I No Longer Have Love to Offer You - Chapter 20

“I see. So, this is the reference material that supports these numbers?”

“That’s correct. Indeed, it would be hard to understand without this. I should have attached it as supporting documentation.”

“No need. Your explanation just now was sufficient.”

I answered the staff member’s questions about the documents I submitted yesterday. When I first joined the trading company, I had been somewhat reserved with other employees, but after two months, I could now converse with them quite casually.

“There’s a client waiting upstairs. If everything’s settled here, may I return?”

“Of course. My apologies for calling you away during a client meeting.”

“The fault is mine for submitting incomplete documents. I’m sorry for causing extra trouble.”

Exchanging these pleasantries, I headed toward the stairs to return to the reception room.

“Really?! Congratulations!”

Mirabelle’s ears caught the sound of voices brimming with joy.

“So it’s about reforming the shared carriage system? Mmm, you’ve identified a real issue there, haven’t you?”

“I just proposed something I found inconvenient when using it myself. But I never thought it would get approved—I’m so happy!”

The voices belonged to two of the younger female employees at the trading company.

“Ah, it seems someone recently made use of the suggestion system,” I remarked.

“Suggestion system?”

Perhaps noticing Mirabelle’s curious gaze at the two women, the employee beside me explained: “The Albert Trading Company has what we call a ‘Suggestion System.’ Anyone can propose new ideas whenever inspiration strikes. And since the company president personally reviews each submission. Well, you can imagine how enthusiastically employees participate.”

(I see. The company is always seeking fresh ideas. Albert isn’t the type to be constrained by conventional thinking—he’d likely consider any proposal seriously. If he believes it could work as a business venture, he’d support it fully.)

“Moreover, if your suggestion gets approved, you get to lead the project yourself. There’s additional compensation too, but the real appeal is getting to develop your own innovative work.”

With these words delivered cheerfully by the smiling employee, Mirabelle ascended the staircase.

(The suggestion system. If anyone can propose ideas, then that includes me.)

Mirabelle had come to realize that merely completing assigned tasks wasn’t enough. Her current position existed largely through Albert’s benevolence. To truly call herself Albert’s secretary with pride, she needed tangible achievements.

Was there any project she could propose? Lost in these thoughts, Mirabelle reached the top of the stairs and raised her hand to knock on the reception room door only to notice it stood slightly ajar.

(Ah, of course. With only Pamela and him inside, they couldn’t very well shut it completely.)

Though their relationship was that of former classmates, a duchess and an unmarried third son of a marquis household—Albert, Pamela, and Mirabelle herself harbored no special feelings that might raise eyebrows. Still, for propriety’s sake, they avoided any behavior that might invite suspicion.

As Mirabelle prepared to knock with her still-raised hand, Pamela’s voice froze her in place.

“Have you not proposed to Mirabelle yet?”

(…Proposal?)

The utterly unexpected word rooted Mirabelle to the spot.

“Now? To Mirabelle who just got divorced?”

“Precisely. It’s not uncommon to arrange new engagements shortly after divorce, is it? She’s finally free from that unrequited love. Shouldn’t Albert too act on his true feelings now?”

Though knowing she shouldn’t eavesdrop, Mirabelle found herself unable to move. Through the slightly open door, she could see Pamela still seated on the reception sofa as before, and Albert leaning against his office desk positioned to her right, facing the door.

“I did say I’d court her,” Albert replied nonchalantly to Pamela’s serious inquiry.

“Well then! When will the engagement ceremony be?”

“I said I’d court her—I didn’t say anything about proposing.”

“What?! You’re not thinking of keeping things ambiguous, are you?”

Pamela’s elegant brows knitted sharply, her expression promising further reproach depending on Albert’s answer.

“Of course not!”

“Then why?”

To Pamela’s aristocratic sensibilities, a man declaring his feelings was synonymous with proposing marriage. Even in political marriages, noblemen would kneel before ladies to propose as if it were some aesthetic ritual.

“Mirabelle doesn’t need a fiancé right now. And I don’t think she’s looking for one either.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know Mirabelle’s been hung up on Lord Ricardo all this time, don’t you? Getting divorced doesn’t magically erase those feelings.”

“All the more reason she needs someone new, no?”

“Before finding someone new, Mirabelle needs to recognize her own worth.”

“Her worth?”

“Exactly. Her value doesn’t come from what she can do, or how obedient she is, or how useful she can be, right?”

Albert’s gaze drifted to the sofa where Mirabelle usually sat.

“Lord Ricardo used Mirabelle for his own convenience.”

The blunt statement articulated what Mirabelle already knew. Yet hearing this truth from Albert’s lips carved painfully into her heart.

“Because of that, Mirabelle’s convinced she has no worth unless she has something to offer.”

“That’s not—!”

“To me, just having her by my side is enough.”

Albert’s murmured words came with a pained squint of his eyes.

“If I proposed now, she’d only refuse. And unless she can believe that her mere existence has meaning, Mirabelle will never find true happiness.”

(My mere existence has meaning…)

Albert’s words reverberated in Mirabelle’s ears, lingering in her heart long after that moment.