I Proposed Because You Were Terminally Ill - Chapter 72
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 72
“Th-thank you….”
Berta expressed her gratitude with a tearful voice.
“If it weren’t for you, Miss, I would have been helpless and continued to… suffer.”
The gazes of everyone around, including Berta, were so fervent it felt burdensome.
Damia bit her lips tightly.
Though she had stepped forward because it was the right thing to do, receiving this much attention was the last thing she wanted.
Moreover, Cassian might still be nearby somewhere….
“I’m glad I could be of even a little help to you, Madam.”
“Earlier, I truly felt like everything went dark before my eyes. I was so afraid something like that might happen again… Oh, my heart is still pounding.”
Berta’s brown eyes trembled anxiously.
Though she had forgotten about it for a long time, it was a familiar fear to Damia as well.
When she lived as Count Fabron’s wife, Damia too had suffered from unexplained hyperventilation.
At the Count’s mansion, Fabron’s moods were the law, and Damia couldn’t even breathe comfortably there.
Living constantly suppressed, she suffered from anxiety at all times. On particularly tense days, panic-like hyperventilation would strike.
Later, she became afraid even on days when nothing happened. She never knew when that terrible pain would tighten around her throat again.
‘The physicians also said it was a disease of the mind, not the body, so there was no special remedy.’
Fabron naturally flew into a rage, claiming Damia was faking illness.
Damia had to learn how to endure those painful times alone.
Seeing Berta experiencing similar symptoms brought back those terrible moments.
“You’re still dizzy, aren’t you?”
“That’s right.”
Cold sweat was beading on Berta’s forehead.
The premium wine from Golt Estate was worth a year’s living expenses for the Ponti Viscount’s estate.
She couldn’t know what was causing Berta, who seemed to lack nothing, to suffer so much.
Though she couldn’t remove the cause, she wanted to lighten that burden even a little.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“Huh…?”
Damia took out a brown glass bottle about the size of a thumb from inside her dress.
As soon as she opened the cap, a fragrant and refreshing herbal scent wafted out.
Damia lightly dabbed the oil on her index finger, then applied it to both of Berta’s wrists.
“Ah….”
As if entranced, Berta brought her wrists close to her nose and inhaled. A low exclamation flowed from her lips.
“Try applying some behind your ears too. Where your pulse beats.”
This time too, Berta obediently followed Damia’s words.
After closing her eyes and savoring the scent for a while, she opened her sparkling brown eyes.
Her face was so peaceful it was hard to believe she was the same person who had been gasping in pain just moments before.
“…What is this?”
Upon hearing that question, Damia’s mind began racing quickly.
Though it started with good intentions, this was now an opportunity.
“Um… it’s just ordinary lavender oil.”
Damia deliberately put on a calm expression as she tried to put the bottle away again.
“Just lavender oil, you say? That can’t be!”
Berta grabbed Damia’s wrist.
“…Madam?”
“Oh, s-sorry. I did that without thinking.”
Berta startled and let go of her hand, but her gaze remained fixed on the glass bottle in Damia’s hand.
“The effect was so good, I guess that’s why. The moment I smelled it, my throbbing headache completely disappeared.”
Berta always wore a golden butterfly-shaped mask. There wasn’t a single guest at the salon who didn’t know her identity.
In other words, everyone knew how discerning Berta’s taste was.
For such a person to be so anxious over a single bottle of herbal oil.
Damia sensed the countless gazes pouring down on her from behind.
“Sell this to me.”
“Pardon?”
“My nerves were completely on edge, but the moment I smelled this fragrance, I became comfortable as if by magic.”
Greed and desperation flashed simultaneously in Berta’s eyes.
“If you won’t sell it, at least tell me where I can get it.”
She grabbed Damia’s hem and asked urgently.
‘This is an unexpected harvest.’
Though her heart began pounding, Damia lowered her long eyelashes as if troubled.
“Selling it is difficult right now. It’s not from around here.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I only brought a small amount for my own use.”
“So where did you bring it from? Are you perhaps not from this region?”
“Yes, that’s right. I came from Rodion.”
