Isn’t Being A Wicked Woman Much Better? - Chapter 108

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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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Chapter 108
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‘Oh no. It’s Knight Isidore.’
My heart plummeted the moment I encountered the person I’d been subtly avoiding, but I barely managed to compose myself and arranged my face into the expression I’d been practicing.
‘Master said I look like I’m frowning, so I should lift my lips just a little.’
“It’s been a while.”
I swallowed my embarrassment and feigned composure.
“Hmm. Actually, not that long. I’m busy, so I’ll be going.”
I spoke in a tone so cold that even I could hear it, and turned to leave, but Knight Isidore caught up with me in just a few strides.
“Where are you going? I came to see the Lady. What business would I have at the Magic Department without her?”
“Me? Why… why?”
“Why do you think?”
“I have no idea.”
I abandoned my conscience and played dumb.
“You haven’t been coming to the Social Club lately, and you’ve been skipping club activities, so I was worried you might be ill.”
Here I was, concerned about the health of a hand-obsessed pervert. My abandoned conscience suddenly reasserted itself.
“I’m not ill. I’ve just been busy, as you can see…”
“Are you really all right? Your ears are red—I thought you had a fever.”
‘My ears are red?’
Without thinking, I touched my ear and let out a cough.
“It’s cold. The weather’s turned suddenly chilly lately.”
It really wasn’t that cold.
“Oh, is it? Let’s go have some warm tea. My hands are cold too, so I’d like some warm tea.”
He suddenly looked pitiful and extended his hand, causing my eye to twitch.
‘Is he testing me?’
“You’re wearing gloves. What do you mean your hands are cold?”
I spoke even more curtly.
“These are thin cotton. Would you like to feel them…?”
Gulp!
“Cold. Warm tea. Let’s go.”
Flustered, I quickly cut him off and walked beside him, my soul half-separated from my body.
Knight Isidore headed toward the main gate of the Academy where crowds of people passed, then cut across the bustling Commercial District.
‘He’s not even a celebrity, yet he’s drawing so much attention.’
He was particularly dazzling today. He was wearing an ornate Knight Order uniform adorned with chains and epaulettes, so the attention directed at Knight Isidore was excessive.
The problem was that people were also casting astonished glances at me.
“There are a lot of people today.”
I murmured awkwardly.
“Don’t you think this much is necessary to get through to someone so shameless?”
Knight Isidore lifted the corners of his mouth mischievously like a troublemaker.
‘He’s helping me.’
It seemed word had reached the Montes House about what I’d done. The marriage talks had barely been reopened, and if rumors spread that I’d been seen alone with Knight Isidore, Philaf—who despised him—would certainly be furious.
‘I’m already tasting the consequences.’
“By the way, where are we going now?”
“I know a nice place. I think you’ll like it, Princess.”
“It’s farther than I expected.”
“If your legs hurt, shall I carry you?”
I shook my head at his playful question. It would draw even more attention, and on top of already being accused of coercing Knight Isidore, rumors might spread that I was treating him like a slave.
‘I’m being manipulated because of my own sins, and now they call it coercion? How unfair!’
“We shouldn’t go that way.”
He gently pulled my hand. Just as he said, my gloves were thin enough that his body heat transferred directly to my skin.
“Oh, ah.”
I quickly withdrew my burning hand, and Knight Isidore silently entered a tea house with an elegant, vintage exterior.
‘What a lovely place.’
I casually glanced at the crafts displayed in the tea house lobby before following the attendant into a private room. It appeared to operate on a membership basis, and the menu had no prices listed.
“I’ve heard this tea is good for the throat.”
I’d strained my voice teaching at the Academy after coercing the department head, and he’d thoughtfully recommended this tea knowing my condition.
“I’ll have that.”
The tea arrived in an elegant ceramic cup, and I enjoyed a light tea time with him.
“How’s the tea?”
“The aroma is lovely, and it tastes wonderful.”
“I’m glad it suits your palate. This tea house was the first to stock tea produced in limited quantities from the Hainte Plateau. When new shipments arrive, I’ll have them sent to your Mansion.”
“That’s… not necessary.”
I’d already received some as a gift before.
“Hmm? I was planning to send it as a victory celebration gift to Knight Rozard.”
….
“I’m joking. You’re just so cute that I can’t help myself—oof!”
Suddenly overcome with emotion, I kicked his shin from across the table, and he dramatically acted as though he’d been struck in a vital spot.
“It was an accident. An accident.”
I spoke with sharp eyes, and he laughed, dimples deepening.
“If the Princess says it was an accident, then it was.”
“Everything the Princess says is right.”
