But she had no time to indulge in feelings while showing such trivial discomforts. In fact, this level of pain had been routine during the past five years, so she didn’t think it was much of a problem.

What was more problematic was the emotion she had felt at dawn today.

Perhaps it was because of the exhausting carriage journey. When she opened her eyes at the Reynes mansion, the emotion she felt was familiarity.

The ceiling of a place other than the Wilton house felt familiar. Feeling such emotions made her somewhat strange and unfamiliar to herself.

And, she felt anxious.

Familiarity breeds comfort.

And for someone who lacks the sufficient ability and foundation to take care of themselves, comfort is rat poison.

It’s no different from sitting leisurely on the beach, unaware that waves are approaching that will sweep you away.

So Janet had no choice but to get up.

In these precarious times when every place she stepped on felt like thin ice, she had no luxury to lie looking at the familiar ceiling of Reynes.

“……”

By the time the noise of the street felt louder than the sharp ringing penetrating her ears, she slowly lifted her eyelids and entered the building.

From what she had heard the last time she visited the company, there was supposed to be a meeting today. It was about the location of a new railway station to be built in the capital.

It was clearly an important meeting. After all, there was only one railway station in the capital so far.

“Hello, Uncle.”

“…Janet! You came.”

As she entered the president’s office, Tailey Wilton, whose face had momentarily frozen upon seeing Janet, quickly put on a kind smile.

“Where were you at the cathedral? Do you know how much I looked for you!”

Although he had actually just sat there while people were running around, Tailey scolded her while reminiscing about that time, believing he had done his duty simply by not leaving his seat.

Looking back, he remembered that he had genuinely worried and hadn’t left his seat, which made him feel like he had been a truly good uncle.

“No matter how much you hate seeing things, you can’t just leave your seat like that. How can you expect to see only what you want to see in social life?”

Still unaware that Janet had collapsed, Tailey went so far as to lecture her with an air of importance.

“Yes, I wasn’t feeling well then and collapsed for a moment. I’ll be more careful in the future.”

Janet quietly nodded and answered nonchalantly. Tailey was surprised and stammered as he asked again.

“You collapsed? What, did, didn’t you return to the capital first? So you came back to the capital with the duke?”

“Yes.”

Then what would the duke have thought seeing him return to the capital first? Tailey fell into thought for a moment, then looked at Janet with slightly narrowed eyes.

Seeing how casually she spoke, it probably wasn’t anything serious? There’s a high possibility that she’s describing taking a nap somewhere as collapsing.

Yes, thinking that must be right, Tailey turned away.

In any case, this wasn’t a topic that would benefit him to discuss further.

“I heard there’s a meeting about the train station. I’ll attend too.”

“Ah, that. It was held yesterday, not today. There’s no meeting today…”

Knock, knock. Interrupting Tailey’s words, someone knocked on the door and entered. It was his secretary.

“President, the meeting preparations are complete. If you move now…”

“Ahem.”

Tailey cleared his throat and moved. As if making an excuse, he added, “There was a topic we didn’t get to discuss yesterday…”

“Then I’ll start the meeting about the capital’s second train station.”

After a brief stir caused by Janet’s appearance, employees began briefing about several candidate locations.

However, Tailey didn’t listen attentively. He already had a place in mind.

Pretending to listen, he nodded a few times, and when the briefing ended, he said,

“We’ll proceed with Pita Street.”

Pita Street was located in the northwest of the capital. It was close to Latero Street, one of the two streets in the capital where townhouses were concentrated.

The current train station is near Ezelcross, another street with concentrated townhouses, on Deltz Street. So for balance, it makes sense to build the next one near Latero.

There were some secret requests from nobles who had homes in Latero, but Tailey was confident that this decision was based on completely legitimate and solid grounds, not because of those requests.

The meeting would conclude as Tailey wished.

“Hmm, wouldn’t Delphneu Street in the center be better?”

If only this child hadn’t casually interrupted.

All the employees’ eyes turned toward Janet. Those eyes contained a bit of surprise and a small hope.

In fact, the employees also thought Delphneu Street was more suitable than Pita, and they had conducted their briefing with more emphasis on Delphneu.

