Chapter 61
Wilhelmina left the carriage behind and walked slowly toward the store, holding an umbrella.
“……”
The rain was heavy, and Jane didn’t notice Wilhelmina’s arrival. She was silently picking up shards of broken glass from the window.
It wasn’t the Jane that Wilhelmina remembered.
In a voice carefully stripped of emotion, Wilhelmina called her.
“Jane.”
“…Madam?”
Jane slowly turned her head.
Her rain-soaked hair clung to her cheeks, and one side of her face was swollen red. Gone was the composed, intelligent woman who had once listened intently to Wilhelmina.
Her eyes were dull, lifeless. There was no strength in the hands gathering the shards of glass.
“I heard what happened.”
“I’m sorry… This morning, I had a delivery for the annex…”
“I understand. You weren’t in any shape to focus on work.”
“I even lost the contract… It had your seal on it… and I couldn’t protect it. It was our contract…”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“I’ll refund the payment. Not just for today’s delivery—I’d already received next week’s as well, so I’ll exchange the note—ah, then I’ll have to return to my family home…”
“Jane.”
“J-just a moment. Let me clean up the store and figure out the money. In this condition, customers might think we’ve gone out of business. I’ll tidy up. There’s no staff, so I have to do it alone—”
“That’s not what I came to hear.”
Wilhelmina took a step closer.
Jane squinted up at her through the raindrops beating down on her eyelashes.
With the umbrella shielding her, Wilhelmina looked like a different person. Her appearance was the same, but her presence…
“What is it that you want to say?”
“…?”
Wilhelmina’s voice was demanding, forceful—something Jane had never heard before.
She flinched at the sudden pressure.
“I’m not here because I didn’t get my goods. I didn’t come to cancel our contract.”
“Then…”
“I came to ask what you want to do from now on.”
Swaa—
The rain grew even heavier. For a spring rain, it was oppressively heavy, making her head droop low.
“You told me before… that I should invest in you.”
“That’s right.”
At the word “invest,” Jane’s face contorted as if she were chewing sand.
“Would you still be willing to invest in me? Just a little, really. Enough to buy maybe ten sacks of flour—I can pay it back within three months.”
Jane was desperate. The fact that she had lost the contract or her merchandise didn’t hurt nearly as much as the fear of having to give up being a merchant.
If things continued like this, she’d have no choice but to return to her family. Her qualifications as a merchant came from Goldrail, and even this shabby store belonged to her father. If she lost the shop, she’d have nowhere to go.
If she returned, she would no longer be a merchant. She’d just be Jane Billow.
That terrified her.
If she could just get a little money, she was even willing to run away and become a traveling peddler.
It was foolish, and she knew it—but she kept speaking.
“If it’s too much… even a million peon would be fine. Or… if you don’t mind, you could hire me under a false identity, even as a servant…”
“I can invest as much as you want. I believe in you.”
Wilhelmina cut her off firmly, as if she could no longer listen.
“You’re talented. I know it. You’re sharp, intelligent—I trust you could turn a million into ten.”
“Then…”
“But if I give you that money—will that satisfy you?”
…Satisfy?
Jane stared at her blankly, forgetting to even blink.
The black umbrella and darkened sky made it hard to see Wilhelmina’s face. Hidden beneath the shadow, Wilhelmina spoke.
“If you succeed with my money—if you earn enough to cover your losses—can you truly be satisfied? Can you forget the humiliation and enjoy a new life?”
“What do you mean…?”
“I’m asking if you feel no resentment.”
Wilhelmina raised the umbrella to meet Jane’s eyes.
Rain drenched her dress, but her unwavering gaze was focused solely on Jane.
“Aren’t you angry at the one who ruined all your efforts? Can you really bear having the name ‘Goldrail’ stolen from you? I don’t like your face right now. That defeated, broken look disgusts me.”
“M-madam?”
“Jane, this is the first time you’ve disappointed me. What you should be doing isn’t begging like this. You shouldn’t be sniveling over a handful of coins.”
Only then did Jane realize what had changed about Wilhelmina.
She looked like a devil from a fairy tale—tempting her with sweet words, provoking her darker emotions.
More beautiful than an angel, offering a path sweeter than heaven—a path to ruin.
“When you saw me, holding the ‘status’ your father always desired—you should’ve felt rage.”
“…Rage.”
“You should want revenge. You should want to make him regret everything. You should burn with a need to prove you’re better than your brothers, better than the other branch managers.”
“And?”
“I want it all back. The store, the contract, the goods, and…”
In Goldrail, titles aren’t inherited—but merchant rights are. The business is passed down to the brightest child. That was common sense.
And Jane had always known it. That’s why she worked so hard.
“I’m going to take Goldrail from him.”
If her father had taken everything from her—then she would take everything from him.
Wilhelmina’s lips curled.
It was a strange smile—part satisfaction, part wicked amusement. The way a devil might smile at a contracted soul.
“Then let’s seal our contract.”
—The rain did not stop.
‘…That’s what I said, but I don’t actually have a plan.’
Sitting on her bed, Wilhelmina stared blankly out the window.
‘I got a little carried away with the atmosphere…’
Her original plan had been simple: send someone to help clean up the store and listen to Jane’s side of things.
But seeing Jane standing there in the rain, like an abandoned puppy—it had made her blood boil.
And so she’d made a contract she couldn’t even guarantee.
“Haa…”
As she tried to untangle her thoughts, Nata came in carrying a tray of warm tea from the kitchen.
“Madam.”
“Oh, thank you. Where’s Anna?”
“She went to look after Miss Jane.”
Normally Anna would be the one bringing the tea, but it seemed she’d gone to the guest room to attend to Jane.
It was odd for a knight to be doing this, but Nata sometimes took on such duties without question.
He set the tea down and looked at her with a strange expression.
Feeling slightly burdened, she averted her eyes and took a sip.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“My apologies. I just thought—it was very much like you, Madam.”
She had a feeling he was expecting something again.
That strange look—it was the same one Anna had given her the day she returned from the blessing ceremony.
She frowned.
“It was a heat-of-the-moment decision.”
“I know.”
“You’re looking at me like I’m some shadowy mastermind…”
“Pardon?”
“…Nothing.”
Excessive expectations only lead to disappointment. She hoped they would learn to temper it.
Wilhelmina let out a quiet sigh.
“Nata, didn’t you say you know something about the Goldrail Trading Company?”
