Time went by quickly. There was daily news concerning battles and skirmishes through newspapers and telegrams.
The war lasted longer than initially expected.
It was already two weeks since Elisha arrived at the mansion. During that time she worked diligently as the mistress of the household. While conversing with the soldiers, she focused on cleaning up the mansion and improving the food.
The reason was simple. It was because of a lesson Elisha learned through her past life.
‘Buying a person’s heart is directly related to survival.’
The old man and the Head of the Cartier family was often dubbed as a crafty, treacherous, and terrifying being.
Later, the people scrutinized his lineage, in particular the Head’s three grandchildren, including the illegitimate Lucerne, and assessed that Jacob had inherited his craftiness, Marco inherited his treacherousness, and Lucerne inherited his ability to instill fear and intimidation.
‘Sly Jacob was an evil-hearted man.’
Suspicious Jacob would spontaneously interrogate and scrutinize his aides. Did they hold duplicitous intentions? Were they stealing money…….
In her previous life, Elisha was a woman who was treated like an anathema by everyone. However, there were the rare exceptions, people who did her a favor when no one else offered her a helping hand. For instance, an old maid who had been waiting on Jacob for a long time advised Elisha when she was first in charge of keeping the accounting books.
‘Jacob-nim often tests people. Don’t ever fail.’
Soon, the moment of the test came.
A young knight approached Elisha, saying he was in love with her. He spoke softly of some crass hogwash that he fell in love with Elisha’s heart, regardless of her appearance.
‘Run away with me. Will you? Because I know how to get rid of the pattern on the back of your neck. There’s an amazing wizard.…. Instead, you just have to give me a few pieces of information I want.’
The knight was a trap.
Would Elisha report to Jacob or would Elisha conspire to flee? Or would she not do either? He was a male agent sent to unearth such things.
Elisha, who was lonely, almost fell for him. Soon, she had made up her mind, pulled herself together, and cut off the relationship. After she realized the truth, she trembled.
‘If it hadn’t been for that maid’s warning then……. I may have committed a fatal blunder.’
If she had, she probably wouldn’t have even lasted for those meager five years.
So, no matter what situation Elisha was in, she prioritized gaining and buying the favor of people around her; there was nothing she could lose. At best there may be someone like that old maid who unexpectedly helped Elisha.
Moreover, what if Lucerne tried to get rid of her? Sid, a close aide to Lucerne, would probably be in charge of killing her.
‘If I’m buying his favor at that time, it will at least soften your hand.’
Compared to Jacob’s men, Lucerne’s men were undoubtedly exemplary knights. She remembered Jacob’s men, who acted more like gangsters and often spit on Elisha’s appearance.
‘The hostess of a noble family must win the hearts of the vassals with a friendly personality and charm.’
When Elisha was very young, she had read books on societal duties and social order at the monastery. She remembered the book asserting such duties for a noble mistress.
Elisha got up from her seat and walked in front of the mirror. The woman that looked back at her was expressionless, her face had no vitality or charm—her whole countenance was lifeless.
When she was young, she was told that she had a pretty face, but it had been so long ago that it seemed like a myth and became inaccessible. During that time, she had no time to look into the mirror because she was overwhelmed with toiling over various sorts of labor, including laundry.
Additionally, after going back in time, every time Elisha looked in the mirror, she expected she would find a woman terribly burned; her face destroyed.
‘I have no confidence that I’ll be liked for my appearance or attitude.’
Ordinary people expect from their wives the following traits: Kindness, tenderness, sweetness.
Flirt with men anxiously like Carola, or be elegant and haughty like Arien. Such attitudes were not in Elisha’s arsenal.
The only thing she was good at was work.
‘The work of a general’s wife……. It said that she must take good care of his subordinates and make sure the soldiers’ conditions are the best they can be.’
So likewise in this life as well, she simply did her best silently. As if that was the only thing that she was valuable for.
***
The first two weeks kept her busy, but now at night, she had quite a bit of free time and nothing to do. Elisha decided to use her spare time sewing.
The day after arriving here, the butler called in a merchant from a luxury store and allowed Elisha to purchase various items. She precisely understood her place, so she didn’t want to spend a lot of money.
Elisha carefully chose only four dresses. They weren’t too expensive but were well-made attire at a reasonable price that didn’t look cheap.
One was a dark pink dress that could be worn at a ball, and two were casual outfits in gray and beige. They were suitable to be worn when greeting guests at the mansion.