Berta’s eyes widened. She could feel the people around them pricking up their ears as well.
“I heard our products were quite popular in the Belotea Empire, so I came to see for myself as a tourist.”
Romi, who was beside them, snapped open her fan and nodded haughtily. The fragrant lavender scent spread around them once more.
“You came from Rodion?”
“Oh my, could that woman be the noblewoman from Rodion?”
“You mean that woman who was only rumored about?”
The atmosphere around them heated up instantly. Curious gazes swept over Damia and Romi from head to toe.
“My goodness, how refined! I thought she’d be a rather elderly lady.”
“Shh! She might only look that way on the outside! Her discernment seemed quite extraordinary for someone so young.”
Today, Damia and Romi’s outfits were perfect enough to make anyone see them as being from a very distinguished family.
Since Damia tended to wear whatever was given to her, this was the result of Romi’s eye and sense.
‘It was good that she came with me after all.’
Though she had been trembling like an aspen leaf when getting out of the carriage, Romi was now confidently holding her chin up as if nothing had happened.
Now even her eyes embodied those of an arrogant foreign noble lady.
“So I can’t obtain it?”
“Um… instead, I’ll give this to you as a gift, Madam.”
“R-really?”
“It’s nothing special. If you spray it on your pillow before bed, it will help you sleep well too.”
“Oh my, thank you so much. I haven’t been able to sleep well lately anyway.”
Berta hugged the bottle preciously to her chest with a moved expression.
“It’s refined using our family’s special method, so the effect is certain.”
“Even the fragrance is on a different level from other things, Miss.”
“Thank you. I was thinking of commercializing it for fun, but since it’s all handmade, it’s not easy to meet the quantity demands.”
Handmade, small quantity, family secret.
Words that stimulated the vanity of nobles and celebrities floated around the banquet hall.
“Did you hear? It seems like she really is that noblewoman herself, right?”
“It doesn’t seem like there’s an exclusive dealer in the Empire yet, so we just need to catch that woman, don’t we?”
“Oh my, I haven’t been able to sleep well lately either!”
Murmuring sounds rolled in like waves from here and there.
Since most noble women suffered from nervousness or insomnia, they couldn’t help but be intrigued by today’s events.
Moreover, the favorable impression toward the ‘noblewoman from Rodion’ that had spread throughout the Western social circle played a solid part.
‘Good. They took the bait.’
When Damia gave a look, Romi nodded slightly and approached.
Then, covering her face with her fan, she pretended to whisper in Damia’s ear.
“Oh, my cousin is a bit poor with the Imperial language… She said she brought some extra because she was worried the air might be stuffy in the underground salon.”
At Damia’s interpretation that wasn’t quite an interpretation, the noble ladies flocked around them.
“Could, could I also have just one bottle?”
“I’ll pay generously!”
Romi pretended to be reluctant as she took out small bottles from her handbag. The prepared stock was sold out in an instant.
Thanks to today’s events, rumors would spread like wildfire.
“Isn’t there a way to obtain items from the Noble Family in the Empire?”
“I originally had no intention of making this a big business… but Father found it interesting and said he would help.”
“So it’s true that women in Rodion can inherit families or run businesses!”
Damia subtly dropped the information to look for her agent L on Vesper Street in a month.
It was a strategic move timed for Luke’s return.
“I can’t wait until then!”
The reaction was absolutely explosive.
At this rate, the inventory she had prepared with Romi would be depleted quickly.
“Oh my. I haven’t even asked for my benefactor’s name.”
Berta, who had packed away the medicine bottle, asked as if coming to her senses.
“I’d like to tell you, but… I heard that one shouldn’t carelessly reveal their identity in this place.”
Damia smiled sweetly while adjusting her mask.
“Just call me as you have been. A noble lady from Rodion.”
It was a much more intense and successful debut than she had expected.
* * *
Damia had just appropriately fended off the swarming crowd and leisurely left her spot.
“Quite impressive.”
At the cool voice, Damia stiffly turned her head.
She saw a man leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed. He twisted his lips while his red eyes gleamed.
It was Cassian.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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