I Proposed to My Childhood Friend After Regressing - Chapter 23

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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
Episode 23
A strange sound echoed from the forest path near the edge of the village.
‘What is that? That scraping noise… it sounds like pickaxe work.’
Yet the innkeeper, John Doe, had been quite clear about it.
It was the rule not to go out at night, and if anyone left the inn, there would be no one outside anyway.
‘So is it an animal? A monster?’
But neither seemed particularly likely.
Brelin Village was the farthest from the Dark Mountain Range among all the territories of the marquis, positioned closest to the border gate.
‘If monsters were pressing this far down, the marquis’s entire domain would be devastated.’
Given the peaceful sights she’d witnessed during the day, such a scenario was almost impossible to imagine.
‘And would an animal really venture this close to inhabited areas? There aren’t even any fields nearby?’
While Beatrice puzzled over the identity of this unknown presence, the scraping sound abruptly ceased.
In its place came the faint rustling of someone treading through tall grass.
Whisper, whisper.
‘Did they leave?’
As she tilted her ear to listen for the sound growing distant, the pickaxe noise resumed once more.
Faced with the repetition, Beatrice held her breath and stood motionless.
‘God, damn it… Should I investigate, or shouldn’t I?’
Beatrice gently caught her lower lip between her teeth.
Going alone frightened her, yet letting such a crucial clue slip away seemed equally unbearable.
‘Why does Clyde have to be nowhere when he’s needed!’
Beatrice silently cursed her absent childhood friend once more, clicked her tongue, and began moving forward.
‘Just a quick peek from a distance, that’s all!’
Worried the sound of her footsteps might betray her, Beatrice had even removed her shoes, advancing carefully toward the forest path.
The noise was coming from closer than she’d expected.
Taking care to tread on soil rather than dried grass, she tensed her toes and slipped behind a tree.
As she steadied her shallow breathing and cautiously peeked out, her hand flew to her mouth of its own accord.
Someone in a deeply hooded robe was kneeling on the dirt ground, frantically tearing at something.
‘What, what, what, what is this?’
For a moment she feared she’d stumbled upon a murder scene, but Beatrice quickly realized that what was being destroyed was not a person, but a doll.
The pattern embroidered on the robe the intruder wore was also somehow familiar.
‘That symbol with bound hands and eyes drawn on them… that’s the seal of the Kalbaron Temple Prayer Hall.’
So what—was a nun currently vandalizing these dolls?
But why?
‘I’d need to investigate further to understand why she’s suddenly gone rogue, but right now those dolls are the only thing standing between these people and real harm, aren’t they?’
At present, the dolls served as a protective barrier.
Beatrice’s brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of this incomprehensible situation.
“Ugh, seriously. I’m dying of frustration! Why do I have to do this crap!”
The achingly familiar voice that struck Beatrice’s ears was unmistakably clear.
The self-centered inflection, the emotional intensity written into every motion, and the flash of crimson hair visible beneath the robe’s edge.
It was none other than Valoa Crawford.
‘What the hell is she doing here?!’
Valoa Crawford’s presence in the marquis’s domain wasn’t inherently suspicious.
What was strange was her tearing dolls apart in the dead of night, all by herself!
‘The Crown Princess? Did the Crown Princess order this?’
No, wait—that wasn’t important right now! She needed to get back and share this situation with Clyde immediately.
It was becoming increasingly likely that this was the reason the Downer Marquis had sealed off his domain earlier than in her previous timeline.
Perhaps her sense of urgency had made her careless?
As Beatrice tried to back away, her foot came down on a dead branch.
Crack!
“Who’s there!”
At that sharp, unmistakable sound, Valoa’s head snapped around.
Her gaze was merciless, cutting as a blade, and Beatrice’s heart dropped like a stone.
Fortunately, she stood within the deep shadows of the forest path.
Even if Valoa noticed someone was there, she wouldn’t be able to make out a face in this darkness!
‘Please, please, please!’
Yet desperate wishes rarely come true.
Valoa’s keen gaze swept the area, and it locked directly onto Beatrice.
After a moment’s silence, she raised one eyebrow and spoke.
“…You….”
“…….”
“Who are you? A village resident?”
Fortunately, Valoa had not recognized her.
