“Annette, this is the house where we will live from now on.”

Now that they dropped the Bathurst name, Annette and her mother began using the name Granville. They were now members of the bankrupt Granville viscountcy.

The viscount and viscountess left the capital for a quiet country village. They planned to live frugally on the money from selling their estate, along with the barren territory that no one would buy.

Annette and Mrs. Granville had nowhere to live, but through an acquaintance, they rented an inexpensive home in a village where commoners lived and settled there.

The small house was only a quarter the size of the grand estate, where vines stretched beautifully across the walls and little flowers bloomed.

It was modest but felt clean, so Annette liked it very much. Mrs. Granville did not feel the same way.

She could not meet Annette’s eyes, as though she were a criminal. Annette once lived in an even smaller one-room apartment, so what was the problem?

Besides, they were not sold into slavery. They merely became poor nobles, so she could at least call that fortunate.

Annette decided to think positively. Still, Mrs. Granville concerned her. Annette worried whether someone who lived as a noblewoman all her life could adapt to a new way of living.

“I think I can adapt to this new life quickly. Are you all right, Mother?”

“What else can we do? We must accept reality.”

“I will rebuild our family. If you tell me how, I will do anything.”

“I decided to work as the Dudley family’s tutor starting tomorrow. My earnings alone will keep us from starving, so you do not need to do anything.”

Was she seeing Mrs. Granville as too fragile? It reassured her to learn that she had plans of her own. Still, her words bothered Annette.

“My limbs work perfectly well, but you are saying I do not need to do anything?”

Annette lowered her gaze and examined her body. She did not think a single part of her hurt during that brief week. Did she have some illness she did not know about?

“Is my health very poor?”

“That is not it.”

“Then why would you say that? I want to do something to help support our household too.”

“You would not be able to work as a tutor, and it would also be difficult for you to work as a maid for a prestigious noble family….”

Working as a tutor would be nice, but although she adapted to Annette’s body over the past week, she apparently still lacked the ability to become one. Mrs. Granville was not wrong, so Annette could not argue.

Furthermore, Annette did not know a single noble lady, so she could not ask for work through personal connections. Mrs. Granville also did not seem to intend to find her a job.

“For now, there is no other way for you to earn money except meeting a wealthy nobleman. Yet even that is impossible, so there is nothing you can do.”

Mrs. Granville shook her head, responding skeptically.

Based on what Mrs. Granville and her uncle said, the Delta Empire appeared to have a male-dominated social structure where women could not engage in business.

Therefore, Annette could only reach the bitter conclusion that marriage to a wealthy nobleman was the sole way for a noble lady like her to overcome her circumstances.

Her uncle searched so extensively, yet no match appeared, so Mrs. Granville seemed to think that possibility was already impossible.

“Do you think I am terribly lacking?”

“That is not it. I merely think it will be difficult for you to attend balls under our current circumstances.”

They sold every dress that Annette bought recently, leaving her without even a dress to wear to one. They failed to sell the dark-colored dresses the original Annette wore and still owned them, but she could not attend a banquet in those.

“Then I can earn money, can’t I? I can use it to attend banquets. Could I not search for a good husband there?”

It was only for a week, but Annette enjoyed the life of a noble lady. She now intended to repay Mrs. Granville’s kindness by marrying a wealthy nobleman.

“That is true, but attending an imperial ball requires a great deal of money….”

“How much money will it take?”

“Well.”

Mrs. Granville hesitated for a moment before roughly telling her the necessary amount.

There was the dress, accessories, carriage rental fee, and the largest expense of all, a donation. Apparently, they needed to donate to the imperial family before they could attend.

Of course, that was only the amount required to attend a ball. Food, living expenses, and every other cost of daily life were separate.

The amount she needed was far greater than she imagined, drawing a sigh from her.

Right. That is just how my life goes.

She was discouraged, but she did not despair yet. What saddened her most was that she could no longer live as a noble, making it difficult to meet Kynel. She needed to attend an imperial ball to see him, but that was impossible right now.

Annette had no choice but to begin looking for work immediately the following day.

Finding a job was difficult, unlike her expectation that she would find one quickly. There was nowhere for a noblewoman like her to work.

Working as a maid for a wealthy noblewoman would be best, but people normally received such positions through connections. For Annette, it was an impossible dream.

If she were a commoner, there seemed to be plenty of work she could do. She could become a maid for a noble household or work at a shop on the streets around the square.

She was neither a noble nor a commoner, caught in an ambiguous position that made finding work even harder. It seemed better to hide her status and look for a job instead.

“Should I hide my status?”

It was something the original Annette could never imagine doing, but it was not especially difficult for Annette, who lived an ordinary life before. She bought a set of everyday clothes commoners wore.

Perhaps because she originally gave off such a gloomy air, simply changing her clothes erased any impression that she was a noble lady.

After checking her appearance several times, she headed to the bulletin board in the square. It displayed job postings, and she wanted to see whether there was suitable work available.

Fortunately, several notices were looking for workers. Annette intended to try anything she could do.

For now, she wanted to find similar work if possible by drawing on her past experience as a part-time bakery worker. As Annette read the bulletin board with that thought in mind, one job posting caught her eye.

Huh?

Annette rubbed her eyes and read it again, wondering if she saw it wrong. The notice said that the Howard Ducal household was seeking workers for a one-week temporary position.

Startled, Annette covered her mouth with both hands.

This is it!

Duke Calix Howard, Kynel’s older brother, was the most handsome man in the empire.

He was also the empire’s greatest womanizer.

Handsome looks, wealth, and power. He had everything, making him the number one man noble ladies wanted to meet. Still, the more he possessed, the more arrogant and haughty he was.

He was famous for never sleeping with the same woman more than once, yet women clung to him. There were even women who stalked him.

He was also supposedly so virile that some women died while having s*x with him. Then he met the heroine, learned what love was, and held her in his heart for the rest of his life, even giving up marriage.

The setting was that the two brothers loved the same woman, but their brotherly bond was extraordinary. Duke Howard cherished Kynel greatly.

Therefore, Kynel currently lived with his brother in the Howard Ducal household. Which meant…

She found a chance to approach Kynel, even if it was under these circumstances!