For the Lady's Wise Regression - Chapter 54

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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 54
Kyrious looked at Ian once, then at Vanessa once.
“Thank you for letting me enjoy the journey in peace, my lord.”
“……Don’t neglect your training.”
What?
Why did both their expressions seem to shift overnight?
Unlike Vanessa, who wore a cheerful smile, Ian’s face was impenetrable—as if the slightest touch would reduce it to ash, crumbling into dust. It was the kind of severity that made you want to hold your breath.
It was serious. The situation looked very serious indeed.
“No, my lady. I’ll send word when the next festival comes around, so please do visit us again then.”
“Of course, I shall.”
“Ian, you as well……take care.”
After seeing them off one last time, Kyrious turned on his heel and watched the two figures recede into the distance with half-lidded eyes.
One step, two steps, three steps…….
At last, Ian Ruscliffe climbed the gangway onto the ship’s deck, each footfall heavy and deliberate.
Unlike Ian, who didn’t so much as glance back, Vanessa Sharoze bowed toward him once more from the middle of the stairs.
“Did they quarrel? No, that doesn’t seem right…….”
If they’d had a fight, their expressions wouldn’t look like that.
Then, was there some misunderstanding?
……But the Duchess’s expression was far too bright for that.
The two of them moved about the deck as though their very souls had been exchanged overnight.
Vanessa speaking, Ian avoiding her eyes?
Yet the lady didn’t seem displeased at all?
‘Has he been bewitched?’
Vanessa, who had been trailing behind Ian as he made for the cabin, suddenly stopped.
Her red hair fluttered and streamed as she popped back up on deck.
“My lord! Please come visit the Residence next time!”
“……Yes!”
Kyrious answered loudly, lifting the corners of his mouth into a smile.
Hoot, hooooot—
The ship’s horn announced departure.
Kyrious watched the ship drift farther away, then let his expression fall back to neutral.
‘Why would I go?’
He’d rather die than set foot there.
He had no intention of conducting any business in the Eastern Region for some time.
“……Ah! What’s wrong with me? This isn’t the time for this.”
Ever since he’d discovered the ship’s departure time without Ian Ruscliffe’s knowledge, he’d hastily booked a hand massage appointment at the Central Capital.
Kyrious moved with quick, purposeful strides.
Ugh. If he’d gone just one day later, the calluses wouldn’t have started peeling off. His knuckles were already beginning to swell. Tsk.
Kyrious, who had gently blown on his palms with care, suddenly froze in place.
“A gift……!”
Ah……! He’d forgotten about it!
Finally, Kyrious clutched at his head.
Aaaugh! Silent anguish echoed within him for a long while.
***
Vanessa watched him sip his tea, her eyes deliberately avoiding his.
“The……ahem, the tea is quite delicious, my lady.”
Kyrious Parvian.
It seemed like barely more than a week since his honeymoon in the Northern Region…….
It was strange.
Why had someone who had vowed not to look toward the Eastern Region for some time suddenly appeared now, of all moments—precisely when Ian happened to be absent from the Residence?
“The truth is, I recalled when you invited me to visit sometime…….”
“……I see. But what’s to be done? Ian happens to be away at present.”
“Ah, well then, that’s unfortunate. Please just let him know I came by and left.”
“Of course, naturally…….”
The extended honeymoon had left her with a backlog of work.
Vanessa, mentally calculating the schedule ahead, swallowed an inward sigh.
They said the Northern Region didn’t employ what one might call courtesy speech.
Being people who took words at face value, they preferred to communicate only the essential facts and conclusions.
Kyrious Parvian especially was so steeped in worldly conventions that she’d thought he might gloss over what she said, being so different from ordinary northerners.
But perhaps he was a northerner after all.
“So…… is there truly no other reason for your visit without notice?”
“Ah, well, the thing is…… I meant to pass along a message to your lady wife, but it occurred to me that I’m actually rather acquainted with House Sharoze myself. Though properly speaking, it’s my father who knows them.”
“……?”
“You know that Serenity Herb I mentioned before?”
“Ah.”
Vanessa let out a small sigh.
She hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time, since she had one bloom for herself anyway.
And now it came back to her in this manner?
