episode_0102

“Huh? What do you mean, Jeanne?”

Such a noble being,

The Grand Duchess Marianne de Selle became quite surprised.

Then, Marianne looked down at her lovely second daughter, Jeanne d’Arc de Selle Oblean, beside her.

“It’s as I said, Mother…I don’t want to go to this social gathering…I’ll just stay home and take care of Elizabeth…”

Wriggle…wriggle…wriggle…

Young Jeanne slightly lowered her head and wriggled her fingers as she hesitantly answered her mother’s question.

There are various social gatherings for noble families.

Bazaars, parties, and gatherings for noble women only,

In the case of social gatherings for noble women only, the scale itself is not very large.

However, more intimate emotional exchanges take place over a considerably long time.

When participating in that gathering, Grand Duchess Marianne usually only brought her second daughter, Jeanne.

This was because Jeanne, who was very lively in her childhood, had subtly monopolized the love of the noble ladies.

‘What’s wrong? Jeanne used to be the one asking when the gatherings were.’

Marianne was trying to manage her expression, but she became quite worried and intently gazed at Jeanne, who was hesitating.

‘She always felt good after going to the gathering. She was actually quite proactive in socializing with the children there.’

There was a reason why Marianne always took only Jeanne to the gathering of noble women.

She had been continuously feeling that her second daughter, Jeanne, was being hurt in her self-esteem by being stuck between the genius first child and the youngest.

Marianne wanted to take care of that,

So she helped her fill her self-esteem by receiving full attention at the gathering.

Because Jeanne was so pretty and affable, she was not only assertive but also charmingly social with noble ladies she met for the first time.

As a result, Jeanne would be thrilled and fly around for a month after attending a gathering.

However, her second daughter, who had been like that, was suddenly showing such a reaction, which baffled even the composed and unwavering Marianne.

‘I can’t say it…I can’t tell Mother that Vivian and the other children are bullying and ostracizing me…’

Wriggle…wriggle…wriggle…

Jeanne continued to wriggle her hands and closed her mouth even more tightly.

From a certain point, Jeanne began to be ostracized among the children who participated in the gathering together.

And the person who could be called the leader of those children was Vivian.

To be honest, that aspect had been created quite a while ago.

However, the brave Jeanne thought it would pass and acted as usual without showing it to Marianne.

Then, she received such a decisive wound that she lost the will and courage to participate in the gathering anymore during her childhood.

“Okay, Jeanne. You don’t have to go if you don’t feel like it. All this mother wants is our Jeanne’s happiness. I don’t know what kind of mind our Jeanne made such a decision with. But if that is your decision and you think it will help you, then do so. And someday, you’ll be able to tell Mom the reason for your decision now, right? Jeanne and I have no secrets between us.”

“Hmm…I’ll think about it, Mother…”

“Oh my, our second daughter is so cute…”

“Hehe…I love you, Mother…”

Jeanne didn’t want to worry her beloved mother Marianne, so she ended up not telling her about the situation.

‘Wow, am I going to see that Vivian here? As a key figure in this important quest??’

Approximately 12 years passed, and they met again.

Of course, she had seen her a few times in between, around puberty, counting on her fingers.

However, at that time, it wasn’t a feeling of being involved in a relationship, so Jeanne only felt unpleasant and had no reason to fall into trouble.

But now it was definitely a meeting formed in a state of being involved in something,

Moreover, perhaps Jeanne was closer to being the weaker party, so she was feeling very embarrassed and annoyed.

“Duke Davis, the situation was such in the early morning and morning that we didn’t properly greet each other, right?”

Vivian shook hands and exchanged greetings with the people in the tent welcoming her.

Jeanne recognized Vivian at once as an adult.

As Eugene said, she had a roll bun hairstyle, and that roll bun hairstyle was what Vivian had since she was young.

And even though her attire wasn’t as much as a typical dress of a duke’s daughter, Vivian was dressed quite aristocratically, so she couldn’t hide that aristocratic vibe.

On the other hand, Vivian didn’t seem to recognize Jeanne.

First of all, she was meeting the eyes of many people compared to Jeanne,

And Jeanne’s appearance had changed so much from before.

“Is this perhaps that person? The one who has a friendship with Commander Antonio?”

“That’s right, Guild Leader Vivian. This is my former subordinate, now my friend, Advisor Ivan.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Guild Leader. I am Ivan Igor, the advisor of the Red Fox Mercenary Group.”

“Nice to meet you, Advisor Ivan. I’ve never seen Advisor Ivan even once, but Commander Antonio’s praise was so great that I gave him full support.”

After making acquaintances with the wealthy people of the Iron Cross Knights, Vivian immediately turned to the Red Fox Mercenary Group and shook hands.

‘It’s quite different from when I saw her on the promenade? She seemed very fussy as a noble lady back then, but now she feels like a guild leader as she is. Is this because she’s running a huge guild for no reason?’

Eugene had a slightly surprised expression as he watched the scene.

This was because there was some discrepancy between Vivian he saw on the promenade and her current appearance.

On the promenade, she gave off a strong feeling of being a very picky and ill-tempered noble lady,

But now she just feels like a smart giant guild leader.

