Rewriting the Trash Ending - Chapter 53

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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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53.

After the Grand Duke departed.
The air that had hung motionless began to flow again.
It was the first social gathering the Grand Duchess had hosted since House Mobert’s downfall, so it was only natural the ladies were watching for signs.
“Everyone looks so grave. This is merely a place to become acquainted—there’s no need for such tension.”
Lumiere spoke with deliberate softness as she settled into her seat.
The ladies had all gone pale at the Grand Duke’s unexpected appearance, but Belia remained composed as always.
‘That woman has nerves of steel.’
She feigned consideration while mocking her discernment, flirted with her husband—as if nothing had changed.
To show her face here after being cast out took audacity she scarcely expected.
“Your Highness, what an honor to be invited to such a distinguished gathering.”
“I cannot tell you how delighted I was to receive an invitation to this tea. I have longed to call upon you sooner, and I do hope you will forgive my tardiness in paying my respects.”
Lumiere received even the greetings of those who had refused her Audience with an untroubled smile.
She could not open her heart to such women, yet to establish herself in society, she needed to display the generosity to embrace even them.
Just then Hannah approached and curtsied.
“Your Highness, the Oswald Countess has arrived.”
Lumiere rose from her seat.
“I asked the Countess to arrive late without overexerting herself, given my concern for her health. I do hope there was no misunderstanding.”
The Oswald Countess was a venerable pillar of society and its moral anchor.
Her arrival meant public acknowledgment of the Grand Duchess’s authority.
Lumiere stood to personally escort the Countess, who had shown her such favor.
She took the Countess’s arm as she entered, speaking gently.
“Thank you for coming despite my presumptuous request.”
“How could an old woman like myself be absent from Your Highness’s first tea gathering?”
The Countess smiled warmly, her weathered face creasing kindly, and settled into the seat beside Lumiere.
The ladies bowed in deference toward the Countess.
She was called the living history of society, so it was only proper to show her respect.
“Your Highness, with the ladies of the North, and the young noblewomen who shall lead society’s future gathered in one place, might this old woman presume to offer a word?”
“Please, speak freely.”
“Before long, a Severe Cold Period shall descend upon Winterheim.”
Even in this frozen land, there came a season of particular harshness.
“Will not the people need Your Highness’s compassion to endure that cruel time?”
Lumiere nodded in agreement.
She had already been thinking that something must be done to prepare for the Severe Cold Period.
“You speak truly. I have been worried about it myself.”
The Countess then swept her gaze slowly across the assembly and spoke with renewed force.
“Should Your Highness establish a Relief Fund Society, House Oswald shall be the first to lend its strength.”
“A Relief Fund Society, you say?”
At the mention of a fund, discomfort crossed the ladies’ faces.
Their willingness would be gauged by how much they contributed to a fund bearing the Grand Duke’s name.
It was, for all intents, a forced participation.
Yet.
“Will the Severe Cold not touch all of Winterheim, not merely the Grand Duke’s domain? To weather this difficult time together, all the people of Winterheim must shelter beneath Your Highness’s benevolence.”
At these words, the ladies’ discomfort gradually subsided.
The Countess meant for the Grand Duchess to oversee the fund, but to expand its benefits to all of Winterheim.
The contributions they made would return to the people of their own domains as well.
“As the Countess says, the fund shall be used for the people of all Winterheim.”
Lumiere smiled softly.
‘She said she would thank me with a gift, but I wondered what she could possibly offer.’
So this was the gift the Countess had spoken of.
The head of the fund could decide at her discretion when, where, and how much of the collected funds would be spent.
And if she were to establish a relief fund with all of Winterheim as its beneficiary?
Her influence would extend not merely to the Grand Duke’s domain, but across all of Winterheim.
‘If I had raised the idea of the fund myself, the nobles would have called me greedy for their purses.’
But with the Countess stepping forward in her stead, she could avoid the resentment of the nobility who would otherwise have been coerced into participating.
It was truly a kindness she had not anticipated.
“How could one refrain from participating in such a worthy endeavor? Should Your Highness set her will toward this, I too shall stand with you.”