“I…… sent it to my father under Ian’s name.”
“……I’m sorry?”
“Father was absolutely delighted. He said it was the first time a son-in-law had ever sent him a gift.”
Of course it would be the first.
This was her first marriage in this lifetime, after all…….
She’d forgotten.
The one fatal flaw of Kyrious Parbian — the Northern Region’s crown jewel, the ideal of a thousand years, the number one man every woman wanted to hold in her arms.
‘…… Meddling.’
He had far too great a talent for involving himself in other people’s affairs beyond what was needed.
It was almost pathological.
Vanessa found herself thinking that the Serenity Herb might have been better off in Ian’s hands.
Once it had gone to her father, there was virtually no way for her to reclaim it.
This meant that her entire trip north with Ian had been for nothing.
She’d meant to secure at least one more bloom in case their primary attempt failed.
But why did he have to do things nobody asked him to do?
Ian was like that, and so was he.
Even the Crown Prince!
‘Is that why they say “birds of a feather flock together”?’
Watching Kyrious grin blankly, unaware of anything, Vanessa was reminded of the letter that had arrived from the Crown Prince this morning.
[Urgent. Lady’s wisdom required.]
***
Was that…… really something a Crown Prince of an empire would write?
When she first opened the letter, she thought Ian had mistakenly sent her a message meant for himself.
In any case, since it was marked urgent, she couldn’t very well ignore the Imperial Palace, so she’d prepared to leave immediately.
“Your grace. I have a matter to attend to at the Palace……”
“Ah, shall I come along?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“How could a guest sit about idly in a house without its master?”
Vanessa suppressed a smile with effort.
“You needn’t trouble yourself to return…….”
“Come now, I’ve come all this way — I can’t possibly leave without seeing your face again.”
……Didn’t he just say he came to visit for leisure?
“I noticed on the way that the Eastern Region has quite a lot to see. I wish I’d known sooner — I’d have toured more than just the Central Capital.”
“…….”
“Especially Fond du Chocolat! It looked absolutely delicious. Ian seemed to like…… ack.”
Kyrious’s face, which had been speaking without pause, drained of color in an instant.
More precisely, his eyes, which had been fixed on something behind her back, began to tremble visibly.
“…… Kyrious Parbian.”
What?
Only then did Vanessa turn her head.
Standing in the doorway, regarding Kyrious with a cold stare, was none other than Ian.
What? Shouldn’t the regular reporting meeting at the Palace be held today? He’s come back earlier than expected?
“What are you doing here?”
With a frame already so imposing, and his hair pinned up neatly besides, his gaze alone looked sharp enough to cut.
“That is…… uh, ha, haha…….”
As Kyrious turned toward her with an urgent look, silently begging her to say something, Vanessa sighed inwardly.
Good heavens. Where on earth had they all left their maturity? Abandoned it all at their coming-of-age ceremonies?
This wasn’t some child clinging to his mother’s skirts and staring up at her. So what, should I help you or not?
He’d taken it upon himself to do something nobody asked him to do, which was infuriating — but still, she felt grateful that he’d thought of her father’s health.
‘Just this once. Just this once.’
Vanessa finished her thought and rose from her seat.
“I called him here.”
Ian’s eyebrows twitched at the unexpected remark.
“But just now…… you didn’t say anything like that.”
Hearing his tone snap back to its original sharpness, Kyrious let out an involuntary laugh before quickly clamping his mouth shut.
Just as Ian’s gaze was about to turn toward Kyrious again—
“I forgot to bring the wedding gift the Crown Prince gave me last time in the Northern Region.”
“……A wedding gift?”
Vanessa redirected his attention back to herself.
“Yes. The Crown Prince prepared a few Serenity Herbs as a gift for Father.”
“…….”
“He had them delivered in your name, I heard. Father was quite pleased, saying it was the first gift he’d ever received from a son-in-law.”
The moment the word “son-in-law” left Vanessa’s lips, Ian’s expression softened.
“……You did something I never asked you to do.”
Then why not start by straightening out that twitching mouth of yours?
One more drawback had just been added to coming back from the past.
‘They’re all still so young at heart.’
Their emotional maturity was far too low.
Vanessa exhaled a quiet sigh internally.

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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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