If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 19

I glanced around unnecessarily, surveying my surroundings.

Thud.

The sound of something, presumably a decorative cabinet placed against the wall, being bumped into.

And then a sharp intake of breath from someone who was startled and gasped in panic.

If I hadn’t been constantly aware, I would have missed the very faint sound that followed.

‘That sounds like Mother?’

It was a familiar breathing pattern, and knowing that there was an invisibility veil among the artifacts in the Duke’s basement treasure room, I easily guessed the source of the noise.

‘Well, Mother does prefer to see things for herself.’

The stage had been set as planned, but I did nothing.

This wasn’t a stage meant for me, after all.

As expected, Lady Kate, who was unaware of the situation, subtly bullied and berated me again today.

“Oh my, you should move your fingers like this, not like that. Are you having trouble with it? Young Lady. Perhaps it’s because your development is a bit delayed. Other young ladies your age all know how to do this.”

She gave me a large fan that didn’t fit my hands, and when I struggled to move the fan and made a mistake, she scolded me.

“Young Lady! What are you doing dropping the fan? If you make such a mistake at a real ball, the Ducal House’s prestige will fall to the ground.”

I was barely managing to follow the movements with my underdeveloped fine motor skills, yet she knocked the fan out of my hands under the pretense of checking if I was doing it properly, then got angry at me instead.

I made a dejected expression each time to let Lady Kate run wild to her heart’s content.

And each time, small noises could be heard from one corner of the room.

Mother endured exactly four times like that.

“Sigh. Really, teaching the Young Lady is such a difficult task. If it weren’t for a veteran teacher like me, I would have given up immediately. Then rumors would spread that the precious Young Lady of House Roderick is lacking, wouldn’t they? People do love to talk about others. But I won’t give up on the Young Lady until the end, so just trust me and follow along.”

The fifth and final time.

The ‘just trust me’ moment that came when she thought she had done enough berating for the day.

Finally, Mother, having reached her limit, threw off the invisibility veil and revealed herself.

“What did you just say to my daughter!”

Mother, a noblewoman who had never learned martial arts, shouted with more spirit than Father, who was a Sword Master.

“Kyaah!”

Lady Kate, who had been so focused on tormenting me that she hadn’t even suspected Mother’s presence watching, screamed as if she had seen a ghost.

“Come here, Miela.”

Mother, who had approached in the meantime, pulled me into her arms while glaring at Lady Kate with sharp eyes.

“Why is the Duchess here…?”

Lady Kate’s expression, which had been looking at Mother with bewildered eyes, gradually hardened.

Realizing that no one was coming despite her scream, she understood that Mother hadn’t suddenly appeared out of thin air but had been watching from the beginning.

Lady Kate bit her lips that were neatly coated with lipstick.

‘You got caught red-handed, didn’t you? You think you’re screwed, right? Yes, that’s right. You are screwed.’

I felt satisfied as I glanced at Lady Kate while pretending to snuggle into Mother’s arms.

However, Lady Kate didn’t give up easily either.

“No, that is. It seems there’s some misunderstanding…”

She tried hard to come up with some excuse, even if it wouldn’t work.

“Stop it, I saw it myself, so what misunderstanding!”

But she was cut off by Mother’s roar.

“Miela.”

The eyes that had been fierce when directed at Lady Kate became infinitely gentle when turned toward me.

“Mother has something to discuss with the teacher, and today’s lesson is over, so would you like to go back to your room and rest?”

Mother, who had carefully called my name, suggested I go out for a while.

“Mm-mm. I don’t want to. Miela wants to stay here with Mother too.”

I pretended to act spoiled and snuggled deeper into Mother’s embrace.

When I hugged her waist tightly as if I would never let go, Mother sighed once and changed her mind.

“Alright, you should know what you need to know. The fate of those who dare treat the Young Lady of Roderick like this.”

Mother, who spoke through gritted teeth toward the end, patted my back and held me facing her.

As if protecting me.

In that position, the interrogation began.

“I regret giving you a chance by saying I should properly verify things after hearing what Miela said. Because of that, my daughter had to endure more humiliation.”

“I was just thinking of giving the Young Lady a little stimulation for her achievement…”

“Stimulation for achievement?”

Mother repeated Lady Kate’s words as if she found them absurd.

Lady Kate seemed to think her excuse had worked somewhat.

“Yes, it’s a kind of know-how of mine. It was a bit harsh today, though. It’s a very effective method. The Duchess also entrusted the Young Lady to me because you want her to become a wonderful lady, right? If you just trust me a little, I can show you results.”

Lady Kate tried to create something resembling a smile, wanting to inspire trust.

“Is that so?”

Mother smiled, raising only the corners of her mouth.

It was an expression that only appeared when she was truly angry.

Even I, who had done nothing wrong, flinched, but Lady Kate seemed more oblivious than expected.

‘Or maybe she’s too flustered to think straight.’

Lady Kate’s expression improved as if she was relieved to see Mother smiling.

‘That’s not it though.’

I had hoped otherwise, but it was as expected.

“I should check if the students you’ve taught so far feel the same way.”

When Mother raised her voice, Nanny entered from outside, carrying an armful of documents as if she had been waiting.

“Here they are, Lady. Please pay special attention to Lady Ravis’s statement at the front. Even the investigator from the capital’s top information guild was appalled.”

Nanny, who respectfully handed the documents to Mother, glared at Lady Kate and spoke clearly.

“It took time to get this statement even though we persuaded her that the Ducal House would take full responsibility for how much she had suffered over the years. But Lady Ravis is a courageous lady. Once she made up her mind, she confessed everything that happened in great detail. She even used the diary she had kept since childhood.”

When Lady Ravis was mentioned, Lady Kate’s complexion turned pale.

“This is slander.”

However, there seemed to be no way out.

Judging by how she immediately cried slander without even knowing what Lady Ravis had testified.

Meanwhile, Mother, who had read Lady Ravis’s statement, countered Lady Kate’s nonsense with a cold voice.

“Slander, you say. Stabbing under an eight-year-old’s fingernails with a needle and making a twelve-year-old throw her pet canary toward a cat – that’s all slander?”

“Lady.”

Nanny called Mother carefully.

“Oh my, Miela! What am I saying in front of a child!”

Belatedly, Mother covered my ears.

Mother kept checking if I was shocked.

She seemed to regret keeping me here.

‘It’s okay, Mother. I already know all of this.’

I tilted my head as if I hadn’t heard properly because I was briefly lost in thought.

“Mother, why?”

My acting skills seemed to have improved somewhat from dealing with Lady Kate.

Mother used to notice right away when I pretended to be sick or told small lies, but this time even Mother was fooled.

“Phew. You didn’t hear, I see. Nanny, please take care of Miela.”

Mother, who breathed a sigh of relief, entrusted me to Nanny.

‘Ah, I wanted to see more.’

It was disappointing, but I obediently left for the peace of mind of the adults.

However, just before leaving, I turned back to look at Lady Kate and smiled brightly at her.

‘It’s time for you to pay the price for the sins you committed.’

A little faster than the first time around.

And more miserably.

Indeed, it was worth enduring the troublesome task.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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