Suddenly, without warning, I remembered the scene of him listening to my complaints, and I was flustered once more. On the surface, it was clearly a peaceful tea time, but I felt as though I were riding a dizzying rollercoaster the entire time.
After finishing my tea and returning to the lobby, he handed me something while talking with the shop owner. It was a white ceramic turtle figurine. It resembled Purple, and I’d stared at it unconsciously as I passed through the lobby—he must have noticed.
“Wait a moment.”
I stopped Knight Isidore and called over an attendant to purchase a cat-shaped ceramic figurine.
“I should have bought the cat too.”
He spoke with a look of regret.
“It’s not for me. It’s a gift for Knight Isidore.”
I thrust it toward him, and he looked both surprised and flustered.
“You said you like cats.”
“You remembered that? It was just something I said in passing.”
“Well, I suppose I could remember it…”
“…Thank you.”
He hesitated for a moment before speaking. Watching his quiet smile, which carried an awkward quality to it, my chest tingled pleasantly.
‘It’s just a cat doll, after all.’
Was it my imagination? Somehow, this moment felt more joyful than when he laughed with dimples showing and carefree abandon… Even after returning home, I found myself unconsciously redrawing that smile in my mind several times.
* * *
‘There’s no need to meet with that Visconti bastard specifically… I clearly said I’d handle it myself.’
Deborah Simour’s intention was to irritate the Montes father and son, but for some reason, Duke Simour found himself annoyed as well, his expression hardening.
‘He seemed to be in a good mood recently.’
‘Why is he in such a foul mood today of all days?’
The Duke’s retainers and distant relatives gathered for the state council remained silent, gauging his mood.
“Why is everyone sitting there like they’ve lost their tongues? Let’s begin the meeting.”
Today’s agenda concerned Rozard’s victory celebration. Having been praised lavishly by both the Imperial Court and the Magic Tower recently, Rozard was riding high on confidence. As the meeting drew to a close, he asked his father a question.
“Father.”
“What is it?”
“I’ve heard rumors that marriage proposals for Deborah Simour have surfaced again recently. If the marriage is finalized, the spell patent rights will transfer to another house. Do you have a countermeasure…?”
“Pfft!”
Seeing Beleck suddenly snort with contempt, Rozard’s eyes narrowed.
‘What’s wrong with him?’
The question didn’t linger long. Duke Simour erupted in fury in exactly one second.
“The Montes bastards are scheming, and you’re worried about patent rights? You’ve benefited the most from Deborah Simour, so how did you turn out with such a rotten character?”
“But Deborah Simour likes Philaf…”
“Your sister loves magic above all else!”
The irritated Duke Simour stormed out of the conference room with a dark expression.
“Thinking of entangling the house’s treasure and your only sister with that worthless Philaf. Your character is truly lacking.”
At Beleck’s jab, Rozard let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re the one who wants to send Deborah Simour away farther than anyone else, aren’t you?”
“When did I ever do that? Why are you slandering me?”
Beleck brazenly played innocent.
‘He shouldn’t have benefited from this any more than I have?’
As the internal power structure had been completely overturned during the Duke’s absence, Rozard felt confusion and bewilderment.
And merely the next day, rumors began circulating throughout the Imperial Capital that Deborah Simour disapproved of the marriage proposal the Montes House had brought forth again after three years.
It wasn’t merely disapproval—she had apparently burned the letter in disgust.
The Duke’s servants, acting on his orders, spread the specific details everywhere: that she would absolutely not marry Philaf, who was arrogant, presumptuous, uncouth, and ignorant of magic.
“I am confident in propriety and charm above all others.”
When Thierry, who had caught wind of the rumors, made a flower-cup gesture with both hands, the Fifth Princess clicked her tongue with a look of disdain.
“You’re disqualified for being ignorant of magic. And where in this world does a virtuous gambler exist?”
“I’ve quit everything except horse racing recently. Horse racing is legitimately a sport…”
“The more I think about it, the more it seems I’m the one who best fits those conditions?”
The Fifth Princess murmured seriously.
“…Still, it seems Deborah Simour has not a shred of lingering attachment to Philaf Montes.”
I had expected her to show at least some hesitation.
Though she had joined 【Epsilon】 rather than 【Aracron】 and partnered with Knight Isidore at the Ball, everyone refused to believe that the lady had truly abandoned her feelings for Philaf.
Her obsession with Philaf was far too notorious for that.
‘There were even rumors that she had tormented Miya.’
The Montes House surely harbored the same doubts, yet she had wielded those very rumors as a tool to express her refusal in kind. From Simour’s perspective, it was as though they had driven the final nail into the coffin.

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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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