For the Lady's Wise Regression - Chapter 25

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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 25
“Madam! It’s been so long. What a pleasure to see everyone here.”
“Young master. I hear your recent investment venture is drawing quite a bit of attention. My congratulations. If the opportunity presents itself, might we share lunch together later……?”
“Oh my! Madam, those gloves—they’re made from the fabric you brought in this time, aren’t they? However does it have such a lustrous sheen? If it wouldn’t be too forward, might I examine them more closely?”
One couldn’t tell whether this was the floor of the Capital market or a wedding venue.
Even in my past life, I was forever killing time outside until the last possible moment.
‘Without a mother to teach her such things, I suppose she had to learn it all on her own.’
She would always carry a pocket watch, counting off seconds with meticulous precision, and arrive precisely five minutes late each time.
It was all calculated—a performance designed to command attention in those precious few minutes. Back when I was still desperate to be admired, such theatrics seemed nothing short of brilliant.
Thinking of the Marquis’s wife, who had stared at that watch countless times outside just to secure those fleeting moments of notice…….
“She tries. She really does.”
Yes, that word fit her perfectly: trying.
Whoever shared that thought with me—wait.
‘Oh, no.’
I’d thought it only to myself, and yet…….
“……Pfft.”
Ian covered his mouth with one hand as a laugh broke free.
……This was beyond salvaging, I realized.
The sight of the Marquis’s wife, her face rigid with displeasure, only confirmed it.
Of course. Why did the hall have to fall silent as a tomb at that precise moment?
“Vanessa…… Duchess Vanessa?”
It was Callail who broke the silence.
He approached me slowly, completely indifferent to his mother’s mood.
If she’s Duchess Vanessa, then she’s Duchess Vanessa. Where did this “Vanessa, Duchess” come from?
And what happened to his manners—did he sell them off somewhere?
Was he trying to make a show of it now, calling my name however he pleased?
The shamelessness—to broadcast that he’d been rejected and yet have the audacity to do this?
‘A walking, breathing piece of filth.’
I stepped backward to avoid him, my elbow brushing against Ian’s, my brow still furrowed with displeasure.
…….
……Oh.
At that slight touch, our eyes met.
I whispered a soft apology, then repositioned myself to maintain barely a thread’s width of distance between us.
“No trouble at all……”
“It’s been a while, yes?”
Seeing this, Callail’s brow creased with displeasure, and he cut off Ian’s words, his eyes narrowing at me.
“Have you been well? I wish I’d known we’d meet here—I’d have taken more care with my appearance.”
…….
“Your complexion doesn’t look well, yes? You’ve lost weight too, it seems. The food hasn’t agreed with you? Or is there…… another reason?”
Callail’s gaze shifted to Ian, then back to me.
Madman, absolute madman—keep thinking it to yourself, and you really do become one.
Watching him babble with that affected politeness, my already threadbare patience snapped—sharp, clean, final.
I understood what he was trying to accomplish, I truly did. But this? It wouldn’t work in this life as it had in my past one.
Perhaps Callail didn’t see it, but I knew him far too well.
Mother and son—a perfect match.
The way they saw what they wanted to see, and how transparent their fabrications were—yet still they insisted it was all natural.
Vanessa let out a soft snort through her teeth.
“And now the filth speaks…….”
“Pfft…….”
Ian, hearing those barely audible words, couldn’t help but let out a low chuckle.
Callail’s lips trembled slightly.
His eyelids lowered, and he pressed his lips together tightly.
“……Now that I see you again, I think I understand, yes.”
To any ignorant observer, it would have looked like he was desperately suppressing rising emotion. But…….
‘She tries. She really does.’
He’s truly the best in the Empire at pretending—at feigning deafness, at playing it cool.
“That I failed to give you certainty. Now I finally understand. If you’re willing, perhaps this evening……”
“Ian, the ceremony seems about to start. Shall we move?”
Where did he get the nerve to start that again?
Unwilling to hear another word, Vanessa turned her head sharply away.
Their eyes met unexpectedly, and Ian’s widened ever so slightly.
“……Yes.”
Ian nodded slowly.
