Dia recalled Zen’s words as she listened to the sound of burning firewood and Deborah and Irene chatting softly.

[One year. I’ll finish everything within a year, so please do me this favor.]

Deborah and Irene would be teaching her wholeheartedly, thinking she would become the future Mrs. Zen Baker.

Dia felt guilty for deceiving the two of them, but she couldn’t tell the truth because of Zen’s request.

‘I feel uneasy.’

What if they found out the truth later and came to hate her?

Dia quietly worried. At that moment, Deborah approached Dia’s side and whispered in her characteristically gentle voice.

“Oh my. I’ll go bring some tea.”

“Ah, yes?”

As if waking from a nightmare, Dia’s dazed eyes looked at Deborah as she spoke.

“Is there any tea you’d like?”

“I, I’ll have anything…”

“Hehe. Then I’ll bring something that goes well with milk. Mrs. Brown, what would you like?”

Dia dared to glance at Deborah’s face as she smiled with crinkled eyes towards Irene. Looking at her face, somehow these gloomy worries quietly faded away. It was quite strange.

[This is the timeline separator]

The Chelsea Club was filled with the usual conversations, clinking of glasses, and cigar smoke today as well.

“Veluce put up that much of a wall?”

“…”

Instead of answering John’s question, Eric swirled his glass. John shook his head as he looked at Eric’s furrowed brow.

“He must have been in a bad mood that day. You know. That guy is moody. He acts according to his mood every day.”

“Right. Just think of it as bad luck.”

As Derek consoled him, Eric frowned and said.

“It was nothing. I just wanted some advice.”

“Why don’t you just ask Veluce?”

“Business advice from that guy? Don’t be ridiculous.”

John and Derek exchanged glances. It wasn’t often that Eric showed his displeasure this openly.

‘Of course, when Veluce comes, he’ll put on his good guy mask as if nothing happened.’

‘By the way, Veluce won’t be coming today, right?’

As John and Derek were each thinking this and holding their glasses, that’s when it happened. A voice was heard from the entrance door, which seemed likely to cause a commotion with people returning home late at night.

“Hello, friends!”

It was Veluce. The three men were taken aback by the boisterous entrance of Veluce, who seemed to be in quite a good mood.

“Look who I brought with me today.”

Veluce said, patting the shoulder of the man next to him. The three men not only failed to compose their surprised expressions, but even opened their mouths.

“Zen Baker?”

“It’s been a while.”

Everyone’s gaze focused on one spot. Zen Baker. The young, handsome bourgeois investor currently making the most money in this country.

“I happened to meet him on the street recently and we had a good conversation, you know? So I invited him to the club, is that okay?”

Veluce said casually as he sat down on the sofa. The three men exchanged quick glances and replied.

“Sure.”

“It’s even more pleasant to meet in a place like this.”

Veluce smiled slightly and pointed to a seat, saying playfully to Zen.

“Don’t just stand there, sit down. It’s hard to look up because you’re so tall.”

“If you insist.”

As Zen sat down with a low laugh, other young gentlemen in the club stirred slightly. It was because a bourgeois had never mixed with Veluce’s table before.

“Mr. Baker. See? I told you everyone would welcome you.”

“It’s only possible because you invited me, Mr. Veluce.”

“My goodness, why are you being so modest?”

Veluce’s eyelashes fluttered beautifully like a lady’s fan.

“I’m going to have whiskey, why don’t you have the same? The whiskey here is a bit special.”

“Then I’ll have the same.”

“Good. Two of those then.”

As soon as Veluce casually ordered drinks from the staff, John, who had been watching for a chance to join in, spoke up quietly.

“So you met by chance on the street?”

“Ah yes. I met him when I was leaving Eric’s mansion before.”

Veluce spoke nonchalantly, as if the incident with Eric was already a distant memory. But Eric’s complexion turned pale in an instant.

“Veluce, I really…”

“No, why are you apologizing again all of a sudden?”

Veluce said playfully, putting his arm around Eric’s shoulder.

“It’s really okay, so don’t ruin the good atmosphere.”

“…”

Eric kept his mouth shut to appease him, looking as frightened as a mouse in front of a satiated lion. Veluce grinned, seemingly pleased with Eric’s state.

“Everyone, ask Mr. Baker anything you want to know. Don’t hold back.”

“Things we want to know?”

Derek said with an awkward laugh.

“Yeah. You guys said before, about what this person invests in and such…”

John’s smiling face trembled slightly.

‘No, why are you mentioning that…!’

Thanks to Veluce, three nobles ended up looking intimidated by the movements of one bourgeois. John shot Veluce a reproachful look while maintaining his smile.

‘How can he be so tactless…’

Only after seeing Veluce, whose mouth was smiling but eyes had grown cold, did John realize that Veluce wasn’t being tactless.

‘Damn. He’s doing this on purpose.’

This was unavoidable. If so, it seemed better to satisfy their curiosity rather than keeping their mouths shut trying to act dignified.

“Right. Since Veluce has arranged such an interesting gathering, let’s ask directly.”

As John spoke as if being forthright, Zen replied with an elegant smile.

“By all means.”

“Have you perhaps invested in the automobile industry recently?”

“Haha. Automobiles? Why do you ask that all of a sudden?”

Zen laughed as if it was a completely unexpected question.

“Well, you always appear in an automobile whenever you come to the city.”

“Ah, so that’s why you ask.”

Zen nodded and replied without losing his relaxed smile.

“The CEO of BAM, Mr. Glass, gave it to me as a gift, so I’m just using it.”

“Hmm? Are you close with their CEO?”

“He was the first person I became acquainted with in Gratian. Thanks to him, I was able to adapt well here.”

“Ah, I see.”

Derek replied lightly. It seemed like it would pass like that, but John tilted his head and asked.

“So, you just received it as a gift and didn’t invest?”

“Yes. There’s no other meaning beyond that.”

Veluce observed Zen, who answered without hesitation, with narrowed eyes. Feeling that gaze, Zen’s smile grew even more satisfied.