Beatrice suddenly remembered—she was currently disguised as Lia Kruger.
‘Oh thank God! Thank God, thank God!’
She meant it with all her heart.
Had Valoa Crawford identified her, the woman might well have lunged at her, snarling, ‘I’ll make you pay for what you’ve done to me!’
‘And Valoa is literally a woman with a history of arson—she’s clinically insane…….’
Beatrice gripped her thundering heart and nodded quickly.
“Y-yes…….”
“Strange. The villagers never go out at night.”
“That’s because…….”
“Don’t bother answering. I’m not curious why you broke the rules.”
Valoa cut off Beatrice’s response arbitrarily and rose to her feet, walking toward her.
Then, using her index finger, she tilted Beatrice’s chin up, twisting her mouth into a crooked smile.
“What I want to know is one thing. Did you see?”
“……What?”
“Did you see me tearing apart and destroying these dolls?”
“…….”
……I’m done for.
As Beatrice’s mind raced to find a way through this crisis,
“We’ve found traces here, sir!”
A shout rang out from not far away, and Valoa’s gaze instantly swiveled in that direction.
“Traces? Here, you say?”
“Yes, the grass appears trampled—it seems the culprit committed the crime in town and then moved toward the outskirts!”
“Commander, they don’t seem to have gone far yet!”
What? What?
Startled by the sudden voices, Valoa’s grip on Beatrice’s chin tightened painfully.
In the darkness, her eyes gleamed as she looked down at her, and her expression grew oddly contemplative.
“……Such provincial spectacles…….”
“Y-yes?”
What in the world was she talking about now?
As Beatrice’s mind struggled to follow the incomprehensible exchange, Valoa suddenly forced something into her hands.
The sharp weapon she’d been using to tear apart the dolls, and a shattered Orharcon.
“Take it.”
“……Take this? These?”
At Beatrice’s sluggish response, Valoa simply laughed—a short, dismissive sound.
Then she pointed at the thoroughly ruined dolls with her fingertip.
“You did this. Understood?”
“What?!”
“Good luck.”
“W-wait, just a moment…!”
But Valoa had already turned on her heel, those words left as her only parting gift.
Before Beatrice could even reach out to stop her, she vanished swiftly into the depths of the forest.
An ominous chill crawled up Beatrice’s spine.
‘I have a feeling I really shouldn’t be here right now?’
After all, why would Valoa Crawford—of all people—lift a finger to help her?
Yet before Beatrice could even take a step to flee,
“There!”
“Found them!”
“Apprehended!”
Guards bearing the marquis’s crest came flooding in from all directions, accompanied by the glow of torches.
“That tool and the Orharcon—you’re the one who’s been damaging the dolls placed throughout the domain!”
“What?”
“There’s no escape now.”
A guard seized Beatrice’s wrist before she could flee, his gaze turning glacial.
“Who put you up to this? Do you have any idea how many people have suffered because of you?”
“N-no! No, wait! I didn’t do this, I……!”
“Save your excuses for the Marquis and the Grand Duke! They’ve ordered a direct interrogation!”
The Marquis? The Grand Duke? What in God’s name was happening!
Suddenly cast as a criminal and being dragged away, Beatrice’s mind went completely blank.
“Alright, let’s go!”
“Yes, sir!”
“No, wait—one minute, no, ten seconds! I’m with the Crown Prince’s Entourage! You can verify it at the inn in town……!”
“Tch, what a nuisance! Open your mouth one more time and I’ll seal it shut for you!”
At the guard’s stern threat, Beatrice clamped her mouth firmly shut.
‘I’m finished. These people won’t listen to a word…….’
The Downer Marquis Estate had always been her destination, true enough, but she’d never imagined arriving like this.
‘I suppose I have no choice but to go along with them for now?’
Beatrice observed the guards’ movements, ignoring the throbbing pain in her head.
With the belief that they’d caught the culprit, the guards seemed to have lowered their vigilance somewhat.
‘In that case…….’
Though her wrists were bound, she could still shift slightly and move without the guards noticing.
Beatrice began tearing the cloth Clyde had given her.
One piece, then another.
Letting the fragments fall to the ground, Beatrice silently prayed that Clyde would notice this commotion and the trail she was leaving behind.
Please.

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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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