“30,000 mori? Isn’t that quite a large sum for Miss Eveline right now?”

Gideon scratched his head, greatly flustered as if he had quoted a higher amount than expected. Vivian grew anxious, sensing his will and enthusiasm had been dampened.

“I don’t know why you need such an amount, but staying under the Duke’s protection like now would be the only way to live without facing hardships.”

Deeply disappointed by the response so far from what she had hoped, Vivian’s lips drooped sharply. Realizing his blunder upon seeing this, Gideon pulled his seat closer, his eyes taking on a persuasive look.

“There was a time like that. When old money shunned new money, not even allowing them to set foot in high society. They say perceptions have changed now to the point of granting titles, but who knows. They might still be cursing new money as vulgar deep inside. But do you know why they did that?”

Vivian pondered for a moment before shaking her head.

“Because making money is a dirty business.”

The baron’s answer only pushed her deeper into the quagmire.

How is making money a dirty business?

It was a contradictory answer to Vivian, who had belatedly realized that money was needed even for eating, dressing, and sleeping.

“You can’t even begin to imagine what humiliation and insults I endured to sell carriages and receive payment.”

Gideon smiled placidly as he recounted the distant past unfolding before his eyes. Though not a pleasant memory, the elation of looking back on the path he had walked always made his heart race.

“I’ve been slapped, forced to kneel in front of mansions all night, and even dragged away by the police on several occasions.”

“Isn’t it natural to receive payment for selling carriages? I don’t understand at all why you had to endure such humiliation, Baron… If anything, those who should be dragged away by the police are the ones who didn’t pay. Not the honest people selling goods.”

Seeing her innocent eyes regarding the incomprehensible world as if it were from another realm, Gideon suppressed the laughter that threatened to burst out.

“You truly can’t understand, but that’s how making money works. It’s a world where countless seemingly contradictory things happen. That’s why you end up seeing many unsightly and dirty scenes. You have to roll your dignity and decorum in the mud, testing how far you can fall as a person, to be able to make money. That’s how big money is earned.”

Vivian couldn’t find the right words to respond. As if worried about being swept into that mud herself, she tightly gripped her skirt like a firmly planted pillar.

“Isn’t that how the Duke also became New Way’s greatest tycoon?”

As the conversation naturally flowed to Edwin, a deep darkness settled on Vivian’s face. Her eyes, filled with worship, turned towards the quince tree’s shadow in the distance.

“An orphan who survived in Olrun Harbor to become New Way’s greatest tycoon and wield the highest power.”

The word ‘orphan’ pierced Vivian’s heart like a sharp arrowhead. It left a painfully deep imprint, like a scar that couldn’t be removed.

“You don’t know about Olrun Harbor, do you, Miss Eveline? Although Olrun is quite a large city, back then Olrun Harbor was practically a lawless zone. Children born and raised there had no choice but to become pirates or criminals, or die from beatings, starvation, or disease.”

Fourteen years ago, on that day, the ship Sayer boarded was scheduled to depart from Preston and arrive at Olrun Harbor.

Sayer, who had said he would make her regret saving him, who had sworn to come kill Vivian, had safely disembarked at Olrun Harbor but hadn’t managed to leave that place.

Vivian lowered her head, feeling tears about to well up.

Those strange blue eyes filled with vengeance cut through her heart and held her ankles.

“Anyway, making money isn’t easy. Moreover, it’s even harder to find a place for an unmarried noble lady to work. So, staying like this……”

“Is there really no way?”

Her voice trembled noticeably, choked with emotion. Gideon, unable to turn away from such a pitiful woman, stopped trying to scare her and pondered deeply, solely to help Vivian.

But there was no way there could be a solution. In still uncivilized countries, the downfall of upper-class women might lead to slavery, but this was New Way.

Though fallen, they could still enjoy ordinary rights. However, that didn’t mean they were given opportunities to survive. Usually, one only heard news of them dying miserably.

“Ah, come to think of it, something does come to mind.”

Gideon snapped his fingers, and a gleam appeared in Vivian’s eyes.

“But I’m not sure if Miss Eveline can accept it.”

“Anything is fine. I can accept it. I’m not in a position to refuse anything if it’s for making money.”

“But you should know this. Honestly, 30,000 mori is an enormous sum. Just because you can make money doesn’t mean you can touch such a large amount.”

“It must be better than embroidery work.”

The hasty answer was mixed with complete sincerity. Gideon, after exhaling a briefly hesitant breath, responded to the desperate Vivian.

“A few years ago, when I went to collect payment for carriages, I heard that the head maid there was once a daughter of an earl’s family.”

He delivered this rather shocking story with a tense air, but Vivian’s face showed not even a slight tremor. Gideon gained courage from this.

“I heard that thanks to her efforts, she managed to save quite a fortune. They say she even owns her own house, not just a rented room. The key to making money is just one thing. How prepared are you to fall? Can you set aside your dignity as a noble? Are you ready to accept the contradictory world?”

Prepared to fall. Dignity as a noble. Contradictory world.

