For the Lady's Wise Regression - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 23
At Vanessa’s words, Rabien thrust forward a Gift Box as if she’d been waiting for this moment.
“Of course, Lady Vanessa! I bought this from the start meaning to give it to you. We’re the ones who should be thanking you for congratulating us. If it wouldn’t be rude…….”
Rabien, who had been hesitating, looked up at Vanessa as if she’d steeled herself.
“Would it be all right if I sent you an invitation to the Celebration Banquet? It’s embarrassing, but I don’t have many close lady friends yet…….”
At those words, laughter escaped Vanessa’s lips.
“If you’re only going to send a Celebration Banquet invitation, I’ll have to decline.”
“…….”
Rabien’s tightly pressed lips trembled slightly.
Berdan seemed to have grasped what she meant to say, but seeing Rabien’s face on the verge of tears, he stood there flustered and uncertain.
At the sight of this, laughter bubbled up from between Vanessa’s teeth.
So this is why she’d become the dream of young ladies.
If she delayed her answer any longer, she’d make her cry.
“I should send you invitations to Tea Time and a Refreshment Gathering as well.”
“……!”
“Didn’t I tell you? I want to become close friends with you.”
As her face brightened noticeably and color flooded her cheeks, Berdan finally exhaled a sigh of relief.
“Congratulations again on the marriage. To both of you.”
“Yes! And Lady Vanessa, congratulations to you as well…… I know this is coming late, but…… you two really are a perfect match.”
Vanessa smiled at her words.
Berdan followed with a slight bow and withdrew, handling Rabien as carefully as if she were a flower.
Now she’d managed to prevent the Marguula Mine from falling into strict hands…….
As for visiting the Saint Bertold Orphanage, the time was awkward.
Vanessa gazed at the Dessert Box in her hands.
“……Should I just take this to them?”
There was no point bringing it back to the estate—no one would eat it anyway.
Better to give it to someone who actually liked sweets.
Fine. I’ll just deliver it and come back.
Without any particular feeling about it—that kind of tone. That’s how I’ll give it and leave.
Absolutely not because she remembered that Ian liked sweet things.
***
“……Who is it?”
“Lady Charlotte Rousse has come to deliver something to you, sir.”
Ian, who had been buried in documents as usual, suddenly looked up.
He couldn’t believe the name that had come from the mouth of his butler, Denian.
The clock on the wall showed that evening had fallen.
‘Is it urgent business enough to come after sunset?’
And the journey back—how dangerous would that be?
Ian clicked his tongue softly and set down his pen.
“The lady came to see me?”
“Yes. It looked like some sort of box, but she wanted to deliver it in person.”
“……Has she eaten?”
“From the fragrance of tea that seemed to linger, it appeared she’d brought some sort of Tea Time with her?”
……At this hour?
Who else had she visited?
Ian, suppressing various curiosities, removed his Glasses and rose from his seat.
“Show her to the Dining Room—not the Reception Room. And have Gayen prepare food.”
“What if she refuses?”
“Then I’m afraid I’ll be in a foul mood.”
“……An empire runs on full stomachs, sir.”
Denian shot out briskly, while Ian adjusted his appearance in the mirror hanging beneath the Study clock.
‘Should I let my hair down?’
Having been buried in documents all day from morning, the hollows beneath his eyes were not merely tired—they looked almost haggard.
With his hair neatly pinned up on top of that, there was a risk he’d give the impression of being in a poor mood.
Ian deliberated for a moment, then ruffled his bangs down with his hand and put his rimless Glasses back on.
‘……That’s at least somewhat acceptable.’
After one final check in that state, Ian abruptly pulled open the tightly closed door and stopped short.
“Sorry. Did I startle you?”
Why was Vanessa standing right in front of his Study instead of waiting in the Dining Room?
“……Did Denian not tell you to go to the Dining Room alone?”
“Hm? No.”
“Then did you ask her to go to the Reception Room alone?”
“No, no.”
Then why are you here?
The question hung in Ian’s eyes, and Vanessa blinked once before sighing softly.
“Ah. I didn’t want to wait by myself, so I thought… maybe we could go together?”
“……”
“Your butler said the same thing, didn’t he? Oh, this.”
