I Proposed to My Childhood Friend After Regressing - Chapter 5

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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 5
Beatrice stared at Claude’s radiant face—he’d spared no effort on his appearance—and her eyes flew wide open.
‘That’s right. Just close my eyes and see it through.’
It’s a mountain I have to cross anyway. Think about it.
Today isn’t just any day—it’s the Wedding. If I let even a hint of my usual exasperation show, what happens when people start whispering, “Wait, you two are actually in love? You’re fakes, aren’t you?”
‘I’ve already thrown myself on the ground in front of my family and called my sworn enemy “sister, you’re the best”—I can’t get caught over something like this.’
If Claude had overheard, he’d have laughed off such needless worry, but motivation, at least, was assured.
Steeling herself, Beatrice grabbed the Veil with one hand and cast a quick sideways glance.
Her family stood in the direction her gaze had turned, their faces glowing with warmth—oblivious to her turmoil.
‘……Hah! Their grins are ear to ear! And where were those protests when they wanted to block this rushed Wedding?’
Fine. That’s enough.
‘I’m really making a great sacrifice for my family.’
Seeing them smile like that beats watching them cry over me being torn to shreds.
She naturally braced her hand on Claude’s shoulder and slowly closed her eyes.
Perhaps because her sight was gone, she heard Claude’s approach distinctly. He drew close as they’d previously arranged, and his voice dropped to a whisper.
“……What? This wasn’t part of the plan. Why are you suddenly closing your eyes? It’s creepy.”
“I don’t want to look at your face up close. Why?”
“Why? You’ve got one of the most handsome faces in the Empire. Up close, it’s an advantage.”
The fact that he knew she knew only irritated her more.
Rather than answer, Beatrice pressed his shoulder firmly with her hand, as though his words were beneath reply.
Just as their lips drew near enough to brush, suspended in that precarious distance according to plan—
Bang!
A chair scraped back and a sharp voice cut through the gathered crowd.
“Ha. I thought I’d be gracious and wait, but are procedures something for dogs? You don’t even ask if there are objections—you just bless the union and announce it to all and sundry? By whose authority!”
The woman who’d shot to her feet wore a wide-brimmed Hat and a dense lace Veil covering her face, but Beatrice had no difficulty recognizing her.
Not just Beatrice—everyone in the hall would have known her identity.
Because……
“Ha! I thought someone was trying to pick a fight again, but I never imagined this ridiculous situation was real.”
The woman who’d discarded her Hat with contempt was none other than the infamously troublesome Baloa Edbein Crawford!
She was the only daughter of Alec, the Grand Duke and elder brother to the Emperor—a notorious hellion and menace.
Disregarding rank or status, she terrorized anyone who crossed her whims; the nobility had sent the Emperor scores of petitions against her.
The problem was that for nearly a year now, she’d been openly pursuing Claude Dalton.
‘She sends marriage proposals to the Duchy by the week, publicly declared Claude hers at the New Year’s ball, warned off every other young lady—’
Naturally, Beatrice, who’d grown close to Claude, had received Baloa’s cutting warning herself.
“You there. Yellow-haired girl from the Hartwell Family. I made myself clear, didn’t I? If you presume to covet what’s mine without knowing your place, I’ll crush you like a brick ground to powder. Stay your distance.”
“…….”
That day, when her mother had snapped at her to stop loafing about at home and deliver some documents her brother had left behind, Beatrice had been cornered in the Imperial Palace itself. She’d been roughed up.
Baloa had seemed to have been waiting for exactly that moment, pinning her against the wall and pulverizing brick with her own hands before her eyes.
‘I remember thinking she was genuinely insane then!’
Beatrice watched Baloa’s golden eyes, now somehow even wilder than memory had preserved, and soundlessly struck Claude in alarm.
“……What? Why is that woman here! You didn’t invite her, did you?”
“…….”
“No, surely not?”
Beatrice’s suspicion was reasonable. Baloa was at the very top of the Wedding guest blacklist!
Claude couldn’t have invited her unless he’d lost his mind.
‘But why is he giving no answer? Why does he look so uneasy?’
Seized by a terrible hunch, Beatrice whipped her head toward Claude. The moment she saw his face, her eyes widened slightly.
