Chapter 6

“But my lady, you were invited to the debutante ball at the castle.”

A debutante ball was essentially a blind date market for girls over seventeen and boys over nineteen. Naturally, only nobles were invited—including Iris and Lily, who were the children of nobles. That was why the stepmother didn’t bring Cinderella to the castle in the fairy tale. She was not a noble.

However, Ashley’s name was written on the invitation too. I wondered why. I recalled Mildred’s first husband from her memories a decade or so ago. Ashley’s birth mother had died around then.

There had been an epidemic. It had taken many lives, nobility and peasantry alike. Perhaps there was a shortage of unmarried noblewomen.

Davina remained kneeling at my feet. It made me uneasy. I was a modern person. Hierarchies didn’t exist in my old world, at least outwardly. It was both novel and upsetting for someone to be kneeling and lowering their head before me just because of my higher class.

“I said it’s all right. Stand.”

I pulled Davina up and tried to get her to sit in the chair in front of me. Instead, she looked uncomfortable as she glanced at my children.

“As I said, the castle will be hosting a debutante ball in two months.”

That’s enough. I just want to talk about clothes. I tried to divert Davina’s attention. Another thing seemed to make her uneasy. She turned pale.

“H-how could I dare...”

What in the world is the problem? I tilted my head.

“Davina, we are the ones who are going to the castle. I am requesting you to make our clothes for the occasion.”

I said this in case she had misunderstood me and thought she must go to the castle as well.

She wheezed, then buried her face in her hands.

“M-my dresses... at the castle...”

Oh, that’s why? My god. I looked at Iris, speechless, but Iris didn’t seem surprised by Davina’s reaction.

I scanned the inside of the shop again. It was significantly smaller than the first shop, which probably had a similar back room. That meant this shop was at least twice as small.

Perhaps she had no experience making dresses for nobles.

Not all dress shops had the same clientele. To obtain clients from the nobility, a shop would have been in business for a long time, have certain standards of skills, and have regular customers capable of introducing them to the nobility.

However, this shop did not seem to have worked with nobles before. I observed the walls, which hadn’t been painted long ago nor even recently.

“Davina, I want my daughters to stand out at the castle. If I think the dresses you make are not fit for the venue, I will have them wear different garments. Don’t worry.”

Davina’s breathing calmed at my words. The fear and panic slowly melted away from her eyes. I considered going to an additional business to get dresses made.

Oh, but that would mean getting six dresses. Maybe it would be better to just ask her to work hard.

While I was thinking, Davina jumped to her feet. “Would you like to see fabric samples?”

That’s it. That’s the right attitude.

Lady Vans and Mildred

“It has been a long time, Lady Vans.”

I passed through a door that was more worn now than in Mildred’s memories and crossed a small garden. The butler stood by the foyer and bowed to me.

What was the butler’s name again? I fumbled through Mildred’s memories. Alfredo? Sebastian?

Unfortunately, the butler’s name was neither. Hmm. Disappointing.

“Howard,” I greeted him upon remembering.

Howard was much older than Mildred, basically a senior citizen. It was frankly shocking that he was still working.

I smiled at him. “I did not expect you to still be working.”

“The master tells me to retire, but how could I leave this work to some young thing?”

I tried to remember who the next Murphy butler was. I could not recall who the young thing Howard was referring to was, but I nodded and went inside.

Before marrying Baron Rivera, Mildred would stay in the family residence in the capital every spring. The Murphy family managed a province far from here called Belz. Mildred would come up to the capital at the beginning of the social season in late spring and return to Belz when it ended in the fall.

Mildred had tea with Countess Murphy now and then, but she rarely saw her brother, Count Murphy. They were siblings, after all, so she could not completely ignore him.

After I passed the foyer and entered a grand hall, Sandra, who had been greeting guests, saw me and extended her hand. “Come in, Mil.”

Sandra was the Countess Murphy and, in other words, Mildred’s sister-in-law. Her family had promised her hand to the Murphy family since she was young. She was married as soon as she turned seventeen.

Thus, she was familiar with Mildred. Whenever social season came around, Sandra invited Mildred to the small parties hosted by the Murphys.

However, when Fred disappeared two years ago, Mildred began turning down invitations. That could have been reason enough to stop inviting her, but Sandra had sent her another this year.

