008. Black Swan
She shouted at Charlotte, but trouble arose the next day, as soon as she arrived at Cavendish Manor.
Because a commoner like Emilia Bern dared to show up in a carriage.
No law said commoners couldn't ride in carriages. The problem was that they were such luxurious carriages that they were hard to find in Erndorf.
There was a scuffle at the entrance. The servant locked the door, and Beppy growled. He glared at him like a lion from hell.
The terrified servant ran straight to his butler, Haspel. Haspel also sweated profusely in front of the large man.
“Emilia, how about we just get off here and go in for today? I’ll discuss it with the master and let you know what to do.”
Emilia tried to send Beppy back somehow.
But Beppy was stubborn as an ox. When he stood in front of the main gate, Haspel had no choice but to surrender. He ran to his master, Bernen Cavendish.
Baron Cavendish, oddly enough, seemed more interested in the carriage than in Beppy or Emilia.
“What a mess... How could this be...”
As he looked around the small carriage, he was startled to find a mark on the handle. It was engraved with a shield and three arrows, the symbols of the Meyer family.
Emilia, who discovered it late, was also a little embarrassed.
Bernen Cavendish frowned and clenched his jaw for a moment, then nodded helplessly.
“Very well. I will let you in. But from now on, please use the back door where the warehouse is. Do not think that we are treating you badly. You also know that Countess Odilia Luen is staying here, right?”
Cavendish's face was filled with arrogant pride as he asked that question. It seemed so childish, but Emilia nodded silently.
“I wish you knew that guests come from all over to see us. We don’t have enough space to park our carriages, so we can’t ask you to use our warehouse. And this is something that can’t be helped legally. Our laws don’t have any provisions for ‘carriages owned by commoners.’”
The common law simply says 'carriage'. She wanted to point out that there is no provision for 'carriages owned by nobles'.
But as always, Emilia tolerated it well.
"Thank you."
Thanks to the polite reply, the commotion surrounding the carriage was quickly settled.
The servants opened the back door, and the onlookers disappeared like the tide. The only thing that did not go quiet was the growling Beppy.
“Cavendish is bad! Bad!”
Emilia had to sweat profusely to calm Beppy down as she kicked the ground with her feet.
“It’s okay, sir. I really don’t care. Here, you gain as much as you lose. There’s a saying that goes, You have to know how to lose to win.”
Beppy didn't move at all, as if he were hearing a foreign language from another world. Emilia swallowed a sigh.
“If you keep being so stubborn, I might have to go see Master Meyer. Then you won’t be able to save your little sister.”
The fiery Beppy died down in an instant. But Emilia felt sick inside.
How is this any different from Hardy Meyer, who exploits the desperation of his opponents?
Holding someone in her hand and shaking them was something that never suited Emilia's personality.
“Of course, that would never happen. I was just saying that to get you to turn back. Now, please go. Charlotte will be waiting for you to take her on the swing.”
Beppy kept his mouth shut and seemed to be thinking about something, then nodded.
Emilia, who saw him off, showed her card as usual and stood in front of the door. Today, too, the door opened a long time later.
“That kid.”
"Who?"
“That mouse that Sheila was talking about. Well, she came in a carriage today!”
“A carriage? Even so, it’s probably just a cheap two-wheeled carriage.”
“No, it had four wheels, right? And it even had the Meyer family crest engraved on it.”
“Oh my god, now everything is...”
Emilia walked leisurely through the crowd of people, muttering.
Unwavering aloofness tends to cause even greater anger, and the woman who had been licking her lips rolled her eyes, looking for a new person to gossip with.
And then she found it. Among the many visitors, one young man stood out: Nathan Malvin, the eldest son of the Malvin family, who owned a large ranch in the western region.
“You know, that kid who just passed by...”
His clear green eyes, beneath his dark brown hair, turned towards the woman.
The woman gasped in surprise at the sight of his extremely aristocratic and refined face. He was the first to speak, ignoring the woman.
“I know. There’s a mouse that comes and goes here. Emilia Bern, the fiancée of the Meyer family.”
The eyes of the man muttering like that were filled with amusement.
It was a week ago that the woman first caught Nathan Malvin's eye.
It was the first time he had seen a woman with such mysterious hair color. When seen from a sunny window, it was as soft as honey, but under a shady bookshelf, it took on a deep color like a hazelnut.
No matter what color it was, looking at her softly curled, voluminous hair made him forget his boredom for a moment.
“Look at that. She’s wearing gloves, a parasol, and even an umbrella.”
“Oh my goodness, these are out-of-style rags.”
“Sheila, your maid is older than Mia’s.”
Laughter broke out here and there.
“By the way, how long will Lord Cavendish allow her to come and go?”
“I wish she would stop coming now. Honestly, it’s almost like she's been abandoned by the Meyer family.”
