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Chapter 67 Part 3 – A minuet to be remembered. In the memories of happiness, Rona blames herself and wails.

Children of vagrants and the poor often lack sexual morals.
There is no light of education in the mud of poverty.
They grow up with the bad influences of their elders as their guide.
They wouldn’t have bothered to master the tools of a trade.

But, Rona, who tried to be as noble as a lotus flower in the mud, was forced to sell herself earlier than anyone else and had to shed tears of blood inside her heart. How can life be so cruel?

「An elegant person like Marielle-san shouldn’t touch someone like me …… Because then Marielle-san would get dirty ……」

「Bufohh」, a sound burst out from somewhere and ruined the solemn atmosphere.

Marielle grabbed a metal basin and threw it.
The basin drew a brilliant trajectory like a boomerang and flew out through a small gap in the door.
There was a loud 「claaangg」 sound and an 「Ouch」 coming from the white-bearded Brian.
He felt worried, so he lurked nearby to listen in surreptitiously.

「I’m not impressed with peeping!!」

「…… I wasn’t peeking. I was just eavesdropping a little.」

Marielle yelled back at the indignant white-bearded Brian.

「We’re in the middle of a woman-to-woman talk right now!! Just like a duel between warriors, this is a holy ground for women. Men are not allowed to enter. Go over there until I call you.」

「…… Mu, muu ……」

The white-bearded Brian fell silent on the other side of the door. She could sense him walking away.

「Did you hear what I just said?! Black-bearded Bobby, you must be somewhere around as well right!? Go away!!」

「…… O-Okay ……」

Then someone reluctantly moved on the other side of the wall.
In the next room, the black-bearded Bobby had been putting his ear against the wall to hear what was going on.

Marielle is well-versed in handling the three old warriors.

Then Marielle grabbed Rona’s shoulders and spoke.

「Rona-chan, stop denying yourself. Listen carefully. I am a favored mistress. In a nutshell, I am like a prostitute who is kept by a specific man. It’s the opposite of elegance. The haughty, noble ladies despise me. But I’m not going to deprecate myself because of that. Because I take pride in satisfying not only a man’s lust, but his pride as well.」

A mistress like Marielle is the next step after a high-class prostitute.
In terms of prostitutes, she is similar to high-ranking courtesans, who only deal with the highest class customers.
It is not enough to be beautiful.
Mistresses need to have the knowledge and grace to keep the upper class men interested.
Unlike the high-ranking courtesans, mistresses are not affiliated with a brothel, but have a patron and are independent.
They have a certain kind of political power and sometimes they are so well-connected and resourceful that they can bring political rivals together.
She must be a woman good enough to make the man think that it is his fortune to be able to provide her with a huge sum of money for support.
That is the requirement to become a mistress. It can also be said that that is the only way.
There is no such thing as a guarantee. Once the man is disillusioned, it’s all over.

「I am the mayor’s mistress. There are also some women that came from poverty and became the mistresses of the king. Then they would be in a position to influence the king. They can even arrogantly order around the nobles. Chastity is not everything in a woman’s life. There are some paths that a woman can climb because they are sullied. Not to mention that Rona-chan is so young. You can still start over as much as you want, there are so many possibilities. You can’t keep looking down in shame all the time.」

Of course, Marielle had no intention of encouraging Rona to become a glamorous mistress that is a social outcast.
She just felt sorry for Rona, who was despondent over the loss of her purity, and she wanted to give her some encouragement.
She wanted Rona to have a positive outlook on life as a maid after being taken in by Wendell.

「…… Influence the king ……」

That’s why Marielle failed to notice the dangerous glint that flashed through Rona’s eyes.
If what Rona harbored inside her heart was selfishness, if she wanted to become Wendell’s mistress, or if she wanted to become a mistress because she wants to live in luxury, Marielle would have seen through it immediately.

But Rona’s passionate feelings were like the love of a faithful dog.
It was selfless even in its madness and that’s the reason why Marielle didn’t notice it.

‘…… Even if it’s someone like me, if I can become the king’s mistress, I can be of help to Wendell-sama ……!!’

The fire of mad resolve lit up inside Rona’s heart.
Rona would calmly leap off a cliff if she had to for Wendell’s sake.
It was truly a love that burned oneself.
The once dreamy, pure girl, has come to dream of carnage, while maintaining her innocent feelings.

