For the Lady's Wise Regression - Chapter 8

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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 8
Whether in my past life or this one, I’ve failed to fulfill Father’s wishes—that much hasn’t changed.
But escaping that hellish existence was something to be grateful for. With that consolation, Vanessa reviewed the Contract once more.
Perhaps it was the ink on the gilded paper that hadn’t fully dried. Each character seemed to writhe before her eyes.
As Vanessa’s gaze swept across the contents one final time, she absently lifted the Contract.
“……Wait? A Letter?”
Vanessa plucked the envelope from its perfectly fitted place in the center of the shallow box as if entranced. The moment she unfolded its contents, she had to draw in a sharp breath.
[Items necessary for the ceremony]
[Staff allocation according to the order of proceedings]
[Auspicious and Inauspicious Days]
[Anticipated weather and duration by schedule]
[Required expenses according to guest count]
The Letter’s contents were an endless litany of matters that made her temples throb just to read.
‘……Good heavens, what is all this?’
This wasn’t some love match—it was a marriage of contract pure and simple. So why……?
Surely all that was needed was a date, a location, and some invitations?
Since he’d said he would handle it himself, she’d simply told Father she’d inform him once the date was set—and left it at that.
But now there were dresses, jewelry shops, shoe shops, types of bouquets, florists……and why on earth would a gardener be necessary?
‘And why is he preparing all of this himself?’
Even for the principal parties to a marriage, such preparations were typically delegated to subordinates.
Even if different people took charge of each category and item, it would consume considerable time.
Besides, Vanessa had already said it was perfectly acceptable to hold a simple ceremony.
Even Calais, who had once schemed to devour her entire fortune, hadn’t lavished such care on his own wedding.
But when she saw the jewelry merchant’s inventory listed for every single gem that would be set into the Bridal Dress, Vanessa hurriedly prepared to leave.
“Dia, I’m stepping out for a moment.”
Vanessa informed the maid, who had just arrived with light refreshments, and swept past her with quick strides.
“Miss! Where are you going?”
“If this continues, I’ll be attending a funeral, not a wedding!”
“I beg your pardon? What do you……!”
She had to prevent her husband-to-be from collapsing from overwork on the wedding day itself.
The wedding date Ian had chosen was precisely one month away, well past the dates listed in the Auspicious and Inauspicious Days section.
‘He’s lost his mind.’
She’d assumed he had no interest in the wedding at all, given how he’d piled on conditions.
What’s more, the name written for the officiant was one she couldn’t possibly ignore.
[Tessa Descartes]
The Crown Prince of the Empire as the officiating witness?
A wedding presided over by the man who would be Emperor.
At this point, didn’t it seem as though Ian wanted this marriage more than she did?
‘It’s confusing……and frankly overwhelming!’
Vanessa arrived at the gates of the Duke of Rustcliffe’s residence without hesitation, and when she caught sight of the butler, who flinched, she curved her lips into a smile.
“Tell the Duke Ian Rustcliffe that his wife-to-be has come calling.”
“M-Miss. The Duke is currently away on external business for a short while…….”
“Has he gone to the jeweler’s?”
“……Pardon?”
“Or perhaps to the flower shop in the Capital with the yellow sign mentioned in the Letter? If not that, then…….”
“…….”
“Is he currently in conversation with His Highness the Crown Prince, who has graciously agreed to officiate?”
The moment her gaze fixed on the unmarked carriage standing just beyond the residence gates, the butler exhaled a sigh.
“……Please, wait just a moment.”
“Unless you wish to make me a widow on the wedding day, tell him to stop.”
“Yes. I shall convey your message at once.”
Vanessa watched the butler disappear quickly, then finally allowed herself to breathe.
What had come with the Letter were salon pamphlets.
The ones from Sobina that Calais had once mentioned to her.
If he’d enclosed pamphlets as well, it meant he’d already thoroughly explored the area.
Moreover, he’d even selected a specific dress he thought would suit her well.
And yet, whenever he maintained that air of complete indifference, that bored gaze……
‘Was he actually far more eager for this marriage than anyone else?’
