Why did so many people hate her in school and wanted to bully her?


    Well, there were many reasons. One was her appearance. Sophie was the most beautiful girl they had ever seen and they thought it was not fair for a poor girl like her to have such beauty.


    Two, she was poor. Many students thought she brought down the prestige of their school with her old clothes and worn-out shoes.


    Three, her two cousins, Valerie and Lucia were the queen bees in the second and third years. They told everyone in school that they wished she was not their cousin and she was just an embarrassing good-for-nothing freeloader at their home.


    She worked hard to ace the academy entrance examination. She studied by herself using her cousins'' old books since she was not allowed a private tutor since she was a child, like Valerie and Lucia.


    Katherine, Valerie''s and Lucia''s private teacher who was always kind to her said Sophie could be independent and make money if she could find a job as a governess for rich people''s kids, just like Katherine.


    In order to achieve that, she needed to get a formal education to show those wealthy parents that she had the qualification to teach their children.


    Sophie thought Katherine was the coolest woman ever and decided she wanted to be like her. So, she learned how to read and write secretly. When she was fourteen, she started getting some help from Katherine to study more. Secretly, of course.


    Katherine managed to find out that Sophie''s grandfather actually asked aunt Helga to send Sophie to continue her education at Cawden Academy, together with Valerie and Lucia.


    Her aunt never provided private tutors for Sophie, like they gave their biological daughters because they actually didn''t want her to pass the entrance test.


    Fortunately, Katherine was a woman with a heart of gold. She helped Sophie behind her aunt''s back. When Katherine registered Valerie to enter the academy to continue her education, she also registered Sophie for the test.


    Both passed and Aunt Helga didn''t have any excuse not to send Sophie to Cow Dung.. ahem, I mean, Cawden Academy.


    The rest was history.


    "It''s okay," Sophie shrugged. "As I said, I only need to bear it for one more year… well, actually 8 more months. We will soon graduate and I can get my certificate so I can get a job. I will justy low in the meantime."


    "Certificate?" Nichs never attended school with the masses so he would never get such a certificate, not that he would ever need it though. His future job was like no other and he couldn''t study for it in a regr academy anyway.


    "Yes. I want to work as a governess or private tutor for wealthy family''s kids," Sophie exined. "It''s a good job with decent pay. Katherine, the private tutor who teaches my cousins said I will need a certificate to prove my qualifications."


    "Do YOU want to be a teacher?" Nichs asked Sophie.


    Sophie lowered her head when she heard his question. Did she want to be a teacher who dealt with snobbish and spoiled wealthy families'' children? No. But she didn''t know what kind of other works she could do to make money besides doing physical work like being a maid.


    "I don''t want to be a maid," she sighed. "Many employers treat their maids badly. And the pay is really low."


    She saw how the maids in her aunt''s home were treated poorly by Aunt Helga and her daughters. It was also very tiring because they had to work from early morning tote at night.


    Nichs furrowed his brows and observed Sophie carefully. Didn''t this girl know she was so beautiful? He was wondering. Nichs thought Sophie could actually get a wealthy husband and didn''t need to work a day in her life.


    Her life would be so easy. Well, at least, that''s what many pretty girls in the capital were trying to do. They would study in the expensive academies and attend the elite''s parties with the sole purpose of meeting wealthy noblemen to be their husbands.


    Nichs overheard such conversation very often whenever the royal family threw a g to celebrate some important events.


    All the people from the capital''s upper ss would be invited and beautiful girls would use the opportunity to shop for wealthy and powerful husbands. That was all they ever talked about.


    To be honest, Nichs felt Sophie was so refreshing and a nice changepared to all the women he had met previously.


    She was a young woman who aspired to study so she could get a decent-paying job. So refreshing!


    "Well.. you can also be self-employed. Open your own business or something," Nichs suggested.


    Sophie looked at him as if he just grew a second head. She muttered, "Business needs capital."


    "You can get capital if you have a good business n. Rothschild family''s banks are everywhere now and they are eager to support businesses to grow since it means they will grow their money too," Nick exined.


    "Well… even banks would want some guarantee or coteral before they could give loans. Only rich people would get richer by getting loans to expand their businesses. Poor people wouldn''t be able to convince banks to even let them exin their business ideas," Sophie said.


    She batted her eyes and looked at Nichs with newfound appreciation. "By the way, how do you know so much? We don''t have banks here in Hastings. This town is small.  Where are you from?"


    Nichs scratched his head and smiled smugly. "I am from the capital."


    "Oh… it''s quite far from here. What''s the capital like?" Sophie asked enthusiastically.


    She had never been there. Whenever Aunt Helga and Uncle Stevan went to the capital, they only took Valerie and Lucia. When they returned to Hastings, the girls would brag about their experience.


    They told Sophie that the buildings in the capital were all huge, majestic, luxurious; the people were so stylish with thetest fashion; the parties were frequent.


    Both Valerie and Lucia had expressed their desire to someday move to the capital and leave behind their boring small town.


    Sophie couldn''t imagine tall buildings, bigger carriages,vish parties, and such, no matter how hard she tried. She didn''t have the properparison.


    The only other ce she had ever been to other than Hastings was Hauntingen, a small vige in the countryside near the cursed forest.


    That''s where she was born and lived until she was ten years old and her parents died tragically, And then, her father''s sister came with her husband and took Sophie to live with them in Hastings.


    Sophie always missed Hauntingen, despite its bad reputation - people said the forest was cursed by three witches. For her, it was home.


    Sigh… it was eight years ago when she left Hauntingen and her memory about the ce was slowly fading. She wished she could someday go back to Hauntingen and see her old home again.


    "Well.. capital is pretty boring, if you asked me," Nichs shrugged. "I''d prefer the countryside and small towns like Hastings."


    Sophieughed at the man''s response. It was truly in human nature to want something other than what they already had. Nichs preferred small towns, while Sophie was dying to see big cities like the capital.


    "Why are youughing?" Nichs asked Sophie. He wanted to know what tickled her funny bones so he could make herugh again. He found her crispugh to be really adorable.


    "Nothing." Sophie smiled. She decided to change the subject. "So, you are from the capital, what are you doing here? And where are you staying?"


    "I came here to visit my great uncle. He lives in a house outside of Hastings, surrounded by vineyards. Our family physician supported me toe here and spend some time with him. He said the air is good for my health," Nichs exined.


    "Oh.. are you sick?" Sophie batted her eyes and looked at the man probingly, trying to see any signs of ailments, but she couldn''t find any.


    The man had a slender body, but when he caught her earlier today, Sophie could feel his bulging muscles from under his shirt, which meant his body was quite ripped.


    If he was sick, shouldn''t he look frail? Yet, he looked so healthy and energetic.


    "I have some condition," Nichs replied to her question just to be polite, but he refused to borate.


    The man decided to change the subject back to Sophie because he wanted to know her more. "So, If I can get you a loan from the Rothschild, what kind of business would you like to do?"


    "Huh?" Sophie thought she misheard. "Come again?"


    "I said if I can get you loans from the banks, what will you do with it?" Nichs repeated his question patiently. "My family knows some of the Rotchilds."


    "Oh, you do?" Sophie''s eyes widen with excitement when Nichs nodded firmly. She thought about it for a while and then replied. "I will  open a tavern that sells food and drinks."