Volume 2 - CH 46

After several business days, the ice cream shop is closed today. And tomorrow it will be closed as well. This is the first consecutive break since the festival day.

Because she is planning to visit two places today for an errand, she won’t be able to get around to shopping and preparing the ice cream.

Arriving at the location of that first errand, Alme took a slow, deep breath.

She is currently standing in front of the entrance of the Beatos family house. From now on, the destination will probably be the parlor.

A few days ago, Julio’s uncle, Darnell Beatos, wrote a letter of apology.

The apologies for all the trouble, starting with Julio’s affair and ending with that day at the bank, were written from one end of the paper to the other.

In the letter, she was told that he would visit Alme’s home to apologize, but since she had plans to go out nearby, she decided to visit him instead.

She felt that if she used her own house as a place of the apology, she would be reminded of it at every turn, so she felt somewhat delicate about it.

…… However, this is Julio’s house, not Darnell’s house. When she wrote back “I will visit you”, this place was designated.

Since it’s not good to exchange letters over and over again, she accepted it quickly and now she is here.

(It’s Julio’s house, not Mr. Darnell’s house… which means that Julio must be here too…)

Oh dear, she smile wryly inside her mind. Perhaps Julio will also apologize together. The ties that she thought had been cut seem to still be entwined.

She rang the doorbell and called out, and the door was opened instantly, as if they had been waiting for her.

“Hello, I’m Alme Titty. I have business with Mr. Darnell Beatos…”

“…please come this way.”

It was Mrs. Beatos who greeted her.

Caught off guard, Alme took a half step back. She thought the door would be answered by a butler, but to think that someone like the “final boss” of the Beatos family would show up from the start…

Aside from Alme who was preparing her defenses, the lady lowered her head deeply once. As if avoiding her gaze, she hastily guided Alme into the house.

Huh? Mrs. Beatos seems a bit dispirited.

While chasing after the lady who had just said a few words and fell silent, she inadvertently took a look at her situation.

Alme wears a newly purchased fluttering blue-green long skirt with a white blouse and thin shawl.

It was an outfit for walking around the city, and if it were in the past, she would have definitely gotten a lot of complaints from the lady.

In front of such an outfit, she didn’t get a single scolding. On the contrary, it made her nervous….

With a restless feeling, she was guided to the reception room. It was a cozy but elegant room with a solemn atmosphere.

The Beatos family may be commoners, but they are of a noble lineage. It may be small compared to the houses of the nobles, but compared to Alme’s house, Julio’s house is a magnificent structure.

After entering the beautiful carpeted parlor, Mrs. Beatos quietly closed the door and left the room.

There are two sofas and one table in the room. Darnell and Julio stood side by side in front of one sofa.

Darnell bowed deeply before Alme greeted him.

“Miss Alme, I am very sorry for this, I should have come to you for an apology, but I’m sorry you had to take the trouble to come here instead.”

“It’s no trouble, I happen to have some business to do nearby here.”

Following Darnell, Julio also bowed his head.

“Um… I’m sorry…”

Julio mumbled an apology. It was unclear just what exactly he was apologizing for, and Alme had mixed feelings about it, but she was too tired to go into it, so she let it go.

“Both of you, please raise your heads.”

When she called out, Darnell raised his head with a reluctant look of his face. With that expression, he invited Alme to the sofa.

“Please have a seat. As I told you in my letter, there is something I would like to discuss with you.”

After Alme and Darnell were seated, Julio sat down on the sofa. Just like Mrs. Beatos, Julio kept his eyes on the floor and was very quiet.

Darnell straightened his posture, looked directly at Alme and began to speak.

“First of all, let me apologize once again. Truly, Julio has been very rude to you. It is a disgrace to our family that he could let his heart wander while he was still engaged to be married, violated our contract, and then harassed and threatened you afterwards. I am terribly sorry.”

“Well, I don’t think that Mr. Darnell should be the one apologizing…”

“No, I am responsible. I made the mistake of letting my sister-in-law take care of the matter because of my feelings of disappointment toward Julio and my own pending work. I didn’t think that you had not received any compensation or a written apology.”

According to Darnell, the Beatos family was supposed to issue a formal letter of apology and compensation after the engagement was called off.

It seems that Darnell left for the royal capital right after that due to work circumstances, but… at that time, it seems that Mrs. Beatos was the person he entrusted with the aftermath for the time being.

In other words, Mrs. Beatos seemed to have stop all proceedings in his absence. It turns out that she because she dislikes Mr. Darnell, she disobeyed his orders, and sided with her beloved son Julio.

It is fine that the parent and child gets along well, but for his part, he can clearly see their ineptitude.

Darnell continued his words while presenting the documents on the table to Alme.