For her, it had been a necessity—a way to escape marriage to Calais. But Ian had no reason to invest so much in the wedding.
That’s why even a simple ceremony in the Holy Kingdom, where they would be declared husband and wife before the divine, would have sufficed.
If things went according to Ian’s schedule, she would become the centerpiece of the Empire’s most lavish wedding, the subject of every noble’s gossip for days to come. But….
‘Calais won’t simply stand by and watch.’
The Marquess Leonard, who had held his breath for so long to swallow the Duke’s entire fortune, would not back down over something like this.
He would surely try to sabotage the wedding.
On top of that, his kind-hearted mother-in-law would also join in, and she would certainly shed tears.
She already knew that her reputation among the noble ladies was gradually being picked apart.
That she had seduced his innocent and virtuous son, only to later claim it wasn’t true love and abandon him. That their conduct bordered on infidelity.
There was even talk of an affair, of misconduct—enough that it seemed it would soon appear in the newspapers.
‘It’s only gossip in the end.’
She could endure mere rumor, truth or not.
In her previous life, she might have pushed harder to refute it all, unwilling to bring dishonor to her late mother’s memory.
But was it because of the experience of being shredded by gossip and scandal in her past life, worn to tatters?
She felt little of anything.
‘No. If anything, let them talk their fill.’
Rumor snowballed like a rolling stone.
For now, attention would be fixed on the flames burning bright before her eyes, but given time, people would remember just how strict Duke Charloze was when it came to propriety and protocol.
When someone unexpected acts in an unpredictable way, eyes naturally turn toward them.
So if anyone were to suggest that perhaps there was something wrong with Calais Leonard after all, such petty gossip would pale into insignificance.
Besides, in truth, a wedding of this magnitude was something anyone might dream of.
Only if it were with a true lover, that is.
If her marriage was destined to be barren anyway, then it was better for her to keep things as quiet as possible, away from the mouths of others.
‘I don’t want to hope anymore only to be disappointed.’
Suppressing the unwanted memories of her past, she sat in the space the butler had shown her, and as the figure approached from afar, she forced her lips upward into a smile.
“Ian.”
Ian regarded Vanessa’s fierce smile coolly, glancing at the paper she held in her hand before meeting her eyes again.
“Is there something among the preparations that displeases you?”
Seeing Ian speak in that roundabout way—implying he would set things right—Vanessa let out a hollow laugh.
“It’s too much.”
“Then it’s fortunate nothing is lacking.”
“Ian. It’s too much.”
“What’s wrong with making it grand?”
“There’s no need for all this. Just a simple ceremony in the Holy Kingdom…….”
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime wedding.”
Ian cut off her words without hesitation, regarding Vanessa with unwavering eyes.
“I’m fine with it, but you’re a woman—surely you have some romantic dreams about your wedding.”
…….
“If you have a dream you’d like to see come true, you can tell me. It would make the preparations smoother.”
Vanessa paused for a moment before finally opening her mouth.
“……If I tell you my dream, can you actually make it happen?”
“Well, let’s hear it. I’ll make the judgment.”
Beneath his indifferent tone, traces of weariness lingered.
Yet in those eyes fixed upon her lay such clarity that the suppressed desire within her spilled out unbidden.
“……A marriage because we love each other.”
Something she had failed to achieve in her past life, and could never achieve in this one.
Rather than worrying about the superficialities written in imperial law—dowries based on status differences, marriage permissions and such—she wanted a marriage born of genuine love.
“The kind that’s so desperate, as if neither of us could live without the other.”
To be loved, to give love, with not a trace of impurity between them.
Even if memories piled up over time and caused the love to fade, she wanted it never to be tarnished.
She wanted a love that would make her smile with happiness simply from being together at the start and end of each day.
But not anymore.
She smiled toward Ian, who watched her with an enigmatic gaze.
“You can’t, can you? So let’s just do a simple ceremony in the Holy Kingdom…….”
“Let me try.”
“……What?”
“If that’s your dream—a love so desperate it feels like you can’t live without each other.”
The way Ian spoke, as if such a thing were easy, felt unfamiliar to her.
“I think I can make it come true.”

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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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