Chapter 15
When Sebastian’s hand pulled away from Briana’s head, she noticed a hairpin in her hair. It was shaped like five flowers, made of transparent, sparkling cubic stones. After leaving Morgan’s house, Sebastian found himself aimlessly walking around, then spotted a small street vendor selling various accessories. He knew they wouldn’t be real gems, but still, he carefully examined the hairpins. He picked one and realized it was the same one he had just placed in Briana’s hair. It looks good on her. Just as he expected, it suited her perfectly.
Briana, in thanks, nodded politely and grabbed her pen.
[Let’s meet at Café Stine again tomorrow at 2 PM.]
“Why? It seems like we don’t need to go there anymore?”
[There are still some things I need to do there. I’ll go at 2 as usual. It would be great if you could come at 1 and wait for me.]
“You want me to wait for you?”
Sebastian chuckled in disbelief.
Briana calmly nodded, her face showing no sign of annoyance.
[If you wait, we’ll have a better story to tell.]
Her words made Sebastian furrow his brow. The phrase “better story” didn’t sit well with him.
Well, I guess that makes sense.
Briana, as she said, had a mutual understanding with him based on their contract.
[And thank you for taking care of this.]
Briana touched the hairpin as she wrote.
Watching her, Sebastian quickly looked away.
This is just a repayment for what I should’ve done. She just helped me with what I needed to do.
He thought as he deliberately avoided looking at her. He opened the carriage door to escort her, but Briana stopped him.
[No, I’ll go by myself. I can’t take a carriage with the Duke’s seal on it back to the Count’s mansion.]
[It’s still too early for my father to hear about us.]
Briana wasn’t naive; she knew the consequences of the Count hearing about them before everything was set. But the distance from Morgan’s house to the Count’s mansion was far, and Sebastian couldn’t let her walk alone.
Upon hearing her concern, he jumped up the carriage steps and quickly struck the seal attached to it. The seal dropped off, and Briana’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Now, this should work.”
Sebastian showed her the fallen seal.
“The Duke’s carriage won’t leave the Duke’s estate. I prefer riding horses, so the carriage coming out was a first when I took you.”
“…”
“No one will recognize this carriage as belonging to the Duke.”
Sebastian proudly displayed the seal in his hand, veins visibly pulsing under his skin.
Briana quickly untied the ribbon from her hair and approached him. She handed him the fallen seal and gently tied the ribbon around his hand where blood was visible.
Sebastian was taken aback.
“This…?”
He couldn’t finish saying it was nothing.
Her neat hands tied the ribbon, and it swayed softly at her waist. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
He stood still, unable to move until she finished tying the ribbon.
Thanks to Sebastian’s kindness, Briana returned to the Count’s mansion in a carriage. She asked him to let her off near the mansion and walked a short distance on foot. As she arrived, Kora was waiting at the door, greeting her warmly.
“Miss, you’ve returned.”
Kora’s gaze lingered on Briana’s clothes as she entered. Once inside, Kora spoke again.
“I went out today to sell clothes in the busy district.”
Kora handed Briana a heavy pouch.
Briana took it and immediately checked inside. It contained thirty gold coins and ten silver coins—more than she had expected.
“There’s a shop that buys valuable things, so I went there to sell the clothes. But they tried to undervalue the price. So, I had to explain in detail about the fabric and who made it.”
Kora proudly recounted her story.
Briana smiled and took out three gold coins and all the silver, handing it to Kora.
“Miss…?”
Kora hesitated but reluctantly accepted the money after seeing Briana’s serious expression.
Briana placed the pouch next to the sofa and grabbed her pen.
[Thanks to you, I think we got the right price. But don’t go to that shop again.]
“Why?”
[As you said, the fabric is rare, and the people who make these clothes are known throughout the capital and the empire. High-ranking nobles or rich families deal with these kinds of people.]
[But you, a maid with white hair, went to sell clothes there. They’ll surely find it suspicious. Kora, be careful.]
Briana showed her concern with a worried expression and handed her notebook to Kora.
Kora smiled brightly.
“I have a wig my father made for me to protect my identity. I wore it when I went to that shop.”
Kora had disguised herself before going to the shop, contrary to Briana’s worries.
“Don’t worry about me.”
Briana was slightly relieved.
She really is a strong girl.
Over the past few days, Briana had observed Kora and realized she was quite clever and sharp. Even today, Kora had managed to act smartly, handling the shopkeeper who tried to cheat her, and got the proper price without backing down.
Briana was excited to see how much more clever Kora could become.
[So, have you been keeping an eye on Heuven?]
“Yes, Miss. There’s something suspicious.”
Kora pulled out a folded piece of paper from her pocket.
“This is a ledger that the butler keeps. I copied part of it.”
She handed Briana two sheets of paper.
“The butler has two ledgers. One he gives to the master, and the other seems to be a secret ledger.”
The two ledgers had the same contents, but the amounts were slightly different.
“There’s about 20,000 gold missing.”
20,000 gold was enough for a family of four commoners to live comfortably for a year without working.
[Keep an eye on this. If it becomes too dangerous, don’t look any further. Be careful.]
“Yes, Miss.”
Kora reassured Briana with a gentle voice.
“But Miss…”
Briana waited for her to speak comfortably.
Kora hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“The dress is really beautiful.”
[Do you think so?]
“Yes, it’s really pretty. I think purple suits you perfectly.”
Kora added excitedly.
“That’s why I’ve been telling you to avoid purple clothes.”
Briana didn’t hear Kora’s next words, as they faded into the background.
“Purple really suits you.”
Sebastian’s voice seemed to echo in her ears again.
Briana touched the pin in her hair, then looked at herself in the mirror on the side table.
It’s beautiful.
The simple design made it the most beautiful pin she had ever seen.
This is the first time.
During her marriage to Cassius, she had never received a gift from him.
