Chapter : 2 – That’s Why I Haven’t Been Looking
No matter how hard I tried, my eyes kept drifting to that person’s neck.
I forcibly lowered my honest gaze back to the embroidery in my hands. I had to finish this piece.
When I turned eight, during the prayer ceremony held in gratitude for reaching that age, I was fortunate enough to receive a special ability from the gods—a blessing.
Receiving a divine blessing was exceedingly rare, a wonderful stroke of luck.
My blessing was simply… having exceptionally good eyesight.
The legendary blessings recorded in the history books were far more impressive. Some allowed their bearers to predict the weather, while others could locate underground water veins. When I received my blessing, I was told that several marriage proposals had been made in anticipation of what my blessing might be.
But every one of those proposals disappeared as soon as people learned what my blessing actually was.
Apparently, Father and Mother were quite disappointed.
When I heard the story after I had grown older, I felt relieved instead.
If someone had become engaged to me with great expectations, only to later complain that I wasn’t what they had hoped for and demand the engagement be broken—with compensation on top of it—our family would have become even poorer than it already was.
I love my blessing.
From the bottom of my heart, I am grateful to the gods for granting me a blessing that suits someone like me.
People around me call it an odd blessing, a disappointing one, an underwhelming one.
Even so, I make the most of it by doing embroidery.
It’s a secret, but I sell my finished pieces and earn a little spending money.
Embroidery is also something I genuinely enjoy.
I’m still a student, after all.
Being able to earn money with my own hands makes me feel just a little more like an adult.
When I looked up, my eyes inevitably fell upon the young ladies chatting together—daughters of noble families connected to the Duke’s household.
Among them stood the noble young lady of the Duke’s family, one who also carried the bloodline of the royal family of the neighboring kingdom.
She was noticeably taller than the other young ladies.
She wore a dress designed to conceal her throat.
I had never seen the feet hidden beneath that dress.
Judging from the footprints left on the lawn, however, the shoes she wore had low heels.
I lowered my gaze once more.
I had to finish the embroidery.
It was the source of my precious pocket money.
As I repeatedly moved my eyes between my work and the group before me…
At last, my eyes met those of that noble lady.
Blessed with beauty that closely resembled her mother—who had once captured the heart of the Crown Prince of the neighboring kingdom—she smiled warmly at me.
I lowered my head respectfully in return.
I wasn’t someone who could casually speak to a person of such exalted status.
“You’re remarkably skilled at embroidery, aren’t you?”
“You honor me.”
I had never imagined that someone of her rank would speak to me personally.
I was merely the daughter of an old count’s family—one with plenty of history, but equally impressive poverty.
“How lovely. I’d like to talk with you sometime. Do come to my estate.”
She invited me with a smile…
But it wasn’t truly an invitation.
It was an order to come.
I resigned myself to it.
The hand covered by her glove was noticeably bonier than those of the other young ladies around her.
Because she was so tall, I had simply assumed she naturally had large hands.
But after noticing her Adam’s apple…
I realized that those hands meant the same thing as the Adam’s apple.
