It's Overwhelmingly Convenient That the Female Lead Has Darkened - Chapter 66

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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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It’s overwhelmingly comfortable when the female lead turns dark.
#66
When Hew opened the study door, she jumped nearly ten centimeters off the ground.
The Earl sat at the desk in the darkened study, its lights still off.
With his hands clasped together and resting on the desktop, he stared at some point across its surface.
“B-Baron? I’ll turn on the lights…”
Click.
The brightness made her squint.
‘Handsome!’
“I’ve brought the list of servants to hire, but… may I ask what this is about?”
At Hew’s question, the Earl looked up.
Surprisingly, his expression wasn’t altogether unpleasant.
In fact, he seemed almost to be in a good mood.
Of course, the Earl’s perpetually cool face remained as impassive as ever.
But Hew, having assisted him for so long, could discern those subtle shifts.
“Belcourt.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Did you deliver the spending money to Daisy?”
“Yes, I brought her a total of one hundred thousand gold.”
“How did she react?”
Well, she looked almost like she was crying.
I didn’t quite understand when she muttered something like ‘A hundred thousand hours of digging… I’ve lost it,’ but—
“She was very pleased with it.”
The capable assistant, Hew Belcourt, had summarized what she’d witnessed in simple terms.
“I see.”
The Earl nodded briefly.
“And the dresses?”
“I ordered three new dresses from this season from Madame Reshuer. The final one was truly breathtaking! It’s made from the most expensive Malithi Satin, and it’s a deep forest green that suits the young lady’s eyes perfectly! And the lace was woven by no less than the Empire’s finest lace artisan, Sera Meyers—”
“Belcourt.”
Hush.
Yes, sir.
Hew, who had been excitedly chattering away, clamped her mouth shut at once.
Whenever this subject came up, she simply couldn’t rein herself in.
The Earl opened his mouth, watching Hew absently smooth the fabric of her plain black garment as if in regret.
“Well, at any rate, that worked out nicely. Which brings me to you, Belcourt.”
The moment her name was called, Hew’s heart sank with a premonition of something.
“Y-yes…?”
“The banquet that’s coming up.”
“Oh, that one!”
Hew picked up her plummeting heart and released a relieved breath.
When spring break season arrived for the children, the nobility of the surrounding fiefs took turns hosting banquets.
This time it was the Sableheart Family’s turn, and Edelgard Hall had been preparing for it these past two weeks.
“All preparations are complete!”
“Double the scale.”
“Yes! …Pardon?”
Farewell, master!
Her retrieved heart threw itself to the floor once more.
She couldn’t believe it.
Doubling it was just the same as preparing everything from scratch.
With the food, the decorations, drawing up the invitation list, and sending out invitations—a week would barely be enough.
And he wanted her to manage it in two days?
With half the servants gone, no less?!
……
That’s it. I’m resigning.
Hew Belcourt made her decision.
The moment she received her bonus, those premium yarn spools she’d ordered could be returned right away.
She’d never set foot in this wretched Edelgard Hall again…!
“I’ll double your wages for the next three months.”
“Two days is perfect for banquet preparations!”
“Belcourt.”
Thumbs down.
Yes, ma’am.
* * *
Daisy understood.
To prepare the Earl’s daughter required an entire town.
Literally, an entire town.
The Reception Room, which she’d thought was quite spacious, filled to bursting the moment the dressmaker, hairstylist, aesthetician, manicurist, shoemaker, jeweler, and all their assistants filed in.
“…….”
“…….”
“There we go.”
Yes, miss.
A man with steel-blue straight hair swept back in a sharp line, fine features drawn in thin, precise strokes, answered with disarming lightness.
The Earl’s adjutant, Hugh Belcourt.
“That’s all of them……?”
“People who’ve come to help you, miss.”
“Running away at this point……?”
“I’m afraid it’s far too late.”
“…….”
I could seriously punch someone right now.
At that moment, the Black Magpie shot from her heart like a bullet.
[Crawk?]
Punch?
“Hey, I told you not to pop out whenever you feel like it.”
[Squawk.]
Daisy hastily stuffed the Black Magpie into her pocket, then glanced around.
Thankfully, everyone including Hugh was too busy with their own tasks to notice her.
