Ryan welcomed Riley’s visit with an awkward gesture. The lady standing next to him was visibly uneasy. Clare, who just came out of the room, was startled to see Riley and soon began to tremble with her fists clenched.

“You’ve changed a lot since I last saw you, I hardly recognized you.”

Ryan, the lady, and Clare were surprised because they did not recognize Riley.

When they first brought Riley home, they thought they had brought someone else. Her once thin and scrawny body was now pleasantly plump, and her once gloomy and shadowed face was now full of vitality.

Her always tangled hair was neatly brushed back and tied up, not only highlighting her lively, bright, and small face but also her figure, in an evening dress that clung to her body, adorned with a pearl necklace, looked sophisticated enough to rival the aristocrats of the big city.

The saying “clothes make the man” seemed true, and it was now clearly marked that Riley’s situation was different from before.

“It’s nice to see the vitality in your face. I’m glad you’re doing well.”

“I have no choice but to do well. The living environment is different.”

“Ahem, let’s eat first.”

They moved to the dining room where the food was served.

From Ryan’s perspective, it was a rather grand meal, but to Riley’s eyes, the menu seemed quite poor. It felt like less than half of what she usually ate.

As Riley sat down, Ryan seemed to have waited and then spoke.

“What have you been doing lately?”

“I’m eating well and living well. Lately, I’ve been busy studying.”

“What are you studying?”

“I’m preparing for the entrance exam for Horizon Academy.”

At Riley’s words, Clare, who had a stern face, burst into laughter.

“Pff, you? Preparing for the entrance to Horizon Academy?”

“…… It doesn’t seem like a funny story.”

“It’s hilarious, really hilarious. The funniest thing in the world. Preparing for the entrance to Horizon Academy, the top elite educational institution, with your brain? You still don’t know your place?”

The lady was startled by Clare’s words and quickly reprimanded Riley.

“Clare, what kind of talk is that!”

“Mother, isn’t it funny? There’s always an order to things, right? But without even basic education, and with her short background, even starting from the bottom and working her way up would not be enough, and Horizon Academy? The academy is not just an educational institution; it’s far above higher education, and only elites can go there.”

Clare patted Riley’s shoulder as if amused.

“Kid, you’ve lost your mind becoming a rich person? You can buy education with money, but not a smart brain.”

“Yeah, that reminds me, the person in charge of my education said something interesting.”

“What’s that?”

“There’s a difference between a study brain and a dumb brain. I understand when I look at you.”
“What? Are you calling me stupid right now? Hey, wake up. I have never missed the top spot in my life.”

“That’s what I said, being smart in studying and being a fool are two different things. You don’t even realize that you’ve been pushed back in priority in this house, and you’re just running your mouth recklessly. Or are you just stupid in front of me?”

“…….”

“This house, this meal, the clothes you filled in your wardrobe, all came from the money I received in exchange for marrying Duke Lianster.”

Ryan and Lady Viscount looked around nervously, unable to settle down. Claire snorted and grabbed Riley’s collar.

“Don’t brag, as if you’ve got some great man. You’ve never achieved anything on your own.”

“Don’t you remember what you repeatedly told me?”

“…….”

“That luck is also a skill.”

It was a saying that Claire had repeated to the point of wearing out her lips.

‘Luck is a skill, and catching luck is a talent.’

Claire said that she worked hard and cultivated her learning so that she could catch that unpredictable luck when it came. Catching that luck is the real talent.

[Dash] Blame the fact that you were born to the wrong parents, luck is a skill. Blame your lack of luck. It’s your parents’ fault that you were left alone in the world and irresponsibly abandoned, not mine?

[Dash] Wasn’t it the greatest fortune of your life to be added to our father’s family register? If it wasn’t for our father, your life wouldn’t be worth living now. As an orphan, and a woman living alone at that, you don’t know how harsh this world is?

[Dash] Marrying into the house of Earl Ermeintz is too much for you. Riley, you are very lucky. Marrying into a noble family in the capital is truly a blessing, I envy you. It’s also luck to find a good man, you are very lucky.

“If what you say is true, then marrying Duke Lianster is my luck, and catching that luck is my talent, isn’t it? Right, Father?”

Claire couldn’t reply, even as she ground her teeth. She had boasted that luck is a skill so much.

“Yes, Riley is right. Claire, please calm your temper. Instead of congratulating your sister for marrying into a good place, you’re doing this.”

“……Father, Mother, I am your real daughter! I am!”