“Lorazie!”

“Hey!”

“Lorazie Epine.”

I turned my head with a grin, the shouts shattering the melancholy of farewell.

“It seems they’ve arrived with the news I’ve been anticipating.”

“What have you done now?”

Seeing my smile, Demian held his head and said he’d prepare the carriage for my immediate departure.

As expected, Demian is ever so perceptive.

I winked at him, and he left, shaking his head in exasperation.

Chuckling, I turned my body completely towards the stairs. And I looked at the people approaching fervently.

Seeing their faces turning red and blue as if about to burst, I raised the corner of my mouth in a mischievous smile, which made their faces turn even redder.

“My, everyone coming to see me off so passionately. I’m touched.”

“You, what the hell is this article about?”

First batter. Count Epine, completely ignoring my greeting, threw a newspaper at my feet.

I lightly kicked the newspaper with my toe and said,

“What do you mean, what is it? It’s an article about the Epine Count’s family doing a good deed to welcome the end of the year.”

The first letter I sent last week was a donation letter regarding the trade profits.

I requested the newspaper to prominently feature the Epine Count family’s intention to donate 70% of the profits from this trade. That is, all except the 30% I took.

Of course, Count Epine had no intention of making this donation.

But what can you do?

It’s already been prominently featured on the front page of the newspaper as a generous donation, seen by all the people.

The letter, with my seal, was delivered to New Sophair in the name of the Count’s family, and the newspaper, upon receiving the letter, thought it was a good deed and immediately published the article.

The letter arrived just yesterday, and I requested it to be published in this morning’s paper, so there wasn’t even time to verify the facts. It was worth paying 20 berks per letter for the reservation.

I really had no intention of leaving a single penny of the money I earned for the Count’s family.

“Count, think of it as doing a good deed for the end of the year and New Year. The Count’s family is wealthy enough without that money, right? It’s already out of your hands, so just humbly accept it.”

“Ha. Lorazie, you!”

The Count, at a loss for words, barely stood leaning on the sofa with a bewildered expression.

The next batter is Lindel.

“Have you gone mad? To do such a crazy thing. Do you think you can leave here safely after doing this?”

I brushed my hair once and smiled brightly at him.

“You introduced me to those good young nobles last time, didn’t you? This is my repayment.”

“Cancel it! Cancel it right now!”

“I sent love letters to the young ladies I specially selected, so now, brother, you should try dating them one by one and find a good match. After all, as the second son, you can’t inherit the family, so entering a good family as a son-in-law is the most successful path, isn’t it?”

“What? Hey!”

“Oh my… My ears are ringing, brother. Anyway, you know what to do if it goes well, right?”

Lindel, I told you I wouldn’t let you off easy, didn’t I? Just wait and see.

The second letter, or rather about 30 letters, were love letters filled with passionate confessions.

For Lindel, I deliberately selected and chose only young ladies with poor reputations in high society.

People should know how to put themselves in others’ shoes. I hoped Lindel would become a bit more human through this experience.

“You, you dare to…!”

Clicking my tongue, I cut off his words and fixed my gaze on Calix.

“Brother, I’ve been very lenient with you. You know that, right?”

Snicker-

“Yes, thank you.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Thanks to you, I can do good deeds this year.”

The last letter delivered in Calix’s name was a letter pledging to donate his entire year’s personal funds to the Hereis Poorhouse.

That place with the adorable children sponsored by Limpe.

“I guess doing so many good deeds at the end of the year makes me feel warm and proud inside.”

This refreshing feeling of a thousand-year-old knot coming undone in my gut.

I smiled at them with a burst of sweetness that I hadn’t felt in a long time.

The retribution was carried out strictly according to karma.

The Count who had dumped Lora somewhere and neglected her, Lindel who had constantly tormented her, Calix who always looked down on Lora even though he claimed he didn’t.

I decided to spare the Countess. In a way, she was a victim too.

“Hey! Are you ignoring me?”

At that moment, Lindel, who was terrible at reading the room, clenched his fist and shouted.

I looked at him pitifully before opening my mouth.

“I didn’t cross the line.”

“What?”

“Just a small, very small, light retribution for everything I’ve endured so far? Brother, please grow up a bit.”

“What nonsense is that? Fix this right now! Right now!”

My ears felt like they were about to fall off, but since everyone except Lindel was focused on my words, I continued speaking.

“Until now, I’ve never been loved, but I guess I still thought of you as family. I didn’t feel like taking such a fatal revenge on the Count’s family.”

It really was true. If it were the original Lora, she wouldn’t have been satisfied with my petty revenge.

She had even used forbidden magic, hadn’t she? I knew that better than anyone else.

However, the Count’s occasional show of lingering attachment, Calix’s naive attitude. As for Lindel, well, he’s too immature to even comment on. Anyway, it seemed I had developed some sort of love-hate relationship because of these things.

In the silence, I met the eyes of those staring at me with complex expressions, one by one. Lindel, who met my gaze, uncharacteristically unclenched his lips. His eyes were still full of stubbornness, but for a moment, a flicker of guilt seemed to pass through them.

“I don’t hold any grudges now. I’ll live my life considering you all as strangers from now on, so you all live well too. Let’s not see each other again.”

Finally, I smiled brightly at Lora’s family. A pure, clean smile without a single trace of worry or lingering attachment.

“Goodbye, everyone.”

As it seemed all the luggage had been loaded, I turned around and walked towards the door.

Behind me, even Lindel, who had been shouting angrily, fell into quiet silence.

“Lora.”

At that moment, the Count called out to me.

“I’m sorry.”

I neither paused, nor turned back, nor replied, and just kept walking out.

Sion quietly followed behind me.

***

“Kyaa! What on earth is this?”

And as I was leaving happily and refreshingly, I hit someone with the carriage.