“So I’m going to tell her to be a little more thorough with her visits. So that she can realize it herself.”
The nobles he knows would never act like that. To them, hypocrisy is a virtue. A true noble is someone who smiles in front of others and slaps them on their back.
However, the reason why Sheila and her group act like that is because Emilia Bern is completely different from them, a 'commoner'.
Of course, if she had just been a commoner, there wouldn't have been any problem. Most nobles enjoyed pretending to be kind and generous to those below them.
But she was a black swan, not knowing her place and daring to fly into a flock of white swans.
A moment later, the door opened, and a middle-aged woman in a bustle-style dress appeared. It was Odilia Luen who had suddenly become a visiting tutor.
Lord Cavendish invited his cousins and even his eighth cousins to his mansion to ensure his daughter's successful debut.
News spread like wildfire that a socialite was staying here for several months, and nobles from nearby areas sent visiting cards.
As a result, so many young men and women gathered in one place to take a kind of 'class'.
“Sit down, ladies and gentlemen. Today we’re going to learn how to get from the ballroom to the banquet hall when you’re invited to a ball.”
All the stories Odilia tells are things you can find in cheap etiquette books on the market.
Yet the only reason young people always come here is because of the influence she has on society.
“If a man goes to a banquet hall with a woman, it must be the same woman when he leaves. He must never change partners...”
As he listened to the voice that was as flat as cold porridge, his eyelids started to feel heavy.
Should I just sleep?
Nathan had already gotten on Countess Luen's nerves several times with his rude and rebellious behavior. And now, unlike everyone else, he was lying on the sofa alone.
But the Malvin family's trademark was a moderate amount of arrogance that didn't cross the line. Nathan decided not to doze off, at least not openly.
Time passed so slowly.
The Royal Yacht Race is to be held in Fisherman next month.
Which lodge will you enjoy fox hunting at this winter?
He needs to send a message to Tilson and tell him to start training the dog now...
His thoughts drift away like fallen leaves on a river.
Suddenly, Emilia Bern came into view.
The sunlight shone like a halo on her shoulders. He scanned the beautiful line from her forehead to her nose and chin, and for a moment, he met her bright blue eyes.
Could there ever be such an indifferent gaze?
Emilia Bern took her eyes off him without a moment's hesitation. Perhaps it was that terrible indifference that really piqued Nathan's curiosity.
“That’s all for today’s story. Unfortunately, I have an important engagement and won’t be able to join you for tea time. Enjoy yourselves.”
As soon as Countess Luen left the salon, the maids brought out tea, and young men and women sat in a circle.
Only Emilia and Nathan stayed away from the crowd.
“Nathan, come in.”
“...”
"What are you doing?"
Harriet asked again. Nathan didn't answer, just stared at the ceiling and repeatedly opened and closed the pocket watch in his hand.
Bouncer.
Harriet must be thinking that to herself. Nathan found it amusing.
How despicable.
Nathan, who is at the top of the pyramid, feels disgusted and uncomfortable when he sees those below him stepping on those below him.
Is it because it feels like she's seeing his bare face? Or is it because he feels pity for that black swan?
At that moment, the black swan quietly rose up. It moved very quietly, as if it wanted to hide its presence somehow.
The door opened and closed again. Nathan jumped up from his seat.
“Nathan, where are you going?”
He left the salon without even pretending to listen and went straight to the study.
The black swan will probably be there, as it declined tea time before and spent the rest of its time there.
As expected.
As soon as he opened the door, he found the gloves and parasol that had been laughed at were neatly placed on one side of the large table.
She deliberately chose a spot where she couldn't be seen. He picked up a random book and followed the small figure with his eyes.
She finally appeared between the bookshelves.
Emilia approached the servant who tended the study, holding a book in one hand and a visiting card in the other.
The servant made a troubled face as soon as he saw it. Only when Emilia showed him the card again did he sigh and nod as if he had no choice.
I see you're trying to borrow a book.
Nathan thought. If it had been anyone else, the servant would have given his permission without hesitation.
The study was large enough to be almost a library, and Lord Cavendish was a very generous man. He opened his study to anyone who visited his house and told them they could borrow it at any time.
But that black swan would have needed the visitor's card of the Meyer family to borrow a book, just like she did when she came and went.
It's funny. He should say it's novel. Playing around with things like visiting cards.
Nathan smiled crookedly and began to study her earnestly.
Emilia picked another book, sat down, and quickly became absorbed in the book.
She read the book with a very colorful expression. She frowned, opened her mouth as if surprised, and suddenly laughed. She twirled her hair, hugged the book, and stared into space as if she were deeply moved. Just by looking at her face, you could guess the content.
As he looks into those moist blue eyes, he feels like the air around him is becoming refreshing.
Shall we have a word now?
Just as he was about to get up from his seat, something unexpected happened.
