Time passed quickly, and as winter approached with its chilly winds, about a month had gone by.

I received word that the Helena merchant group had sold the goods.

So finally, the amount of money I had agreed upon with the Count entered my possession.

“Wow, how much is all this? Now I could live as a freeloader for three generations and still have some leftover.”

“Wow- My lady, that’s so amazing!”

“Three generations? This could support you for thirty generations.”

Irena and I exclaimed in admiration as we checked the financial statement Dawson brought and my bank account balance. Dawson remained calm, but couldn’t hide his envious expression.

“And there are some things that came from the Helena merchant group.”

Thud-

It was a mountain of documents and pictures.

“What’s all this?”

“These are lists of mansions sent by the merchant group. The pictures beside them are the exteriors of each mansion.”

“They sent them quickly. This many?”

“Yes. They said they looked into all the decent mansions in the southern part of the north. They’re all in good commercial areas and convenient, and they’re in the southernmost part of the southern north. They say it will be as warm as the capital. There are seven cities in total, and they said to look at the ones you prefer.”

“Casto is capable. Since we have plenty of time, I should choose carefully.”

“Wow. These houses are so pretty.”

So I started looking through the documents Casto had made like a catalog for purchasing a mansion.

It finally felt real that I would be leaving soon.

“I’d like it to be in a big city, but I should narrow it down to places that are a bit away from overly crowded areas.”

I scribbled the conditions of the house I wanted to buy at the end of the document.

“Shall I help you?”

“Sure. Come over here and sit down. Let’s look at this together.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“I like these three places: Valtzburg, Schueden, and Eslina. I’ll focus on these.”

These areas were described as being in the southernmost part of the southern north, so winters weren’t too harsh.

They were also large enough not to be hostile to outsiders and had teleport gates for convenient transportation.

They were also known for their beautiful natural scenery. Irena and I began selecting mansions from the documents.

“This mansion has a pretty exterior, but it’s over 30 years old.”

“My lady, how about this house? It seems to meet all the conditions!”

“Hmm, this one doesn’t have a garden. We need at least a small garden.”

“Ah, that’s right. We need to keep pets.”

We started choosing mansions, chattering excitedly with expectations for the new house.

“I think these four are good. What about you?”

“I like this one, this one, and this one!”

And two of the mansions we chose overlapped.

“They say all people’s eyes are the same. We can start by looking at the overlapping ones first.”

“Yes. I’ll organize them and bring them to Mr. Demian. Good night, my lady!”

“Alright, thank you.”

Thud-

After Irena left with higher than usual tension, I felt strange being alone.

“The day I’ll leave the Epine Count’s house is really not far off.”

Enveloped in a strange feeling, I muttered as I buried myself in bed and closed my eyes.

***

The next day, Demian came early in the morning.

“My lady, please wake up. Mr. Demian the butler is here.”

“Mmm. Tell him to come later.”

“But he’s already in the drawing room. Besides, it’s already past 10 o’clock!”

“…When I leave here, I’m going to sleep until 10 PM.”

Irena woke me up mercilessly, and I grumbled but staggered up and went straight to the drawing room.

“Eek-! My lady! Without washing your face! How can you go out in your nightgown!”

“What’s the big deal, Demian probably doesn’t want to wait long either.”

“…Such consideration is unnecessary.”

Demian looked astonished as he saw me walking out.

His gaze avoided me and focused on the wall.

“My lady, at least put this on!”

Irena hurriedly approached and wrapped a shawl around my shoulders. Then she tied it tightly.

What a sight this is.

After shaking my head to chase away the sleepiness, I became more alert and started to understand why they were reacting this way.

“Ah, here they consider even a slightly low-cut sleeveless nightgown as immodest?”

“The capital is especially strict, but you should be careful in other places too!”

Irena said sternly.

“I knew that, but I forgot for a moment. I’ll be careful.”

“I’m glad you know. From before! Please, please be more careful.”

Demian pressed his eyes as if tired.

Irena was fine, but when Demian added another word, a pointless rebellious feeling welled up. Out of defiance, I added one more thing.

“Sometimes I think people are so rigid. In life, you can wear less sometimes, or not wear anything at all.”

“My lady!”

“My lady.”

And I almost lost my hearing.

“Okay, I’ll be careful. Can you stop looking at me like that? But why did you come so early in the morning?”

“You said we were going to look at houses. Didn’t you send the documents yesterday for that reason?”

Demian answered my question while sighing deeply and holding his head.

Look at that insolent attitude.

“But the time now is,”

“It’s almost 11 o’clock. We’ll leave after lunch.”

He even cut me off mid-sentence. I was dumbfounded.

“Wow, sometimes I wonder who’s really in charge here.”

“……”

“Look at Demian’s expression, Irena. I’m so scared. Boo-hoo.”

“My lady.”

“Haah.”

Demian stared at the ceiling, looking stressed. Irena looked at me as if seeing something hopeless.

“Alright. I guess when I’m with people I’m comfortable with, I unconsciously want to act spoiled.”

For a moment, Demian and Irena’s expressions froze, then returned to normal.

“Then Irena, bring lunch. Where are we going first?”

I decided to pretend I hadn’t said anything unnecessary.

Demian composed himself and said calmly,

“Coincidentally, the mansions you ranked first and second are both in Eslina. Let’s start there.”

I nodded with a grin.