Tailey, carefully hiding his discomfort, said,

“I don’t understand why you think that.”

“The center is more efficient for all transportation routes, not just trains. The floating population in the center is also several times larger than in the northwest.”

“But the first station wasn’t in the center either, but in the southeast. To maintain balance, we need one in the northwest as well.”

“When trains were first introduced and the station was built, the focus was more on freight transport than passenger cars. The location was also determined considering accessibility to suburban factories. But now that passenger cars have become more central…”

“Accessibility, right. The majority of train users are nobles. So naturally, it should be near the streets where townhouses are concentrated. It will certainly be more efficient than Deltz Street.”

Janet, who had been listening intently to Tailey’s words, tilted her head.

“The number of nobles residing in the northwest is half that of the southeast. Moreover, looking at recent train users, there are quite a few merchants and industrialists who have accumulated wealth. The central area is where these merchants and industrialists frequently visit.”

Tailey was at a loss for words against this fact-based observation. The employees also seemed to secretly agree with Janet’s words. Eventually, Tailey cleared his throat and said to Janet,

“The meeting atmosphere seems too heated. Shall we take a break?”

“Ah… yes.”

“Come on, everyone take a break. Janet, I’m a bit thirsty, could you get some drinks?”

“What?”

“Ah, to commemorate your return to the company. Can’t you do that much to encourage the employees?”

Tailey’s request was so matter-of-fact that Janet rose from her seat in bewilderment. With a look from Tailey, his secretary led Janet out of the meeting room.

It wasn’t difficult to prepare tea and serve it as encouragement, as her uncle had said. But the subtly sarcastic nuance bothered her.

However, Janet thought she was overreacting and carefully brewed the tea.

But when she entered the meeting room thinking the break wasn’t over yet, everyone was already seated inside. No, it seemed they had never left their seats at all.

“So, everyone agrees with that direction, right?”

Tailey glanced at Janet once and continued the meeting as if nothing had happened. As if her appearance had no impact on the meeting at all.

“Then we’ll confirm Pita Street in the northwest.”

“What? But…”

“Janet.”

As Janet opened her mouth at the decision that completely ignored her opinion, Tailey sighed and said,

“The employees have already agreed on this matter. Are you going to be so stubborn just because House Reynes where you currently reside is in the center?”

Janet swallowed dryly.

It was true that the Reynes mansion was located in the central area near the imperial palace. But that was a completely separate issue, unrelated to this.

“As I said earlier, in terms of efficiency…”

“Yes, yes! I didn’t know my niece was this stubborn. We’ll make the third one in the center. Happy now?”

His tone was like soothing and coaxing a child. Janet knew this wasn’t the appropriate attitude for this meeting. Not just her, but everyone in this meeting room would know that.

But.

She felt numerous glances directed at her. The fatigue of being unintentionally caught in someone else’s family quarrel, and a bit of sympathy for someone being publicly humiliated.

The sense of humiliation creeping over her amid those gazes was a different kind of emotion from when she was unconditionally pointed at as a witch.

Janet’s heart pounded. She wanted to retort, but her lips wouldn’t part. Her lower lip seemed to tremble slightly.

“Well then, let’s end today’s meeting here.”

Tailey rose from his seat with a relieved voice. Then he looked at Janet, who was frozen by the door, with seemingly concerned eyes.

“Janet, I heard you collapsed. Why trouble yourself coming here when you’re not feeling well? You should rest for another week. I’m saying this out of concern and consideration for you.”

“……”

“Ah! Feel free to have the drinks and snacks here. Have a good time.”

Tailey showed a kind smile and left the meeting room.

Janet stood blankly, habitually fiddling with the ring finger of her right hand. Even to herself, the smile she put on to pretend she hadn’t been affected seemed awkward.

“I’ll go ahead. Good work, everyone.”

As if what had just happened was nothing, Janet spoke calmly and left the meeting room.

She was so tired.

She didn’t want to talk to anyone. She needed time to quietly organize her thoughts and feelings.

But that night, when she returned to her room at the Reynes mansion….