Rewriting the Trash Ending - Chapter 51

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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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51.

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A few days prior, Belia had received an invitation to a tea gathering from the Grand Duchess.
The Grand Duchess had invited the mistresses and young ladies of the Northern Social Circle’s most established families.
‘The Mobert Family was only just erased, and she’s already hosting tea gatherings as though nothing happened? Whether to call it arrogance or….’
The social circles were currently abuzz with the Mobert Family’s downfall.
Ordinarily, when such a thing occurs, the Grand Duke convenes a State Council Meeting, enumerates the charges against the family in question, and carries out the sentence. But this one had been wiped away without a whisper.
Had the Countess not arrived looking like a beggar, Belia herself would have learned of it only later.
If it happened because of her own actions, she should have kept quiet and accepted it, and yet here the Grand Duchess was, hosting a tea gathering.
Belia recalled a conversation she had overheard at a recent gathering.

“…The Mobert Family, don’t you think it was because they were disrespectful to Her Highness at the Gohee Banquet?”
“That could well be it, since she revoked their peerage afterward.”
“The fact that she cast out the Mobert Family without even convening a State Council Meeting suggests she didn’t want what the Countess said to her that day recorded in the official record.”
“…It’s frightening. If we misstep even slightly with Her Highness, we could end up the same way. We really must be careful.”

