Chapter 16
Because her family, the Baron Wells household, was closer to a family of scholars than one of wealth or power.
Briana forced herself to smile as brightly as possible, trying not to reveal the insides of her heart that felt as though they were rotting away.
“Don’t take it so seriously already. Just because you go on a blind date doesn’t mean you have to get married. For now, I think it would be best to meet her and find an excuse to get out of it.”
“You’re right, Bri. They’re probably weighing several people as well. They’ll choose the family that pays the most.”
Arthur said it with a laugh, as though he were joking. But if they were going to approach it with such vulgar, businesslike motives, even sitting down for a cup of tea with them would probably be painful, so I felt another sigh coming.
—
I had spent about twenty days in Tessis before returning.
To put it simply, my schedule in the territory had been a great success.
First of all, no one noticed that I wasn’t the real Rosalyn. It was probably a great help that everyone who knew her well had been dismissed, but the veiled hat had also done its job admirably, and apparently my acting had been better than I thought.
I had wondered whether the difference in our voices wouldn’t be something they could notice, but thinking about it, I didn’t exactly remember Baron and Baroness Tessis’s voices either.
Even though I had known them for two years, whenever I tried to recall their voices, all that remained was a vague ‘impression.’
‘And none of them even wanted to come face-to-face with Rosalyn, so maybe they really don’t know her voice that well.’
Since I couldn’t even properly raise my head in front of them, perhaps it was only natural that they didn’t remember my face.
In any case, since everyone had accepted me much better than I had expected, I had considered staying a little longer and taking care of some other matters as well, but I thought the Count and Countess Brough might become displeased if I stayed too long, so I returned for the time being.
‘If it weren’t for Ash McCallen, I would have been able to stay more comfortably.’
For reference, that man had stayed at the baronial residence for three whole days, casually pretending to be a guest.
During that time, I was so anxious that even I, someone who took food very seriously, left food on my plate.
‘They must have gone on and on about Rosalyn’s terrible personality. Ash McCallen might have felt that there was something different about me now.’
I found an excuse to explain why my personality had changed.
For one thing, my relationship with the Count and Countess Brough, who had suddenly declared themselves my guardians, and my position of having to successfully arrange an expensive marriage proposal seemed like plausible reasons.
With my former attitude, I wouldn’t even have been able to satisfy the Count and Countess Brough, and with my parents gone, it was obvious that my future would be bleak if I couldn’t even secure a proper marriage.
Even if Rosalyn was as stupid as she was, wouldn’t she have thought of at least this much?
‘It’s not like I’m the only tomboy pretending to be a refined lady.’
Yes, under circumstances this extreme, it would be enough of a reason to explain such a drastic change in personality.
I was anxiously thinking that when someone knocked on the door.
“Miss, the mistress is looking for you.”
“Huh? Ah, yes. Let’s go.”
The fact that the person I had already been thinking about was calling for me made me feel strangely nervous.
And the reason she had called me was, as expected, marriage.
“Rosalyn! Have you recovered from your journey?”
I had returned yesterday afternoon, and it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours. Wasn’t it a little much to ask whether I had already recovered from the fatigue of the journey?
Of course, I was now the exceedingly kind daughter of a distant relative, so I answered with a smile.
“Yes. Thank you for being considerate enough to let me visit Tessis.”
“Our Rosalyn is so thoughtful. Most people wouldn’t think that way.”
Of course they wouldn’t. Why would I need someone else’s permission to go down to my own territory? I was only expressing unnecessary gratitude because I had to be mindful of this woman now.
“While you were in Tessis, we received a lot of pleasant correspondence. Everyone wants to meet you.”
“Did I receive invitations to parties?”
“No. Something even better.”
Countess Brough smiled sweetly and whispered with an expression that seemed to expect an enthusiastic reaction from me.
“Marriage proposals. The fine young men of Herona are proposing to you.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes! But who am I? Do I look like someone who would introduce you to just any man?”
“Of course not!”
“Here, look. I filtered out the duds and left only the three best candidates.”
She was so excited that it was difficult to tell whether she was excited about my marriage proposal or the ‘fruits of her efforts.’
All right, then. Let’s see what kind of men she had selected after carefully narrowing down the candidates.
“……!”
Oh. This was unexpected.
I had thought they would bring me offers from old nobles looking for a second wife, but just as Countess Brough had said, all three men looked quite good.
