Chapter 9 ==Moon Tears and meeting with the VP==

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"I heard that Lady Alyssa received tons of gifts from the Marquis and the Crown Prince!"

"I heard that too! Apparently, an anonymous person stated that she saw the Prince's most trusted aide and the Marquis' secretary bringing loads of gifts to the Duchy."

"It's obvious it's not for Lady Amelia, since the Marquis isn't interested in her, and everyone knows about the Crown Prince's affection for Alyssa."

"He must have wanted to let the Marquis know that Lady Alyssa is still his."

Both Ellie and I constantly overheard snippets of conversations from other nobles who were in the capital for various social events.

And I strongly suspected that the anonymous person who had spread the news was none other than my own sister.

As a result, I had received numerous threatening letters from young ladies, filled with unpleasant words pressuring me to choose between the Marquis and the Crown Prince.

The reason I was out and about right now was to purchase some jewelry for my sister's upcoming tea party next week.

None of the other nobles were yet aware of this event, as the invitations hadn't been sent out. However, knowing Ellie's keen observation skills, she had immediately picked up on my sister's social plans.

"My Lady, it seems there are many loose tongues wagging around here," Ellie whispered, her eyes subtly scanning the street where people were glancing at me and whispering behind their hands, unaware that I could perfectly hear their every word.

"My lady, this looks like a decent place to shop," she said, drawing my attention to a renowned jewelry store called Moonlight.

Which was, in fact, my primary destination for the day.

"I suppose you're right. Shall we go in?" I asked, and we entered the store, where I was immediately struck by the large number of customers inside.

I knew that Moonlight was one of the largest and wealthiest businesses on the continent, far surpassing even our family's wealth, which had held the top ranking for the past twenty years.
Not only that, but it was also famous for its mysterious owner. For the twenty years since its founding, the owner's identity had remained a closely guarded secret.

The only face the public ever saw was the Vice President. The current VP, the second since the company's inception, was a woman of extraordinary beauty, likely not older than thirty. She was a rare gem whom the former VP, who had succumbed to illness two years prior, had discovered.

Her origins were completely unknown. Seriously, not even the author of this story had revealed her background... the author clearly enjoyed being mysterious.

And we were just two months away from my sister's and brother's eighteenth birthday, an event ominously known as Alyssa's original death date.

Five months after that would mark the official start of the story, with the heroine's grand entrance.

"Welcome to Moonlight's jewelry shop. May I ask your preference, or what you are looking for?" the shop clerk inquired politely.

"Yes, we are looking for a jewelry set that has not yet been released to the public, please," Ellie stated, raising my eyebrow slightly at her bold request. The clerk looked visibly surprised.

"Well, we can accommodate that if you have a letter of recommendation," she replied. Suddenly, Ellie produced a letter from a brown envelope and handed it to the clerk.

The two of them then began speaking in another language, one that would likely be incomprehensible to the other customers... unaware that I could understand every single word they were saying.

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