Lauran had a wonderful dream.

She was dancing in a field of flowers while listening to harmonious music. It was her wedding day and she was wearing a wedding gown that was as exquisite as those depicted in fairy tales.

The groom, tall and handsome, was wearing a white tuxedo to match. Lauran felt a sort of connection with that man despite the fact that his face was blurred to the point of being unrecognizable.

However, she pictured him smiling at her while the two danced together.

It was a perfect imagine of what she wanted.

A husband and a wedding that was fit for a princess.

A red flush appeared on Lauran’s face when she remembered that dream.

‘Even though I have no idea who I want that to be, I keep dreaming the same thing…’

Pushing down the thought of going back to sleep again, Lauran stretched.

Her body felt well rested and her pillow was dry as compared to the past when it was always stained with her tears.

It felt as if there were butterflies in her stomach. It was the first time in a while that she could sleep that well. There were no nightmares that kept her up at night anymore. She felt like a completely new person.

“…..” Lauran looked bitterly at her maid uniform which was hanging on a hanger by her closet.

She was told to take the rest of the month off due to issues concerning her mental health. When she goes back, she’ll officially start working as Luke’s maid.

Being the person that she was, Lauran couldn’t not keep herself busy. She liked to clean, cook and move around. Maybe it was because she was so young but she had so much energy to do anything.

There was no way she could stay in bed all day. She needed to do something. Anything.

‘Oh right. Mom always needs help with shopping so I’ll go do that!’

“Okay!”

She psyched herself up.

There was a reason why she had to do that. Especially because she was so nervous.

She decided that she’ll tell her parents about the documents today. That they were no longer a Black store. Her family was, as expected, still miserable when she got back. Nonetheless she was happy to see them again.

Her father, Ruck was still aimlessly staring out of the windows all day. Her little brother, Clai never even smiles anymore. He had to learn many awful things as a child. The innocence he should’ve had was nowhere to be seen.

Then there was her mother, Rezia.

A hardworking woman who did everything in her power to make sure her family ate. Not once had her spirit broken down these past two years. If it had, she would’ve become a lady of the night.

That was a last resort in case this family didn’t have money anymore.

Of course, Lauran wouldn’t just idly sit by and watch her mother sell her body. That was the worst case scenario.

Lauran would have to volunteer to become an adventurer if her mother lost her job. She had come to understand that her magic spells were potent even though she had never actually studied magic before.

She thought that once her life got back on track, she would buy magic books and items that she’d need to join the training program that Adrianna started.

The truth was that the duchess had noticed that Lauran had magic potential but hadn’t approached and invited Lauran to join the program. That was due to her circumstances.

“….”

Lauran clutched the documents in her hand. She held it near her face.

‘It still has his scent on it.’

Arnold was the kind of person who always drowned his body in cologne. Not literally, of course. He would use at least four different perfumes at once. It wasn’t to extend of being choking, however, everything he touches inevitably smells like him.

Lauran subconsciously sniffed deeply before throwing down the papers.

“I-I’ll see if everyone’s up yet.”

The sun hadn’t risen yet. But that didn’t mean her family would still be asleep. Her mother always got up at 5 in the morning to start her day.

“What face should I make…?”

Lauran didn’t want to give it away so fast. This was the reason for why she waited two whole days to tell them. She wanted to explain everything before revealing the documents.

After dressing herself and brushing her teeth, Lauran left the room.

Small. That was how their house could be described as. Of course, the house was connected to the store which was much larger. They only had a small backyard for Clai to play in.

Lauran tiptoed into her parents’ room. They were still asleep and the room was dimly lit by the light orbs floating near their bed.

A light orb was a magic item that came with every house. It is a unlimited light source that uses mana in the atmosphere to produce a similar energy source as fire.

The orbs would automatically brighten when the sun goes up. This was due to the rune formula that was embedded inside of it.

“I’ll take this then…”

Lauran took the pouch of coins on their bedside table and the list next to it.

‘I’ll buy groceries today, mom. You can rest for today.’

Lauran stroked her mother’s head before leaving the room.

“It’s still dark. I might be gone for a while. Do I need a jacket?”

She shrugged and only left wearing a short skirt and a sweater. Although her feet were cold since she was wearing sandals, she decided to bear with it.

She could just warm up her body using magic. Of course, it was extremely dangerous using magic power to change the condition of one’s body from within. If one infused too much then you could combust.

For Lauran, though, she could manipulate her mana as if handling a nail sewing a small hole. It needed precision so she had to be careful.

After breathing in and out to gather her mana to warm her body, Lauran got ready to leave.

“No one is outside.” Lauran blew into her hands when she felt the cold wind.