“Right, do the Invitation like this. Strip the gold foil on the side—it’s too gaudy. Use this color for the ribbon.”
Daisy watched the man as he concentrated on his work, oblivious to the crisis she’d just narrowly escaped.
After watching him for several days, she’d noticed something: he wore only black.
Black shirt, black jacket, black trousers, black boots, even his cravat was black.
At first glance, he was a rather monotonously dressed man.
“Master Belcourt, here’s the flower list.”
“These, these, and these. No—the Countess has allergies, so drop the lilies.”
“Master Belcourt, the dinner course sequence…….”
“Master Belcourt, the refreshment list…….”
“Master Belcourt…….”
A torrent of questions that would drive anyone to distraction.
Yet he answered each without the slightest hesitation, precise and swift, his sharply angled slate-gray eyes burning with a keen, cold light.
On the surface, Hugh Belcourt appeared competent and meticulous—a perfectly typical adjutant.
Except for his hands, which moved in what could only be described as frantic motion.
This austere, misanthropic-looking man was…….
“Hugh.”
Yes, miss.
Your sweater color is absolutely perfect.
Thank you for the compliment, miss.
He was connecting the front and back panels of the Rainbow Sweater with a tapestry needle.
“Is knitting a hobby of yours?”
“No, miss. A survival mechanism.”
“Stitching sweater panels together is a survival mechanism?”
Well, I can’t exactly stitch my mouth shut.
Ah.
I never knew preparing for a Banquet could be this exhausting.
Then why’d you agree to it?
My salary was doubled.
Ah.
Hugh, who’d been working his hands steadily, suddenly looked up.
Strange, isn’t it?
What is?
Words like that just slip out in front of you, miss. You’re still so young you couldn’t possibly understand, yet it feels as though you genuinely do.
Well, I actually do understand…….
The soul of an office worker trapped in a teenage body answered with silence.
“Well then, shall we do a dress fitting?”
“Yeah, okay.”
That was when it happened.
Rustle.
Daisy absently reached into her pocket and pulled out something.
“No, not this again!”
“Oh my, what’s wrong?”
Hugh, who had looked away from the Rainbow Sweater, immediately grasped what lay in Daisy’s hand.
“An Academy Report Card!”
Crumple.
Daisy urgently crumpled the paper she’d been holding.
But Hugh continued speaking with utter composure, as though her action were of no consequence.
“Now that I think about it, I forgot that new students receive their report cards after finishing the foundational courses. But why are you so upset about it?”
“Well…….”
Daisy felt wronged.
She’d clearly put the report card in the inside pocket of her academy uniform and stuffed it deep in her bag.
But this morning, it was in her pajama pocket.
Startled, she’d tucked it inside her mattress.
At breakfast, it was in the pocket of the dress she’d put on.
Thinking she must have made a mistake, this time she’d deliberately pushed it deep into her suitcase.
“And yet it’s in my pocket again!”
Hugh nodded understandingly the entire time Daisy aired her grievances.
Then he turned to her and asked.
“May I borrow that for a moment?”
“…….”
“I won’t look at it.”
Daisy handed over the report card suspiciously.
Aside from being the Earl’s aide, Hugh Belcourt didn’t seem the type to take such keen interest in other people’s affairs.
Hugh took the crumpled report card and carried it to the fireplace.
Then he tossed it in.
“Wait!”
But is that really okay?
Hugh spoke to Daisy, who felt both relieved that the report card was gone and yet oddly confused.
“Check your pocket.”
“……?”
Daisy looked bewildered as she reached into her pocket.
And…….
“Unbelievable.”
The report card lay in her pocket, utterly unwrinkled and pristine.
“Academy Report Cards have magic woven into them, you see. They’ll remain in your pocket forever until you’ve shown them directly to your guardian.”
Because of that, one of my friends graduated with a pocket absolutely bursting at the seams, haha!
“…….”
Insane Academy.
How could a report card become some cursed doll that keeps coming back no matter how many times you throw it away……?
‘So to get rid of this report card…….’
Daisy imagined handing the report card—covered in “Counseling Recommended” marks—to the Earl.
‘Pathetic. Just die.’
I’ll hide it forever.

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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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