For starters, they were all in their twenties, and all three were sons of viscounts.
As I examined the photographs with a slightly dazed feeling, Countess Brough pointed at one of them.
“I think the son of Viscount Gottfried here is the best. He’s handsome, and his personality is wonderful too. And what about his family!”
Indeed. I had been drawn to that man as well.
If the photograph hadn’t turned out unusually well, a man named Arthur Gottfried was handsome enough to be quite popular in high society.
Moreover, according to Countess Brough, the Gottfried family was a family that lacked nothing. Apparently, they were one of the key families of the ‘Civic Party,’ which had recently been gaining prominence.
I had only picked this up here and there, but apparently the political factions in this country were divided into the Royalist Party, the Aristocratic Party, and the Civic Party.
All I knew was that the Civic Party represented commoners whose standard of living and income had risen, and was changing the laws and customs of the country, which had been biased toward the interests of a small number of royals and nobles, to be more favorable to commoners.
I didn’t quite understand why nobles would represent commoners, but there were surely complicated interests involved there as well.
What mattered to me was that too. How much benefit could this man bring me?
“They may call themselves the Civic Party, but in reality, they’re no different from any other noble family. I hear the current head of the family has increased his wealth considerably. If the two of you marry, I’m sure he’ll give you a generous share.”
Yes, this was exactly what I wanted!
Wow……! The conditions were too good.
‘If Rosalyn were still alive, she really would have struck it rich.’
At times like this, the world really seemed unfair.
Some people worked themselves to the bone only to have their lives ruined because they happened to have the wrong master, while others were lucky enough to be born as the only daughter of a noble family, meet a husband far above their station, and live in luxury until the day they died.
……With that kind of luck waiting ahead of me, and my fate having been switched with hers, perhaps it wasn’t entirely unfair after all?
“What do you think, Rosalyn?”
At Countess Brough’s words, I suddenly came to my senses.
“If you’re not interested, you can meet the others first.”
“No! I think the young master of the Gottfried family looks the most handsome as well. If you arrange a meeting, I would be happy to go and do my best.”
“Oh, how sweet. You’re so obedient and sensible. What man wouldn’t like you? I’m sure Arthur will like you as well.”
“I have so many shortcomings. In particular, I lack knowledge of Herona’s social etiquette and the capital’s customs, so I would appreciate your guidance from now on as well. I’m always grateful to you.”
Whatever I said, I kept flattering the Count and Countess Brough, so the Countess looked very satisfied today as well. She had no idea that this was all part of my strategy.
‘If I continue learning this way, she won’t realize that I didn’t know noble etiquette well in the first place.’
In truth, I wasn’t completely ignorant of noble etiquette or speech.
Before I became a maid, I had lived with the traveling theater troupe <Mulberry>. Most of its members were criminals, and it was a rural troupe, but they were always welcomed in the provinces where there was little entertainment.
There, I mainly played the female lead.
Since the female leads in plays were usually princesses or nobles, I learned the way nobles spoke and behaved from the senior troupe members.
Moreover, determined to perfect my acting, I carefully observed nobles whenever I encountered them.
Their manner of speaking and tone of voice, their expressions, hand gestures, and the way they walked.
Thanks to all that effort, the audience even asked me if I was really from a noble family, but there was no way an imitation of nobility learned through observation could be perfect.
‘So I’ll use this opportunity to learn everything again from the beginning.’
This was a very important opportunity and process for me to live as Rosalyn Tessis.
Honestly, I didn’t think the Count and Countess Brough were good people, but I couldn’t help feeling grateful for the things they were providing me. Though I did suspect that the price they would demand from me after the marriage would be considerable.
In any case, Countess Brough did little to hide her desire to hurry up and get me married, and she immediately arranged a meeting with Arthur Gottfried.
The place was an upscale café in the city.
Following the café attendant’s guidance toward the terrace, I saw Countess Gottfried, who had been sitting at the table, stand first and warmly greet Countess Brough.
“Oh my, welcome, Countess Brough.”
“It’s been a long time, Diane. Have you been well?”
“Thanks to you. Ah, so this young lady is…….”
As her gaze turned toward me, Countess Brough introduced us with a proud expression.
“Say hello. This is Diane Gottfried, Viscountess Gottfried. And this is Arthur Gottfried.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Rosalyn Tessis.”