In that same moment, Vanessa linked her arm firmly through Ian’s as if to make a point, then brushed past Callail.
In the past, she would have answered his every jab, but now she knew better.
It was best not to give that prideful man ammunition.
Simply put, don’t feed the dog and it won’t bark.
‘Let him howl to his heart’s content.’
She’d wanted to roll her eyes, but the setting demanded restraint.
‘……But why is walking so difficult right now?’
It felt as though she were dragging something impossibly heavy.
‘Oh?’
Only then did Vanessa realize what her arm was actually dragging, and she drew in a sharp breath.
“Ah……”
“Vanessa, step away a little……”
Her eagerness to flee the scene had made her forget the terms of her contract with Ian entirely.
Ian’s face, as he was practically being dragged along, had flushed so deeply it looked ready to burst at the slightest touch.
His breathing seemed rougher too, now that she looked closely — did he have some condition where contact made him short of breath?
Either way, continuing in this state would only make things worse, so Vanessa hastily released his arm.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to……”
“Lady Vanessa.”
The Marquise Leonard blocked her path as if she’d been waiting for this moment.
“Even after a parting, shouldn’t one maintain a basic respect for the other person? Surely nobility demands better than this display?”
‘Did you never learn decorum because you had no mother?’
Here came living, breathing trouble. Avoid one problem and another reared its head.
She’d clearly endured this woman’s company far too long — her own thoughts were bleeding through to what she could hear.
Ugh. Vanessa regarded the Marquise Leonard with an even more disgusted expression than before.
“How unfortunate. It seems the Marquis suffered greatly from pain you knew nothing of, judging by how you’ve forgotten the most basic courtesies when addressing me.”
‘Your son had a mother and still has no manners whatsoever?’
Before the parting, Leonard had treated her with the contempt one reserves for the social inferior, but now that they’d separated, a Duke and a Marquis were worlds apart.
“……Whether we like it or not, we’ll keep crossing paths, and leading with emotion alone hardly makes for a pleasant sight. As the Lady prepares for marriage, shouldn’t you be growing more mature?”
‘Watching adults behave like children doesn’t sit right — won’t you fix that?’
“My emotions may have gotten the better of me, but separate from that, the Marquis still seems to wish to treat me as though I were his ‘lover.’ Shouldn’t the Marquise take it upon herself to teach her son such a basic distinction?”
‘Your son has a mother to teach him and still can’t separate professional from personal?’
“……That’s enough. Stop there. Didn’t you come to offer congratulations?”
A voice sharp as frost cleaved the space between the Marquise Leonard and Vanessa cleanly in two.
Ian, having regained his composure, stepped forward to shield Vanessa from view.
Unable to dare speak further to a Duke, the Marquise Leonard, visible only past his broad shoulders, bowed her head quietly.
“I have overstepped in your grace, Your Grace. I wished only to resolve the misunderstanding with the Lady……”
“It is the Marquis who lacks decorum befitting the occasion. This commotion arose from the Marquis’s personal feelings. Such matters should be settled when those two are the principals, not here.”
“……My apologies. It seems my arm has a tendency to curve inward.”
Even as his mother bowed and ground her teeth, Callail continued to stare at Vanessa with burning intensity. At the sight of him, Ian’s lips curved in a thin smile.
“You’ll need further instruction. It appears you don’t fully understand what it means for a man and woman to have parted. You boast of possessing better manners than the Duke’s House itself, yet you can’t even avoid soiling your own reputation.”
“……”
“Who’s criticizing whom here. You still have no sense of propriety.”
Tsk. Ian clicked his tongue sharply and extended his hand toward Vanessa.
“Shall we go then… Sasha?”
Gasps of breath echoed suddenly from several points around the room.
“Oh my……”
One noblewoman quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
Could that really be the Ian Ruscliffe?
Everyone seemed to think the same, their eyes wide as saucers.
But Vanessa herself was no different.
The tone she had always found as dry as a dense academic tome — how could a single nickname make it sound so tender?
……Or so she thought.
Upon seeing Ian’s expression, Vanessa swallowed dryly.

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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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