“Old maid!”

Andrea was dumbfounded by the sound of children shouting and running away.

“Oh my, those little rascals.”

The coachman of the carriage she had just stepped down from looked flustered and made excuses.

“There seems to be some strange trend spreading among the kids in this area lately. They grab anyone and shout ‘old maid’ before running away, and quite a few ladies have been offended. I’ll catch them and give them a proper lesson.”

“It’s fine. It’s just children playing.”

Rather than correct that she was only twenty-three, which would make it seem like she cared about children’s pranks, Andrea just laughed it off and entered the mansion.

“You’re here?”

In the lobby, Camilla greeted her with a smile, wearing a light dress suitable for home.

“Come in.”

She followed Camilla to the garden. The two had planned to spend time together after a long while.

Sitting across from each other at the garden table with tea served, Camilla asked:

“How are things lately? The trading company work?”

Andrea smiled.

“It’s manageable.”

Recently, she had been helping with the trading company work with Theodore’s permission. It was partly an unavoidable choice since his daughter remained unmarried over time, leaving him without a son-in-law to entrust the company to, but it was also because when Gillian left for Kirak, he realized his daughter might need to live a future requiring a sense of ‘management.’

Camilla glanced at Andrea and asked casually:

“Any word from that person?”

Before answering, Andrea took a sip of tea.

Two years ago, or three years counting by calendar years, Gillian had returned to Kirak. Within a year, he had gathered forces and fought battles, ultimately driving out his uncle and reclaiming his Count position.

The mercenaries had fought well, but the biggest factor was how quickly supporters rallied to him, faster than expected. The fighting ended when his uncle died in battle. One of his uncle’s sons-in-law had fled, but his forces were apparently too insignificant to worry about.

Even without reading Gillian’s personal letters, news of Kirak’s political situation had reached the Kingdom of Selon loudly enough that she could know how everything was progressing. 

Particularly, the dramatic story of the exiled former Dratva Count’s son returning to drive out his uncle was sensational in itself.

The letter Gillian wrote with a passionate heart the day he reclaimed his Count position made Andrea cry. Holding that letter filled with his hardships and pain, joy and elation, and longing for her, Andrea cried a lot that day.

Gillian had written in a tone so heated it seemed audible, saying he would come for her soon, asking her to wait just a little longer until the political situation stabilized. 

That day, Andrea felt like she owned the world. Not because she would become a Countess, of course, but because she could finally be with Gillian.

Then one month, two months…

Two calendar years passed like that. Now Kirak’s political situation seemed fairly stable. But there was no word of Gillian coming.

Worried that repeatedly asking ‘when will you come’ would seem like nagging, she tried writing letters with maximum indirection about wanting to see spring flowers together or how nice it would be to take a boat on the Misolr River when summer came. 

But Gillian never replied that they would already be together by then. He would say pleasant-sounding things like she would be more beautiful than spring flowers or he might not notice the scenery even while boating, but the problem was these words contained no essential promise.

Even the letters had stopped coming three months ago. Even at the latest, letters had come every two weeks, but when Andrea would rush out herself at news of a letter and extend her hand to the postman, he would only shake his head.

“Did he find another woman?”

Suddenly Camilla spoke with a suspicious expression. Andrea stopped her tea-drinking motion completely.

“Oh, no, I don’t mean he’d abandon you…”

Camilla hastily added.

“It’s already been three years.”

Andrea tried not to glare at her friend for saying such hurtful things. She didn’t want to be petty enough to say this, but…

“After receiving so much help from my father, he wouldn’t just ignore that.”

“That kind of thing can be repaid with money. He reclaimed his territory, so what’s that amount of money to him?”

Finally, a rare shadow of displeasure crossed Andrea’s face.

“Are you trying to pick a fight?”

“I’m thinking of you. Don’t get too attached to something that won’t work out. Look, when you gave up on that crush of yours, didn’t a man like a top-quality luxury eight-horse carriage appear?”

Camilla knew nothing about Priscilla’s true identity and only knew that Andrea had briefly pretended to be a poor college student in Misolr and happened to meet the exiled Dratva Count’s heir, promising marriage. She also knew that the man in black clothes from the festival was him.

Andrea stirred her sugared tea with skeptical eyes.

“So if I give up the top-quality luxury eight-horse carriage, what comes next?”

“Uh…”

Camilla, who apparently hadn’t thought that far when she spoke, rolled her eyes around and laughed awkwardly.

“Count Dratva is quite a catch though. It’s really too dreamlike for commoners like us. Not a Viscount’s wife, not a Baron’s wife, but a Count’s wife?”

“I don’t want to become something like a Count’s wife. I would have been fine with Gillian even as a penniless college student.”

