Lady Fairfax thought for a moment, then said quietly.

“If you just get married, what more can I say? I’ll treat her like family, so hurry up and bring her.”

A smile finally bloomed on Ian’s face. He went to his sister, who was like a mother to him, and kissed her forehead.

“Thank you, elder sister.”

“I see through you. You haven’t even hugged me, let alone kissed me, since you were 10.”

Ian laughed and left the room immediately. It was to send a letter to London right away.

How pleased he must be. That boy was still a man after all. The lady snorted.

As he left, Olivia came in. The lady gestured to her daughter.

“Soon, a new governess will be coming, Olivia.”

Olivia sat down next to her mother with a delighted face.

“A new governess? Did you finally find my French teacher?”

“No, not your teacher, but for Daniel and George.”

Olivia’s expression wilted.

“What’s the use of giving those blockheads a teacher?”

Lady Fairfax replied calmly.

“That’s true.”

“You should invest in me instead, Mother. I only have 3 years left until my social debut.”

“I know. That you only have 3 years left until your social debut. How could I forget when you keep chirping about it, following me around as if I’d forget after just one day?”

Lady Fairfax adjusted her hold on the child with a bored expression.

“Mother. My friend Lydia has already mastered conversation by touring French resorts. Lily and Rebecca also talk with their French teacher every day, so their pronunciation is exactly like a French person’s. I’m the only one falling behind. Wouldn’t you be anxious if you were me?”

Lady Fairfax felt a headache coming on from her daughter’s whining. Ever since Jeanne, the French governess they had hired two years ago, left after getting married, Olivia had been pestering her daily to find a new French teacher. Insisting that it must be a native speaker.

The Fairfax family was one that did everything they could afford for children who wanted to study. So they had assigned an educational advisor to the eldest, Henry, who had wanted to go to university like his uncles since childhood, and had also fully supported Olivia by providing her with dance, art, and literature teachers as she wished.

But Olivia was never satisfied. Her enthusiasm for studying was encouraging, but in reality, it was due to her pride that despised falling behind her peers.

“What’s wrong with falling a bit behind in French? You’ve already learned everything you need. Dancing, painting, instruments, literature.”

“Oh, Mother. I’ve told you several times. French is the most important thing in high society. Aunt Janet said that in London society, French is the very barometer of culture.”

“I married your father and lived well like this without speaking a word of French, dear.”

“That’s because Grandfather arranged your engagement with Father early. Our Father doesn’t care about my future. I have to find a husband myself. To find a good husband in London society, you have to stand out among countless young ladies. According to Aunt Janet, you can’t survive there on beauty alone. She said it’s a complete battlefield without guns. If I debut with my current skills, other ladies will surely laugh at me.”

“Alright, I got it. I got it. I’ll find one soon. I’ll find one, so settle down and listen to me. I have one more thing to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“About the new governess, she might marry your uncle.”

Olivia stared blankly at her mother.

“The governess might marry our uncle?”

“Yes.”

“What does that mean?”

Olivia still couldn’t understand the meaning. It seemed her common sense couldn’t bridge the gap between ‘governess’ and ‘woman who might marry uncle’.

“It’s a bit complicated to explain, but to put it simply, your uncle is courting a young lady who is looking for a governess position, so we introduced our house. You’re quick-witted, so I’m telling only you in advance in case you might cause a fuss about something going on between the governess and Ian. Keep it a secret. Understand?”

“Ah, I see. But what kind of woman is she? If she’s working as a governess, she’s not even middle class, right? Maybe a fallen aristocrat?”

“You know the Pendleton family?”

“I saw it in a magazine recently… Ah, right. They’re great nobles from Cornwall.”

“She’s from that family. Miss Laura Pendleton.”

Olivia was surprised.

“Ah, I think I’ve heard of her. Laura Pendleton! My friend Lydia’s cousin sister is in London society, and that sister often went to the Pendleton family’s tea parties. The mistress of that house is Lady Abigail Pendleton, but her granddaughter Laura Pendleton practically acts as the real mistress. Ah, but, I heard Lady Abigail passed away recently.”

“That’s right.”

“Is she becoming a governess because there’s no one to take care of her now? Why would a young lady from such a great noble family do that? Is there no inherited fortune?”

Lady Fairfax just shrugged her shoulders. She had no intention of teaching her daughter all about Laura’s personal circumstances. There was courtesy to Miss Pendleton, but primarily, she was bothered.

Olivia asked questions, but only vague words came out of her mother’s mouth. These vague words only made Olivia burn with even more curiosity.

She couldn’t help but be interested in the fact that a woman had appeared who would marry her uncle, who had been her prince charming throughout her childhood and whom she still believed to be the most handsome man in the world.

She asked what she was most curious about regarding this unknown lady.

“Is she pretty?”

“Who knows. As long as she’s pretty in your uncle’s eyes, isn’t that enough?”

“Then do you know her age? How old is she?”

When the topic of age came up, a shadow fell over her mother’s previously indifferent expression.

“…She’s twenty-nine.”

“What?”

Olivia jumped up.

“Twenty-nine? She’s a complete spinster!”

Lady Fairfax nodded.

“Certainly, that’s true.”

“I don’t understand. Uncle could marry any young lady who’s just entered society.”

“The boy who used to hate stupidity ends up meeting someone his own age, I suppose. Should we be thankful he didn’t fall for a woman older than himself?”

Olivia closed her mouth. She was confused. She simply couldn’t understand her uncle’s choice.

