***

The next day, Eliza sat at the worn desk in her hobby room. Instead of reaching for her embroidery basket, she took out a notebook.

Inside, she had written a list of things she would need to prepare for the future.

• A two-story house in the countryside, facing south (somewhere James and Lorina could never find her)
• Raising goats in the yard (she had the ambition of maintaining her youthful skin with fresh goat’s milk every morning)
• Hiring a servant to tend the livestock and chop firewood (it would be impossible for her to manage everything alone in the countryside)

As she looked down at the list, Eliza realized she would also need to set aside money for medical expenses.

Unlike Lim A-young’s world, this kingdom had no health insurance. If one fell ill, the best option was to call a skilled physician—and they were, of course, extremely expensive.

Even just fulfilling the items on her list would require her to sell all the cash, gold bars, and jewels in the vault.

And still, she couldn’t shake the unease of having no emergency savings left afterward.

In this world, a woman was entirely dependent on her father or husband. Without a husband, the only professions available to her were secretary, nurse, or seamstress.

But secretarial work was meant for unmarried young ladies, and the others required years of training under someone else before one could become independent.

Eliza had no desire to scrape by during that time.

She didn’t want to live like she had in her past life—gritting her teeth, settling for ordinary kimbap instead of tonkatsu kimbap just to save money.

‘I need more money…’

Just as she began to sink into her new worry, there was a knock at the door.

Startled, she quickly closed her notebook and went to open it.

“Madam, a telegram has arrived.”

“Thank you.”

She thanked Marie and sent her away, though irritation stirred beneath the surface.

Come to think of it, she would have to get rid of Marie as well—the traitor.

But finding a maid willing to work from four in the morning without a single day off would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. In the first place, James had hired Marie precisely because of her insomnia.

‘And what guarantee is there that a new maid wouldn’t be bought off by Lorina?’

For now, she decided to keep her distance from Marie and deal with the problem gradually.

Then she unfolded the telegram.

<Three days’ worth of clothes. Navy pinstripe tie. Before 2 o’clock. —J.>

“Ha!”

Eliza immediately understood. James had suddenly been called to receive an important guest today.

He was never careless about his appearance to begin with, and whenever he met someone significant, he would even match his suit or accessories to the other family’s symbolic color.

It wasn’t the first time she had received a telegram consisting of nothing but his needs, yet irritation surged up all the same. She glared down at the paper in her hand.

“Would it kill you to add a ‘please’ or a ‘thank you’?”

Still, she inwardly chanted, I am the modest, kind, and devoted Mrs. Ashton! as she stomped her way to the dressing room.

The thought that James wouldn’t be home for at least three days should have been a relief, but the fact that she had to go to him in order to make that happen was thoroughly unpleasant.

She wasn’t confident she could hide the anger on her face when she saw him.

But the moment she opened the dressing room door, her mood calmed.

Because right beside the wardrobe, she saw the empty wooden stand.

It meant James had already left wearing a shirt Marie had ironed.

Nothing had happened—even though she hadn’t pressed it herself.

“……”

A faint shock settled over her as she stood before the antique wooden stand, staring at it quietly.

For her, neatly pressing her husband’s shirts every afternoon had been more than a chore, it had been a ritual.

A way of assuring herself that their relationship was still on track.

Even on days when they didn’t see each other, it had been the sacred thread that connected them.

And yet, in truth—it had meant nothing at all.

“That’s enough special treatment.”

With that, Eliza officially abolished the special care she had once reserved for the man who had been her entire world.

She packed his shirts and undergarments into a bag, then snatched up the navy pinstripe tie last, before leaving the room.

Out on the main road, she realized something astonishing.

Even when her eyes met those of the passing carriage horses she felt nothing.

Eliza stood still amid the rush of carriages, pedestrians, and street vendors, and understood that she had become a completely different person.

It was freedom.

Her eyes glistening, she raised her hand high toward an approaching carriage.

***

Athern lived up to its reputation as a thriving center of finance and commerce. Elegant buildings lined the well-paved streets, through which carriages and pedestrians moved in a constant, bustling flow.

In a kingdom where the concept of financial investment was still in its infancy, people like James were at the heart of it all, directing the movement of vast sums of money through deposits, stocks, and other investments.

After stepping down from the carriage, Eliza paused and looked around, as though seeing the city for the first time.

Then her eyes fixed on the large lettering atop one of the buildings: Roycobs Bank.

James would be in his office on the fourth floor at that very moment.

The chance of him glancing out of the window and spotting her was almost non-existent, yet Eliza still flinched and ducked beneath the awning of a nearby shop.

