CHAPTER 47…
“Miss, here are the documents you mentioned. They said you can start from here.”
“This many?”
“This is nothing. It’s not even half yet.”
Jacqueline, who had stopped by the upper office to collect the documents, smiled as if she’d heard all kinds of strange jokes.
“You usually get through this much in one sitting.”
“…That’s true.”
Adele rubbed her eyes as she looked at the pile of paperwork in front of her.
Just as Jacqueline said, this amount wasn’t usually worth mentioning—but oddly, the white paper felt unfamiliar.
‘This is why people shouldn’t take breaks.’
One of the things she’d always wondered about in her previous life was why the rich people on TV were always working themselves to death.
If it were her, she’d be bathing in wine on a luxury yacht in the Maldives. She used to worry about the rich for no reason, wondering what they even did with all that money. But only after being reborn as a chaebol (conglomerate heir) herself did she find the answer.
‘Who would’ve thought.’
It wasn’t that they didn’t spend money because they didn’t have any—it was because they were afraid they might get used to that lifestyle.
Ordinary people can’t even dream of rest because they’re too busy trying to survive. But it’s different for the wealthy.
If they wanted to, they could indulge in every single strand of hair being pampered by a different pleasure.
But the fear of getting so lost in that life that they could never come back was what kept them from starting at all.
All those “If I were them…” scenarios were both reality and poison—a trap—for people like her.
‘…Wait. Someone might really think I actually had fun resting!’
Adele, who had been scribbling with her pen non-stop, suddenly shut her eyes tight and opened them again.
She hadn’t gone on some luxurious trip. She’d just spent all her time peeling potatoes to death. So why had she been lost in those thoughts?
She’d been nagged, scolded, and criticized endlessly at the monastery, and the only vaguely decent thing about the place was that man—just him, and no one else. So why…?
“Miss, are you thinking about Sir Xerox?”
“Hm?”
“If he were here, he’d be helping you right by your side, wouldn’t he?”
Jacqueline misread Adele’s sour mood and handed over the next stack of papers.
Now that she thought about it, the absence of Xerox felt faint—about as distant as the nostalgia for the monastery. Hearing his name made her go, “Ah, right, him.” And even that surprised Adele herself.
“…I heard he’s still away, following Lady Noella around. Apparently, her obsessiveness is no joke. I heard she kept nagging about everything—this she didn’t like for that reason, that she didn’t like for this reason, driving Sir Xerox up the wall.”
“Not surprising.”
Still, hearing about Noella brought Adele’s rationality back a little. Curling up one side of her lip, she turned the page with more force.
‘Of course, what else?’
She knew Noella well enough to imagine that whimpering voice ringing in her ears already.
If she had at least made demands openly, they could’ve fought about it—but Noella preferred to disarm people with unmatched, helpless pity.
“Brother Xerox… You’re so beautiful. So beautiful, but…”
She’d start off sounding all moved like that.
“I don’t know if a girl like me could pull off a dress like this.”
Then pretend to sink into self-deprecation, fishing for a reassuring response.
“Something this flashy and revealing would suit Sister Adele better, I think.”
And of course, she wouldn’t forget to take a jab at Adele in the process.
“If you insist, Brother… maybe I could try. If it’s a dress with diamonds encrusted on the chest, maybe even someone like me could wear it.”
She’d get exactly what she wanted.
The problem was whether the ever-simple Xerox even managed to catch the “correct answer” buried at the very end of that monologue…
“He’s going to have a hard time for a while.”
“Are you worried about him, Miss?”
“Worried? His life was doomed the moment he fell for Noella.”
Adele scoffed.
Even if he hadn’t chosen her, if Xerox had just been a bit more cautious, he would never have ended up with Noella.
“No one pushed him. He has to take responsibility for his own choices.”
“Then what about your choice, Miss?”
Jacqueline smiled teasingly, probing her gently. Adele’s pen froze just as she was about to sign the last document.
She had chosen Killian—and he had come to her.
She still didn’t know exactly what he wanted, but at the very least, she didn’t want to become someone he’d regret choosing. Hadn’t she even sworn before the Archbishop that she wouldn’t let a single drop of water touch his hands?
“Miss, shall I bring in the next batch if you’re finished?”
“…Is it urgent?”
“Hm? Oh, no. What’s urgent was only up to this point. The rest just needs to be done by the end of the week.”
“…I see.”
“Why do you ask? Do you have something more pressing?”
Jacqueline was puzzled as Adele suddenly stood up.
It wasn’t just the work that Adele was setting aside.
With every step she took toward the mirror, a hairpin slipped from her carefully styled hair.
When she had official duties, she always kept her hair tightly pinned up, not letting a single strand fall out of place because she hated anything cumbersome—so why was she doing this now?
Jacqueline rushed after her.
“What are you doing? If the pins hurt, should I get you a ribbon instead?”
“No. That’s not it.”
Adele pulled out the final pin holding her hair in place. The jet-black hair, now freed, cascaded down in even more enchanting waves from having been tied up.
She gazed into the mirror at her own dazzling features, then turned to Jacqueline.
“I’d like you to bring me something else.”