“Baloa Edbein Crawford.”
It wasn’t an expression she’d seen from him before. When he spoke her name in that low voice, considerable hostility radiated from him.
‘……What? Why is he like this all of a sudden?’
He’d never been this way even with Princess Elodie.
Startled by Claude’s unfamiliar demeanor, Beatrice reflexively seized his hand. His was unusually cold.
It was not a prudent move. The moment Baloa saw the two of them clasping hands, she flew into a rage.
“Let go right now!”
“Miss Crawford! What on earth is this tyranny at someone else’s Wedding——!”
“Tyranny? I’m taking back what’s mine—how is that tyranny? I told you, Claude Dalton is mine!”
Like someone consumed by fury, she trampled the discarded Hat underfoot and began striding toward the couple.
As the situation threatened to descend into chaos, just as both families were about to intervene—
“Baloa, that’s enough!”
Princess Elodie, who had been standing practically glued to Kaelyun’s side as though she were already one of the Duchy, stepped into her path.
She emerged into the aisle as if to shield the couple, her expression resolute.
“I granted your request to attend the Wedding to give you a chance to let it go. But if you act like this, what becomes of my reputation?”
‘Insane! So it was the Princess who let Baloa into the ceremony!’
Beatrice’s gaze sharpened, fixing on Princess Elodie, who suddenly appeared quite grim.
“Sister, move aside. Do you really think I can’t take you on?”
“I won’t move aside. Not for your sake, not for theirs, and not for His Majesty—the Grand Duke’s.”
“Ha! You’re really going to stand in my way?”
“Yes. I’d rather you blame me. After all, it was I who helped these two toward the fruit of their love!”
Well, well.
‘Anyone watching would think it was the Princess who brought the two of us—no, the two families—together.’
She’d doubtless phrased it precisely so people would accept that version.
It was an artful maneuver, infuriatingly so, and that unwavering conviction in her bearing and expression——
‘She’s building herself a spotless image by contrast, isn’t she?’
Using Baloa’s fiery temperament would make that contrast all the sharper.
In the past, Beatrice wouldn’t have understood, but now, knowing everything, the Princess’s true intentions were laid bare before her.
Beatrice felt the favorable light dawning in the guests’ and family’s eyes, and squeezed the hand she was holding slightly. If she didn’t deliberately apply pressure, a bitter laugh would escape her.
‘Extraordinary skill. You really are the type to orchestrate a whole clan’s annihilation if it suited you.’
They’d deliberately dangled bait to achieve their own ends, but she’d extracted exactly this much from it.
‘Still, it’s rather fortunate that the Princess before me seems to be the person I know.’
She’d agonized for the tiniest moment, barely an ant’s-eye-width of moral deliberation, over whether she had the right to hold the Princess accountable for her past crimes; now that question had become entirely moot.
Had the Princess genuinely cared for the couple, she wouldn’t have orchestrated matters so that she herself became the focus of a Wedding that should have centered on them.
Claude appeared to find this theatrical display equally amusing—the kind of thing only those who knew everything could appreciate.
“……This is entertaining.”
He murmured so quietly that only Beatrice, standing beside him, could hear. Then he gently squeezed her hand and released it.
“Stay here a moment.”
“Huh? Where are you going?”
Claude didn’t answer Beatrice. Instead, he walked toward the Princess’s side and opened his mouth with firm resolve.
“No, Your Highness. You needn’t bear such a heavy burden.”
“Claude?”
“You’ve only indulged our small selfishness once and graciously permitted Miss Crawford’s attendance with good intentions—I cannot repay such kindness with further imposition.”
He turned the Princess smoothly about as if sheltering her, then fixed his gaze on Baloa and continued.
“And Miss Crawford. I’ve told you each time you’ve been refused: I am not yours to claim. I am neither an object nor prey, but a person—how could I become anyone’s possession?”
“That’s right. And I keep telling you that kind of defiance is absolutely adorable. I don’t need your permission. If I say you’re mine, then you’re mine.”
“Then you must take the matter up directly with His Majesty. Because we have now become husband and wife officially, under the Emperor’s sanction.”

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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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