I Proposed to My Childhood Friend After Regressing - Chapter 14

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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 Returning, I Proposed to My Childhood Friend
Chapter 14
What is she saying right now?
Beatrice lifted her right hand and lightly scraped at her ear, then nodded as if to ask him to repeat himself.
“I’m going to head to the Western Border Region with the Crown Prince soon.”
“Why you?”
“Why else?”
He raised his eyebrows as if he’d heard every ridiculous thing under the sun, then drew up his lips in a smile and continued.
“Did you already forget the bet we made?”
“Ah.”
“Good grief. Looking at your reaction, you weren’t thinking about it at all, were you? Miss Beatrice Hartwell. It seems acquiring a title is quite easy for you.”
Beatrice punched Clyde, who was making a fuss as if he’d won the wager, and assembled the scattered information into a coherent picture.
‘So Clyde is going to the Western Border Region to build “our side” for the bet, and because he’s anxious about what Valois and Grand Duke Alec might pull while he’s away, he’s managed to convince the Crown Prince to take them along.’
But why specifically the Western Border Region?
Beatrice blinked rapidly as she groped through her memories.
‘What happened there again….’
If she’d known she was going to return like this, she would have written a chronicle and memorized it from top to bottom!
Unfortunately, Beatrice could only vaguely remember the major events significant enough to appear in the gazette. Everything else was a blur.
‘Western Border… monster attacks and famine… the Crown Prince… oh!’
As she listed the words, something suddenly came to mind.
‘The Cursed Dauner Marquessate.’
The Dauner Marquess’s domain, situated in the border region, was like the gateway to the empire itself. To one side lay a foreign land with a harsh climate, and above it loomed the Dark Mountain Range, teeming with monsters.
Because it was directly tied to the empire’s safety, the Imperial Family naturally paid the marquessate considerable attention. They granted the marquess’s family greater benefits, spared no support or supplies when needed, and conducted regular joint training exercises with the Imperial Knight Order.
While the land itself was barren and battles frequent, earning it plenty of cold and desolate nicknames, it was hardly unusual talk….
‘The rumors of a curse only started after that incident.’
At some point, people who entered the Dauner Marquessate stopped returning.
At first, communications came through saying the marquessate’s situation was deteriorating somewhat, but soon even letters ceased entirely.
Even the couriers who delivered letters and telegrams disappeared after the marquessate. As if they’d simply vanished into thin air.
And not long after these bizarre events began, the marquessate was sealed off.
‘Yes, I remember Mother sighing as she said the Imperial Family tried to contact them repeatedly to understand the situation, but it was all in vain.’
While society grew uneasy in the face of this incomprehensible crisis, a single person—barely escaped from the marquessate—was discovered.
A man, his face pale and body covered in wounds, was trembling as he came face-to-face with the investigative team and journalists. He began spouting words in a desperate frenzy.
‘T-the Dauner Marquessate is cursed! It’s already finished! There are puppets living all over the village, and th-there are more and more of them!’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘I’m telling you, it’s not a place where people live anymore! I stayed at an inn, but I barely saw any residents, and later… I was alone! There was nobody there, but warm food kept appearing out of nowhere! The notes were full of strange warnings, and at night there were weird screams too… Ahhhhh!’
The man, clinging to people as he poured out his words, finally lost consciousness and collapsed. The journalist didn’t miss that scene, and so….
‘Rumors spread that the Dauner Marquessate was a cursed place.’
After that, all she remembered was Clyde and Keilan being rather busy.
Thinking back further, she’d heard that the Dauner Marquessate, when finally investigated, was already in ruins, and so another noble took over management of that border territory.
Talk circulated that it was due to Dark Magic, and the Traditionalist Faction opposed to magic seized the opportunity to gain influence.
‘Wait, hold on. That means….’
Beatrice ignored Clyde’s whimpering complaints about pain with practiced ease, gave his shin a light kick, and pulled his upper body forward.
She glanced around briefly to ensure no one was listening, then, barely managing to compose her voice—which trembled with alarm—she spoke quietly.