It felt like standing before a vague and distant path. The fear of the unknown reveals itself right here. At the entrance of the path, at the moment of taking the first step.

“If you’re not prepared for all this, Miss Eveline, you can’t make money. I can’t guarantee whether you’ll be able to make a large sum or not, but I can assure you of that much.”

She had already lost everything. All that remained for her was debt and death.

So even if she lost more here, there was no lower bottom to fall to. Now she had to overcome her fear and take the first step. That was the way to liberate herself from the self-contempt brought by powerlessness.

“I can do it. No. I will do it. I’ll overcome anything.”

As her clear eyes shone brightly with determination, it moved Gideon’s heartstrings. However, he didn’t rule out the possibility that this might be the reckless challenge of a noble young lady still unaware of reality.

“Even if it means becoming a maid?”

“Do I have any path to turn back now? What’s the difference between that head maid and me? If I have to discard everything, I will. This isn’t for myself. It’s for my family and the friend I love.”

Her will to not surrender and to pioneer her future prompted him to readily offer a helping hand. He hoped she would reach her desired goal with as much help as she wanted.

“Alright. With your mindset, Miss Eveline, you’ll succeed at anything.”

As the heat in her body subsided somewhat, Vivian exhaled a hot breath.

“So what should I do now? Where should I work as a maid? Is the place with that head maid in the capital? Or can you recommend a place suitable for me to work as a maid?”

Countless questions poured out, but Gideon shrugged his shoulders as if he couldn’t understand the reason for the questions.

“Aren’t you already in a very good environment?”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

“It seems like Miss Eveline could start working as soon as tomorrow? Why don’t you ask? I think he’ll agree.”

This time, Vivian shrugged her shoulders as if she didn’t understand.

“…Who should I ask for such a favor?”

“Who else?”

Vivian was prepared to accept anything. She was ready to throw herself into any gutter willingly.

Yes. Until Baron Zimmerman made her understand that word.

“Duke Baitness.”

***

The tea the Baron had prepared was already finished. After that, she endured a long time just staring at the patterns on the tablecloth. The increasingly uncomfortable heat also tormented Vivian, but she stubbornly kept her seat without showing it.

After the Baron left, Vivian never turned her head.

She wasn’t generous enough to calmly face the man who had strangled her, shot at her, and gripped her body.

Vivian took a deep breath in and out, listening intently. The screech of blades cutting through the air, the sound of cold water going down throats, muffled conversation sounds, and again the screech of blades.

She relied solely on sounds for the entire situation between the two people.

How much time had passed? As today’s match concluded, Vivian straightened her back. She steadfastly waited for Edwin, who had said he had something to tell her.

Edwin’s next destination had to be here. The noise the two men were making shouldn’t be fading away in the opposite direction.

You’ve forgotten that I was waiting.

Vivian jumped up from her seat and chased after Edwin’s retreating back. To avoid the rudeness of raising her voice, she hurried after him with quick steps.

“Your Grace.”

As the distance closed, she called out softly. Edwin, drenched in sweat, turned to look at Vivian.

He had said he had something to say and told her to wait. So she had endured the hot and boring time, but she didn’t want to resent him for forgetting her.

However, if he had forgotten, she thought it would be polite to show at least some surprise when seeing her face now. If he had forgotten and now remembered, there should have been at least a slight tremor.

But unlike when he had said he had something to say and asked her to wait, his blue eyes were indifferent.

“What is it?”

On top of that, the bored question plunged Vivian into a swamp of bewilderment.

“…Didn’t you say you had something to tell me?”

“I don’t.”

It was a monotonous and dry tone. As he brushed back his sweat-soaked hair, he seemed momentarily angry, a sight that made her conclude once again that the refreshing, boyish image she had once seen of him was indeed an illusion.

“Then why did you……”

Edwin looked down at her, cold as a winter lake. Vivian’s eyes narrowed at his heartless gaze, taking a step back.

“I waited for a long time. Because you said you had something to tell me. But now you say you have nothing to say? Why on earth……”

As Vivian’s voice rose, Edwin glanced at Royce, but he had already moved far away.

“I understand why you’re doing this, but I hope you won’t do it again next time.”

Vivian conveyed her emotions as they were, suppressing her anger.

“What reason is that?”

“…Because I’m paying off all my debts, gaining as much weight as you want, and then you’re planning to kill me, but it’s taking too long. So you want to take revenge like this. You must feel a bit better tormenting me like this.”

It was the revenge she could take against him for deliberately playing with her.

No man was indifferent to such petty criticism. Men would blush, desperately try to bring out their gentlemanly qualities, and work hard to overturn the other’s evaluation.

At least, that was the fact Vivian knew.

“If you know, endure it.”

She keenly felt that the world was especially not on her side today. Though when was it ever?

Her lips stiffened in front of the man who calmly accepted her criticism. She hadn’t expected him to deflect it with such a simple and nonchalant voice.

“Why are you whining?”

He smirked and turned away. Vivian exhaled a rough breath, dumbfounded. As the humid wind laden with heat enveloped her, she fanned herself fiercely.