Whether it was a lack of perception or a deliberate display of the Grand Duke’s favor, one thing was certain: everyone in that room would keep their eyes fixed solely on the Grand Duchess.
But the Grand Duke’s favor could not possibly be genuine.
The Countess Mobert was someone who should have been disposed of long ago.
At the Gohee Banquet alone, she had not only invoked the previous Grand Duchess but had done things the Countess should never have done—so naturally the Grand Duke had lost his patience all at once.
Belia’s brow furrowed slightly.
Her original intention had been to make the Grand Duchess a social outcast, but for some reason, nothing was proceeding as planned.
Rather than going her way, things seemed to be flowing favorably only for that woman.
Even the rumors she had so assiduously spread throughout the Northern Social Circle before the State Wedding had now largely fallen silent.
Because of this, the Grand Duchess grated on her like a splinter caught beneath a fingernail.
Though in truth, she was merely a woman who would bear an heir and then fade away—not worth her concern.
“Miss, shall we go to the tailoring shop you usually visit?”
Lost in thought as she walked the street, Belia nodded at her maid’s question.
But then.
……
Belia halted when she spotted a carriage stopped in front of the Men’s Tailoring Shop.
A plain, massive black carriage.
The Grand Duke’s Household carriage.
‘Those silhouettes….’
She watched intently as the two figures descended from the carriage, her eyes narrowing.
It was unmistakably the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess.
…The Grand Duke, who rarely even made inspection tours, had gone out with the Grand Duchess?
“Miss?”
At her maid’s puzzled voice, Belia, who had been standing with a rigid expression, broke into a smile and opened her mouth.
“I believe I’ve glimpsed someone I know. I really ought to go pay my respects.”
It was a perfectly convenient opportunity.
A chance to make an impression on the Grand Duke himself, and an equally valuable chance to observe from up close just how well that Grand Duchess played the role of mistress.
Entering the shop, she called for a clerk.
“Tell the two Highnesses in the reception room that Belia of the Pendros Family wishes to offer her respects.”
Moments later, a soft acknowledgment came from within, and Belia glided gracefully through the door.
“Your Highness, Your Highness. How fortunate to encounter you both in such a place.”
“Lift your head.”
Permission came from the Grand Duchess, but Belia remained with her head bowed.
She had been waiting for the Grand Duke’s permission to look up, but he showed no signs of speaking.
Then came a small laugh, and a gentle voice continued.
“It’s quite alright. Do raise your head.”
……
‘The way she speaks as if she were voicing the Grand Duke’s own will is utterly insufferable.’
She commanded her to lift her head, as though the Grand Duke himself had not said a word—as if speaking for him.
But to resist after hearing the same instruction twice would be a clear breach of courtesy.
Belia had no choice but to lift her head.
The Grand Duchess smiled softly as she watched him, while the Grand Duke merely glanced once before turning his gaze toward the sample fabrics.
As though entirely uninterested.
Belia’s pride stung, and she bit the inside of her cheek.
“I didn’t expect to see you in a place like this. What brings you here?”
“I actually came out for a brief outing, and when I happened to see you both, I thought I should pay my respects.”
“An outing, yes—it is a fine day for it.”
“But are you personally selecting clothes for the Grand Duke?”
“Between husband and wife, it’s only natural, wouldn’t you say?”
Was she not afraid at all?
The Grand Duchess gently brushed her hand down the Grand Duke’s arm as he sat beside her, a low laugh escaping her lips.
The Grand Duke’s sharp gaze, which had been fixed straight ahead, softened in an instant.
It was a warmth unbecoming of a man who had cast his wife’s family onto the street not long ago.
Did the Grand Duke even know he was capable of such a look?
At the sight of it, anxiety crept up her spine, and a shallow displeasure bloomed within her.
“It’s remarkable how much care you take in selecting the Grand Duke’s wardrobe. And yet…”
“…?”
As her words trailed off, the Grand Duchess tilted her head curiously.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I spoke out of turn.”
“If you break off a sentence like that, one becomes curious. Go ahead and speak.”
“It’s really nothing much, but the fashions of the North are somewhat different from those of the Empire.”
Belia added in a deliberately cautious tone.
“I’ve grown accustomed to attending to my father’s and brother’s attire, but you, being newly arrived from abroad, wouldn’t have such familiarity with these matters…”
How would a foreigner newly come to Winterheim know its fashions? And how much could the eye of a Grand Duchess who had never done such a thing possibly be worth?
The words she did not voice seeped through the silence all the same.
“If you should need assistance, please do say so. I would be delighted to be of help to you both.”
Belia studied the Grand Duchess’s face carefully.
Her violet eyes were certainly clear and transparent, yet for some reason her thoughts remained impenetrable.
It felt as though she were looking down from a perch atop Belia’s own head.
“Since we’re on the subject, would it be alright if I offered one recommendation? I think this color would suit the Grand Duke particularly well…”
Belia smiled brightly and held out a sample fabric to the Grand Duke.
No one in the social circles doubted her eye.
It was an opportunity to display her discernment before the Grand Duke.
But then.
“Your farewells are lengthy.”
In that instant, Belia’s hand froze in mid-air.
The Grand Duke’s eyes, softened by the Grand Duchess’s touch, had grown sharp again.
And he did not even look her way.
As though granting her a glance was too tedious.
“I beg your pardon? I…”
Belia flushed with embarrassment and withdrew her hand.
She had thought that if she showed interest, the Grand Duke might find it subtly pleasing—but now shame sealed her lips.
“My dear, your kindness is appreciated, but today is meant to be a time for my wife and myself. Perhaps we can speak another time.”
A time for the two of them alone.
The words drove into her mind like a spike.
“…Of course, Your Highness.”
“However, if you concern yourself so greatly with selecting another woman’s husband’s attire, you may well invite misunderstanding. It would be wise to take care.”
Belia fixed her smile in place, then bent her knees slightly before turning to go.
“…I shall remember that, Your Highness.”
For a moment she stood in silence, then bit the inside of her cheek and withdrew.
The Grand Duke neither looked at her nor spoke.
……
A displeasure so acute it made her skull ache vibrated through her.
A time for the two of them alone.
Another woman’s husband.
It was a line drawn as though the Grand Duchess saw straight through her.
‘A tool must be handled as a tool.’
Yet he was treating such a woman with such gentleness, allowing her by his side, while she—she who knew her station—was the one being made to look the fool for presuming to claim him.
A chill of malice flickered through Belia’s eyes.

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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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