Vanessa held out the box she’d been carrying all along.
“……Why this?”
“It’s a dessert. I got it as a gift, but I don’t care for sweets.”
“……”
“Last time I noticed you seemed to like them.”
“That’s……”
Her tone suggested she’d simply found it lying around, but to Ian’s ears, the real meaning came through—that she’d thought of his fondness for sweets and come all this way at this late hour because of it.
But if he said as much, she’d certainly backtrack.
So rather than labor the point, Ian chose to accept her gift graciously.
“…Thank you.”
The response seemed to surprise her; Vanessa’s eyes widened before a faint smile crossed her face.
“You really do like it, don’t you?”
“……”
“Anyway, it’s all right if we dine together, isn’t it?”
“What’s the harm in it?”
“The contract terms say otherwise.”
“…Ah.”
Ian sighed faintly and cleared his throat lightly.
“As you said, we don’t need to follow it just yet.”
Though the way she kept appearing like this was rather inconvenient for any number of reasons.
‘There’s no sending her away now.’
If it had been possible, the contract wouldn’t have been written the way it was.
Was it the faint sweetness drifting from the box in his hand? It felt harder to endure than usual.
The thought of walking beside her to the Dining Room made it impossible to settle himself, so his pace quickened without his meaning.
He never noticed Vanessa’s strange expression as she watched his retreating back.
‘How odd.’
When she’d read the contract, it was nothing but “No Contact Clause” this and that, so she’d wondered if he had some kind of contagious illness—but judging by all the dates so far, that didn’t seem to be the case.
The evening meals, the physical contact—all of it.
It seems like he can do all of it when the situation calls for it……
“……Why did you put in such a condition in the first place?”
And that curiosity only deepened after they finished dinner at the Ruscliffe Estate.
“I’ll see you home.”
The moment she saw Ian had a carriage already waiting at the estate entrance, as if he’d been expecting just this—without even giving her time to refuse—her puzzlement grew tenfold.
“……Insist on it?”
She had her own carriage she’d arrived in.
While Vanessa couldn’t quite hide her bewilderment, Ian simply nodded as if to ask what the problem was.
“It’s gotten late.”
“……?”
When she gave a response as if to ask what difference that made, Ian’s brow twitched.
“It’s normal for a man to see his betrothed home. Why make that face about it?”
“No, well, it’s not that……”
“Then get in.”
For all the stiffness of his tone, Ian stood at the carriage entrance with his hand extended.
‘……An escort, too?’
Vanessa found herself staring blankly until Ian’s gaze, piercing and unyielding, left her no choice but to carefully take his hand and board the carriage.
Once Ian sat across from her, the carriage set off as if it had been waiting for just this moment.
A sideways glance.
Her eyes found their way to Ian.
‘……Truly impossible to read.’
Just moments ago he’d been looking at her with such intensity, as though determined to see her home by any means—but now he was deliberately looking anywhere but at her.
Judging by the contract terms alone, she’d expected their marriage to be austere and bare.
But the way he says nothing even when she violates the conditions, and this attitude of his now……
Hmm.
The soft sound escaped my lips, and Ian’s body flinched.
His ears were open to listen, but his eyes refused to meet mine.
‘Does he just want us to get along without any physical contact?’
Well, if I thought about it that way, everything Ian had done up until now made sense.
“Ian.”
The way his gaze reluctantly turned toward me at my call only hardened my earlier suspicion into certainty.
“Can you come early tomorrow?”
“…Why?”
“The ceremony starts at nine in the morning, and I’m worried the roads will be congested if we leave too late.”
“I told you there’s no need to start preparing so early.”
“…?”
“…?”
The moment we exchanged glances, both at a loss, Ian let out a small cough.
“…Weren’t you asking me to have breakfast together?”
I wasn’t.
I’d simply meant to ask him to come an hour early because the roads might be crowded, but somehow he’d jumped to his own conclusion on his own.
As my silence stretched on, Ian’s ears gradually flushed crimson.
“…Did I misunderstand?”
“Well…”
It wasn’t like I’d set things up to invite misunderstandings, so why was he jumping to conclusions?
My bewildered expression made his face crumble in real time.
“…Forgive me. I misread the situation.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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