And the other set was blue evening apparel sufficient enough to be worn for outdoor events including picnics. Even though she strived to save money, she secretly spent a lot of money.
‘If you dress too cheaply, it will embarrass your husband.’
She thought at least this much would be fine. Unexpectedly, she also received plenty of matching lingerie.
‘Is it…… too much?”
Elisha didn’t even need a lot of undergarments. She could wash and reuse them, but when she first met Lucerne, she embarrassingly remembered donning shabby underwear, so she ended up with a few sets. Fortunately, she could embellish and embroider them herself.
‘But I’m glad I still have dresses to work on.’
Still, four dresses were not enough. Fortunately, there were several gowns in the mansion that no one wore. Those were the garments that the butler brought from the warehouse.
‘Perhaps it is loot or possibly they were one of the many gifts he received from the imperial family?’
Elisha could only guess since the butler did not allow her to enter the treasury. Probably they were a gift from the imperial family for Lucerne’s future wife.
One dress, in particular, was dazzlingly beautiful. The gown was made of beautiful green silk fabric with an elegant embellishment on the chest.
“My mother also had a dress like this.’
Elisha had only a few memories of her biological mother. She recalled her mother having few belongings but the most precious of them were a few old invaluable outfits.
She had inherited her mother’s elegant green dress.
‘If I had a chance to debut in society, I would have wanted to debut in that green gown…..….’
But that outfit had also been stolen by Jacob. Later in her past life, Elisha had found it in the warehouse while organizing Carola’s clothes. Carola glanced at the dress and said.
“What is that trash? Burn it right now. Don’t think about stealing it. Do it properly!”
Eventually, Elisha lit the dress on fire, in tears. She had been exceedingly dismal then. But she was now delighted to find a similar dress. Additionally, the gown from Lucerne’s warehouse was similar in color and design, but much more luxurious.
Elisha roughly remembered future dress trends. So as she recalled and searched through her memories she had modified the dress with a design that was only slightly ahead of the current trends.
‘It’s so lovely.’
It felt alien and unbelievable to be in possession of such fine things. Even though she knew one day she would have to leave everything behind, she had still worked hard on it.
In Elisha’s previous life, she had only acted as a spectator to the overflowing wealth of the Cartier family every day while she had acquired nothing.
‘But don’t I seem lucky this time? I eat well and receive things like this too…….’
Moreover, people were surprisingly polite. If possible, she strived to not be despised or blameworthy by anyone until it was time for Elisha to leave this house.
It was then—
Knock, knock
There was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
Elisha was baffled. The door opened and the butler entered the room
“What is the concern at this hour?”
The butler looked very uncomfortable. He said “Madam” and then kept silent for a long time as if trying to find the appropriate words. He then looked at Elisha.
“Uh…….”
“Say it.”
“The High General will be back soon. Before that, he told me to deliver this medicine to you.”
Elisha watched the medicine for a long moment. It was a pink liquid in a bottle.
“Is it poison?”
“Oh no— of course not. It doesn’t harm the body, but it’s a kind of nutritional supplement. Soon, when the general returns, you will be busy in one way or another. I thought it’d be better to eat it in advance, so I bought it.”
Elisha studied the drug for a sometime.
“It is precious medication. I’ll take it a week before the general returns. Probably around next month.”
“The general will soon…….”
1STKISSNOVEL. DO NOT STEAL MY TRANSLATION!\n“I’ll have enough time to take it.”
The butler noticed that there was nothing more he could say.
“Butler, this contraceptive is sufficient to be taken a week before sexual intercourse,”
Elisha spoke frankly to put him at ease. Instead, the butler’s face turned bright red and he coughed heavily.
“Did you already know? That it is….”
“I’d like to keep this secret. If it is known that the High General’s wife takes contraceptives, rumors will spread.”
The butler nodded.
“Good night.”
Elisha spoke first. It was like an order.
The butler quietly closed the door, feeling embarrassed.
‘But…’
It was also startling that she was exceptionally quick-witted.
But he had noticed something unusual.
‘I’ll eat it a week before. When the general comes.’
It sounded as if she roughly knew when Lucerne would return.
‘I heard that the war that was originally estimated to be concluded within two weeks had dragged on as the number of monsters increased.’ [t1v: This could be the butler recalling Elisha’s words, or his/her own thoughts the Korean doesn’t seem to make it clear]
Lucerne brought her, so fittingly she was a strange and intriguing woman. The butler tilted his head several times.