Chapter 4
“The mistress customer complained?!”
“She said Ellie mocked her.”
“What?!”
“So.”
That cheating couple, they had a bit of a fight when they parted yesterday.
Right, when you were selling handkerchiefs to that handsome customer.
The man told the woman, ‘My wife might find out, so don’t send letters with lipstick marks to my house from now on.’
Ellie was loading the wrapped dress onto the back of the carriage then.
Suddenly the woman said.
‘Excuse me, why are you laughing?’
‘Pardon?’
‘I asked why you are laughing. What’s so funny?’
“And she wrote a letter of complaint right in front of Ellie and left. She said Ellie mocked her by calling her a mistress.”
She claimed Ellie was a staff member with no manners and demanded action, saying she would follow up until the end.
‘So that’s why Ellie looked upset yesterday.’
But still.
“Did they have to go as far as firing her?!”
“It’s Mrs. Scrooge’s decision.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“What kind of law is this? They can’t even protect their staff!”
“It’s too much!”
Everyone protested on Ellie’s behalf, but the manager just shook his head.
“It can’t be helped. Mrs. Scrooge is firm.”
“…”
“Anyway, it’s not like Ellie is entirely blameless for giving the customer a pretext, right?”
“Huh.”
I clicked my tongue in disbelief.
Ellie, who didn’t know she would be fired and had come in early, fully dressed in her uniform, and even swept the first-floor in advance, looked distraught.
This is truly unbelievable.
I grabbed a colleague’s arm and whispered.
“Is Ellie really going to be fired just like this? Isn’t there any way?”
“There isn’t… unless someone informs the cheating man’s wife.”
“The cheating man’s wife? What does she have to do with Ellie getting reinstated… Ah.”
Then the mistress would be distracted. Distracted enough not to worry about Ellie.
Then Mrs. Scrooge would reinstate Ellie too.
There’s no talent like Ellie. She’s skillful and diligent.
“But we don’t know who the cheating man’s wife is. Don’t we not even know the cheating man’s name?”
“That’s right. Who would cheat while revealing their name and address… Oh? No, wait.”
“Why, why?”
“The cheating man bought a bonnet for his wife yesterday, too, you see? He wrote down the address, asking for it to be sent to his mansion.”
“Oh, then…”
“But what good is that? There’s no way for us to know that address. It must be in Mrs. Scrooge’s office.”
“What is that…”
Only Mrs. Scrooge can enter there. My colleague patted my shoulder as I felt frustrated.
“Seraphina, I’m really angry too. But there’s nothing we can do here.”
Stop thinking about it and give up. If you keep obsessing over it, you’ll only hurt yourself.
“We can lose our jobs like this at any time, so if you think someone is a difficult customer, avoid them unconditionally.”
The colleague who offered the advice left to prepare for opening.
But I couldn’t do that.
I watched Ellie, who was crying blankly, being chased out by the manager.
“…”
‘When you were selling handkerchiefs to that handsome customer.’
I was originally the one in charge of that cheating couple.
So, it could have been me who lost my job overnight like that.
If Arden hadn’t happened to come in and replace me.
‘Why should that happen?’
Why should Ellie, or I, lose our jobs.
Just because of a customer’s outburst.
“…”
Do you know that feeling?
The feeling of wanting to punish someone, even if it causes me a little trouble, even if I suffer some loss myself.
If this is what you call justice, I want to deliver justice now.
So, I made a decision.
I’m going to find that address.
Night.
1 AM, when the streetlights were sparsely out.
The building’s exterior wall glowed blue from the moonlight. Yellow light occasionally leaked through the window gaps. Against the backdrop of the city nightscape, I was…
Sniff.
Creeping sideways back towards the Scrooge Tailor Shop, which I had left after work.
‘I won’t touch anything else, I’ll just look at the order form and the address and leave.’
I hadn’t done anything yet, but I was already shaking. I was looking around the deserted surroundings when I turned onto DeMarcy Street where the tailor shop was.
Thud.
“Ah!”
I bumped into a man who was just coming out of the alley.
The man lightly grabbed my elbow to steady me as I stumbled back in surprise.
“Excuse me.”
He tilted his head and disappeared first.
I kept my gaze on the back of the man wearing a gray hood.
‘His eyes…’
They’re sky blue.
A clean, pale sky blue, like the glaciers in a fairy tale book.
“…”
A man in a hood popping out of an alley at this hour.
Was he a pickpocket?
I suspiciously checked my body, and then.
‘Ah. I don’t have any pockets to pick.’