“I apologize for the delay, but here are the documents related to the compensation. In addition to the matter of breaking off the engagement, please also accept the amount for the trouble our family has caused you.”

“I will accept it as compensation…uh, 4 million G!?”

When she saw the amount written in the document, she unintentionally raised her voice. She expected a million or so, but the amount was larger than she had expected.

Darnell seemed to feel a sense of responsibility as the person who had arranged the engagement.

Alme didn’t know the details of his relationship with her grandmother, but from the grave and bitter expression on his face, it seems that he truly regrets the breakup of the relationship due to Julio’s infidelity.

“I see. Well, I’ll take it. I will be happy to support you in any way I can.”

She was frightened by the amount, but as someone who lives alone and owns a shop, she was grateful to receive a large amount of money…so just take it as is.

“If you agree to the amount of compensation, I will draw up another agreement at a later date and send it to you, so I would appreciate it if you could return it to me by certified mail. After that, I will promptly transfer it through the bank.”

“Thank you.”

Certified mail is a system whereby the postal service records and certifies the contents of a document. It is a system that most of the common people will end up never having a chance to use in their lifetime, but it seems to be used in situations like this. Recently, there have been many opportunities for her to learn more social studies.

“…And, Miss Alme, this is only if you don’t mind…”

Darnell straightened his posture again and relaxed his expression slightly.

“Would you be willing to allow me to serve as your new matchmaker?”

“A new marriage proposal, sir? for me?”

Darnell looked apologetically at Alme, who is dumbfounded, and continued.

“Your grandmother and I introduced Julio to you, and this was the result. If Alme continues to be single, your grandmother in heaven will be worried about you. In this world, it’s hard to make a relationship with a young lady who doesn’t have any relatives…Well, you may not be able to trust me anymore because of Julio’s case…”

Hearing the story, Alme pondered. Looking back on herself recently, she is sure her grandmother, who was watching over her from heaven, might have been nervous…

For her grandmother’s peace of mind, she thought it would be better for her to live with a husband in the future.

…… For that reason, it is necessary to choose a husband, but unfortunately, Alme does not have the power to choose a gentleman.

She has little experience in love affairs, and almost no acquaintances of men of her age.

She didn’t think her personality is suited to aggressively going out in the city to look for a partner. It would make her too nervous.

Even if she finds a partner on her own, a girl with no family or status tends to be shunned by the more established families. They say, “I don’t know where she came from.” It is a common story in this world.

If she can get Darnell to help her with matchmaking, there is nothing better to ask for.

With that in mind, she bowed her head to him.

“I’m not thinking about it right now, but I think the time will come in the future, so at that time, can I ask you to take care of me?”

“Of course, feel free to contact me anytime. This time, I will give you a good match that will make your grandmother feel at ease. I will start looking for a partner for you from now on, so if there’s a good result, I’ll contact you.”

“Thank you for your care. I look forward to hearing from you.”

Darnell nodded and finally relaxed his stiff shoulders.

Seeing this, Alme started to get ready to leave. It seems that all the necessary talk has been done. Not intending to stay long, she was about to stand up from the sofa.

However, at that moment Julio spoke to her. Until now, he had been silent with his head down.

“Um, Alme. After this, why don’t the two of us talk for a while…? there’s something I want to talk to you about…or rather…”

“I’m sorry, but I have plans after this.”

With a clean refusal, Alme stood up to cut off the conversation.

“Then, please excuse me.”

“I’m sorry for taking up your time. Let me walk you out.”

“…Uncle Darnell, I’ll walk Alme out.”

Geez, …… the words “I don’t need that kind of concern” almost came out of her mouth.

Since Darnell was there, she tried to convert it into polite words but before she could do that, Julio got up from his seat and started walking in front of her.

Having no choice, she followed him and proceeded to the parlor door. With one last greeting to Darnell, Alme left the room with Julio.

Walking side by side with Julio in the hallway of the Beatos house.

Before, she used to walk behind Julio, who was walking fast, as if he was trotting, but now he’s walking slowly next to her.

Alme wondered, if it’s possible for this person to walk in a slow, gentlemanly manner likes this, what the hell was he doing walking so fast to begin with?

She sighed in dismay when she wondered if it was just a petty, mean thing to do to a fiancée that he didn’t like.

Julio looked at her with just a glance. It is his habit when he is thinking of something to say to her. What follows is usually a petulant remark.

When Julio reached the front door and opened it, he finally spoke, but the words that came out were not petty.

“… I’ll see you next time…”

“If you come to the ice cream shop as a customer, I will deal with you as a clerk. So goodbye, Mr. Beatos. I wish you and Miss Campbellina every happiness.”

After saying it quickly, Alme bowed her head and started walking away.

Julio’s expression, which she saw for a moment as she left, was bitter and listless.