MPBAGS Chapter 16

Obviously, if Gabriel was the second male lead, my guilt would decrease. Stealing Kanna's husband versus a guy who had a one-sided crush on Kanna falling for someone else—the feeling is different. The feeling.

Setting aside the nagging discomfort, I half-listened to Kanna's chattering, throwing in vague responses, and somehow the topic had shifted to the painting.

"A painting?"

"Yeah. He donated it to the temple."

"Really? If it's a painting of Donau's dead body, I'd kind of like to see it."

Right? I was genuinely curious about just how holy they'd managed to make a corpse look that people were calling it an angel.

"Want to go see it? I can't go, though."

"Why not? I was hoping to go with you, Miss—"

"Kanna!"

Kanna had been about to suggest we go together when Henna cut her off urgently. Henna, nice save!

Kanna looked confused for a moment, then saw my horrified expression and nodded.

"Oh, right... Miss, you'd be uncomfortable."

Exactly. I was curious, but going to see it was a different matter entirely. I had no desire to go stare at a painting of someone's corpse. A painting of a dead body—as a modern person, it felt kind of... criminal, you know?

Of course, romance fantasy natives like Kanna and Henna would have a different perspective. The time period was more historical, and religiously, death itself sometimes carried sacred meaning. Seeing how the temple here was calling it an angel, a divine blessing, maybe that was the case?

"If you're going to see it, you should go soon."

Gabriel seemed to want the painting taken down, so it might be disposed of before long.

Kanna and Henna decided to go see the painting at the temple. Since they were going out for the first time in ages, I pressed plenty of money into their hands—enough to buy delicious food and have fun. Ten gold coins should be enough, right?

There could be pickpockets, or thugs who'd threaten them to hand over all their money, so I divided the gold coins between two pouches and gave them one each.

"My lady... we could buy a house with this."

No, Henna! How could you buy a house with this? Do you know how expensive housing is these days! Oh. Right, this was inside a novel. But in romance fantasies, the protagonists throw around tens of thousands of gold. Were houses cheaper here?

"Really?"

"Yes. You can buy a house for about five gold."

What. So with the money I just gave them, they could buy two houses? Evangeline hadn't spent any money and just saved it all, so there was a mountain of gold coins piled in her room. Now I understood why romance fantasy heroines invested in real estate. Damn it! If only I'd known the original story, I would've become a real estate speculator instead of obsessing over summoning circles.

"I have lots of money too!"

Kanna pulled out her purse, showing it off proudly. Inside were one silver coin and some copper coins mixed together. You say you have lots of money, but why is there no gold and only one silver? It wasn't like Kanna was a new hire... Don't tell me they weren't paying wages on time?

"Henna. How much do servants normally earn?"

"The Rohanson estate pays well, but other places usually give about four silver annually."

Four silver?

"Twenty silver coins equal one gold coin."

Henna quickly added that. I felt bad for being such an ignorant mistress who didn't even know basic common knowledge. I really should have claimed amnesia after all.

Twenty silver coins to one gold coin. If the annual wage was four silver, they'd have to work five years to earn a single gold coin? Damn... So the ten gold coins I just gave them equaled fifty years of work? No wonder Kanna and Henna looked shocked when they received it.

But if prices were like this, why did Evangeline have so much money?

Oh. Now that I thought about it, the diary said Evangeline's mother was a duke's daughter. It must have been money left to Evangeline behind that terrible Count Rohanson's back.

Then the money Kanna proudly showed me must actually be her wages. One silver would actually be quite generous.

"My lady, this is too much."

"It's fine."

Henna fretted, but I had no intention of taking it back. Villainess 101: Buy hearts with money. Besides, Kanna was a romance fantasy heroine—how could she be penniless!

My heart felt bitter. Most romance fantasy heroines were nobles, so why did Kanna have to fall into the minority category!

Honestly, I didn't understand why this romance fantasy world's status system was so downgraded. Was it because this was an angsty romance? The heroine was a maid, the villainess wasn't even a duchess but a count's daughter, and the male lead—or was it second male lead—was a knight commander... No good. Gabriel was definitely disqualified as male lead material. Kanna's partner absolutely had to be a duke.

"We'll be going then."

The count's carriage I'd prepared arrived, so it was time to send them off. My innocent girls, don't get hurt out there, don't get scammed, watch out for people, and watch out for ca— no, watch out for carriages.

"You know what to do when you get there, right?"

"Yes. I'll check if Sir Gabriel is handling things properly and report back."

I'd become suspicious that Gabriel might be the second male lead, so while they were there, I'd asked them to check if he was doing his job properly. If he wasn't competent, he was disqualified as male lead and just got the second male lead role by default.

I'd already sent a letter ahead asking him to take good care of the girls even though I wasn't coming, and since Kanna was involved in the case, he'd explain things well.

"Will you be okay without me?"

"Yes. Because you're always watching over me, Miss."

