Chapter 20 – A Quarrel

Listening to those women that Reveline brought with her made me realize something.
So, that was it.
They couldn’t dare to argue against Lumi, the daughter of the powerful Marquis family, so they chose to pick on me, who had no power.
I almost laughed at these girls trying to make fun of me.
Sorry but I’m not the one you previously knew anymore.
It’s a shame that Elise isn’t here, but I’ll do my best to play your game.

I replied, “I didn’t want to lose myself so that I can live relying on a man.
Isn’t it like being a parasite to rely on someone because I can’t make it on my own? I mean, everyone’s different, and I can’t blame them for that.
But… there are those out there who don’t even know they are parasites and only try to feed off of a dragon.”

“W-what?! Are you talking about me right now?”

It was a well-known fact that Reveline had a crush on Prince Siccain, son of the Chancellor.
It was famous enough that I, disinterested in such gossip, even knew.
Her powers were limited to the northern region, and in the capital where powerful families lived, she was just one of the other nobles.
There was a difference between nobles from the countryside to those in the capital.
Reveline, who bragged about how significant her relationship with Prince Siccain was, was laughable to the nobles in the central region.

“I wasn’t talking about anyone specifically, but I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.
I wasn’t talking about you…”

Reveline then raised her hand to hit me in anger and yelled, “You!”

I then reached out to grab her hand that was coming for me.
Hey, I have done a lot of hard labor and farm work, you know.
Her puny hand is too weak.

“Gyaaaaa! What are you-” screamed Reveline.

I tightened my grip on her arm, and she screamed harder.
Then, I said, “Oh, I was trying to make it right because you seemed to have swung it wrongly.
I’m sorry.”

Afterward, I let go of her hand, almost throwing it.
She became even more furious, charged at me, and bellowed, “You crazy b**ch.
You’re getting on my nerves!”

I slightly moved aside and tripped her without being noticed.
She then made a mess while crashing down to the floor.
I commented, “Oh, that must hurt.
Are you okay?”

Then, I moved close to her, pretending to help her stand, but I pressed down on her shoulder hard.
Her strength, which was only used to hold a teacup, was no match for mine.
My muscles had grown due to the various jobs I had to keep my estate’s finances afloat.
I had worked on farmlands adding soil to the ground to grow expensive fruits and harvest them, sew, make plush toys, and other works.
The most lucrative among those jobs that I tried were plush toy making.

Anyway, I pressed down on her shoulder while she was in pain and whispered to her so that nobody else could hear.
“Get lost.
If you didn’t know this yet, I was appointed to be a government official.”

Reveline’s eyes grew large from my words.
Her expression proved that the beau monde didn’t know that I passed the exam.
Of course, the results of the exam were notified only to its applicants, so it was normal that others besides my family didn’t know about it.
Mother’s family knew because we told them beforehand.

“Government official? That’s crap! You’re so poor that you can’t even buy a dress, and you passed the exam?”

“Yes, apparently.
First place.”

She was shocked.
Getting first place meant that a high-ranking position was predestined.
Reveline screamed, “L-LIES!”

I then drew closer to her ears while she was shocked and whispered, “If I’m promoted to a higher position, your father, a countryside lord, can go down just like that.
You should know where you’re stepping.
Actually, I don’t even have to wait to get promoted.
A secretary position is enough to make proposals for the higher-ups.
Should I suggest that we investigate the corruption of the northern region on over taxation and tax evasion on my first day at work?”

Reveline became pale, seemingly guilty on many points.
Right, the reason why your family was wealthy, unlike ours, was because of taxing people too much.
Thanks to them, our estate was full of refugees from her family’s estate, and our finances took a huge hit to support them.
My father was happy that we had more people, though… but that eventually led to the fast development of our gold mine now.
To think that my father’s optimism truly paid off!

“And how do you know that I can or cannot buy a dress?” I asked.

“What are you talking about-”

I then pointed at the red dress that her lot had been watching.
It was the most expensive dress available in this shop.

“Excuse me.” I called out to an employee, who had been watching us from a distance warily during our fight, and she quickly scurried over.

“Yes, my lady, how can I help-”

“I’m buying that.”

The employee became startled, then quickly made a smile that resembled that of a beggar.
Her will to not lose this opportunity was certain, and she replied, “Of course.
If you allow it, I will get some measurements…”

“Here are my measurements.
You can fix it according to that.”

The employee then brightened up as she looked at the paper that had my measurements written on it.
She responded, “Oh! We have a dress made with these measurements at the moment.
It’ll just need a few alterations.”

Reveline and her lot were looking at me with a smirk, whispering to themselves, thinking that I was bluffing.
Unless the shop requires a deposit, there’s always a way to cancel the order afterward.
They were assuming that I would do that.