I Proposed to My Childhood Friend After Regressing - Chapter 33

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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 33
Beatrice threw herself onto the bed the moment she entered the room.
“……Ugh!”
She hadn’t done anything, yet exhaustion clung to her like a second skin.
The conversation from moments before kept circling through her mind as she lay there.
‘It was a shock, no matter how I frame it.’
So it had ended like that. And Valois Crawford had taken her corpse away wrapped like a gift!
‘If that’s how it ended—all wrapped up and presented—then they never gave me a proper funeral.’
Contemptible and vicious beyond measure.
Whether driven by ambition or anything else, if you kill an innocent person at your whim, you owe them a dignified send-off.
That’s what happens when you live carelessly—you stumble into something as senseless as Regression.
It’s what those unjustly slain get in return.
‘Though I suppose even complaining about something I didn’t do won’t change anything.’
That Beatrice back then had been just as wronged.
‘And honestly, Elodie doesn’t have much ground to feel aggrieved either.’
The memory of Elodie orchestrating the wedding chaos through Valois made her skin crawl.
‘Besides, even now that we’ve disposed of Valois, Elodie still——’
Wait.
Beatrice’s thoughts halted mid-stream. She bolted upright on the bed.
“Right. Valois!”
Recent events had piled on so relentlessly that she’d lost sight of something crucial—Valois was deeply tangled in all of this.
After all, the reason she’d ended up in prison was because she’d taken the fall for what Valois Crawford had done!
‘……But no matter how many times I think about it, I can’t make sense of her motives.’
No matter how hard she racked her brain, Valois’s intentions remained opaque.
‘At the time, I only knew fragments. I thought she was trying to destroy the mechanical doll to magnify the Marquis Residence’s losses——’
But looking back now, her actions had actually helped the Marquis family.
Whether Valois had destroyed the doll knowingly or simply stumbled onto the right answer while backpedaling—who could say?
‘I’m inclined to think it was the latter, but either way.’
To uncover the truth, she’d need to observe the Crawford women closely.
Depending on whether Alec was truly a good person, everything would change. And by watching Valois’s movements, she might glean clues about her intentions and the forces behind her.
‘Cassian’s proposal makes this easier—investigating the mysterious illness while observing Valois won’t be difficult.’
Only……
‘……Clyde still doesn’t know that the mysterious figure I encountered was Valois.’
In truth, telling him about her wouldn’t be hard.
She hadn’t deliberately hidden it, and her identity was exposed now anyway.
Under normal circumstances, she’d have reported it immediately and asked him to puzzle it out.
If only she hadn’t heard what he’d said just now.
‘Ugh……’
Beatrice squeezed her eyes shut, remembering the sensation at her throat.
‘How could I even explain this to him? What could I possibly say?’
Hey, I forgot to mention, but I actually ran into that Valois Crawford who wrapped me up so prettily as a gift. And something about the way she looked seemed off, you know? So I accepted Cassian’s proposal and decided to keep watch on her while investigating things, and—well, something like that?
‘As if he’d understand!’
Even if she were Clyde, she’d jump up in fury, demanding whether he’d lost his mind.
Beatrice kicked at the empty air in frustration for a while longer, then clutched her head and released a long sigh.
“Still… I have to tell him somehow.”
From the moment Clyde had shown her his unhealed wounds, silence was never an option.
As she stared at the innocent ceiling, wrestling with her thoughts, his words suddenly flashed through her mind.
‘You keep saying you haven’t learned properly, that you’re lacking. But you know that Jedrick never taught you careless lessons.’
‘My ability……’
Her frozen thoughts suddenly broke free. Her pale green eyes lit up.
“Perhaps.”
Beatrice mumbled the single word and shot up from the bed as if launched.
She snatched up the shawl draped carelessly on one side, wrapped it around herself, grabbed her Spectacles from the desk, and bolted from the room.
Without a thought for propriety, she ran straight to Cassian’s office.
—Knock, knock.
“Come in.”
At the permission from within, Beatrice burst through the door, still breathing hard.
“……Miss Kruger?”
“Gasp, pant—hello, Cassian, sorry for intruding so late, I——”
“Ah, no. Please, come in. While I’m not sure what brings you, perhaps some water and a moment to catch your breath would help.”
“Oh, no——really, I’m fine! Huff—actually, I came because I needed to ask you something.”
“Ask me something?”
“Yes.”
Beatrice nodded rapidly, reading the puzzlement on Cassian’s face.
“Does the Marquis Residence have a workshop? Could I borrow it?”
“A workshop, you say……”
“Oh, a blacksmith’s forge would work too. Anywhere with fire, water, potions, and access to metalwork——that’s all I need!”
Beatrice rattled off her request without hesitation, then suddenly looked sheepish.
“And, um……”
She hesitated briefly before continuing carefully.
“If possible, I’d also like to borrow some materials. Of course, I’ll pay for them!”
At Beatrice’s earnest words, Cassian’s silver-gray eyes widened slightly.
He fell silent for a moment, as if mulling over her request, before shaking his head lightly.
“I cannot accept payment from a guest staying to aid the Downey Marquis Residence. Come with me. I’ll show you the way.”
At his prompt and unbegrudging consent, Beatrice’s face lit up.
“Really? Thank you so much!”
She bowed gratefully to Cassian with a bright smile, her mind already racing ahead.
The materials available at the Marquis Residence were likely more limited than what her father kept in his workshop.
Lost in her own world as she was, Beatrice failed to notice that for just a moment, Cassian’s gaze had been captivated by her smile.
* * *
At the same moment.
Clyde sat slumped in a chair, eyes closed, having fled like a hunted animal from his parting with Beatrice.
“……I ended up telling her everything.”
He’d never intended to bare his emotions so nakedly.
He’d wanted to speak of it the way one recalls an ancient tale—matter-of-factly, without weight.
He’d hoped Beatrice would accept this memory of his as something trivial, something already past and not worth her concern.
But when had anything involving Beatrice ever gone the way he planned?
When he came to his senses, he found himself awkwardly hunched, his face buried in her shoulder.
He listened to her small but steady heartbeat and the endless stream of her voice, trying to soothe him.
“Ha……”
Clyde released a long breath and slowly opened his eyes. Candlelight cast its warm orange glow gently across the space—the way she had, just moments before.
Beatrice probably didn’t remember it, but those carelessly whispered words of hers had soothed him more than he could admit. She always had that effect on him.
Whenever he was tormented by a problem that seemed unsolvable, Beatrice would appear and blow it to pieces.
‘Since I don’t understand it, let’s just crash through and solve it! As long as our bodies take the punishment, it’ll be fine!’
She’d say something so straightforward, so simple, that it somehow became crystal clear.
So of course……
—Bang, bang, bang!
“Clyde, you in there? I’m coming in?”
“……”
“Hey, I thought of something, okay? Listen up.”
Exactly like this.
Watching Beatrice’s flushed pink cheeks glow with excitement, Clyde released a helpless, deflated laugh.
“Tell me.”
As he always did, he accepted her intrusion naturally.

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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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