I Proposed to My Childhood Friend After Regressing - Chapter 47

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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 My Regression, I Proposed to My Childhood Friend
Chapter 47
“I hear it’s the first time the Grand Duke has ever shown anger toward Miss Crawford.”
“Toward His Grace Alec?”
“Yes. You’ve met him, so you’ll understand—it’s truly rare to see someone so gentle lose his temper.”
“……Do you know what he was angry about?”
At Beatrice’s question, Jeremy scratched his cheek and continued.
“Well, how can I pin it down to just one thing? It’s not as if Miss Crawford has made only one or two mistakes.”
“Ah, I see. That’s certainly true.”
“But I also hear he was angry about something related to a doll.”
“A doll?”
“Yes. Oh, did you not know? From what I hear, the person who first suggested installing dolls in the Marquessate was Miss Crawford herself.”
“What?”
Beatrice had been curious about who could have made such a proposal, and now she was learning it had been Valois Crawford?
At the sight of Beatrice’s widened eyes and sharp intake of breath, Jeremy jumped and let out an awkward cough.
“Oh! Ahem, cough! That is, um……. Miss, let’s pretend you didn’t hear that. It’s just a rumor, after all. The idea that Miss Crawford is the culprit behind all this—it makes no sense whatsoever!”
“…….”
“Good heavens, I don’t understand why there are so many false rumors in this world. You know what I mean, don’t you?”
Beside the flustered Jeremy, Beatrice remained silent, her lips pressed firmly together.
Not because she didn’t want to answer, but because the contradictory information was overwhelming.
‘The news that Valois Crawford suggested the dolls isn’t surprising—it fits too neatly.’
Honestly, she had found it strange how quiet everything had been.
‘Now that I think about it, isn’t it odd?’
The Orharhon Dolls had been a catastrophic mistake, one serious enough to ruin the Marquess House. Yet no one had dragged the person who suggested them before the Council Chamber to demand answers.
‘They should have done exactly what they did to me—summoned them to the Council Chamber and asked who was behind it, why they made such a proposal.’
But if the one who suggested it was Valois, the situation changed entirely.
No matter how despicable, Valois Crawford was the Grand Duke’s only heir and imperial blood.
‘Especially now, when the Grand Duke is helping the Marquessate with all his resources—it would be difficult to point fingers and say his daughter nearly destroyed the Marquessate.’
As for whether Valois was clever enough to come up with such an idea……well, that could be overlooked easily enough.
There were many possibilities—she could have thought of it herself, been prompted by the princess, or had the proposal come from the “person” Jeremy mentioned. But…….
‘Then why did she sneak out in the dead of night and smash the dolls?’
After suggesting their installation in the first place?
People aren’t always consistent, but this was an extreme contradiction.
‘Could it be rebellion? When I saw her in the Storage last time, she seemed deeply resentful.’
Thinking of it this way, it made sense again.
‘She did what she was told, didn’t get what she wanted, and decided to destroy everything in frustration.’
……But then, when she’d seen her in the forest, hadn’t she been annoyed about why she had to do such things?
‘My head hurts.’
She was already drowning in complications about the Lumen Root, and now this crisis out of nowhere!
Beatrice decided to stop analyzing Valois and focus on the situation at hand.
Valois was in no position to move recklessly now anyway. What would happen when she returned to the Capital remained to be seen, but for now she was under the Grand Duke’s protection—or rather, surveillance.
‘If I thought he was on her side, it would be different, but…….’
From what she had observed, it didn’t seem to be the case.
At first, because he resembled Valois Crawford, she had found him disagreeable, but he had handled matters reasonably enough, and furthermore…….
‘His expression when he saved Claude was too genuine.’
Beatrice still remembered the light in his eyes from that moment, seen from up close.
‘As for the details, I can consult with Claude again once he wakes.’
Arranging her thoughts neatly, Beatrice smoothly changed the subject.
“Um, Jeremy. Now that you mention rumors, something just occurred to me.”
“You mean, people shouldn’t believe false rumors……. Yes, yes?”
“Well, about the Lumen Root we’ve been distributing as relief supplies. Is the quality really acceptable?”
“Pardon? How does that suddenly……. You’re asking if the Lumen Root quality is acceptable?”
“Well, I heard rumors that it sprouts and becomes inedible. And I think I saw some sprouted Lumen Root in the Storage the other day…….”
At Beatrice’s trailing words, Jeremy sprang up from his seat.
With the expression of someone hearing absurdity, he gestured firmly in denial as he objected.
“No, yes! I admit some of the Lumen Root has sprouted. There are some roots that have been in the Storage for a long time.”
“Ah, I see…….”
“But inedible if it sprouts? The Lumen Root is edible from head to root! The Church has inspected it multiple times!”
“So it really is fine, then?”
At Beatrice’s subtly delivered response, Jeremy nodded vigorously with passion.
“Yes! Miss Kruger, you must not fall for such falsehoods! The Lumen Root is a crop that even the Church calls God’s Crop!”
“God’s Crop?”
“Exactly! It grows without issue even on Magically-Tainted Land, and under Kalaron’s blessing it grows so abundantly—how could this not be God’s Crop!”
“……Oh, now that you mention it, that does make sense.”
“Hmph. This won’t do. I’ll have to go out and distribute the supplies myself!”
Jeremy, flustered, left the Storage with a sack slung over his shoulder.
Beatrice watched his retreating back, then quickly opened one of the sacks and examined the Lumen Root.
‘These have sprouted, and those too—all of them.’
That every piece of Lumen Root, which should have been easy to store and long-lasting, had sprouted meant one thing.
‘There’s a clue in what Jeremy let slip without thinking!’
The words about how it grows abundantly under divine blessing.
‘If “God’s Blessing” is a term the Church uses, then interpreted properly, it means Holy Power or Holy Magic accelerates the Lumen Root’s growth, doesn’t it?’
On the surface, there seemed nothing wrong with it, but the fact that everyone had been unaware of something so beneficial was suspicious.
To claim it was because Holy Magic was uncommon when the Hartwell House itself didn’t know about it?
‘Being able to accelerate growth means greater production yields!’
Beatrice decided that as soon as she returned to the Marquess House, she would conduct an experiment with the sprouted Lumen Root she was taking.
‘First, I need to confirm whether it really does accelerate with Holy Magic, and then whether this Lumen Root actually causes illness. The problem is, who can I test it on?’
She couldn’t think of a suitable candidate.
‘Or should I move some of the patients from the Clinic to the Marquess House? I could use the excuse of lack of space……?’
It was frankly absurd.
Moving patients to the Marquess House or somewhere near it would be like inviting a threat into her own territory.
‘But I wouldn’t feel safe any other way…….’
She was already suspicious of the Church—or at least part of it.
She wanted to verify this in secret, and in an environment where no one else’s hands were involved.
‘Besides, though it’s baseless confidence, for some reason I feel like Cassian would agree.’
How would she even phrase it?
It seemed like once he heard the circumstances, he would offer part of the Marquess House without many questions.
Just as he had lent her the workshop without demanding great justification that time.
And as if transforming her baseless confidence into confidence backed by reason…….
“You wish to manage some of the patients at the Marquess House?”
“Yes. I want to create a different environment from the Clinic and attempt treatment based on these patient records.”
“Sandra from Orbin Village…….”
“And I have a suspected cause in mind, but, um, could I tell you about that later?”
“Of course. And please feel free to move the patients as you wish. I’ll have one of my annexes prepared for you.”
Cassian truly did open part of the Marquess House to Beatrice.

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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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