It's Overwhelmingly Convenient That the Female Lead Has Darkened - Chapter 68

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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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A corrupted female lead is overwhelmingly convenient.
#68
Lydia turned her head toward the sudden hush that had fallen over the room.
And,
“……!”
Her sky-blue eyes widened as though they might burst from her skull.
Daisy Seiblehart, dressed in a Deep Emerald Dress with delicate lace adorning the bodice and shoulders, was walking slowly forward on the arm of a count.
Her platinum hair—the Seiblehart Family’s distinctive hue—had been softly braided and pinned with an Emerald Hairpin, and it shimmered like sunlight against the dark green of her dress.
Above her luminous skin, eyes as striking as Emerald Jewelry blinked with their brilliant emerald gleam.
Her cheeks glowed with a healthy rose tint, and her red lips curved in a bright smile, though the expression seemed somewhat unfamiliar on her face.
The choice of a deep-colored dress with minimal ornamentation only made her features shine all the more luminously.
Gone was the timid, melancholic air she had always carried.
What remained was nothing short of the flawless image of a count’s daughter.
“She really does look perfect…….”
Frisia’s murmur drifted over from beside her.
Under normal circumstances, Mel would have elbowed her and given her a pointed look, but this time she could say nothing.
Because it was true.
The pair were not alone in their thoughts—admiring gasps rose from those around them.
“Good heavens, is that really the Seiblehart girl?”
“With her dressed so radiantly, I hardly recognize her!”
“So it seems the Seiblehart name truly does mean something.”
“Why on earth has she been going about looking like that all this time?”
‘Because that’s exactly how she needed to appear!’
Lydia gnawed her full, lovely lips as the thought crossed her mind.
‘What on earth has happened?!’
She couldn’t believe it.
That was Daisy Seiblehart?
The same Daisy Seiblehart who had worn that drab, navy dress—one that looked three seasons old—and not a single piece of jewelry?!
People were no longer looking at Lydia in her Diamond Necklace dress.
Instead, their gaze had fixed entirely upon Daisy in the Deep Emerald Dress.
“Isn’t that the new season gown from Madame Leshueur?”
“Then she’s the one who monopolized Leshueur’s commissions…….”
“Look at the size of that emerald!”
“It seems larger than the one the princess wore that was featured in the gossip papers, doesn’t it?”
Lydia’s hand drifted to her throat.
It was the most expensive piece of jewelry she owned—a Diamond Necklace.
But now, looking at it again, the diamonds seemed impossibly small.
‘Should I have worn the larger sapphire necklace instead? Or perhaps I ought to have had a new pink diamond cut…….’
“But isn’t that strange?”
While Lydia was deep in troubled thought, Frisia tilted her head with a puzzled expression.
“Caelon and Daisy, I mean. Weren’t they supposed to have a poor relationship?”
“That’s right! He treated her like a complete stranger.”
“So why are they together?”
“You must be mistaken, Frisia.”
“No, I’m not. Look!”
At Mel’s reproach, Frisia pointed toward something with an aggrieved air.
When Mel turned her gaze in that direction, she exhaled softly and began to speak.
“Frisia, that’s why I’m saying you must have seen it…….”
Mel’s voice, which had grown quieter, trailed off without finishing.
Lydia, her head lifting in the uneasy silence, found herself unable to speak.
Because Caelon was indeed standing beside Daisy.
And he wasn’t merely standing there—he was leaning toward her and speaking earnestly.
Lydia’s mouth fell open.
Daisy’s transformation—yes, one could chalk that up to money if one tried.
But how could Caelon……!
Caelon stood at her side as though he were her guardian.
What was more astonishing was that his banquet waistcoat and cravat were now, upon closer inspection, deep emerald in color.
As though the two of them had coordinated their attire.
It was common enough for siblings from noble houses to match their colors.
But Caelon and Daisy could not be such a pair.
Because Caelon dislikes Daisy!
Caelon is… Daisy……
Surely……
“Oh my, did Caelon just pat Daisy on the shoulder?”
“He’s being so… really like a brother. They look incredibly close.”
“Well, he’s definitely her brother.”
“Were they always that familiar with each other?”
“I haven’t a clue. Never seen them together like this before……”
Crack.
Lydia’s knuckles went white as she clenched her fists, her eyes fixed on Daisy with barely contained malice.
‘How dare she… how dare Daisy presume……’
But the glare didn’t last long.
The Count was approaching.
Lydia hastily released the tension from her eyes and arranged her face into the smile that never failed to draw admiration from those around her.
“Miss Lydia.”
Count Conrad Seiblehart offered his greeting.
“It’s been so long, Count.”
