Chapter 31. The Wind at My Fingertips  

〈Are you planning to repair the place where the fire broke out?〉

〈Yes. I need to finish the repairs before my parents and younger sibling return. So, I plan to complete it as quickly as possible.〉

〈In that case, I will send workers from our merchant guild.〉

〈Pardon? Workers from the Ash Merchant Guild……?〉

〈Yes. Even though we are a merchant guild, we have many experts affiliated with us since we continuously undertake repairs, from ship repairs to warehouses and new offices.〉

〈But don’t they all have schedules?〉

〈We always hire enough workers to prepare for any eventuality. And it’s a basic rule to repair the homes of our guild members if there’s a problem. Now that Miss Ael is part of the Ash Merchant Guild, it’s only natural to enjoy the benefits.〉

He remembered that Aelfrieda had asked to be called Ael before leaving, just like when they first met.

Ael preferred the name, but more importantly, if anyone remembered her real name and some nobles found out she worked at the Ash Merchant Guild, it wouldn’t be good.

Upon explaining the reason, the three members of the Ash Merchant Guild agreed that Aelfrieda seemed a bit long and immediately started calling her Ael.

Why was it so easy, yet her family insisted on calling her Aelfrieda or Rida?

“In that case, I will enjoy the benefits of the Ash Merchant Guild.”

“Good decision. Especially since when it’s a staff member’s matter, we handle it very cheaply. And repairing Miss Ael’s residence benefits us as well.”

“What do you mean by benefits?”

How could repairing her house benefit the guild?

“If our guild’s workers didn’t go, Miss Ael would have had to find a carpenter to inquire about repairs. You wouldn’t have gone to just one place, so you would have visited several.”

Ael nodded. As he said, after leaving the guild, she planned to find a carpenter to request an estimate for the repairs.

“Wandering around like that would naturally tire you out, delaying the decoding of ancient documents.”

“Is it just for such a trivial reason?”

“It’s not a trivial reason. How much benefit does it bring to our guild for Miss Ael to decode one more document instead of wandering around?”

Though he said this, sending workers to the house of someone who just signed a contract today and hadn’t even started working properly felt like they were taking great care of her.

Ael went down to the kitchen and saw Jenna happily peeling potatoes while humming.

“What makes you so happy?”

“Miss, you’re here?”

Jenna’s voice, greeting her, was the most cheerful voice Ael had heard this year.

“How could I not be happy? There’s plenty of milk, butter, bread, and other things. Oh, you said you’re starting work at the Ash Merchant Guild today, right? Just wait a bit. I’ll make the best dish my mother taught me!”

“No, I’m starting after lunch today. Workers are coming in the morning for the repairs. They told me to talk with them first.”

“Oh my, they are so considerate? The more I hear about the Ash Merchant Guild, the more I like them.”

Jenna moved her hands even more excitedly.

When she heard her lady say she’d go out to get money yesterday morning, she couldn’t stop worrying even while lying in bed.

Even though Ael lived almost like a maid in this mansion, she was still a noble lady.

It would undoubtedly be hard to endure in places that treat outsiders, especially women, disdainfully.

‘It would be fortunate if she only got overworked…….’

Jenna thought that if it became known that Ael was a noble who had to find money due to unavoidable circumstances, someone with ill intentions would surely appear.

‘Elise may dress lavishly all the time, but our lady isn’t ugly either.’

Ael always walked with her head down.

She was taller than other women her age, and when she first debuted in social circles, the Viscount told her it was rude to look down on men, so she should walk with her head down.

Ael hadn’t mentioned this; it was something Elise had said to her maid while belittling Ael.

Jenna, having peeled all the potatoes, looked at Ael checking the kitchen while tidying the workbench.

Perhaps because Ael had received treatment from the Ash Merchant Guild yesterday and solved most of her difficult problems, her face was the brightest Jenna had ever seen.

Although bruises and wounds remained, Ael stood with a smile, and Jenna paused for a moment.

A straight back and neat steps. Movements that were never noisy. And always a gentle voice and actions.

With a long, slender neck and limbs like a deer, people didn’t realize she had a voluptuous figure because she always wore overly loose clothes.

‘It’s really fortunate that Miss is working at the Ash Merchant Guild.’

Jenna had heard rumors about that place too.

Since it was operated the same as the Empire’s headquarters, unlike other guilds in Denertum, there were many women there.

The branch manager was also said to be a woman.

‘And a place that takes care of things like this can’t be bad, right?’

When Ael returned in the Ash Merchant Guild’s carriage yesterday, several large baskets were loaded with it.

They were foods specially prepared by the Ash Merchant Guild’s cafeteria.

Knowing that the only servants at home were an elderly couple and a sick maid, they sent it so everyone could eat well and rest for at least a day without overworking.

Not only that, but the Ash Merchant Guild’s doctor also provided medicine.

‘Medicine from the Empire seems to be different.’

After taking it, Jenna, who had been suffering from muscle pain, was able to move around perfectly fine by morning, and Ael’s bruises and scars, which hadn’t faded for weeks, significantly lightened in just one day.

‘It’s truly the best!’

Unable to hide her joy, Jenna hummed happily again. Ael watched her and smiled. How could she be so transparent with her thoughts?

“Jenna, I’ll go upstairs for a bit. The workers from the Ash Merchant Guild should be arriving soon.”

“Yes, yes! Don’t worry and stay upstairs. I’ll bring the meal up when it’s ready!”

Ael stepped out to the mansion’s entrance.

Today, the weather was clear without any fog from the morning.

The sun had already risen over the sea, and the early summer sky was cloudless and bright. With the clear sound of birds singing in nearby trees, a pleasant, cool breeze blew.

Ael walked slowly through the garden without any worries.

She couldn’t hire someone to manage the garden, so it was in a state that was embarrassing to even call it a garden, but the freely grown branches and wildflowers swayed in the wind.

In the past, she would have thought the unmanaged state was shameful, but today she thought it looked rather charming.

Ael lifted her hand to touch the blowing wind.

A clear sky, beautiful bird songs… it seemed like a day where only good things would happen.

It felt like happiness, something she seemed to feel for the first time, was overflowing from her heart.

In that intoxicated state, Ael unknowingly reached her hand out to the sky.

“Oh……!”

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind, nearly a gale, blew. The wind swept over the garden trees and even the nearby houses.

When a sudden gust blew on a calm day, there were sounds of windows slamming shut and voices of surprised people from everywhere.

Ael was just as startled.

“What was that?”

The moment she reached her hand to the sky, a gust of wind blew. It must have been a coincidence.

Near the seaside, such gusts of wind occurred occasionally.

But Ael had definitely seen it. Something sparkling at her fingertips when she reached for the sky.

It wasn’t like reflected sunlight. That light had a color she had never seen before… a very beautiful and complex color that couldn’t even be described.

Ael looked at her hand.

Of course, it was her usual hand, not different in any way.

Ael reached her hand to the sky again. But unlike before, there was no sparkling light or gust of wind this time.

‘But that light…….’

She remembered seeing it somewhere.

‘Where was it?’

It wasn’t very recent, but she definitely had seen such light before.

‘It doesn’t seem like it was at home.’

Among the places she went outside of home, there were very few.

Ael recalled her memories from the past few months. Her expression darkened when she remembered being beaten by her father and Elise.

All of her past memories were just like that.