No, Andrea would have actually preferred that. Though she naturally supported it since it was Gillian’s life goal that he had been preparing for even before meeting her, from a personal standpoint, she would have preferred him living as a son-in-law to the Ulrich family.

“I know.”

Camilla nodded.

“But if that person hadn’t been exiled and come here, becoming a Count’s wife would have been impossible in the first place. That’s the truth.”

So after returning to his homeland and reclaiming his position, did he now find it too good to marry a mere commoner woman?

While looking at the rippling red tea, Andrea felt anxiety writhing in her stomach.

“My lady.”

Then Camilla’s maid approached, bowed, and spoke.

“The lady of the house says she’s coming.”

Camilla had married William Graham, whom she’d met at the festival and who had now become a lawyer, and even had a son.

That much time had passed.

Time enough for many things to change. People, and love too.

***

“What?”

When Andrea asked in surprise, Anna, who was brushing her dress nearby, nodded.

“Some Count family sent a marriage proposal for you, miss.”

“Which one?”

When she asked due to the vague subject, Anna whispered secretively.

“I overheard the master talking. I didn’t catch the family name, but he definitely said Count.”

“No way…”

“It’s true. And it’s even a Count. So the master seems to be thinking positively about it too.”

Even though Gillian had reclaimed his family, Kirak was such a distant land, and the path to rebuild everything was long. 

As a father, he would probably prefer his daughter becoming a Countess in the society where he had lived his whole life. As Camilla said, there were plenty of ways to collect the loaned money.

“But I’m already twenty-three…”

Though she thought nothing of it herself, socially it was an age where she had slightly missed her marriageable years. Meaning she didn’t have enough merit for a Count family to send a marriage proposal.

But Anna whispered:

“The thing is, that Count’s son apparently saw you at the opera. They say he fell for you at first sight. And their family culture seems more open to the times and changes than other families. So they’re actually trying something new by bringing in a son-in-law or daughter-in-law from a merchant family.”

After chattering, Anna looked at her young lady with pitying eyes.

“It’s already been three months without contact.”

“……”

Andrea said nothing. Anna glanced at her cautiously.

“How about just meeting him once?”

“Alright.”

Anna’s eyes widened in surprise, apparently not expecting Andrea to agree so readily.

“Really?”

Andrea sighed.

“I can’t live like this forever.”

Anna smiled brightly.

“That’s wonderful news!”

***

Right. She couldn’t live forever just waiting for Gillian like this.

That’s why she planned to go to Kirak.

‘Why didn’t I think of this sooner?’

Looking at the bustling port full of people, Andrea felt proud of her decision, even if late. If Gillian wouldn’t come, she could go to him.

She should have gone when news came that Gillian had reclaimed Dratva, but she had kindly waited, thinking his uncle’s remnants might remain and he would need time to reorganize the family and territory. But now was the time to act.

She had left just a memo for her father.

<Going to get married.>

He would naturally know where his daughter was headed.

Then a passing woman bumped into her lightly without seeing her and apologized.

“Excuse me, Lady.”

Andrea smiled gracefully.

“It’s fine.”

People now naturally addressed her with the Lady honorific.

Soon Andrea made her way through the crowd, looking for the ship she would board.

Recently, with active trade, there were many ships traveling between Selon and Kirak, and she heard that pirates who once swarmed the coast of Landriga in southern Kirak had been mostly suppressed. 

However, since Kirak’s internal transportation was still poor, she planned to disembark at Landriga’s port and then travel to Dratva Castle mixed in with an armed trading company connected to Ulrich Trading Company. She had already finished arrangements with them.

Gillian, who had returned to his homeland, might be surrounded by local beauties and have already forgotten someone like her.

‘Still, since we made promises, he can’t just turn me away when I’ve come all the way to Kirak.’

And she could only rekindle emotions or even plead with him if they met face to face.

Andrea boarded the ship with her minimally packed luggage. She worried her father might come looking for her, but when the time came, the ship departed safely.

Standing at the deck railing, she looked at the receding port. The sea breeze felt good. Drawn by that wind, she looked toward the ocean where the ship was heading.

She didn’t want to become something like a Countess Dratva. She simply missed Gillian.

***

The journey to Kirak went smoothly. The weather was good too. The only discomfort was the very cramped cabin, but even that seemed like part of travel’s romance.

Andrea mostly spent time reading books, writing, or strolling the deck. Since it was a merchant ship rather than a passenger ship, there were no fellow passengers to befriend, but instead she conversed with the crew whenever they had time.

“Count Dratva?”

A sailor organizing ropes on deck asked back. Andrea nodded.

“Yes. Are there any rumors going around?”

