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☾ eight ☾

It would've been better if I was given books on agriculture or business, that way it could be of help when I move to the countryside.

The books my father ended up giving me, however, were completely irrelevant to my life.

'But my father told me to read these so I have no other choice, right?'

For the purpose of becoming independent, I still had so many books left to read, so this was quite annoying.

'Hm...Oh, a pendant?'

Embedded in the center was a large jewel the color of the sea, shimmering silver in the light.

It looked quite familiar.

'Where have I seen this before?'

After racking my brain for a moment, I realized it looked very similar to the one my father always wore around his neck.

'Oh, it belongs to my father.'

It seemed he had forgotten to take it with him.

Deciding to return it to him later, I grabbed the pendant and put it in my pocket.

_

When I entered my room, I saw that Marilyn returned from the errand I sent her on earlier.

"Did you have a safe trip?"

"Yes, milady. I've delivered all the letters as you had requested."

"Good. Thank you for the hard work."

As soon as I voiced my gratitude, Marilyn's expression became strange once again.

'Hm, was I being too much?'

Looking back, I realized that I didn't like it when the work was harder than usual either.

'I'll give her a nice bonus later, but for now I should give something to cheer her up.'

I handed her the plate of chocolate cookies.

"Here, you can have this"

"Huh?"

Not wanting to be mistaken as a shameless owner who was only throwing away her leftovers, I added.

"These are new. I haven't touched them yet."

"Thank you, milady. I'll eat these well.

While staring at her master with a confused look, Marilyn took the plate before bowing and leaving the room.

After sending Marilyn off, I was absorbed in thought while sipping my tea.

'I'll be receiving responses to my letters soon'

Until recently, there had not been a single time where I responded back to a formal letter before.

Therefore, the nobles probably weren't expecting a formal reply from me either.

But the moment I sent a letter I had written myself through my personal maid, the nobles were in a position where they would have to write one back.

The only thing left to do was to be patient and wait.

Though it was quite bothersome, I had no choice but to put up with it for the sake of my future.

I had to simmer down the nobles' aversion towards me in order to live a peaceful life.

_

As always, the Royal Family was the main topic of conversation among the nobles.

"I wonder why the Emperor still hasn't called for the Crown Prince to return even though the borders are secure now?"