At twenty-nine, she would be an old maid past marriageable age, and if she had set out to earn money on her own, she must be a woman without fortune. Why would a perfect man like Uncle Ian court such a woman?

She thought for a moment and then clapped her hands.

“Ah, I get it!”

“What do you mean?”

“The reason why Uncle wants to marry such a woman! Uncle is protesting against you, Mother!”

“What?”

“Because you’ve been nagging him too much, Uncle has brought this ridiculous bride candidate. Out of rebellion.”

Lady Fairfax cut her off, saying it was nonsense. Do you think your uncle would bring in a woman for such a childish reason?

Olivia earnestly presented her logic.

“If she’s from that kind of family but couldn’t get married until twenty-nine, she must not be much to look at. Seeing that she has no inherited fortune, her behavior must have been wild enough to disappoint the elders of the family. Why would Uncle bring such a woman into our house? It’s a threat that he’ll marry this kind of woman if you keep nagging him.”

“Oh my, our daughter is so smart indeed.”

Lady Fairfax sneered.

“It’s true. Believe me, okay? Uncle always used to get angry saying you treated him like a stud horse. He probably thinks your nagging will be an obstacle to his future bachelor life, so he’s trying to uproot your nagging altogether. Mother, tell Uncle right away. Say that you’ll never bother him about marriage issues from now on. Then Uncle will pretend nothing happened.”

“Olivia, if you mistake your wishful thinking for truth, you’ll be in big trouble.”

“Wishful thinking? What wishful thinking?”

“You’ve always hoped that your uncle would remain single, haven’t you?”

Olivia flinched as if struck at a vital point.

“Wh-what are you saying? Mother, really. I never did that.”

Lady Fairfax slightly raised the corners of her mouth.

“You still stutter when you’re flustered.”

“N-no, I’m telling you I didn’t. I’ve always been hoping that Uncle should get married soon. It’s just that in this case, he’s trying to marry a completely wrong woman…!”

“The only person in our family who would believe that is our innocent Ian Fairfax. Because, among our family members, including the servants, Ian Fairfax is the only one who doesn’t know that your first love was Ian Dalton.”

“Mother!”

Olivia’s face turned red. Lady Fairfax cackled as she watched her flustered daughter. Lady Fairfax, who took teasing her young children as a small pleasure in her daily life, was excited as if she had caught a good opportunity when she was just bored.

“I still remember it vividly, dear. When you were six years old. Your uncle, who was at university, stayed briefly at Dunville Park during the holidays, right? But when the holiday was about to end, you woke up late one morning and Ian had already left to return to Cambridge. Do you remember what you did as soon as you realized your uncle was gone?”

Recalling that time, Olivia’s face turned as red as a tomato.

“Ah, right, you were hanging from an elm branch, crying loudly! Saying to bring Uncle back. That you absolutely wouldn’t come down until he was brought back. The whole family begged you to come down from under the tree, but you didn’t budge an inch. Really, I don’t know how such a little thing managed to climb up there.”

“Urgh…!”

“In the end, your uncle, who was on his way to the train station, came back, climbed the tree himself, and brought you down in his arms. He even gave up his train time. I heard you asked him to marry you when you turn twenty as a condition for coming down from the tree? Your uncle said it was a great honor to receive his first marriage proposal from a lady.”

Olivia gripped her skirt tightly, stamping her feet in embarrassment at the memory.

“I really hate you when you do this, Mother! Teasing me even now about something that happened when I was little!”

“How could I forget such an interesting incident? I should tell your future husband too. And the grandchildren to be born. Hoho!”

“Mother!”

Olivia stomped her feet, feeling embarrassed and provoked. Lady Fairfax continued to tease her daughter for a while, thoroughly enjoying herself. Olivia, in the midst of puberty, was squealing in extreme irritation, but to the mischievous Lady Fairfax, that sight itself was ecstasy.

After a while, when the fun had worn off, Lady Fairfax returned to her image of a prudent lady as if nothing had happened.

“But no matter how much your heart rejects it, the future Lady Dalton is now decided. Your uncle has completely fallen in love. So you must not behave disrespectfully towards her. It’s a secret from your younger siblings too. Let’s keep it a secret between us women. Ah, and from your father too.”

Olivia pouted her lips. She still couldn’t believe that her uncle was courting an old maid, and therefore didn’t feel like cooperating, but she felt like she would be teased again if she showed it.

She stood up from the sofa, dusting off her skirt that she had been clutching, and grumbled.

“Of course. If Father finds out, he’ll hang a placard on every tree every 100m from the entrance of Dunville Park estate saying ‘Welcome our future sister-in-law’.”

Olivia left the room.

Lady Fairfax felt her troubled mood improve a bit after having an enjoyable time (actually, only she enjoyed it) with her daughter.

She called the nanny to send little Ian, who had fallen asleep in her arms, to the nursery, then took out her cards to do a reading after a long time. It was Ian’s marriage reading that she did periodically.

This time too, the cards clearly said that Ian would marry within this year. The same reading had been repeating only this year. Thinking of Miss Pendleton, she shuffled the cards once more and laid them out.

A clear result showing that Miss Pendleton was the party to the marriage appeared before her eyes.

Lady Fairfax thought as she put away the cards. Perhaps all of this was already predetermined fate. However, she couldn’t completely give up the hope that this fate would be averted and a slightly younger woman would appear.

She folded her hands on the table and prayed to the Christian God to fulfill her wish. If God really existed, it would be thoroughly irritating.