‘But our Jeanne’s expression is worse than I thought?’

After that, Eugene’s expression naturally turned to Jeanne.

This was because he vividly remembered her reaction when they were talking about Vivian alone earlier.

Jeanne, who had been ambiguous at the time,

After recognizing Vivian, she was overwhelmed with embarrassment, and her face turned pale.

“And this person is…”

Soon, Vivian stopped in front of someone with her eyes widened considerably, covering her mouth with a fan.

“Isn’t that the charge leader, the first person from the Red Fox Mercenary Group to have a connection with me?”

It was none other than Vivian who stopped in front of Eugene.

To prosper as a merchant means to have a certain obsession with relationships.

Looking up at Eugene, she specifically mentioned the situation of her special meeting with Eugene.

“That’s how it turned out. Let me properly greet you. I am Eugene Caesar, the charge leader of the Red Fox Mercenary Group.”

Eugene greeted Vivian with a calm expression, conveying a rather dry feeling.

This was because he was reluctant to loosen his expression any further given Jeanne’s reaction.

“I thought there would be a more affectionate reaction since it’s a connection, but this is unexpected?”

Smile…!

Then, Vivian answered with a subtle smile beyond the fan.

“If so, the person next to you,”

Soon, Vivian turned her head to the side of Eugene and took another step.

Of course, there

“Is the rare female mercenary group leader…”

Was Jeanne.

“!!!????”

Vivian, who saw Jeanne’s face up close like that,

Recognized Jeanne’s face.

“Jeanne d’Arc de Selle, Oblean?”

“Yes, I am Jeanne Oblean, the leader of the Red Fox Mercenary Group.”

Grab…!

As Vivian’s eyes widened,

Jeanne, on the contrary, stretched out her hand for a handshake with a rather calm face.

“Fuck,”

However, Janda Arc, who was with Eugene near the pond after the formal meeting, spat out a foul word.

“Tell me the story, I’m so curious. The bad relationship you vaguely mentioned to me while coming to Alexandria, that’s the one, right?”

“That’s right.”

Still, Jeanne was definitely professional.

After shaking hands, she didn’t show any signs on her face at the meeting and focused on the meeting.

However, since Eugene had seen her pale face before, he was subtly poking at Jeanne like this after the meeting.

But beyond Eugene’s expectations, Jeanne immediately admitted it.

As a result, they were sitting by the pond like this, waiting for a chance to hear the story.

“Well, so much time has passed. And I’m not the Jeanne from that time, so there’s nothing I can’t tell you. Moreover, since the other person is you.”

Because she had said goodbye to the former Jeanne, who had low self-esteem and kept things to herself.

So Jeanne wants to unfold this boiling feeling to Eugene.

“Huh, bullying??”

Eugene’s eyes widened in near shock at the past story of Jeanne and Vivian that he heard.

‘Bullying is really on a different level? Was it that bad? I did feel the unique unpleasantness of a noble lady, but I didn’t feel such stupidity from the guild leader’s appearance?’

Because Eugene, who has even the memories of his past life, deeply understands how vicious bullying is.

“Honestly, am I the kind of person who would collapse just because the crazy bitches around me are bullying me, given my personality? No, I’m Jeanne.”

Jeanne seemed quite comforted that Eugene was reacting with such sincerity.

So she took a deep breath to tell a more candid story.

Jeanne, who has weak self-esteem and is easily hurt when it comes to relationships, has a different kind of resilience in her other appearance.

Nothing but weed-like resilience,

Jeanne appealed to that and also implied that there was another reason why her strength collapsed.

“The real reason I lost my mind back then was because Vivian and I used to be very close. I completely collapsed after being backstabbed by a close person.”

Vivian and Jeanne were the closest in that social gathering.

That being said, Vivian suddenly started ostracizing Jeanne.

Jeanne, who is strong against external attacks but endlessly vulnerable to what is created internally, collapsed immediately.

“Huh…”

Eugene’s eyes widened beyond the point of shock, and he had a spaced-out expression.

He was honestly half joking at first.

He largely saw the possibility that the tomboy Jeanne had a rival because of the tomboyish things she did.

Of course, it was understandable for Eugene to think that way,

Because he had been treated that way by Jeanne in his family.

But Jeanne only did that because she liked Eugene so much and wanted to get his attention,

And she didn’t do that outside.

Anyway, Eugene’s heart ached because of Jeanne’s sad story that far exceeded Eugene’s expectations, and he felt like he had even forgotten how to react.

“Bad bitch…I was the one who cried the most with her when her father passed away…”

Jeanne seemed to have her emotions slightly stirred up as she told the story.

It was Jeanne’s figure muttering quietly with a quite resentful expression.

“Father? Vivian said she was from a duke family, so is he a duke?”

As a new keyword came up, Eugene came out of his spaced-out expression and showed a reaction full of curiosity.

“He was a duke. But the position of duke wasn’t important to him. Because he was the half-brother of the current emperor. At one time, he had a greater chance of becoming emperor than the emperor.”

Then Jeanne told Eugene a sexy information that would fill more dopamine.