The Circumstances of Being Chosen as the Villainess’s Favorite - Chapter 107
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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 107
It was bound to become dark. And for good reason, as soon as news of the charity party spread.
“I heard that this time, High Priest Evans entrusted Lady Lopez with planning the charity party?”
“My goodness, the two of them must be quite close.”
“Don’t you think they make a perfect match?”
Such rumors were spreading like wildfire.
From what I found out, those rumors were true.
Thanks to her friendship with High Priest Evans, Seraphina’s reputation, which had once fallen, soared sky-high.
“What could her ulterior motive be?”
I frowned and muttered to myself.
After pondering for a moment, Lady Claudius suddenly threw her arms around my neck.
“Well, I’m not worried since I have Larit.”
“Me? You mean me?”
“Of course. No matter what schemes Lady Lopez pulls, I already have my best friend.”
Lady Claudius declared confidently, then rubbed her cheek against mine with a beaming smile.
“I don’t care about reputation at all.”
“But, Lady Claudius.”
I patted Lady Claudius’s back as I continued.
“Wasn’t the reason you wanted to restore your reputation in the first place because of the reduction in your dignity maintenance allowance?”
“Ah.”
It seemed my words hit the mark.
Lady Claudius froze like a cat with its tail standing straight up, then lifted her head stiffly.
“Hey, why would I care about that now? I have someone I need to look good for.”
Then she glanced at me with a mischievous look.
…Wait, why is she looking at me with those eyes?
Regardless, Lady Claudius rested her chin on my shoulder and stared intently at the invitation in her hand.
“But, Larit.”
With her gaze fixed on the card, Lady Claudius asked a question.
“What exactly is this event called ‘November’s Brightest Star’?”
I pondered over the contents of the invitation.
[As light entertainment, we wish to select November’s brightest star.
If you donate items, we will put those items up for auction.
All proceeds will be used as charitable donations.]
‘What? This is just a rose game!’
I refilled Lady Claudius’s empty teacup with hot tea and asked back.
“By any chance, Lady Claudius, do you know about the rose game?”
“Ah… I’ve only heard the name.”
The rose game.
It was a light game with romantic undertones played at mixed-gender social gatherings.
Usually, ladies would put up small items for auction like paintings they drew themselves, embroidery, or fans they normally carried.
Gentlemen would bid on those items at auction.
Then, with the proceeds, expensive gifts would be distributed to everyone who attended the gathering.
If a lady had a fiancé, it was customary for the fiancé to purchase her item.
This game also became a kind of pride battle among the ladies.
The reason being…
“After all, it’s an auction, right?”
I shrugged indifferently.
“By seeing how much money gentlemen bid on which lady’s item, you can gauge how much interest that lady receives from the gentlemen.”
“Oh ho, so that’s how it works?”
Lady Claudius nodded with a face full of curiosity.
For reference, the winner of the rose game was always Seraphina.
For just one handkerchief that Seraphina put up, Gregory bid enough money to rent the Soiree Hall for a day.
Oh, what was I doing during all this?
While watching Seraphina and Gregory’s lovey-dovey display,
‘Wow, that handkerchief is really pretty! Both of them have excellent taste!’
…I was saying things like that.
For reference, Gregory didn’t even participate in bidding on my items, let alone bid money on them.
Ha, my past self.
Did you really need to live so pathetically?
As I briefly chewed over my bitter past, I glanced at Lady Claudius from the corner of my eye.
‘If only our Lady Claudius had attended social gatherings, someone like Seraphina wouldn’t have stood a chance!’
For reference, Lady Claudius had never participated in such games in the first place.
She hardly ever attended social gatherings.
Yet she still reigned as a celebrity of high society and the most splendid rose.
Just how pretty, elegant, and lovely must our Lady Claudius be…!
While I was burning with passion for Lady Claudius.
“Hmm, so to summarize.”
Lady Claudius narrowed her eyes and asked me a question.
“It’s a game that shows the measure of how much interest a lady receives from gentlemen. Something like that, right?”
Gasp.
I, who had been gushing internally, suddenly snapped to attention.
And for good reason.
‘Whenever Lady Claudius comes out like this, something always seems to happen, doesn’t it?’
Lady Claudius muttered in an ominous voice.
“Then we can’t back down either.”
“Pardon?”
This feels dangerous?
But Lady Claudius was already fired up…
“Larit, what are you going to put up?!”
“Well… I haven’t thought about it yet.”
I answered somewhat awkwardly.
Hmm. Since they’re borrowing the format of the rose game, it’ll probably become a bit of a pride battle, right?
“You don’t have to put up auction items. It would be better to just donate money instead…”
“No way!”
Lady Claudius firmly shook her head and her eyes sparkled brightly.
“This is a challenge.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s obvious that Lady Lopez planned this event to show off her popularity!”
Hmm, that makes sense.
Seraphina wouldn’t plan such an event without any calculation either.
At the very least, she would have found a man who would buy her item at a high price.
That person would most likely be High Priest Evans.
‘However, there’s no need for us to play along with that game, is there?’
If we substitute with donations instead of putting up auction items, there would be no need to be compared with Seraphina.
But somehow Lady Claudius seemed to think differently from me.
Lady Claudius made a mischievous expression and firmly grasped my hand.
“I want to be just a little~ bit spiteful.”
“Pardon?”
“You’ll help me, right?”
“Pardon?”
“Of course, it won’t harm the charity party. It would be better if it actually benefits it.”
Since I couldn’t follow Lady Claudius’s conversation at all, I kept repeating “Yes?” over and over.
Lady Claudius’s smile grew a bit deeper.
“Huhu, huhuhuh, huhuhuhuhuh…”
What is that sinister smile about!
No, what on earth are you thinking?
But then.
“Miss Larite.”
Amy, who had approached with quick steps, handed me a letter.
I looked up at Amy in bewilderment.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a card sent under the name of House of Claudius.”
“Huh? But I’m right here.”
Lady Claudius also looked this way, not knowing what was going on.
“Someone from our family who would send a card to Larit other than me… Oh, could it be?!”
At that moment.
Lady Claudius whipped around to look at me with mischievous eyes.
“Is it our brother?”
“…”
I deliberately avoided Lady Claudius’s piercing gaze and opened the envelope.
Even so, the reason my mood was lifting was.
‘Come to think of it… this is the first time Lord Claudius has written me a card directly, isn’t it?’
The card was densely filled with writing.
‘Ah.’
I gently traced the sentences on the card.
‘So this is Lord Claudius’s handwriting.’
The letters were slightly slanted, and the characters were long and elongated vertically.
It was the somewhat cursive handwriting characteristic of someone who does a lot of paperwork, but that made it feel even more elegant.
“What are you doing, Larit?”
After staring blankly at the card for a while, I snapped back to attention at Lady Claudius’s sarcastic voice.
“Are you having a staring contest with the card?”
“No, no I’m not.”
I quickly lowered my gaze to the card.
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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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