Lydia cursed lightly, her cheeks flushed a becoming shade of rose.
As always, the Count of Seiblehart was magnificent.
His tailored banquet coat fit his tall frame to perfection, and his silver-streaked hair lent him an air that was both cool and dignified.
Even his low, measured voice carried an undeniable handsomeness.
In contrast……
“Thank you for attending, Marquis Penmarche.”
At the Count’s greeting, the rotund Marquis Penmarche let out a booming laugh and spoke.
“How could the Marquis Penmarche miss a banquet held by you, Count? I’ve never tasted Apple Pie as delicious as what your cook prepares!”
As the Marquis patted his generous belly, it produced a soft thump.
The Count glanced somewhere, and an aide appeared as if summoned from thin air.
“Apple Pie has been prepared as the final course.”
“Splendid! Absolutely splendid!”
The Marquis clapped his hands in satisfaction.
……
That wretched Apple Pie!
Lydia bit her lip.
Standing next to the Count of Seiblehart only made her ashamed of herself.
Unaware of his daughter’s thoughts, the Marquis Penmarche looked around and spoke.
“By the way, you’ve decorated the Edelgard Hall beautifully once again today. It would be wonderful if you held these banquets more often.”
Even as he said this, the Marquis had no expectation of a positive response.
Each time he said such a thing, the Count would always respond with his typical stern face: “Perhaps.”
“I think I shall.”
“Then perhaps more frequently… wait, what did you say?”
“I intend to hold banquets more often.”
The Marquis’s mouth fell open, as did Lydia’s.
“Is that truly so?”
“Yes.”
“Why so suddenly……”
At the Marquis’s cautious question, the Count fell silent for a moment.
Then, gazing toward something, he spoke.
“I wish to see her enjoy many more banquets in the days to come.”
One need not ask whose sake prompted those words.
The Count’s cold blue eyes were fixed upon Daisy with an expression none had witnessed before.
And Lydia felt a sharp pang of dread steal across her chest.
A handsome, wealthy father; brothers equally striking and accomplished; a grand manor and countless servants.
Since that first meeting with the Seiblehart Family, she had envied it all.
That must have been when it began.
When Daisy Seiblehart’s downfall became something to be desired.
She could not bear to see Daisy enjoy what she herself did not possess.
The only comfort was that Daisy had never enjoyed any of it—not once.
‘At least not until now……’
Though she couldn’t fathom why the Count’s disposition had shifted, she could not stand idle.
Biting her lip hard, Lydia flashed a smile brighter than ever and spoke.
“Father! I’ll just pop over to say hello to Daisy.”
“Of course, of course! Go on and have fun.”
“Yes, Father!”
Marquis Penmarche watched Lydia’s cotton-candy silhouette recede, chuckling warmly to himself.
“It’s so heartening to see the two children getting along so well, wouldn’t you agree, Count?”
“Indeed.”
“Since we’ve found ourselves together, there’s something I wanted to discuss—those Mana Stones your mines have been yielding……”
* * *
“……In any case, she never lets a moment pass quietly.”
Caelon, overhearing Daisy’s muttering, asked flatly.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means trouble’s coming.”
“Caelon!”
At the sound of his name being called, Caelon turned and caught sight of the bright pink hair, then opened his mouth.
“Lydia.”
Then, in turn, he acknowledged those standing on either side of her.
“Mel, Frisia.”
“My, you’re quite the gracious one, remembering everyone’s names like that.”
Fancy him bothering to memorize even their names.
The unspoken words hung plainly in the air.
‘The left one doesn’t seem to have much going on in her head, but the right one… she noticed.’
Daisy caught the slight twist in the expression of the one called Mel and bit back an inward curse.
Probably just biting her tongue because Lydia Penmarche was a marquis’s daughter.
What a dog-eat-dog class system.
After Daisy had donned the museum-piece Emerald Jewelry, she shook out the proletarian banner she’d been keeping folded away for a while.
But before she could even wave it, Lydia opened her mouth first.
“Daisy, it’s been so long!”
Lydia’s hand had somehow come to rest gently atop Caelon’s arm.
“I never expected you’d show up at the Banquet.”
“Neither did I.”
She meant it.
But it seemed an unexpected answer, for Lydia’s nod came out somewhat forced.
“I… see. How are you finding the Bear’s Labyrinth, anyway? Must be hard to adjust, given they’ve packed that place with nothing but strange sorts……”
“I’m fine. I’m strange too.”
“……”
“……”
“Well, greetings are done, so if you’ve nothing else to say, I’ll be heading out,”
It was as Daisy abruptly turned to leave, seizing on the silence that fell between them.
“What about your grades?”

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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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