“Indecisive as I am, I too shall contribute to the fund.”
Of course.
Whatever their true thoughts, they all stepped forward with courteous smiles, pledging their contributions.
Then I must graciously accept their goodwill.
As she nodded with a gentle smile, the Countess spoke in a low voice.
“…Lumiere, I fear the long carriage ride has left me somewhat unsettled. Might I impose upon you for a brief walk to clear my head?”
“Let us walk together. Take my arm.”
She took the Countess’s weathered hand and addressed the assembled women.
“Since the Countess is feeling unwell, we shall take a short walk and return shortly.”
She could not entrust the elderly woman who had journeyed so far for her sake to anyone else’s care.
How long they walked, she could not say.
The Countess opened her mouth, her voice soft.
“Do you find this old woman’s gift to your liking?”
“It is more than generous. You have given me precisely what I needed most.”
Thanks to her, Lumiere could now secure both the authority and the funds to relieve the people without bearing any taint.
The Countess chuckled warmly as she spoke.
“It is nothing compared to what I have received.”
The Countess placed a hand over her heart and continued.
“You returned to me the precious memories of my youth. That alone was a gift worth more than anything else. And more than that—you said there is no curse.”
……
“You will stand by the Grand Duke’s side for many years to come. So this old woman wished to leave her mark beforehand, as it were.”
Lumiere smiled gently, moved by the Countess’s sincerity, and clasped her wrinkled hand in return.
Just as she and the Countess were returning to the conservatory after their quiet conversation, it happened.
‘What is this?’
Belia was running her hands across the tabletop, searching desperately.
What sort of situation was this now.
“Belia, what is the matter?”
“My ring has gone missing. That is strange—I am certain I left it on the table…….”
She rummaged through the handbag in her lap, and when she could not find it, her eyes darkened and she caught her lower lip between her teeth.
“What has happened?”
At Lumiere’s question, Belia’s eyes grew red-rimmed as she spoke in a small voice.
“Lumiere, forgive me. I left my ring on the table, but it has suddenly vanished.”
A ring would surely be of considerable value, yet to lose it so unexpectedly was troubling.
The memory of what Belia had done at the last Audience Ceremony surfaced in her mind, and a chill crept over her.
“Might you have dropped it on the floor?”
Belia glanced at the floor for a moment, then shook her head.
“It does not appear to be there. What shall I do? It is my grandmother’s keepsake—I cannot afford to lose it…….”
As Belia murmured with eyes glistening as though tears were about to spill, the women too began searching through their surroundings for the ring.
A grandmother’s keepsake.
A precious thing that must not be lost.
“The truth is, I dropped some food on the floor a moment ago, and a servant cleaned it up for me…….”
Belia trailed off, her eyes flicking toward the conservatory entrance.
Following that gaze, Lumiere turned her head to see a servant holding a tray, who had just begun to leave, now frozen in startled bewilderment.
Ah.
In that instant, the sudden certainty flashed through her mind: Belia’s ring would emerge from that servant.
“Now that I think of it, that servant did clean up around Belia’s feet just moments ago.”
“Should we not search him?”
Unlike the women who remained silent, watching Lumiere’s expression, the thoughtless young noblewomen whispered softly among themselves.
‘How tiresome.’
A theft had occurred at an event hosted by the Grand Duke’s wife?
Moreover, if the culprit was a servant of the Grand Duke’s Palace, the mistress’s competence would inevitably come under suspicion.
If the household was run by a mistress who hired thieves, guests would have nothing but theft to worry about whenever they visited.
‘…The Grand Duke warned me about this before he left. Did I truly have to invite another incident?’
Her temples throbbed.
Now she understood why her husband worried over her as though she were a child left unattended by the water’s edge.
Whatever she did, incidents seemed to erupt without fail.
“You there—come here.”
Lumiere gestured to the servant who stood frozen, unable to move either way beneath the weight of all eyes upon him.
The servant hesitated in fear for a moment before stepping forward to stand before her.
“D-did you call for me?”
“May I examine the tray for a moment?”
“Yes? Of course.”
The attendant held out the tray, his expression clouded by fear and bewilderment.
She turned over the used napkin delicately, this way and that.
“…….”
As expected.
Beneath the crumpled napkin lay a ring—unmistakably Belia’s.

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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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