Shirley knew very well what Victor was after from her, surely right now he was expecting her to lose her temper and hit them with a burst of anger.
"I must be patient, I will not let myself lose to them." Shirley clenched her fists solemnly.
"What's so hard about waiting a little longer, I've held back so far anyway." Shirley calmly braced herself and sat back down.
Although her heart was filled with deep resentment, Shirley still waited there patiently. Waiting for Victor's arrival and intending to apologise immediately after meeting.
However, the longer time passed, slowly drowsiness filled Shirley and made her fall asleep while waiting for Victor.
. . .
Not knowing how much time had passed, Shirley finally jerked awake when she heard the door being opened loudly.
Shirley blinked her eyes some, needing a few moments to gather her life fully after falling asleep earlier.
"Looks like you enjoyed your time in my place, Lady Shirley." Victor said with a cold face.
"Thank you, it is all thanks to you, Your Grace." Shirley rolled her eyes and got up to give her greetings.
Victor was honestly annoyed that Shirley did not give him the reaction he wanted, even though he had deliberately brought Thalia here to anger Shirley and make her make more mistakes.
However, the results were beyond Victor's expectations, who would have thought that a temperamental girl like Shirley would patiently wait for him here, even to the point of falling asleep like this.
"So what brings you here?" In the end, Victor could only let Shirley tell him what she needed without any other benefit.
"My father forced me to apologise to you so that you wouldn't cause trouble for our family." Shirley had no intention of making nice with Victor at the moment.
Not too happy with Shirley's remark, Victor winced and folded his arms across his chest haughtily, "You and your ego, you can't even be sincere when you apologise," Victor taunted.
"And it looks like you owe me an apology too after making me wait all night like this," Shirley continued calmly, unfazed by Victor's taunts.
Despite his calm demeanour, Shirley could see that Victor's face became much colder after that. Shirley thought about pushing the argument further, but it didn't seem like a good move.
"I'm not someone as easy-going as you, Lady Shirley." Victor said with an irritated frown.
"Then forgive me for my actions, Your Grace. But, as your business is with Lady Thalia, I will not intrude further on your time then," Shirley replied with a faint smile.
Then, Shirley got up from her position and waltzed out of the room, at least she had apologised to Victor and her father could rest easy now after forcing her to do all this.
After Shirley's departure, the sound of breaking glass could be heard from inside the reading room, who knows what Victor had done to relieve his irritation.
. . .
Since her business with Victor was over, Shirley still had business to do in the capital. Shirley thought that while she was here, she would complete the necessary preparations.
Shirley had previously said that she needed someone to take care of the investment issue at the Dessert shop she had visited earlier. That shop was called The Sugar Vine, thanks to the knowledge Shirley had gained from the Novel, she knew who to look for right now.
The only thing that made Shirley nervous at the moment was how she could convince that person to help her do the work in the shadows for her.
"That young man really likes money, should I lure him with money?" muttered Shirley dizzily at this moment.
In the novel the person she was looking for was described as being very fond of money, but Shirley wasn't too sure about convincing him with money alone.
Let alone to convince, Shirley even doubted whether she could trust that person if she only capitalised on money. However, Shirley doesn't have many options at the moment, so it looks like she'll just try her luck this time.
Currently, Shirley and Ivy were on a horse-drawn carriage that would take them to a remote area in the capital. This area was better known as a slum on the outskirts of the capital.
"Miss, are you sure about this? What if someone harms you there later?" Ivy was shocked to learn that Shirley wanted to go to the slums that the nobles avoided.
"I have to find someone there," Shirley replied shortly.
"Can't you get someone else to bring her to you?" said Ivy timidly, they would surely get Gilbert's wrath if they were caught here.
"Just take it easy. Nothing will happen," Shirley said soothingly to Ivy who looked very scared.
It wasn't long before Shirley heard a voice from outside.
"Miss, we've arrived."
"Okay." Shirley put the hood over her head to partially cover her face. Then, she turned to Ivy, "You stay here, don't come with me. If I'm not back within two hours, then bring the knights with you to look for me, do you understand?"
Ivy nervously nodded her head, "Miss, take care of yourself," Ivy said as she took Shirley's hand.
Shirley just patted Ivy's shoulder lightly, then decided to get off the carriage. Shirley deliberately ordered her people to stop their carriages quite far from the area she was going to, because they would attract attention if she entered the area in a luxurious royal horse carriage like this.
After dismounting Shirley had to walk quite a distance to get to the slum, but she already knew the path she had to take and where she would find the person she was looking for.
After about half an hour of walking, Shirley finally entered this deplorable neighbourhood. There were many abandoned children walking the streets begging or hiding ready to steal.
Or there were many adults who looked tough and rough, Shirley guessed that they were mercenaries who were often in this place. Shirley told herself several times not to be afraid.
Although Shirley already knew where she could meet that person, in reality she still had trouble finding the tavern that that person frequented.
"Damn, the descriptions in the novels are too easy, in reality it's really hard to tell one building from another here." Shirley felt like cursing her current bad luck.
After walking for a while, Shirley found the tavern she was looking for. Immediately Shirley entered the tavern with excitement, but unbeknownst to her when she had just stepped inside, she was knocked down by someone running towards her.