Though Andrea had collected various rumors and news, she thought a sailor who actually traveled to and from Landriga might have more detailed information.

“The original heir who returned recently seems quite busy. They say he’s cleaning up the slave market, which was a bad practice… Oh, and they say he’s laying railroad tracks in Landriga. So technicians and workers are flocking to Landriga, according to widespread rumors.”

The stories the sailor told were mostly news about how busy Gillian was. So she could believe that Gillian currently had no time to think about marriage.

“Hey!”

Then another sailor called that sailor.

“Just a moment.”

The sailor who left seemed busy and didn’t return. Since it wasn’t particularly urgent, Andrea also returned to her room.

Not long after, she suddenly heard commotion outside. Following sounds of people running frantically, strange vibrations that seemed to shake the entire ship followed.

She was looking up at the ceiling in puzzlement when it happened.

Thud.

With a huge impact, the ship shook and organized items came tumbling down. Andrea was startled and grabbed the wall.

Incomprehensible shouting came from outside. Fear suddenly struck her.

When she carefully opened the door, sailors were running around frantically. Andrea quickly closed the door again. Though she didn’t know what had happened, just seeing their expressions told her something serious had occurred. Her heart pounded. Had she thought too lightly of the journey to such a distant place as Kirak?

That’s when it happened.

Bang!

A man burst through the door. Andrea couldn’t even scream and only widened her eyes. But when the man discovered her, he made a puzzled sound, apparently not expecting anyone to be there.

「Huh?」

He was a strange man she had never seen on the ship. He wore a disheveled outfit that seemed like Kirak clothing but was too messy to pinpoint exactly where it was from, looking like something picked up here and there.

No matter how she looked at it, he was a pirate.

「A woman?」

The man grinned, showing blackened, rotten teeth. Since they were getting closer to Kirak, he was speaking in Kirak language.

「Cute.」

She got goosebumps.

With nowhere to run in the narrow cabin, she reflexively threw herself toward the opposite side. But the man, presumably a pirate, too easily caught Andrea’s waist and slung her over his shoulder.

“Kyah!”

As the laughing man carried Andrea out like a trophy, a man who seemed to be his companion approached and asked:

「What’s this, a woman?」

「Lucky find. This body’s night is going to be very hot.」

With blood rushing to her head making her dizzy, she heard the two chattering. While her mind was completely scattered, refreshing curses erupted from not far away.

「You there! You d*mn bastards! Even if I used your guts as jump ropes, it wouldn’t satisfy me! Where are you sneaking off to?! Bring that here right now!」

Then the man carrying Andrea ran hurriedly. Her body shook violently, making Andrea feel like vomiting.

「Oh, what do you mean! There was a woman here, so I was just bringing her out!」

The man grinned and lowered Andrea from his shoulder, pushing her before what was presumably the pirate captain.

The deck had already been somewhat organized, with familiar sailors captured and kneeling before the pirates.

“Wait…!”

With her face red from blood rushing to her head, Andrea desperately grabbed her senses and shouted urgently.

“You want ransom, right? How much do you want?”

「What’s she saying? Someone who can speak Selon?」

Naturally Andrea understood those words, but somehow she felt she shouldn’t let on that she could speak Kirak.

Meanwhile, the pirate captain looked around and pointed his sword tip at one captured Selon sailor.

「You can speak Kirak, right? What’s the woman saying?」

When the sailor nervously translated, the pirate captain grinned.

「She’ll pay ransom? Then gold equal to her body weight.」

Even Andrea’s face had to change color at those words. Even a banker who could make kings tremble would find it difficult to handle that much ransom.

“That’s…!”

About to shout convulsively, she swallowed her words with effort. Even trapped in a wolf’s den, there were ways to survive if she thought carefully.

“Fine. I’ll pay it.”

The pirate captain looked Andrea over with surprise, apparently not expecting her to agree to pay that amount.

「Are you some princess? You have family who can pay that much ransom?」

“I do. Take me to Kirak.”

Though she didn’t want to burden Gillian with such a large sum and had no intention of doing so, getting to Kirak was the immediate priority.

「That’s a lie. You’re from Selon.」

“The person I’m going to marry is in Kirak.”

The captain burst into loud laughter.

「Someone you’re going to marry? Not even someone you’re already married to! You used that tiny brain well but picked the wrong number. Besides, can a man you’re going alone to meet on a merchant ship like this pay gold equal to your body weight?」

“Going alone has circumstances…”

Bang!

The captain mercilessly kicked a barrel beside him. Andrea flinched and shrank her head.

「Nonsense! Even Osokoi couldn’t handle that kind of money!」

Osokoi? She was curious about the unfamiliar name but it wasn’t an atmosphere to ask.

The captain continued speaking. No, sneering.