🍁 Chapter 4

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“Wow! I read a whole book!”

“Yeah. You did well,” I praised.

Carol leaned her head toward me. This meant that she wanted me to pat her head, so I did.

“Isn’t this the sort of thing you do to a puppy…?”

“Huh?”

“No, it’s nothing.” I thought I saw an illusion of a puppy’s tail and ears behind Carol. It was really cute.

It made me worried. The future villainess looked just too adorable recently.

***

The picnic was going well. We had to use one of our precious weekend days to go, but it was worth it. After all, it was the first time that I’d gone outside since coming to this world.

“Wow. This is like heaven.”

The utopia that people sometimes talk about spanned out before my eyes. Carol had already run to the river to wade, not knowing that her skirt was getting dirty.

“It truly is,” said Madame DeJoue. “Lady Sharon, you always act so mature. You should take the chance to go and dip your feet in the water as well.”

“But my bones are cold,” I said.

“What?” Madame DeJoue rubbed her ears as if she thought she had misheard me. Her ears were probably working just fine…

You have to think about the future when you’re 35 years old. It would be bad if I caught a cold.

“Oh, you mean that your feet will be cold! It’s all right, my lady. It’s still early in the summer,” said Madame DeJoue.

“No thank you. I prefer to be over here.”

Madame DeJoue sighed. “Well. If you say so.”

I absently watched as Carol played mischief on Madame Berna, who dodged her pranks with a bewildered look on her face.

“Would you want me to play like that?” I asked.

“I only wish for my lady to enjoy herself,” said Madame DeJoue.

Hmph. I thought she would let it go at that.

I sat down on the picnic mat and rested my chin on my knee. To be honest, I had some worries.

“Madame DeJoue?”

“Yes?”

“How much authority do I have in the duchy?”

Madame DeJoue looked confused. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about…?”

It’s not that I wanted a lot of power. I just wanted to decorate the place where we lived and occasionally adjust Carol’s schedule. Right now, I could barely help shape Carol’s education.

I turned my head to face Madame DeJoue. “Please talk to the butler and find out what my budget is,” I said.

There was probably a way for me to use my inheritance, but if I do, I might make Duke Gratoni suspicious of my actions. It would be better to save my inheritance for my personal needs and otherwise use the money that the Duke allocated for me. He would notice what I was doing eventually, but there was no need to tip my hand right now.

“What are you saying?”

Madame DeJoue seemed shocked by my words. I know that I would be if an 8 year old started talking to me about budgets and authority. However, I was completely serious.

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