I’d read the books I wanted to read, and happily left the Royal Library to return to the estate. I passed the book of noble laws, ‘The Complete Works of Fernand Empire’s Law and Regulations for Nobles’, to my father. I stuck a bookmark on the most important page.

Of course, I didn’t show my father that I was cheerful. I meekly asked my father what he thought.

He probably wouldn’t have be in a good mood if I had showed him that I was looking forward to being a commoner, since he could take that as I was happy to be a commoner rather than be a noble like him. I didn’t want to spoil his mood, since I might lose my hope of becoming a commoner.

“Certainly, the law you told me about exists. I’ll consider your wish and reply to you as soon as possible.”

My father confirmed that the law existed and told me that he would consider it.

Yup, my negotiations have made a bit of progress.

At the estate, the servants who had returned to their family homes had yet to return, and it was quieter than usual.

My brother and sisters had gone to the city.

I returned to my room and compiled the information I had searched about the other cities.

I had two potential places that I wanted to live in; both had carriages that went there from the Royal Capital.

I tried to write some simple advantages and disadvantages of each place onto a piece of paper.

Servants rarely entered my room, but since I had declared that I wanted to live without any connections to the house, I decided that it would be better to not leave clues about where I was going.

Although, it would actually be better to hear about the places from someone that had been there.

I hid the paper under the bed mattress.

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

Doing laundry in winter was harsh.

Although the only thing I hand washed was my underwear, my hands quickly became rough.

The cream I got from the city was stinky and not very effective. I soaked my hands in fish-mint tea, since I had found that it was good for inflammation and stopped bleeding in a book called ‘Herbs Useful in Life’.

Fish-mint tea wasn’t delicious, but in our house it had an effect on beautiful skin.

“I can get rid of the redness in my hands. Umm, it seems like it’ll be more effective to decoct the fish-mint.”

“Even if I have a fireplace in my room, the fire’s not enough to decoct it.”

“This leaf grows in the shade of the backyard in summer. I’ll guess I’ll see the effectiveness of this leaf in summer… If it works, then should I mix it into a cream? I’ll probably have to wash all my clothes by myself next winter.”

It seemed like it would be useful to read the books on herbs available in the estate while I could.

I muttered to myself while pondering.

I would have seemed like an eccentric girl if people saw me.

“If it’s a preserved cream then I can sell it, can’t I?!”

Necessity is the mother of invention… No, don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

I had handed the book to my father. I, who was feeling like a commoner in spring, wondered about the distant future.

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

I was called to my father’s office the day after I gave him the book.

I was nervous as I entered the office, but he told me to make clean copies of the documents; he didn’t give me a reply.

I hid my disappointment and as I was about to leave the room my father said, “Come back here at 10 o’clock.”

After that I was so excited, but I still had a lot of clean documents to copy. Afterwards, the numbers on the documents were dancing when I looked at them…

I headed to the office again at 10. On my way, older sister Catherine told me to help her prepare for the evening party, but I was able to undertake the task happily.

“It’s Ayesha-Maria. May I enter?”

“Yes. Enter.”

I entered the office with my father’s permission, and older brother Guerlain was also there.

After a fashion, they asked the maid to make tea and she left. It was decided that we would have tea; the three of us. It was the first time I’d ever had tea in that office.

We sat on the sofa; father was in front of me while older brother Guerlain was next to me on the left.

Ah, fragrant tea soothes the heart.

“I’ve read the book in question and confirmed the law. And Ayesha-Maria, I thought about your wishes. I also consulted with Guerlain because it concerns our family.” My father said and then drank his tea.

“I’ll start with my decision. I’ll approve of you becoming a commoner… But normally, people don’t think about wanting to become commoners.”

“The advantage for the Thousand House is that we don’t have to pay your dowry anymore when you get married. Searching for a House for you to marry into is also hard. You soiling the Thousand House name because you lack proper education in certain areas is also problematic. Another advantage is that if Ayesha-Maria’s presence disappears from this House then mother’s endless anxiety will also disappear. I can only think of you wanting to become a commoner as a disgrace to the Thousand House. You have absolutely no pride, do you? You said yourself that you would have nothing to do with the Thousand House and that you won’t cause problems for us. I hope you keep your word.” Older brother Guerlain’s harsh opinions continued.

Whatever was said to me was fine as long as I could become a commoner.

I didn’t have anything like pride.

I just want to become a human being with freewill.

“Thank you.”

I quietly lowered my head.

There were actually a lot of things I wanted to refute. However, I kept my opinions to myself as I’ve always had.

It wasn’t like I wanted to restrain myself. I was surprised that I wanted to feel my family’s emotions somewhere in that emotionless conversation, though the reality was actually like that. I could only remain calm.