Marielle wanted Rona to find happiness in a normal way.
That was what she had intended to persuade her to do.
However, that thoughtfulness had an unintended effect, as if it had been cursed.
Once she did not have the goal of becoming happy together with her younger brothers, Rona would immediately start looking for a way to become the king’s mistress.

Unaware of this, Marielle adorned Rona to the best of her ability in an attempt to make her feel better.

「It’s done. Look in the mirror. You definitely won’t lose to any of the run-of-the-mill young ladies.」

Peering timidly into the mirror, Rona gasped.
Marielle didn’t lie.

The floral embroidery on her skirt decorated her legs like fluttering petals.
The shoes looked new, shiny, sparkling, and clean.
Even the glimpse of the skin on top of her feet looked elegant.
It was a far cry from her previous shoes, which had holes in several places and made the well-dressed girls snicker and shrug their shoulders in disapproval.
The apron was decorated with frills.
And the blouse with lantern sleeves was spotless and solemnly asserted its purity.

Marielle put a plaid-patterned scarf on Rona.
She tied a knot on one side, threaded the other end through, and arranged it to make it fluffy.

Rona’s brunette hair was beautifully and neatly braided.
Her skin that Marielle carefully polished and finished up with the blood flow control was like a flower in the fresh snow.
The rose corsage given to her by Wendell shone in the parting of her hair.
It was as if the person in the mirror was not herself.
She looked like a young lady.

「I’m glad the clothes I wore when I was a child fit you so well. Are you surprised? You see, that’s the power of women. With makeup, clothes, posture, atmosphere, and many other things, we can work magic to become anything we want to be. A sullied woman is allowed to become neat and clean.」

Then Marielle gently placed her fingertips on both of Rona’s cheeks and lifted it up.

「…… But if you don’t smile, the magic will be broken. A woman’s smile not only brings happiness to herself. It is also the greatest magic to comfort and encourage people’s hearts.」

Rona awkwardly tried to smile.
But she couldn’t.
She had experienced too much pain.

「Try to remember the times when you were happy, not sad. Even if you lost it now, those memories are certainly there. It would be a pity if you forgot about it.」

Marielle gently helped her.

Rona closed her eyes.
She remembered the sound of her mother’s piano.
The memory of sitting on her mother’s lap and swaying to the rhythm.
The warmth and the sweet, nostalgic scent. The bright sunlight.

Feeling a twinge in her nose, Rona gave a shy and very charming smile.

Marielle nodded in satisfaction.

「That’s a nice smile. I can tell it was a very happy memory.」

After that, Marielle gave Rona a brief lesson in etiquette and escorted her downstairs from the second floor.

The men that had been waiting in the study with bated breath marveled at the sight of Rona as she entered.
Rona responded with a graceful curtsy, pinching at her skirt with both hands and bending over.

「What a surprise! Women do change …… But that dress looks familiar.」

「That’s the dress we gave Marielle when she was a child.」

「It’s exactly as it was then. You carefully kept it all these years ……」

Marielle got embarrassed by the deeply moved three old warriors and said harshly.

「I somehow forgot to throw it away and it just became fertilizer for my closet. …… Now then, young master.」

Marielle tossed Wendell the bouquet of roses that he left in the bedroom.
Then she admonished Wendell after he caught the bouquet in mid-air with one hand.

「You have to hand this over with your own hands. If you feel sorry to Rona-chan about what happened just now, please give her more pleasant memories. Once she starts working as a maid in young master’s house, you won’t be able to talk to her casually.」

It may seem cold, but the servants have a strict organization.
Even if Wendell wanted to, if he acted too friendly with Rona, she would lose her place in the organization as a heretic with no sense of propriety.

Marielle then picked up the lute that was propped up and sat down on a chair by the wall.
The body of the lute, which looked like a giant almond split in half, was placed on her lap.
She gently strummed the strings that numbered more than twenty.

「Rona-chan’s treatment is finished. But since it was a serious injury, we need to have her move around to make sure everything is okay. Young master, will you accompany Rona-chan for her rehabilitation?」

Wendell is intelligent and sensitive even though he was still a child. He immediately understood Marielle’s intentions and nodded.
The three old warriors moved the heavy desks around and opened up the space.