There had once been a time when the mere possibility of crossing paths with James would have filled her with quiet excitement.

Now, however, it felt like walking alone into enemy territory.

Holding the bag tightly against her chest, she hesitated.

‘If I just leave this at the reception desk… will the staff find it strange?’

Just then, the cry of a newspaper boy rang out from the street.

“Newspaper!”

Having never entrusted her affairs to anyone before, Eliza quickly waved him over.

“Hey, come here for a moment.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Would you like to run an errand?”

Instead of answering, the boy grinned and held out his hand.

When she placed a large bill into it, his eyes widened in shock.

‘It’s fine. It’s my husband’s money, after all.’

Feigning nonchalance, as if this were nothing unusual, she said,

“Go to the reception desk at Roycobs Bank and leave this bag there. Tell them it’s from Mrs. Ashton.”

“…Is that all, ma’am?”

The boy still looked unconvinced.

“That’s all. You should hurry.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

As if to repay the generous tip, the boy thr*st a newspaper into her hands before sprinting toward the bank.

Eliza waited until she saw him come back out empty-handed before turning away.

‘It was that simple… Then that means I’m free of James for three whole days?’

It was only when her mind was finally at ease that her steps grew lighter and the world around her came into focus.

Cafés with outdoor seating and restaurants of all kinds seemed to beckon her.

The street she had always walked down with her head down, feeling tense and avoiding even the gaze of passing horses, now appeared entirely new.

It was a world rich in movement, sound and color.

‘I’ve lived all this time without enjoying anything…!’

As if under a spell, she began to walk towards an attractive open-air café further ahead.

But her attention was drawn to the pavement in front of a fine restaurant further ahead.

It was the striking color that caught her eye.

A woman wearing a deep plum velvet dress was standing in front of a waiting carriage, holding a black lace parasol.

‘Lorina?’

Lorina had just stepped out of the restaurant and was being seen off by a man.

The young man standing across from her, with stylish brown curls, was unmistakably a noble.

Eliza recognized him at once.

‘Marquis Aedrin Phelin!’

She quickly crossed the road to the opposite pavement and made her way back towards the carriage waiting for Lorina.

Even from across the road, their conversation was clearly audible.

Lorina was speaking in a slightly excited voice.

“What are you saying? I truly had a wonderful time, Marquis.”

“If you say that, it puts me in a difficult position, Miss Winclaire. I’m certain I was the one who enjoyed it more.”

“And what if I enjoyed it just a little more? Hoho.”

Though she didn’t want to admit it, Lorina’s laughter was genuinely captivating.

It was like the voice of a siren, something men would find hard to resist.

Aside from her coldness and willingness to steal another woman’s husband, Lorina Winclaire was objectively very attractive.

Subjectively, however, she was a mess.

The marquis, buoyed by his feelings for her, continued eagerly.

“Then shall we continue competing over who enjoys themselves more? I know a café that serves coffee from Mount Esos. Or perhaps we could visit the racetrack to aid digestion.”

“Ah… I already have plans. I must return and assist my father.”

Lorina spoke with genuine regret.

“I don’t suppose we can keep the carriage waiting any longer, can we? It would be best to part here today.”

“If that is your wish, Miss Winclaire, then so it shall be. Let us meet again soon.”

“Of course, Marquis Phelin.”

The two blue-blooded nobles exchanged elegant farewells in the middle of the street before Lorina climbed into the carriage first.

Eliza was standing directly in view of the carriage window, facing the road. The moment Lorina got in, their eyes met.

Eliza beamed and waved brightly at her.

“…!”

The coachman, unaware of anything, set the carriage in motion, and Lorina was carried away, her mouth hanging open in shock.

Eliza returned to the pavement, forgetting all about the café she had intended to visit, and kept walking.

Then she let out a soft laugh.

‘So Lorina Winclaire can make that kind of foolish face, too?’

In front of her, she spoke of destiny and such over another woman’s husband—yet behind her back, she met men without hesitation.

‘That’s what you call two-timing.’

Even now, Eliza couldn’t understand why Lorina would abandon the future position of a marchioness and instead choose a married man, one who would require the trouble of removing a perfectly capable wife.

Though, considering how much wealth James would eventually bring to the Winclare count’s family, perhaps it made sense from their perspective.

‘His charm has ruined more than one life.’

With a self-deprecating thought, Eliza admitted that there were things she would never fully understand.

And instead of wasting time dwelling on such questions—she decided she would simply live for herself from now on, never again loving anyone carelessly.