Every day, I witness my fiance in the body of another woman. As he boldly brings a woman of another noble family right in my face, I was the center of embarrassment.
A vulnerable woman. A woman who is easily used.
As days turned to weeks, and as weeks turned to months. I gradually lost feelings to the man I fell in love with, the cute boy that I looked up to when we were just children.
Now, he is nothing more but a playboy.
I. Am Tired.
"Here, sign this." The Duke, Leon, threw my a piece of paper.
I was not surprised as the woman he cheated with was right behind him, laughing behind the fan covering her disgusting face. "A breakup?" I asked him like I was not surprised.
"Tsk, since you already know, get with it already." He said arrogantly as he aggressively smacked an ink and feather on the table as he turned behind and left.
The mistress, Nathalia, laughed as she followed Leon with a message she left behind, "Too bad you're not me." She said as she walked away as the doors of my room slowly closed down.
I smiled as he finally gave off a contract breaking off the engagement, "Finally." I muttered as the months of waiting were all worth it.
"I didn't want to be the one to break off. It's better to be the victim in the fight, you know?" I muttered to myself as I quickly signed the contract and pulled a white cloth at the side of my bed.
What was hidden under those white cloths were ready-to-leave suitcases with my dresses and all my accessories.
I can finally leave this wretched place!
After I left the Duke's Mansion, I can not return to my house, "I'd guess they would be mad at me." I muttered as I stayed on an inn. Since it is close to the center of the empire, it's the best place to execute my plan.
I opened one of my suitcases and there were books — and lots of them!
"I studied all my life, educated myself. Now that my shackles have been removed, I can successfully execute my business plans!" I said to myself as I opened the scrolled-up paper.
There, I made my very first successful invention.
2 months ago, I was on a carriage towards the shopping district. I noticed how wiggly and how much my butt hurts after riding a 30-minute carriage, that I immediately went home after my shopping and did experiments on how to reduce the recoil.
It took me a month to finally make something that is also cheap at the same time — a solution even cheaper than the cheapest sword.
I called the product — Coil.
I didn't know what to name it but removing the "re" from "recoil" kind of made it a really awesome name and really easy to remember.
After I made the 'Coil', I made a carriage model with coils on each wheel. This would reduce the wriggling of the carriage, especially in rocky or uneven terrains. I also thought to place wool on carriage sits to reduce the pain when sitting — this would guarantee a comfortable ride, worthy of a noble's transport.
"The only problem now is the suppliers. I could easily find a lot of carpenters, but it's not easy to find a capable engineer." I muttered to myself as I remembered the newspaper I brought with me on the way to the inn.
"I have an idea."
Somewhere in the capital, "Can I get a newspaper?" A man said to a local shop.
"Of course, dear." The old shopkeeper said as the man paid 5 coppers in exchange for a newspaper.
The man seemed anxious like he was looking for something. The old shopkeeper noticed it as she looked at the man with a worrisome face, "Are you okay, dear—"
"Finally, something I'm good at!" The man's face suddenly brightened as he circled the job description for an engineer in need, paying 600 coppers a day.
"Oh, it seems like my worry was not needed." The old shopkeeper said as she smiled at the man leaving.
The inn's door opened as he went to the clerk, "Is there a person named Olivia De Roose?" The man asked.
"Are you looking for me, by any chance?" I replied as I arrived just after he entered the place. He seemed to be in a hurry as his frantic reaction to look behind instantly meant he was in a hurry.
"Why are you looking for me?" I asked as I noticed the newspaper he was holding, "Oh, you're here for the job?" I asked him.
"Yes, milady. I pride myself in my carpentry even though I am a commoner." He replied as I looked at his outer appearance.
He looked shabby with dirty clothes. Shoes with a hole on his toe and, "Oh my." A face that has an opportunity to be handsome if done correctly. His expression looked like a really cute puppy but it's not the face that I'm after.
"Then if you really are good at what you do, make me a carriage's wheel. The deadline is tomorrow." I gave him a task to see if he is worthy of my future plans. Knowing that he is a commoner, it is only natural to doubt his skills as commoners naturally are uneducated.
"Yes, milady!"
I was caught by surprise as I expected him to reject my offer. A carriage's wheel may seem easy to make, but it's the hardest when making the overall carriage. Wood isn't made to be bent, so if done incorrectly, it could cause the wheel to break and cause the carriage to fall. Worse, it may hurt the passengers.
"How bold." I said to him as I handed him a bag of copper, "Use this to buy supplies, I will expect my wheel to be tomorrow, then goodbye." I said as I left the man and went towards my room.
Since I saved a lot of money from the past months trapped in the Duke's house, I could even afford a small mansion if I wanted to, so I don't have to worry about money.
"Now, let's find ourselves a blacksmith." I muttered.