I Just Wanted Revenge, But Everyone Loves Me - Chapter 48

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

Chapter 48
‘Who used the Study before?’
After Karin had left.
Rodrigo, alone in the Reception Room, sank into the leather-backed chair.
“……Tsk.”
Standing there like an idiot, saying nothing.
‘I could have just answered her.’
The question itself wasn’t particularly troublesome, if he looked at it plainly.
Asking who had used the Study wasn’t wrong in any way.
The child must have sensed something to ask that question. It wasn’t unreasonable to feel it that way.
The other servants knew what the Study meant, so that sharp-eyed child surely felt the oddness in the atmosphere.
Yet even as his mind worked quickly, his mouth had moved as though it were full of honey—unable to speak.
Perhaps because he was still clinging to the past.
‘What a pathetic display.’
Both he and Veronica and Sys alike.
Unable to say a single word: that his wife had used it.
Rodrigo pressed his temples with his palms, feeling the dull ache.
The child had been so bewildered when everyone fell silent.
When he finally came to his senses, she came back with assurances that he didn’t need to answer, followed by an apology.
A child who had done nothing wrong.
‘I’m so sorry.’
How could his heart be at ease, watching her apologize while reading the adults’ faces?
He thought Veronica would comfort her well enough, but separate from that, his heart found no peace.
“……Your Grace.”
After he’d been lost in thought for some time.
Sys, who had stepped outside briefly with the child, returned.
“The child?”
“She has retired to her room with Veronica. It seems she will provide a simple explanation of matters.”
“Her face.”
“Pardon?”
“What was the child’s face like?”
“Ah, fortunately she had recovered by the time they reached the room. Veronica was continuously comforting her.”
At those words, Rodrigo let out a bitter laugh.
“She handled it better than I did.”
Unlike himself, who had said nothing, she had managed better. Sys bowed his head quietly.
“Forgive me.”
“There’s no reason for you to apologize.”
If anyone should, it would be him or Veronica.
Sys was loyal, but strictly speaking, he was not of House Bancadium. It would be odd for him to speak easily of what even those directly involved struggle to mention.
Rodrigo stood from his seat with a curt word.
“Where are you going, Your Grace?”
“To scout the grounds.”
It was only scouting in name.
In other words, it was getting some air.
Please take care, Your Grace.
Sys bowed respectfully. Just before leaving the Reception Room, Rodrigo suddenly stopped and turned back to his faithful aide.
“Send her something she’d like. A few things.”
“……!”
Sys, who had paused at those words, soon smiled faintly.
“Understood.”
* * *
‘……I didn’t see him in the evening either.’
I’d heard he’d gone out on patrol around the grounds. When I asked when he might return, all I heard was that it depended on the master’s whim.
Looking at the dessert laid out on the table only made me feel more downcast, and I let out a heavy sigh. On top of everything, he’d asked them to prepare snacks for me too.
My heart felt heavy as a stone.
‘I want to apologize.’
Even now, after all this time, it was vivid.
How the atmosphere turned cold the moment I asked my question.
In that instant, I realized something had gone wrong.
I tried to fix it in a panic,
‘but…….’
Fix it? There was no fixing it.
I fled back to my room like I was being chased.
“Sigh.”
Veronica said she had somewhere to go and left.
Seeing how everyone reacted, I felt too awkward to even ask the maidservants.
‘Why would everyone react like that over who used the Study?’
From their reaction alone, it seemed like a person of great importance.
‘……He seemed hurt.’
From the prison until now.
The Duke had always maintained an arrogant demeanor. Veronica was always confident too, and Sys acted as though you could stab him and draw no blood.
But seeing all three of them not just flustered but frozen stiff, I had a gut feeling that something was wrong.
‘Especially the Duke.’
I’d never seen him make that kind of expression before.
As though merely remembering it caused him pain—that fleeting longing that crossed his face was too melancholy for words to capture.
No matter how much I thought about it,
‘I think I said something wrong…….’
My shoulders curled inward as I replayed the mistake.
‘I thought I’d just begun to earn his trust…….’
It’s always easier and faster to lose than to gain.
My single careless word seemed to have cracked the trust I’d worked so hard to build.
But more important than that was the Duke himself.
‘What if my words hurt him?’
Trust could perhaps be rebuilt later, but a wounded heart didn’t heal easily.
And I knew that better than anyone.
‘I should have just stayed quiet.’
Because he’d been so consistently kind, my guard had dropped without my realizing it. Somewhere along the way, I’d started thinking that a question like that would be fine.
“Oh no…….”
I shouldn’t cry. I really shouldn’t.
If I cried after messing up, that would be too strange.
‘What did I do right?’
But my tear ducts seemed to have malfunctioned—even as I hurriedly rubbed my eyes, the tears only kept flowing more freely.
“Karin…… Oh my.”
Veronica, who had just entered the room, rushed over.
She quickly embraced me as I sat by the bed, and patted my back gently.
“I wish I’d come back sooner if I’d known you were crying like this.”
“…….”
“I was a bit delayed because your sister had to fetch something.”
And with that, Veronica showed me the Fairy Tale Book she’d been holding in her other hand.
She set it gently on the bed, then tenderly wiped the tears from my eyes.
“You were quite frightened just now, weren’t you, Karin?”
“……I’m sorry.”
“Why would you apologize? It was the adults’ fault for standing there like fools.”
She said she should have explained properly and apologized to me instead. I shook my head firmly.
“But I asked the question, and that’s why you all became uncomfortable, isn’t it?”
“Uncomfortable? Well, that was only natural. You had every right to ask.”
Veronica kissed my tear-stained cheeks and settled beside me on the bed.
“I should have told you right away, but I was caught off guard.”
“Because of me…….”
“No, that’s not it.”
Veronica, who had been patting my back, offered a sad smile. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then gathered her resolve and parted her lips.
“The Study of House Bancadium has been almost completely restricted for a long time.”
“……Restricted?”
“Of course, Rodrigo and I could enter whenever we wished. But others could not.”
Veronica continued, recalling those days.
“I only visited recently, thanks to you, Karin.”
Veronica emphasized once more that it wasn’t my fault.
“The person who used the Study of House Bancadium was… well.”
Veronica chose her words carefully and offered a faint smile.
“The Duchess of Bancadium.”

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