That Piece Of Trash Was Me - Chapter 88
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 88
* * *
“When did you become able to walk?”
“You haven’t needed the wheelchair since two days ago, right?”
“But why did you keep riding in it?”
There were adult circumstances you wouldn’t understand, Leon.
Have you ever heard of public opinion warfare?
I said with a gentle smile.
“Because I felt like it.”
“Wow, look at this girl. She really did use me as her personal horse.”
Even as he said that, Leon Frazier couldn’t take his eyes off me.
I was also quite pleased with my appearance.
‘As expected of Tulia.’
The word “beautiful” alone didn’t suit her.
Just as there are poisonous potatoes among potatoes and venomous spiders among spiders.
Tulia was the strongest poisonous beauty in this world.
“But why a bright red dress?”
Well, today.
Because I plan to decorate this banquet with the blood of a few people.
…Instead of saying something so ominous like Tulia from , I gave the real reason.
“The plum blossoms are blooming beautifully on Statis Plain, aren’t they? That’s why I wore it.”
“…What?”
Leon Frazier made a puzzled expression as if asking what on earth that meant.
“Half of that was a joke, and the biggest jewel I have is this red ruby.”
In Tulia’s jewelry box, which had been full of all sorts of low-quality cheap jewels, there was oddly one top-grade red ruby necklace.
I didn’t know about it at first either.
I was just rummaging through Tulia’s jewelry box to dispose of it when I accidentally pressed a button inside the mirror, and a hidden space from the very back popped out.
What was hidden inside was this ruby necklace.
‘Did the old Tulia hide it away?’
Of course, the family’s treasure vault was full of precious artifacts that wouldn’t be lacking even if presented as a kingdom’s treasure.
But most of those necklaces would have been ones that Aubrey had eagerly handled, so I didn’t really want to wear them, and this ruby necklace I found like a secret reward was very much to my liking.
It happened that the dress Adel brought was a red dress that matched well with the ruby necklace, so I wore it right away.
By the way.
‘This guy really is a male lead after all.’
And quite a popular, no, overwhelmingly popular male lead at that.
Leon Frazier’s appearance was impressive even setting aside personal feelings.
Neatly swept black hair.
Eyes that blended green and blue like a green island embracing the sea.
Perfect features and a gorgeously dressed formal outfit.
As expected of a male lead being a male lead.
Leon Frazier was like a perfect sculpture calculated meticulously down to the smallest detail.
Even his jet-black hair seemed to be nothing more than a symbol of passion, which was simply amazing.
‘Of course.’
Tulia was prettier.
Tulia was the prettiest.
At least that’s how it looked to my eyes in the mirror.
‘Ugh. But how do I ask this guy to dance?’
That’s right.
I was still a slave to the Quest.
Ding!
When I checked the Quest after a long time, text immediately appeared.
Sub Quest Content: Master of the Banquet
You are trash!
You have no money, bad luck, and are hated by everyone!
(Except for one person) No one loves you!
Sub Goal: Dance with ‘Lisian Frazier’ and ‘Leon Frazier’ at the ‘banquet’
Success: ???
Failure: -10,000 coins
But it wasn’t as utterly hopeless as when I first received this Quest.
To be honest.
‘I feel like Leon Frazier and I have become quite close lately.’
Bickering is only possible when there’s some friendship.
I had a strong conviction that if I asked Leon Frazier to dance, he would probably grumble or maybe laugh at me, but would eventually dance with me.
‘What on earth could the success reward be?’
Now I was just too curious about that question mark part.
I closed the Quest window and asked Leon Frazier, who was still looking at me.
“Oh right. But why did you come to my room?”
“What? Wow…”
Leon’s voice sounded incredulous.
I could hear the employees including Adel quietly laughing behind me.
What? Why are you all laughing without me?
“Why are you laughing?”
“Lady Tulia.”
Adel said in an affectionate voice, still unable to completely wipe away her smile.
“What do you think it means when a gentleman visits a lady right before a banquet?”
“He’s not a gentleman though?”
“Ah, seriously! Hey!”
Finally, Adel couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.
The same went for the personal physician and assistant butler who had been reading the mood.
“Ugh, really… Turn around, turn around.”
Leon started to roughly run his hand through his hair as usual, then belatedly became conscious that he had dressed up carefully for today’s banquet and lowered his hand.
The lowered hand was extended in front of me with a snap.
“I came to escort you, okay?! Lady Tulia!”
“Aha!”
* * *
There were an enormous number of people at the banquet.
‘That hunting competition was nothing compared to this.’
Even though we opened the widest hall, it felt hot.
Despite it being winter.
It was worth hanging thick curtains made of deliberately bright-colored fabric.
We could ventilate by opening the large windows slightly, while the thick curtains provided some insulation.
‘Plus, the cream-colored Botani wool-lined fabric makes the hall look brighter.’
People attending such large banquets, regardless of gender, always dress in their finest clothing.
That’s why the hall absolutely must be bright and cheerful.
That way, the expensive dresses, jewelry, hats, and gloves they bought can be seen even better.
Showing off.
Flaunting.
The host of a banquet has a duty to support their guests’ desires.
Thanks to this, the hall sparkled like a midday lake.
I was lost in admiration watching the colorful dresses and glossy suits.
“His Grace the Grand Duke is arriving!”
When the servant standing at the door shouted loudly, the hall instantly fell silent.
