I Proposed to My Childhood Friend After Regressing - Chapter 13

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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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After Regression, I Proposed to My Childhood Friend
Chapter 13
The rumor spread swiftly. It was only natural.
‘The notorious scandal of High Society, Valois Edvain Croford, has brazenly caused a disturbance. Over Clyde Dalton, her infamous obsession.’
If it had been only this, it would have been just another typical ‘Valois’ incident—forgettable gossip.
The problem was that this time, none other than the Crown Prince was entangled in it.
And in circumstances as perilous as fire, no less.
‘That must be why. Everywhere I go these days, people won’t stop talking about this…….’
Look at now—I fled to this secluded Cafe to escape the crowds, and even here, from behind me, that same conversation drifts across the room.
“Have you heard? About what happened at the Masquerade Ball?”
“How could anyone not know? It’s the hottest topic going.”
“Lady Croford claims it’s all a frame-up, that she’s been wronged.”
“Some of it’s true, some of it isn’t, I suppose. Personally speaking, I do think she had no intention of deliberately harming His Highness.”
“So do I. Grand Duke Alec is so close with His Majesty the Emperor. Though I suppose it’s true she tried to kill Lord Dalton and Lady Hartwell.”
“But later she said the shock of her beloved’s marriage was so great that she has absolutely no memory of what happened at that time.”
“Yes, she submitted a therapist’s opinion and prescription as evidence too. Delusions and what was it—confusion-induced mistakes?”
“Well, I don’t believe it, though!”
I’d already heard this story more than four times today alone.
Yet no matter who was speaking, one detail remained unchanged.
That Valois Edvain Croford could no longer escape this time.
‘When you think about it, that’s only natural.’
Setting aside whether her intention to kill her and Clyde was real or not, Crown Prince Crowell was entangled in this affair.
So long as imperial law called such circumstances ‘Treason’—whether intentional or accidental—no one could easily extract her.
In fact, according to what Crown Prince Crowell relayed, Grand Duke Alec knelt directly before the Emperor and Crown Prince.
‘Your Majesty, I have failed in my duty. I could not properly educate my daughter. I knew she was reckless, yet the fact that she grew up only in my hands without a mother’s touch keeps haunting me…….’
‘That cannot be a reason to overlook this matter. I have already given that child one chance.’
‘Yes. I understand that Your Majesty has already shown such magnanimity. But I humbly beg you—believe that neither my daughter nor I harbor any intent of Treason.’
‘I do know that the Grand Duke harbors no such intent. Personally, I do not believe Valois deliberately sought to harm the Crown Prince.’
‘……Your Majesty.’
‘But law is law, and the evidence that she harmed two nobles of House Dalton and House Hartwell is far too clear. I have no intention of overlooking this. No matter what proof is presented.’
‘You speak justly. If you were to expel that child from High Society, I would accept it.’
‘Then…….’
‘Only, since there is also my responsibility in failing to properly manage Valois, I beg you to allow me to bear part of her punishment as well.’
I had thought he would appeal for His Majesty’s mercy, given his deep affection for his daughter, but it was unexpected that Grand Duke Alec asked to share in Valois’s guilt.
Whether that came from genuine sentiment or whether—now that the Empire had more watchful eyes—it was meant to prevent his daughter from becoming a scapegoat subjected to harsher punishment, I couldn’t say.
‘In any case, what matters is that we can suppress the threat Valois poses for a while.’
Valois would undergo self-reflection and service at a Prayer House under the Church while her final sentence was being decided.
Grand Duke Alec, too, was being dispatched to the Western Border, where Monster attacks and Famine had recently descended.
It had not yet been announced to the nobility, but it was only a matter of time before everyone knew.
‘I don’t really think Valois will actually reflect on this to any degree. But at least the plan has gone through as intended, so… that’s something.’
“Hmm, the aroma is pleasant.”
Beatrice paused in her thoughts and fixed her gaze upon Clyde before her.
To avoid drawing attention, he’d had his hair dyed with a special Magical Hair Dye concocted by Beatrice’s father, Jedediah, and was wearing Glasses.
Indifferent to the various rumors swirling around them, he was enjoying tea time and sipping his Coffee.
‘Frightening man…….’
Having sparred with him for so long, Beatrice could say with certainty:
Clyde Dalton must have foreseen this entire situation from the moment he’d first told her that she just needed to ‘go around town looking happily married.’
Unlike her, someone who believed that when a situation arose, you dealt with it, and if thinking wouldn’t solve it, you solved it with action—Clyde was the meticulous type.
‘Despite that slick appearance.’
I hadn’t asked him directly, but he’d clearly agonized considerably before choosing not to share the truth of this plan with her.
‘The way he was so wary at the wedding and at the ball whenever I was with Valois…… I wonder if something terrible happened to him in the past?’
Recalling Valois Croford’s character as witnessed at the Masquerade Ball, Beatrice was confident that nothing she might have done would surprise her.
And if, conversely, Clyde was the only one who knew……?
‘Well. I’m not going to explain everything in detail to Clyde Dalton either.’
There are truths better left unknown.
Just as Beatrice stood motionless, blinking steadily while one thought led to another, a light flick accompanied Clyde’s voice as it slipped past her ear.
“Why again. Stop staring at me like you’re trying to frighten someone. Just say what’s on your mind like you normally do.”
“What are you talking about. Do I look like some animal acting on pure instinct to you? And what’s scary about this. You didn’t even blink when Valois started that fire.”
“To me, you’re far scarier than Valois Croford—sitting there unmoved even with all manner of Desserts spread before you. It’s like you’re possessed by a ghost.”
Beatrice snorted at his usual smooth banter and answered back.
“Ugh, what nonsense. If you’re going to talk rubbish, just drink your Coffee quietly.”
“Why. You’re Regressing, so a ghost might possess you too. Anyway, aren’t you curious why I didn’t tell you? Or about what happened with Valois Croford in the past.”
“Well, well. The way you’re bringing it up first—your conscience is bothering you, isn’t it?”
“I’m not known for being kind to anyone either.”
He never could keep quiet for long.
Beatrice looked at him—hand placed over his heart, that angelic, compassionate smile on his face—and opened her mouth.
“Never mind. You have your reasons for not telling, and if I need to know, you’ll tell me.”
“……What? Are you really possessed by a ghost?”
“No, I’m not. In any case, thanks to the game you designed based on your experience and that Crown Prince Card, we’ve dealt with Valois Croford without much trouble.”
“I haven’t completely dealt with her. Be careful. I told you—she’s someone for whom her own feelings are paramount. She’s not the kind to go quietly just because someone else put her away.”
“Mm…….”
Beatrice recalled that day, how Valois Croford had cried out amid the crowd gathered in the Garden, insisting she’d been wronged, accusing Beatrice and Crowell of being suspicious.
Even when disbelief, embarrassment, and shock clouded everyone’s eyes, she’d blamed the world around her for not understanding.
‘What was it she said? That people grow brains but still don’t understand what’s right in front of their eyes, or something like that…?’
In any case, her commotion became so excessive that Valois eventually lost consciousness and was carried away, with Crown Prince Crowell’s tacit approval.
Thinking back on that scene, Clyde’s warning seemed quite plausible.
“In any case, I requested His Highness arrange this sentence partly to keep her nearby and watch her.”
“Huh?”
“I’m planning to go to the Western Border soon, where Grand Duke Alec is headed.”

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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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