I Proposed to My Childhood Friend After Regressing - Chapter 60

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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 60
As Clyde often said, Beatrice was a woman of swift action once she set her mind to something.
With the endorsement of Crown Prince Crowell and Clyde, her faith in Cassian had solidified, and she resolved to seek him out at once.
“Bia, you’re really going to tell him now?”
“Yes. What’s the big deal? Why wait?”
“Well, wouldn’t it be better if we at least had dinner together first? We could think through how to say it.”
“Ugh, that’ll take too long.”
Beatrice brushed aside both their suggestions without hesitation and set off to find Cassian.
“Oh, Lady Cruger? What brings you here…?”
“I’m here to see Cassian. Is he inside?”
“What? Ah, no! He’s been away from his office since this afternoon. I heard he had business in the Study.”
“Thank you!”
The problem was that Cassian, whom she’d coincidentally and frequently encountered until recently, was nowhere to be found.
Not in the Training Ground behind the Marquis Territory, not in the Study or Office of the main residence, not in the Garden leading to the Annex Building.
‘Hmm, at this point he’s likely gone out…’
After a brief moment of deliberation, Beatrice decided to check the Conference Hall one last time before returning to the Annex Building and continued on her way.
In the meantime, the staff of the Marquis Territory, who had been watching Cassian and Beatrice closely all along, gathered with considerable excitement.
“Hey, did you see?”
“You mean the young lady searching for Lord Cassian? Of course we did!”
“I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but… do you think she might have feelings for him? I mean, if it were just business, she wouldn’t go looking for him so earnestly like that, would she?”
“Right? And this isn’t exactly a time-sensitive matter. If it were work-related, she could easily find him tomorrow, couldn’t she? That’s how it’s always been before…”
In the midst of this excited yet bewildered atmosphere, one maid who had been quietly observing raised her hand.
“I think I know why.”
“What?”
“I overheard the Crown Prince’s head maid telling our head maid something just now. Our head maid will explain it to us soon, but… you all need to keep quiet about this, understand?”
“Of course! So, what is it?”
“It seems the Crown Prince is returning to the Capital earlier than scheduled. So maybe… the young lady’s circumstances have changed too?”
“What? The young lady is leaving for the Capital early? When is she going?”
“That… I didn’t hear that far, but the schedule must be incredibly urgent, right? Otherwise, she wouldn’t be acting like this all of a sudden!”
Rumors rippled swiftly through the staff. The more they thought about it, the more sense it made.
“So… what do we do now?”
“What else? We pretend we don’t know anything. I clearly said it was just between us!”
But as it happened, “keep it just between us” was only ever a signal flare to broadcast news to everyone, and rumors grew more distorted with each retelling.
And so, before long, a strange rumor had spread through the Marquis Territory: that Beatrice would be leaving tomorrow and was making one final confession of her true feelings to Cassian.
This rumor, which had caused the Marquis’s advisors to grip the backs of their necks in dismay, did not stop at merely spreading…
“See? What did I tell you!”
“Goodness, my lord.”
Their hearts were meant to be from the start! Ha-ha-ha!”
The news even reached the ears of the Marquis, who had been secretly paying attention.
The Marquis, who had been discussing damage recovery and defense strategies for the Marquis Territory in the Conference Hall, broke into a broad grin and slapped his desk with his palm.
“I liked her from the moment I first saw her. Yes indeed! The way she looked me straight in the eye and spoke so plainly… Ha-ha-ha! For someone so small, she’s brimming with spirit!”
“Ahem, Bernard.”
“Don’t call me that, Gallotin! You wretch, trying to throw cold water on this again!”
“That’s not me.”
“Eh? It’s not you?”
At Gallotin’s aggrieved expression, the Marquis’s eyes widened and he looked around the room.
His gaze was that of someone asking: if not Gallotin, the one always bothering people with tactless remarks, then who?
“It is I.”
“Who… ah, Count Sharon, that’s right! What is it?”
“That is…”
“No, wait! Now that I think about it, my future daughter-in-law treated your second son, didn’t she? That settles it—all Count Sharon would have to say is praise. Why exhaust yourself talking?”
“…”
Sharon’s eyes grew distant as he watched the title shift in an instant from “a fine young woman” to “my future daughter-in-law.”
‘If he gets his hopes up like that… he’s going to be devastated…’
As someone who knew that Bia Cruger was not truly Bia Cruger, all of this felt nothing but tragic.
He was struggling for words when, through the slightly open Conference Hall door, Beatrice’s face peeked in.
It was Beatrice, checking the Conference Hall as a final step in her search.
“Oh, ah!”
“Oh, you were in a meeting. I’m sorry. I didn’t see anyone in the corridor, so I thought it was empty… then I’ll just…”
“No! Wait right there!”
The Marquis called out to Beatrice in a loud voice and strode toward her.
With eyes that could almost pass for calling her “my dear,” he cleared his throat and casually asked:
“So, well, what brings you here?”
“Ah, it’s nothing much. I just had something I needed to discuss with Cassian. I wondered if he was here, but he isn’t.”
“I see… well, have you eaten?”
“… Eaten? No, not yet.”
“Good heavens! How can you not eat! You’re so small already—what if you collapse like that!”
The Marquis spoke with sudden gravity and placed his arm around Beatrice’s shoulders.
“As it happens, I was in the mood for something romantic, so I had dinner prepared in the Glass Greenhouse. The night sky you can see from there is absolutely breathtaking! I used to take my wife on dates there often.”
“Ah… yes.”
“But my meeting ran long, and the meal I prepared has been sitting there untouched. You go ahead and eat it in my place.”
“… Pardon? No, that’s not really…”
“No need for politeness! Come now, don’t refuse something like this! Later, hmm? Just give me your impression of it. Say, our… um, our friend, would you guide her?”
The Marquis, having drawn upon his last reserves of restraint to stop himself from saying something else, bundled Beatrice off toward the Glass Greenhouse.
And watching one of the servants lead her away, he gestured urgently.
“Where is Cassian!”
“Well, I’m not sure… if he’s not at the residence, he might be at the Clinic?”
“Wherever he is, bring him here at once!”
And this time, make sure you do it properly!
* * *
At that very moment.
Beatrice, who had just stepped into the Glass Greenhouse, found herself oddly reflective as she looked around.
The shape of the greenhouse was different, the hour was different, everything was different—yet somehow it reminded her of when she had first proposed to Clyde in the Glass Greenhouse at the Duke’s Mansion.
‘Ah, I remember how agonizing it was to find the right words back then…’
She had even been prepared to kneel and beg if things didn’t work out.
“Goodness, what a memory, what a memory…”
As she blinked at the recollection of that long-ago moment, the door opened and a shock of deep navy hair entered her field of vision.
“Oh, Cassian!”
“… My lady?”
His expression held a note of surprise, which made Beatrice tilt her head in confusion.
“What is it? You didn’t know I was here? I’ve been searching for you all over the mansion—I thought people would have told you.”
“No, I hadn’t heard that… Did you come looking for me?”
“Yes. I… I have something important I wanted to tell you.”
At Beatrice’s serious expression, Cassian’s face grew equally grave.
As she gazed into his silver-gray eyes, which seemed to suit the nighttime greenhouse perfectly, Beatrice’s lips began to move.
But before she could speak, Cassian took another step closer and suddenly opened his mouth.
“I have feelings for you, my lady.”

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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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