The orchestra we had called in advance also appropriately lowered the volume and switched to gentle melodies.
At times like this, I would truly realize that I was in a different world.
‘How fascinating.’
Grandfather, who had climbed onto the prepared platform, slowly looked around at the nearly hundreds of nobles.
“Thank you for coming to my birthday banquet.”
Though it was a brief greeting, many nobles’ eyes sparkled, hoping to hear more of Grandfather’s words.
This is why power is important.
‘If he had received gifts too, they would have piled up tremendously.’
We might have had to open another hall.
Today was Grandfather’s birthday banquet, but not a single gift came from outside.
Because that was the Frazier family’s tradition and unspoken rule.
No gifts are accepted on the head of the family’s birthday.
Otherwise, various vicious cycles would have occurred as people brought bribes to curry favor, which was one of Coriko’s inner monologue lines in .
After witnessing all these nobles firsthand, I came to empathize even more.
“Everyone, please enjoy the banquet.”
A little while after Grandfather stepped down from the platform.
Sweet melodies began to resonate.
Pairs of nobles came out onto the floor and began dancing joyfully.
‘By the way, Tulia is so dazzlingly beautiful.’
The Grand Banquet Hall had several long mirrors hanging on the walls, reaching from floor to ceiling.
These mirrors served as decoration while making it easy for attending guests to quickly check their appearance.
Thanks to this, Tulia’s figure occasionally reflected in the mirrors was indeed so radiant that even I could see she needed no lighting.
‘Ah. So dazzling.’
But not a single man asked Tulia to dance.
Really, not even one.
“….”
Even though I had somewhat grasped the Grand Ducal House’s power by now.
Even though I had changed my image considerably.
Despite all that, Tulia was still a wallflower.
In , ‘wallflower’ was called ‘wall crystal,’ and ‘belle of the ball’ was called ‘crystal of high society.’
I liked that term.
‘It was funny because it was like a wall lamp.’
And I thought I could avoid being a wall lamp now.
I had received the Gloria, and rumors had spread everywhere that I was receiving Grandfather’s favor.
But Tulia is still a wall lamp.
But Tulia is me.
Oh, damn it….
A wall lamp.
I’m a wall lamp!
‘I guess the rumors about gaining power are useless in the face of tremendously accumulated infamy.’
Besides, does Tulia have a gentle impression?
No matter how beautiful she was, if she smiled even slightly wrong, she looked like a nine-tailed fox about to steal someone’s liver, so no man approached easily.
“…”
Thanks to this, my dance card dangled empty.
Leon Frazier had temporarily left my side because a noble who was like a mentor at the Academy was attending.
Lisian had also been called away completely because of a flood of greeting requests from the Elders.
‘Hmm.’
I realized anew.
The fact that it had been quite a while since I stood alone as Tulia.
I suddenly had a reasonable suspicion that Tulia in had deliberately picked fights everywhere out of loneliness.
Because there were descriptions that Tulia in the game was always a wallflower in the Grand Duchy.
So whenever she was bored, she would pour wine on fellow nobles and constantly trigger quarrel events with Coriko too.
Suddenly, I remembered a scene from inside the game.
The day when Coriko had established herself enough in the Grand Ducal House and was hosting Grandfather’s birthday banquet.
Since it was a game with many choices, you could directly choose decorations too, and among them was this choice:
-What flowers would you like to choose to hang on the walls?
1. Roses
2. Lilies
3. Tulips
If you clicked option 3 to choose tulips, you could see an event where Tulia gets imprisoned.
That choice was a blatant insult to Tulia, so with her personality, she wouldn’t stay quiet.
‘You could see an illustration of Tulia being dragged away by soldiers while trying to pour wine on Coriko….’
Swallowing the nostalgic game memories, I looked around, and surprisingly….
‘There are quite a few Frazier wallflowers?’
Sophia Frazier too.
And Sandra Frazier, the daughter of Belladonna, the mistress that Grand Count Nigella brought in.
Both were standing by the wall like me, either talking with their followers or sipping champagne.
Their eyes were busily rolling around meanwhile.
‘They seem to be looking for Lisian and Leon.’
That was right.
There were two unmarried men with the highest status in this Frazier Grand Duchy.
Namely, Lisian and Leon.
So those two had an obligation to dance at every banquet they attended.
‘If this were the Imperial Capital, the twins would have to start the first dance.’
The Grand Duchy had slightly different high society customs from the Imperial Capital, so it wasn’t that strict.
But wanting to dance with the most handsome and outstanding gentlemen at a banquet was a desire that any lady of the Briyang Empire would naturally harbor.
So Sandra Frazier and Sophia Frazier always asked the twins to dance.
As Fraziers attending Grandfather’s birthday banquet, the twins, who couldn’t very well refuse to dance, always accepted their dance requests.
‘Normally, it would be more proper for Tulia and the twins to dance.’
Tulia in was someone who ignored customs, so she always just stood by the wall glaring at the dancing twins with terrifying eyes.
“Tulia?”
Just then, a voice reached my ears.
For a moment, I almost mistook This World for being Inside a Movie rather than Inside the Game.
Because a stunning beauty that could deceive the world was dazzlingly radiant right before my eyes.
“Wow, Lisian….”
Incredible, truly Coriko’s real male lead.
Lisian, dressed as magnificently as Leon Frazier, had somehow approached and was now standing beside me.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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