“Thank you for inviting me, Sandy.” I smiled as I grasped Sandra’s hand.

I had pondered whether or not to go after receiving the invite. In the end, I decided it was time for Mildred to show her face in society after two years of absence.

Ashley was bound to marry the prince, so I didn’t worry about her, but Iris and Lily were different. Nobles rarely ever dated before marriage. More often, the parents arranged marriages for their children. Thus, I needed to go out in society for Iris and Lily’s sake.

“Thank you for coming.”

Sandra drew me toward her. It was a strange feeling. I wasn’t Mildred, but I had her memories. Sandra was two years older than me and had married at seventeen. She had been a Murphy since Mildred was fifteen.

They’d known each other even before that because she had been engaged to Mildred’s brother, Gary, since they were young.

So I knew that when Sandra thanked me she wasn’t simply saying that she appreciated my attendance. Two years later, she still grieved the fact that I had lost two husbands.

I hugged Sandra. I had only been in Mildred’s body for two weeks, but I already felt my burden weighing me down.

Other people transmigrated into extras and amused themselves by observing the main character. Or, if they were turned into the villain, they could try to turn their life around. But I was not just the villain. I had three children to think about.

I was feeling the stress of having to take care of so many people. The girls were sweet, but I still worried about them.

What if Iris and Lily never get married? What if, after she marries the prince, Ashley resents Mildred for treating her like a maid for half a year?

And even if Iris and Lily were lucky enough to get married, what if they ended up with husbands like Fred?

Sometimes my worries were so overwhelming, I couldn’t sleep. Knowing that Iris and Lily loved me wasn’t enough to provide me solace. I found more comfort in knowing Mildred’s sister-in-law was thinking about me.

“Come inside. Gary is there. I’ll introduce you to others a bit later.”

Sandra’s eyes were wet as she released me. My eyes were also a bit red. I almost told her Fred’s body had been discovered, but I stopped myself.

One of the reasons I had come was to tell her face-to-face.

I decided I could tell her after the meal, before I went back home. I nodded and went inside.

“Mil.”

A man who looked a bit older than in Mildred’s memories approached me. He had black hair and green eyes like Mildred. I smiled at Gary.

“You have put on some weight, Brother dear.”

“Hmm.” Gary looked aggrieved. “I’ve regained the weight I lost last year.”

“Your cook must be skilled.”

“A new restaurant has opened up recently. It is extremely good.”

Gary was about three times my size. He rubbed his belly sadly. Sandra was razor thin and tall. They made quite a funny picture side by side.

“It must be famous,” I said indifferently.

Mildred and Gary were siblings, but she was closer to Sandra. When Mildred was born, he, eight years older, was already being trained to inherit. By the time Mildred was old enough to understand him, he had left for the academy.

Even after finishing school, he did not seem particularly interested in getting to know Mildred better. He had probably assumed he would not see her much after she got married.

He couldn’t have known his younger sister’s husbands would both die.

“It is famous. You should go with Sandy sometime. It’s called Fairy’s Spring—”

“What?”

I turned sharply at the familiar name. Fairy’s Spring? Isn’t that the place I heard mentioned when I was in the city?

“Unique name, isn’t it? The owner of Fairy’s Spring is Baron Wilford. That man is young, but he is good at making money.”

Gary said this proudly. I was dismayed.

“He’s a noble? But he runs the restaurant himself?”

Nobles didn’t work. They lived off the taxes on their land. In many cases, the income wasn’t enough, so they found other ways to make money. Usually, they invested in the market or sponsored artists to get paintings that they could sell later. Some, like Mildred, bought buildings and received rent.

The important thing to know was that nobles thought labor was beneath them.

Gary looked flustered. “I don’t think he runs the restaurant himself. You will see what I mean once you meet him, but he’s a strange man.”

“I’ll see what you mean once I meet him?”

What does that mean? I was puzzled. Gary had said this as if he would introduce me to Baron Wilford.

I had not heard wrong. Gary looked at me with pride. “He is well-traveled. Did you know that the queen mother is his godmother?”

No, I didn’t. A baron whose godmother is the queen mother? I expressed surprise.

Behind me, someone spoke. “I heard that his mother and the queen mother were very close.”

My goodness!