She shouted at Charlotte, but trouble arose the next day, as soon as she arrived at Cavendish Manor.
Because a commoner like Emilia Bern dared to show up in a carriage.
No law said commoners couldn't ride in carriages. The problem was that they were such luxurious carriages that they were hard to find in Erndorf.
There was a scuffle at the entrance. The servant locked the door, and Beppy growled. He glared at him like a lion from hell.
The terrified servant ran straight to his butler, Haspel. Haspel also sweated profusely in front of the large man.
“Emilia, how about we just get off here and go in for today? I’ll discuss it with the master and let you know what to do.”
Emilia tried to send Beppy back somehow.
But Beppy was stubborn as an ox. When he stood in front of the main gate, Haspel had no choice but to surrender. He ran to his master, Bernen Cavendish.
Baron Cavendish, oddly enough, seemed more interested in the carriage than in Beppy or Emilia.
“What a mess... How could this be...”
As he looked around the small carriage, he was startled to find a mark on the handle. It was engraved with a shield and three arrows, the symbols of the Meyer family.
Emilia, who discovered it late, was also a little embarrassed.
Bernen Cavendish frowned and clenched his jaw for a moment, then nodded helplessly.
“Very well. I will let you in. But from now on, please use the back door where the warehouse is. Do not think that we are treating you badly. You also know that Countess Odilia Luen is staying here, right?”
Cavendish's face was filled with arrogant pride as he asked that question. It seemed so childish, but Emilia nodded silently.
“I wish you knew that guests come from all over to see us. We don’t have enough space to park our carriages, so we can’t ask you to use our warehouse. And this is something that can’t be helped legally. Our laws don’t have any provisions for ‘carriages owned by commoners.’”
The common law simply says 'carriage'. She wanted to point out that there is no provision for 'carriages owned by nobles'.
But as always, Emilia tolerated it well.
"Thank you."
Thanks to the polite reply, the commotion surrounding the carriage was quickly settled.
The servants opened the back door, and the onlookers disappeared like the tide. The only thing that did not go quiet was the growling Beppy.
“Cavendish is bad! Bad!”
Emilia had to sweat profusely to calm Beppy down as she kicked the ground with her feet.
“It’s okay, sir. I really don’t care. Here, you gain as much as you lose. There’s a saying that goes, You have to know how to lose to win.”
Beppy didn't move at all, as if he were hearing a foreign language from another world. Emilia swallowed a sigh.
“If you keep being so stubborn, I might have to go see Master Meyer. Then you won’t be able to save your little sister.”
The fiery Beppy died down in an instant. But Emilia felt sick inside.
How is this any different from Hardy Meyer, who exploits the desperation of his opponents?
Holding someone in her hand and shaking them was something that never suited Emilia's personality.
“Of course, that would never happen. I was just saying that to get you to turn back. Now, please go. Charlotte will be waiting for you to take her on the swing.”
Beppy kept his mouth shut and seemed to be thinking about something, then nodded.
Emilia, who saw him off, showed her card as usual and stood in front of the door. Today, too, the door opened a long time later.
***
“That kid.”
"Who?"
“That mouse that Sheila was talking about. Well, she came in a carriage today!”
“A carriage? Even so, it’s probably just a cheap two-wheeled carriage.”
“No, it had four wheels, right? And it even had the Meyer family crest engraved on it.”
“Oh my god, now everything is...”
Emilia walked leisurely through the crowd of people, muttering.
Unwavering aloofness tends to cause even greater anger, and the woman who had been licking her lips rolled her eyes, looking for a new person to gossip with.
And then she found it. Among the many visitors, one young man stood out: Nathan Malvin, the eldest son of the Malvin family, who owned a large ranch in the western region.
“You know, that kid who just passed by...”
His clear green eyes, beneath his dark brown hair, turned towards the woman.
The woman gasped in surprise at the sight of his extremely aristocratic and refined face. He was the first to speak, ignoring the woman.
“I know. There’s a mouse that comes and goes here. Emilia Bern, the fiancée of the Meyer family.”
The eyes of the man muttering like that were filled with amusement.
It was a week ago that the woman first caught Nathan Malvin's eye.
It was the first time he had seen a woman with such mysterious hair color. When seen from a sunny window, it was as soft as honey, but under a shady bookshelf, it took on a deep color like a hazelnut.
No matter what color it was, looking at her softly curled, voluminous hair made him forget his boredom for a moment.
“Look at that. She’s wearing gloves, a parasol, and even an umbrella.”
“Oh my goodness, these are out-of-style rags.”
“Sheila, your maid is older than Mia’s.”
Laughter broke out here and there.
“By the way, how long will Lord Cavendish allow her to come and go?”
“I wish she would stop coming now. Honestly, it’s almost like she's been abandoned by the Meyer family.”