I didn’t bring even 1 gold coin.
Because I didn’t have any.
What a relief!
“Where is the doc-u-ments… nahh…”
The dark 5th floor. Mrs. Scrooge’s office.
I opened the door and entered using the sharp pin on the back of the brooch I brought.
‘Just in case, I’ll lock the door again.’
I was rummaging through the desk piled with files when.
Clink.
“!”
My body moved before my head could.
The door opened just as I hid under the desk.
“I’m telling you, can’t you trust me, Oppa?”
I thought it would be Mrs. Scrooge, naturally.
“Oppa, I trust you. It’s that woman I don’t trust!”
It was Mrs. Scrooge, but she had company.
“She doesn’t even know Oppa is using her, and she’s so arrogant… Even yesterday, she sent me a letter telling me to fire or not fire a staff member… I was truly miserable…”
“Don’t worry. Once this deal goes through, I won’t have any more business with her.”
Mrs. Scrooge was sobbing, and hugging Mrs. Scrooge and pressing his lips to her forehead was…
The cheating man from yesterday?!
Aaaaaaaaaaah…
I covered my mouth with my palm.
I secretly watched the man and woman in the mirror set up in the corner of the room.
Hahaha. Hahahahahaha.
What a drama!
‘No wonder the Madam fired Ellie right away.’
The man was two-timing: his wife, the mistress, and Mrs. Scrooge.
“But Oppa, you really weren’t interested in our staff member, were you? It was written in the letter.”
“I told you no! Your staff member showed interest in me, and I pretended not to notice.”
“Then you won’t mind that I fired her?”
“Of course not!”
Wow, seriously.
Even while I was gaping in disbelief, the two people’s conversation continued.
“Anyway, that’s that, but darling, Oppa is getting thirsty.”
I’m going crazy. He calls Mrs. Scrooge “darling” too?
“Heat the milk to 70 degrees, mix in two spoons of matcha powder, add ice, and pour the espresso over it. Please use sugar from the Eastern Continent.”
This guy makes his “darling” do that?
“Oh, honestly. Oppa can’t do anything without me.”
The Madam left the office. Leaving her lover alone in the office where all the documents were.
The father of two, with two “darlings,” who was left alone, maintained his smile until the door closed.
Then he walked towards the desk where I was hiding.
“Let’s see~ Where is the personnel file of that pretty staff member I saw yesterday~”
“…”
“The younger staff member next to her was cute too. I should ask to meet her privately now that she’s fired~”
There was no time to breathe.
Naturally, there was no time to be outraged by the cheating man’s rotten words either.
The cheating man and I made eye contact with the desk chair between us.
The cheating man’s eyes widened.
“What…!”
Take that!
Thwack!
I swiftly attacked before the cheating man could recognize my face.
“Ugh!”
The cheating man, whose knee was kicked by my foot, rolled into the corner and got stuck.
I took the opportunity to crawl out from under the desk. I was about to open the door and run, forgetting about the address and everything else, when.
“Freeze!”
Click!
The cheating man pulled a handgun from his pocket and aimed it at me.
“Hands up and stand right there! Turn on the light!”
“No…!”
Why is he so extreme all of a sudden!
“I said turn on the light! Hands up!”
How am I supposed to turn on the light with my hands up!
“Do you not understand what I’m saying?!”
Just then.
“Seraphina!”
“Maltese?!”
“Catch!”
I instinctively caught the object flying towards me.
The cool sensation of a necklace chain wrapped around my hand.
Attached to the end of the chain was.
A red heart and adorable wings, elaborately decorated with various jewels whose names I didn’t even know, that lit up brightly and opened and closed…
A hand mirror!
“Hey!”
You want me to block a gun with a mirror!
“Seraphina! Recite the spell!”
“The spell?! What spell!”
“A spell that can make people happy!”
“Happy?!”
“Yes! Dreams! Love! Justice! Things like that! Bright and hopeful!”
Think of what you desire most!
“Ah!”
That’s easy!
I clutched the necklace and shouted.
“Money! Honor! Health!”
“Are you serious?!”
“Of course!”
I even matched the number of syllables as 1/2/2!
“I’ll give you a chance to correct yourself!”
“Is this the time for that?!”
“Aww! Fine, I get it!”
In that case! The Maltese, jumping on his short legs, shouted.
“Money!”
“Honor!”
“Health!”
★★★★★
Magic Saint Seraphina!
Transform!
★★★★★
Would you like me to find out more information about the characters mentioned, like the cheating man or Mrs. Scrooge?
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