Kanna seemed to trust me on a religious level now. I appreciated her faith, but I wasn't a god—I couldn't always watch over you, Kanna...

"Since we're taking the Rohanson count's carriage, we won't get caught up in pointless trouble."

Henna translated Kanna's meaning. Ah, I see. That's what she meant.

Kanna must have accumulated quite a bit of experience being tormented by Evangeline. What lip service.

The carriage rolled smoothly once it left the Rohanson estate.

Perhaps because it bore a noble family's crest, no one blocked the way, and they arrived remarkably quickly. Unless someone had two lives, no one would rush at a noble's carriage. Even if they got run over and had their legs crushed, ordinary nobles would just get angry about the blocked road.

Kanna gazed out the window at the bustling streets passing by, marveling at their splendor.

"Sister. Should we stop by a dress shop? Let's buy some desserts for Miss too!"

"Kanna, surely you're not planning to spend the money the young lady gave us?"

"Why not? She gave it to us to spend."

Miss seemed unaware of prices when she gave them ten gold, but even if she had known, she wouldn't have given less. Besides, whether they returned the money untouched or spent a little, she wouldn't care. Even if Kanna bought a house on a whim during her outing, Miss would just accept it.

Sister didn't grasp how much favor they were currently receiving, so she kept getting scared and watching for reactions, but in reality, Miss forgave Kanna even when she acted presumptuously, didn't she?

'Sister needs to realize someday that Miss cherishes us.'

Of course, Kanna didn't want to pressure Henna, so she didn't try to persuade her rashly.

"Sister. I've never been to a place like that before. I'm sorry."

"Kanna..."

Instead, she lowered her eyes and acted thoroughly dejected. When she behaved like this, Henna would do anything for Kanna, as if she'd pluck the sun from the sky. It felt a bit cunning, but it wasn't a lie either.

Kanna had been sickly since birth and had been deathly ill until recently, so of course she'd never seen the bustling streets. And she'd never had the money to go anyway.

And Henna probably couldn't go often either. She'd had to spend every bit she earned on Kanna.

"Fine. We'll stop by on the way back."

"Thank you, Sister! I'm so happy!"

When Kanna smiled brightly in delight, even Henna, who'd been tense the whole time, smiled faintly.

She hoped this would be an opportunity for her sister, who'd always sacrificed for a sick younger sibling, to spend money on herself. And she'd buy her a gift with money she'd earned herself through work, not the money Miss gave them. Sister would be so happy, wouldn't she? Kanna began pondering what gift to buy.

"But just for a moment. If we're too late, the young lady will be waiting."

"Okay. I promise."

Of course, Miss would know everything Kanna and Henna were doing outside. But instead of making that excuse, Kanna nodded obediently.

'Sister must be blind.'

Kanna poked the eye floating beside her. The eye startled, squeezing its eyelid shut tight, then glared at Kanna through a film of tears.

Miss had attached an eye to Kanna. If it had been one of those clustering swarms floating around the lady, or those things blooming like mold on the estate walls, it would have felt repulsive.

But since it was a single eye that had popped out on its own, what should have been grotesque felt oddly cute instead. Was it because Miss had given it to her?

This eye protected Kanna when Miss wasn't around.

Before, it had taught a lesson to a servant who'd come up to the third floor to search the rooms.

According to Sister, there was an order not to wander the third floor, but the way they'd snuck in suggested they'd come to secretly steal anything valuable from the countess's room.

They seemed completely unaware that Kanna and Henna were staying on the third floor. Since they hadn't targeted the two from the start, she'd planned to just scare them and send them away.

She'd only made them kneel, but they must have been terribly cowardly—the servant begged for their life, promising to give all their savings. She hadn't even intended to harm them. Watching them cry and plead for their life reminded her of when Donau had kidnapped her, so she'd just let them go. Afterward, Henna told her strange rumors had started circulating.

'They say the countess's ghost wanders the third floor.'

Incidentally, the rumor also claimed that to escape the countess's ghost, you had to offer silver coins. The source was obvious.

"We've... arrived."

The coachman called to Henna and Kanna. His trembling voice and inability to make eye contact clearly showed how difficult he found Henna to deal with.

Since becoming the young lady's close attendant, all the estate's servants feared Henna.

Close maid to that Lady Evangeline.

That was Henna's current title in the estate. Several people had already quit in fear, throwing resignation letters, and there were even rumors that Daisy had gone blind and been sent to a convent, making Henna, who worked without incident, stand out even more by contrast.

Kanna was treated normally because she never left the young lady's side and wasn't officially employed, so people didn't recognize her face. Of course, after having ordinary conversations and parting ways, they'd usually wonder, 'Wait, who was that girl?' and rack their memories.

"Thank you."

"No, not at all. I'll wait here up front."

Would this coachman, speaking so formally to a mere maid, remember that he used to chat casually with Henna sometimes in the past?

"It's fancy."

Whether the coachman was flustered with Henna or not, Kanna looked up at the Grand Temple and stated her impression.