“So I’m going to tell her to be a little more thorough with her visits. So that she can realize it herself.”
The nobles he knows would never act like that. To them, hypocrisy is a virtue. A true noble is someone who smiles in front of others and slaps them on their back.
However, the reason why Sheila and her group act like that is because Emilia Bern is completely different from them, a 'commoner'.
Of course, if she had just been a commoner, there wouldn't have been any problem. Most nobles enjoyed pretending to be kind and generous to those below them.
But she was a black swan, not knowing her place and daring to fly into a flock of white swans.
A moment later, the door opened, and a middle-aged woman in a bustle-style dress appeared. It was Odilia Luen who had suddenly become a visiting tutor.
Lord Cavendish invited his cousins and even his eighth cousins to his mansion to ensure his daughter's successful debut.
News spread like wildfire that a socialite was staying here for several months, and nobles from nearby areas sent visiting cards.
As a result, so many young men and women gathered in one place to take a kind of 'class'.
“Sit down, ladies and gentlemen. Today we’re going to learn how to get from the ballroom to the banquet hall when you’re invited to a ball.”
All the stories Odilia tells are things you can find in cheap etiquette books on the market.
Yet the only reason young people always come here is because of the influence she has on society.
“If a man goes to a banquet hall with a woman, it must be the same woman when he leaves. He must never change partners...”
As he listened to the voice that was as flat as cold porridge, his eyelids started to feel heavy.
Should I just sleep?
Nathan had already gotten on Countess Luen's nerves several times with his rude and rebellious behavior. And now, unlike everyone else, he was lying on the sofa alone.
But the Malvin family's trademark was a moderate amount of arrogance that didn't cross the line. Nathan decided not to doze off, at least not openly.
Time passed so slowly.
The Royal Yacht Race is to be held in Fisherman next month.
Which lodge will you enjoy fox hunting at this winter?
He needs to send a message to Tilson and tell him to start training the dog now...
His thoughts drift away like fallen leaves on a river.
Suddenly, Emilia Bern came into view.
The sunlight shone like a halo on her shoulders. He scanned the beautiful line from her forehead to her nose and chin, and for a moment, he met her bright blue eyes.
Could there ever be such an indifferent gaze?
Emilia Bern took her eyes off him without a moment's hesitation. Perhaps it was that terrible indifference that really piqued Nathan's curiosity.
“That’s all for today’s story. Unfortunately, I have an important engagement and won’t be able to join you for tea time. Enjoy yourselves.”
As soon as Countess Luen left the salon, the maids brought out tea, and young men and women sat in a circle.
Only Emilia and Nathan stayed away from the crowd.
“Nathan, come in.”
“...”
"What are you doing?"
Harriet asked again. Nathan didn't answer, just stared at the ceiling and repeatedly opened and closed the pocket watch in his hand.
Bouncer.
Harriet must be thinking that to herself. Nathan found it amusing.
How despicable.
Nathan, who is at the top of the pyramid, feels disgusted and uncomfortable when he sees those below him stepping on those below him.
Is it because it feels like she's seeing his bare face? Or is it because he feels pity for that black swan?
At that moment, the black swan quietly rose up. It moved very quietly, as if it wanted to hide its presence somehow.
The door opened and closed again. Nathan jumped up from his seat.
“Nathan, where are you going?”
He left the salon without even pretending to listen and went straight to the study.
The black swan will probably be there, as it declined tea time before and spent the rest of its time there.
As expected.
As soon as he opened the door, he found the gloves and parasol that had been laughed at were neatly placed on one side of the large table.
She deliberately chose a spot where she couldn't be seen. He picked up a random book and followed the small figure with his eyes.
She finally appeared between the bookshelves.
Emilia approached the servant who tended the study, holding a book in one hand and a visiting card in the other.
The servant made a troubled face as soon as he saw it. Only when Emilia showed him the card again did he sigh and nod as if he had no choice.
I see you're trying to borrow a book.
Nathan thought. If it had been anyone else, the servant would have given his permission without hesitation.
The study was large enough to be almost a library, and Lord Cavendish was a very generous man. He opened his study to anyone who visited his house and told them they could borrow it at any time.
But that black swan would have needed the visitor's card of the Meyer family to borrow a book, just like she did when she came and went.
It's funny. He should say it's novel. Playing around with things like visiting cards.
Nathan smiled crookedly and began to study her earnestly.
Emilia picked another book, sat down, and quickly became absorbed in the book.
She read the book with a very colorful expression. She frowned, opened her mouth as if surprised, and suddenly laughed. She twirled her hair, hugged the book, and stared into space as if she were deeply moved. Just by looking at her face, you could guess the content.
As he looks into those moist blue eyes, he feels like the air around him is becoming refreshing.
Shall we have a word now?
Just as he was about to get up from his seat, something unexpected happened.
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