[V4C2] A Lady's Coping Method

Recently, Monica had been absent minded.

She returned home to Sazandol after the party hosted by the Starseer Witch. But ever since then, the numbers in the research documents stopped registering in her head. This sometimes happened with letters, but never numbers.

Before she knew it, she found her writing hand frozen. Her head was filled with the day of the party at the Starseer Witch’s mansion.

After changing out of the dress she borrowed from Raul into her own dress, Monica had left the party venue without meeting anyone else.

Her mind was a mess at that time, so she wanted to avoid bumping into other people.

It was only after returning to Sazandol that Monica remembered not properly congratulating Cyril on the engagement. She put her hands to her head.

(…I completely missed my chance to say it…)

She considered doing it the next time they met, but that gave her a strangely heavy feeling. Her heart felt murky.

Moreover, when thinking about Cyril, Monica recalled the moment when her dress almost slipped off. The embarrassment made her want to crawl into a hole.

Would talking to someone help distract her? However, Isaac was back at his mansion for work, and Nero had gone into hibernation.

Now alone for the first time in a while, her house felt terribly quiet and cold.

(…Maybe I should have some coffee.)

Monica stood up and headed to the kitchen, before remembering that she was out of coffee beans. She reached for a teacup from the cupboard instead.

However, when things don’t go well, they don’t go well from start to finish.

Her stiff fingers failed to grip the cup properly, and before she knew it, the cup had slipped through her hand and fallen to the floor.

She didn’t even have the chance to use chantless magic. Crash, the sound of breaking porcelain.

“Ah…”

The teacup shattered at her feet. It had been a beautiful cup with delicate floral patterns on a white background, a gift from Lana when Monica moved to Sazandol.

And now, it was broken.

Monica could perform many complex spells, but she lacked the ability to repair broken items. Once a teacup broke, it would never return to its original state.

“Ugh…”

At the moment her precious teacup broke, something broke within Monica as well. The emotions she had been holding back overflowed, and her tears fell onto the shards of the teacup.

“Ugh… wah… ugh…”

While suppressing sobs, Monica attempted to pick up the pieces of the teacup. If she let it out, she felt like she might start wailing like a child.

At that moment, the sound of a door knocker echoed.

“Monica! It’s been a while! Let’s go have lunch together!”

It was Lana’s voice.

But how should she face Lana right now?

Monica wiped away her tears with her sleeve, tried to stand up… and tripped on the hem of her skirt, falling to the floor.

With a clatter, the fragments she had gathered fell back to the ground, and one of them scratched Monica’s left palm. Blood slowly oozed from her cut.

Everything was going wrong.

“Uh… ugh… uweh…”

As Monica sniffled and sobbed, Lana opened the door and rushed inside.

“Hey, I heard a loud noise, are you okay!?”

Lana widened her eyes in surprise once she saw Monica collapsed on the floor.

“Monica, are you okay!? Oh no, there’s blood coming from your hand! Any other injuries!?”

“Egh… Lana, I’m s-sorry… I broke the teacup… uweeen, I’m sorry…!”

Monica continued to cry like a child on the floor, as Lana gently stroked her back.

She took out a handkerchief and used it to wrap Monica’s injured hand.

“You don’t need to cry. Come on, calm down.”

“But, sniff, wah…”

“I see Walker-san isn’t home today. Anyway, let’s wash your hands first.”

“Uh, okay…”

＊　＊　＊

While swiftly cleaning up the teacup shards, Lana glanced at Monica washing her hands.

(…Something happened, huh?)

Monica, whom she hadn’t seen in a while, looked visibly fatigued, and her hair braids were messy. She was the type whose stress would manifest in her appearance, especially when she had troubles.

Monica had been away from Sazandol for a while, and Lana had been busy the previous month, so the last time they met was about two months ago.

Whatever happened must have been during that period.

“Have a seat. Let’s apply some ointment to your hand. Do you have a first aid kit?”

“Um, it’s on that shelf…”

The shelf Monica pointed to was neatly organized. Surely, this was the work of her capable disciple. Thanks to him, it didn’t take long to find the first aid kit.

Lana applied the ointment to Monica’s hand and covered it with a bandage.

“There, all done. You shouldn’t move it too much today.”

“…Okay.”

Monica remained seated in the chair, looking down at her bandaged left hand.

After putting away the first aid kit, Lana crouched in front of Monica, looking up at her.

“Has anything happened since the last time we talked?”

“…”

Monica bit her chapped lips, searching for the words in silence. Eventually, she began speaking.

“I’ve been really, really awful lately.”

“How so?”

Lana asked with a gentle voice, and Monica closed her swollen eyes, as if reflecting on herself.

“I broke the cup you gave me. I keep knocking over pots and pen holders…”

“Uh-huh.”

“I can’t concentrate on my research. I make mistakes in simple addition…”

“Uh-huh.”

“I couldn’t properly congratulate Cyril-sama on the engagement…”

“…Huh?”

While Monica making a calculation mistake was somewhat shocking, Lana found this last one a topic she couldn’t ignore.

“Ashley-sama… got engaged?”

“…It was an engagement from the Harvey family… I heard about it during the party…”

This was news to Lana. While Lana often visited salons frequented by gossip-loving ladies, she had never heard of any engagement involving Cyril.

However, considering this was information from a recent party, it would be reasonable to assume that Monica had earlier notice.

(The Harvey family… if I recall correctly, they’re relatives of the Ashley family. I’m not surprised to hear talks of an engagement seeing as how they have three young ladies, but…)

Do not believe rumors unless they are from a credible source. This was a golden rule for any merchant.

Fortunately, the salon Lana frequented had many knowledgeable ladies when it came to such matters, so she could simply confirm with them.

Lana took a mental note of this, then observed Monica’s condition.

Monica was visibly downcast. It seems breaking the teacup was not the sole reason for her depression.

(Does she understand why she’s feeling down about Ashley-sama’s engagement?)

Lana sighed and stood up. Regardless of the rumor’s authenticity, she had to cheer up Monica first.

“Monica, I’ll teach you a method for dealing with times when everything seems to be going wrong.”

“A method…?”

Monica stared up at Lana with hope-filled eyes, as if she was about to disclose the cure for an incurable disease.

Lana pointed her finger firmly at Monica’s forehead.

“When everything is going wrong, you should dress up in your most fashionable attire, go shopping, buy something you like, and then eat plenty of delicious fried pies.”

In response to Lana’s nouveau riche lady’s coping method, Monica muttered, “Fried pies?” in a confused tone. It seemed she had never tried them before.

“Fried sweets can make you gain weight if you eat too much… but times like these are special! You must thoroughly indulge yourself!”

Monica still looked perplexed. It seems the idea of pampering oneself didn’t quite resonate with the earnest Monica.

Although it wasn’t something to be proud of, Lana was exceptionally skilled at indulging herself.

Why not impart that art to Monica?

To tell the truth, Lana intended to ask about Bartholomew Alexander today, but for now, lifting Monica’s spirits took precedence.

“Now, once the swelling in your eyes goes down, change your clothes and put on some makeup!”

By the way, Lana had planned to finish her work when she returned to her office in the afternoon, but she secretly decided to delegate that to her secretary, Clifford. Truly, she was a master of self-indulgence.

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