âOh my God, I must have looked like a person with no politeness.â
I quickly pulled my hand down and put it on my lap.
I should be polite to my benefactor.
âYou seem to be a nobleman, but I was thinking about whether or not you had an accident because your clothes were so dirty. Was it because of a car accident?â
Poe, who has never taken his gaze from the book so far, suddenly closed the book.
He asked me back, saying he couldnât believe it.
Likewise, Arno, looking at me with his eyes wide open, said to Poe, âThatâs a good name. Because the car goes silently and automatically. âCarâ is also short for the word âcarriageâ.â
âI know right. Itâs easy to understand at once, and it would be okay to use the product name as a car.â
âAs long as it succeeds.â
The voices of the two somewhat excited people rose.
Arno looked at me and explained the situation.
âThat object doesnât have a name yet, but if youâve seen it before, I think youâre right. Excuse me, how did you know what it was?â
ââŠâŠdo you mean it was an object that didnât even have a name until now?â
I just reiterated what Arno had to say a little bit differently.
ââŠâŠit looked like a carriage, but there was no horse.â
âSo you mean youâre just guessing?â
Did I look like an industrial spy?
âWell, you can say that. You said âIf it succeedsâ earlier, so is it still in the development stage? Is the success unclear?â
I rolled my eyes and quickly turned away.
Poe closed his mouth tight, but Arno looked at him once and opened his mouth, âYes, now itâs just a novel invention, thatâs it. Actually, that thingâŠâŠ no, Iâm interested in car development, so I personally paid for some money.â
He said âcarâ and gently pulled the tip of his mouth.
When he smiles, his face looked several times brighter.
The scary atmosphere that was covering his whole body disappeared suddenly.
âI came to test the car today but it had no brakes, so we fell on the ground.â
Poe frowned on his eyebrows and nodded.
As I look now, his forehead has a blue bruise.
After the car accident, he was fell on the ground, and his clothes were torn.
I trembled as I remembered the accident I had been in.
Poe grumbled, âIt is said that the car could run faster than most carriages, but this is what happened. So does it make sense to spend money on something like that? I donât know how much to trust the inventor and invest in it.â
âYou have to invest unconditionally!â
Oh, I got excited reflexively.
Both menâs eyes looked at me at the same time.
Thanks to the memory of my original world, I knew very well how big that industry could be.
It was also an invention that helps the world.
âHmm, youâre right.â
Arno folded his arms and leaned against the back. He looked me up and down.
âItâs interesting.â
Oops, did I make a mistake?
Things like business and investment in this world were utterly in the domain of men.
I made excuses in a hurry, âOh, itâs not because I know the business very well, I just thought it was worth investing in something that wasnât in the world yet.â
âWhy are you going to the Laurent duchy?â
Arno suddenly replied with an unexpected question.
He raised his chin, sat lazily, and looked down at me.
I said calmly, âI never said I was going to the Laurent duchy.â
âAt the restaurant earlier.â
I frowned my eyebrows and tried to remember what I said.
ââŠâŠoh, I briefly told Larissa my plans for the future.â
But I must have lowered my voice.
I rebuked him with a sharp tone, âWhy did a gentleman listen to a womenâs private conversation? Wouldnât it be a virtue to pretend not to know even if you heard it?â
âSo you mean no? Where are you going if not to Laurent duchy?â
I couldnât think that other people would ask for my destination, so I couldnât even think of an excuse.
Ugh, letâs just smile roughly.
I laughed out loud on purpose.
âThatâs right. Iâm going to meet the Grand Duke.â
âDo you mean Grand Duke Laurent? Whatâs going on?â
Anyway, even if I tell the truth, you wonât believe it, so I said to pretend it as a joke in a very light tone.
âBecause my sister, Larissa, she will be His Majestyâs fiancee in the future. With this appearance, heâll fall in love with her at first sight.â
Actually, the Prince that is the Grand Duke will fall in love with Larissa at first sight in three years. But I made it faster.
Arno opened his eyes wide and soon began to laugh out loud.
It was a laugh that seemed like something was really funny.
An awkward smile appeared on Poeâs face who was sitting next to him.
I didnât say much, but it sounds like a very funny joke to him.
Arno laughed happily, looked back and forth at Poe and me.
The three were smiling, but Larissa wasnât moving and still in the same position she looked out the window before. Even though her name was mentioned during the conversation.
Is it so interesting to look outside the window?
âExcuse me for a moment.â
I ended the conversation with the two men and turned to Larissa.
âLarissa, how are you feeling?â
Fortunately, Larisa didnât ignore me.
As she lowered her arms that were on the window, she slowly turned her head toward me.
âDoes your head hurt or do you feel nauseous?â
Larissa rolled her eyes and looked at me.
She blinks her eyes a couple of times, and she turns her gaze back out of the window.
âWellâŠâŠ I have to get used to this reaction.â
Still, it will be fine as long as I canât hear her inner voice.
I whispered softly, âIf you ever want to go to the bathroom, tell me right away, if itâs hard to say, just tap my arm and Iâll go with you.â
Larissaâs face, reflected in the window, seemed to be frozen and expressionless.
I sighed lightly as I watched Larissaâs back with her head covered by a bonnet.
âI want to stroke her hair, but I canât.â
She may be surprised or frightened if I touched her suddenly.
It was only last night when I just raised my hand to point to a handkerchief with cookies, but she was terrified and trembled.
Suddenly Poe said, âIt looks like you care for your younger sister a lot.â
When I turned around, there was warm energy in his brown eyes that can be seen through his glasses.
I couldnât figure out what to answer.
Maybe my expression was a little weird.
Marcia never cared for Larissa.
In fact, she hardly ever met her.
âShe sent someone to hit her until she shed tears.â
Originally, my plan was to escape by myself and to eat and live well by myself.
However, it was so pitiful and regrettable that this young child would be abused for three more years, so I just brought her out impulsively.
âAnd I am going to leave her to her future husbandâŠâŠâ
When I didnât answer, Poe said while looking at Larissa with a gentle glance.
âYou seem to be a child who hides a lot of thoughts.â
âShe is not feeling well.â
I added the lie Igor had said earlier.
âItâs not like an incurable disease of having to take medicine every day. She just got a big shock in her heartâŠâŠso she just needs a little careâŠâŠsheâll be fine.â
I have no idea how many years or decades it will take to get out of serious trauma.
In the end, all I could believe was the ending of the original story.
âIn the end, she will live happily ever after marrying the prince.â
It was like that in the fairy tale.
So it wonât take up to several decades.
âPerhaps what Larissa needs is the love of the prince.â
As in the original story, Grand Duke Laurent would heal her wounds well.
At least, I wanted to believe so.
âAnyway, sheâll get better soon if she meets the Grand Duke,â I added it as a joke.
âIâll help you get inside the Laurent mansion when you get to the duchy.â
The end of his voice trembled a little as if holding back laughter.
âHa ha ha, thank you.â
âNo, Iâm not kidding, Iâll really be there.â
Huh? Did you hear the guess I made earlier?
âDo you really work for the Grand Duke?â