“Don’t tell me that cursed Dauner Marquessate business, that incident—it was all orchestrated by ‘that person’ we know? In other words, the Dauner Marquess was affiliated with your boss, the Crown Prince?”
“To be precise, he was neutral with sympathies to our side. And my strong suspicion is that ‘that person’ did orchestrate it. Because after the Dauner House disappeared, it was a noble from ‘that person’s’ faction who took charge of cleaning up the border territory and what remained of the marquessate.”
Insane. This is like peeling back layers endlessly.
Beatrice felt her hair stand on end and ran her hand down her arm, then suddenly opened her mouth.
“I want to come too.”
“What?”
“I said I want to go. To the Western Border Region.”
At Beatrice’s firm declaration, Clyde’s brow narrowed in rare disapproval.
“No. Do you understand where that is?”
“Why! You’re dressing it up as the Western Border Region, but you’re really heading to the Dauner Marquessate, aren’t you?”
“….”
“The Traditionalist Faction talked about Dark Magic and all that, so there’s definitely magic involved. I’m no mage, but I’d be useful in my own way, wouldn’t I?”
It was true.
In the investigation she’d conducted before her return, monster attacks and famine had been singled out as the primary causes of the land’s ruin, and yet no mage-related personnel had been dispatched.
Meanwhile, Beatrice’s father, Jedrick Hartwell, was an accomplished Alchemist in his homeland.
If Beatrice, raised by him, accompanied them, there was a high probability she could offer fresh insights.
But….
“Should I repeat what I said earlier, Miss Beatrice Hartwell? Does acquiring a title come so very easily to you? Or is this provocation? You want to help your rival in the wager?”
“Listen.”
“Thanks for the information. I’ll mention it to the Crown Prince and make sure any relevant specialists are included in the dispatch.”
“….”
“So you stay here. Don’t go wandering into danger for no reason.”
Besides, the party didn’t just include him and Beatrice—it also contained Grand Duke Alec, whose true nature remained unknown, and Valois, who seemed to have reached a breaking point.
No matter how freely he might act, he couldn’t afford to drop his guard.
“Anyway, don’t you have something planned? If you keep sitting around like this, are you really going to lose to me?”
“What are you saying. I’m busy too, aren’t I? I’ve already made an appointment with the Empress.”
“Quick on your feet. Then you’ll really be busier than me soon. We’ll both just have to do our best, okay?”
“….”
Clyde wrapped up the conversation swiftly, leaving no room for further argument.
His manner, as if he were drawing a line, stirred something in Beatrice’s chest.
‘What is this déjà vu? It feels… similar to that night at the masquerade.’
But Beatrice knew Clyde well. Whenever he did something this strange, there was always a reason for it.
‘Still, understanding something in your head and accepting it in your heart are two different things.’
Beatrice made no effort to hide her displeasure in front of Clyde. She even fixed him with openly suspicious eyes, raising her brow pointedly.
Despite her gaze—which seemed to doubt everything from head to toe—Clyde pretended to know nothing and let her stare pass right through him.
Instead, he speared a strawberry with his fork, brought it to her lips, and smiled mischievously as he spoke.
“Come on now. You trust me, don’t you?”
* * *
Trust him. Ha!
A whole year’s difference and he calls himself my senior!
That day, she’d let it slide for the moment, but the more she turned it over at home, the more irritation kindled within her. And she made a decision.
‘Fine then. Out of spite if nothing else, I’m going. To the Dauner Marquessate.’
But black-hearted Clyde Dalton and that Crown Prince cohort wouldn’t give her an opening. So then….
“Miss Beatrice! The Gift you mentioned is ready. Shall I bring it now?”
“Yes, we’re about to leave.”
“Right away!”
“Let’s go to the Empress.”
Then she’d simply seduce someone higher up the chain.
‘Just you wait, Clyde Dalton.’
I’ll show you exactly how much flattery and aegyo I can throw at someone in power.
The youngest doesn’t sit in that position for free—it’s no trivial seat to claim!

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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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