‘The shops in the shopping district should be open by now.’

People begin setting up shop even before sunrise. That was so that they could be ready for the day sooner rather than later. Since the shopping district is patrolled by a day and night shift of knights, it was safe to open their stores even if dangerous individuals walked around the area.

Those same knights weren’t to be underestimated since even one could rank from 4 to 5 stars. That rank was very rare among the commoners. The reason being because one needs resources to be able to improve oneself and grow stronger. Those resources were very expensive and hard to acquire just anywhere.

Of course, there are people like adventurers who become stronger even without the same methods as those knights of nobility and knight households. However, not all humans are born that way.

Your genes are dependent on your ancestral roots after all.

All in all, the gang members walking around the city weren’t anything to worry about as long as those knights patrolled. Even Lauran, a seemingly normal young adult can walk around the city without worrying about being attacked and or kidnapped.

It wasn’t always like this though. Crime rates were very high in the past. That was before the Imperial Order dispatched fresh recruits to patrol the city.

It was said that the Crown Prince, Julius was the one to come up with the idea to patrol day and night. After the implementation of this rule, crimes in commoner districts were non-existent. That didn’t apply to the slums though.

The slums was an entirely different area where the influence of the Imperial Family couldn’t reach.

Lauran walked on the main road that stretched from the castle of the duke until the north and south gates. The area around the castle was like a huge circle if seen from above.

The shopping district was located on the northern suburb of the city. Despite its large population and limited resources, the city had managed to flourish for years now.

That was due to the high employment rates of the city. Unless you had zero education then you would be sitting on the streets or have your own market on the streets. Even the simplest jobs like blacksmiths required you to have a bit of education. That was why so many preferred to rather start their own small shop.

Lauran had studied in a small school that had already been demolished a few years ago. She had never taken up her studies again since then.

If she decided to quit her job as a maid then she could become a guild receptionist or a librarian. Her mathematical skills weren’t that high levelled but she could count and do simple equations at least.

“The list isn’t that long, huh. If I buy everything listed here then there’ll remain about 5 silver. Should I buy a cake? Ah, but won’t mom be angry?”

‘But we don’t need to save money anymore so it is okay to spend to spoil ourselves, right? Plus, the cake will definitely bring a smile on Clai’s face.’

After a few minutes of walking, she arrived at her destination. She could see only a few customers walking around. There were more shopkeepers then there were customers due to the fact that it was early morning.

“Instead of the usual leftover meat, I should buy quality products. I want to prepare a feast for tonight.”

A happy grin appeared on her face as she approached the vendor selling sweets.

◇◇

Lauran was done with shopping by 9am. Even though her feet were aching from walking so long, she couldn’t be happier about her day so far.

She could imagine the looks of surprise on her parents’ faces.

They wouldn’t believe it at first since the one who made all this happen was none other than the tyrant of the Berkley family.

Perhaps the reason why he told her that it wasn’t free was because he was certain that the family would feel guilty if they couldn’t even find a way to thank him. It was better to owe him money instead of those gangsters.

Since he had a reputation to uphold, Arnold wouldn’t quickly extort money like criminals often do. Plus, he was already rich enough to need the same amount of money.

Lauran was sure that they wouldn’t have to pay nearly their whole savings like in the past.

“I’m hooome~!” Lauran cheerfully opened the door.

She expected a warm welcome from her brother and mother but was instead given a gloomy stare.

“Lauran…What are these…?”

“Ah…?”

Lauran found her mother standing there in her room’s doorway. She was standing there with the documents in her hands.

Her hands were trembling.

Her pupils were shaking and her lips were parting in disbelief.

“This is…It’s…”

Lauran fumbled with her words after she saw her mother’s reaction.

Everything about the details of the debt was inside those folders. Of course, Lauran was ordered to not show every single file. Only the necessary ones. The rest had to be stored away since it was evidence that leads to the incident that happened before. It was easy to pinpoint the criminal if one saw all those files.

She expected her mother to lash out at her for being involved with the incident that was akin to multiple homicides, however, her mother’s reaction surprised her.

“He’s…dead?” Rezia approached Lauran. “There…is no way you got these without his permission. Did you….”

Lauran knew what her mother was implying.

“I…didn’t kill him. I wanted to…But I didn’t…”

“Then…?”

“I-I cannot say anything else…” Lauran averted her eyes when she heard someone exit her parents’ room. It was the sound of wheels rolling on the floor.

“Father.”

“Dear.”

Both Rezia and Lauran looked at the man who seemed to have aged much more in the past two years than a decade.

His eyes were widened as if he couldn’t believe what he heard. Those widened eyes were looking at his beloved wife and daughter.

“We’re free.”