The Circumstances of Being Chosen as the Villainess’s Favorite - Chapter 57

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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 57

Seraphina desperately suppressed the anger that was boiling up inside her.

The moment she lost her temper here, everything would fall apart.

Everyone would condemn Seraphina as being overly sensitive.

They would mock and ridicule her for losing her composure, trampling her into the ground.

So even if her feet were on fire, she had to pretend to maintain the most relaxed expression and attitude possible.

“Speaking of which, I heard Lady Ansi has been attending the Watkins Reading Group with Lady Claudius recently?”

‘Watkins? That bookworm gathering?’

Seraphina raised one eyebrow.

Wasn’t that the very gathering that she herself, as well as the members of ‘Peony,’ had subtly looked down upon?

But when Lady Claudius’s name was added to that gathering.

“My goodness, I want to go too!”

“Reading, how intellectually appealing!”

That reading group was instantly elevated to a gathering that everyone ‘desperately wanted to join.’

And that situation became a sharp arrow, shooting toward Seraphina once again.

“By any chance, wasn’t Lady Lopez invited this time either?”

…Why are they suddenly bringing up that topic?

Seraphina felt an ominous feeling.

And that feeling proved correct.

“Well, I’ve decided to attend starting from the next meeting.”

Lady Sanchez, who had been forced to become second-in-command of the ‘Peony’ social gathering due to being overshadowed by Seraphina.

She triumphantly held up an invitation to the Watkins Reading Group.

“Actually, I wasn’t particularly interested before, but Lady Claudius has been quite active in high society lately, hasn’t she?”

Lady Sanchez smiled sweetly with her eyes.

“I really want to meet Lady Claudius at least once, and my mother and Countess Sherwood are close friends. So I received an invitation through my mother this time.”

“Oh my, I’m so envious!”

“I really want to go too. Could you somehow invite me later as well?”

The ladies of the gathering each looked at Lady Sanchez with envious expressions.

“Of course. What is friendship for?”

Lady Sanchez shrugged her shoulders and gazed at Seraphina with eyes full of triumph.

“Oh, just in case, let me mention this beforehand. Lady Lopez might be a bit… difficult.”

“…”

Seraphina’s gaze turned coldly dark.

Lady Sanchez pretended to be cautious while scratching at Seraphina once more.

“After all, we have to consider Lady Claudius’s feelings. You understand, don’t you?”

“Don’t worry. I never had any intention of asking for an invitation in the first place.”

Seraphina smiled beautifully like a lily in bloom.

“That would be rather… childish, wouldn’t it?”

Of course, Seraphina had once asked Larite to invite her to the Salon at the Claudius Estate.

But Seraphina tried to erase that memory and put on as much bravado as possible.

“Rather, I’m curious about Lady Sanchez’s intentions.”

“My intentions?”

“Of course. I never even thought of asking in the first place, so why are you making such a point of targeting me?”

Actually, the best response would have been to end it at ‘childish, wouldn’t it?’

But Seraphina was so irritated that she added one more comment.

“Oh my, were you perhaps hurt?”

Lady Sanchez didn’t miss the opportunity and widened her eyes, painting Seraphina as a petty person.

“I was just trying to be considerate in case Lady Lopez might misunderstand. I’m sorry if I offended you.”

“Lady Sanchez, that’s…”

“How should I put it, I was worried you might feel somewhat isolated.”

Lady Sanchez smiled brightly.

“I forgot that Lady Lopez is such a noble person. Of course you wouldn’t need such trivial invitations… I made assumptions.”

Although her voice was as soft as down feathers, the content was full of thorns.

“You’ve been particularly quiet today, so I was worried that perhaps your feelings were hurt. I guess I was mistaken.”

“…”

Seraphina kept her smiling face while gritting her teeth.

‘I made a mistake.’

She shouldn’t have given Lady Sanchez any opening to find fault with.

‘…How irritating, really.’

If it were the usual Lady Sanchez, she wouldn’t have dared to chatter so freely, being too busy reading Seraphina’s mood.

But today she was leading the conversation in Seraphina’s place.

That itself was proof that Seraphina had lost control of this gathering.

Seraphina felt even more dejected.

“Speaking of which, hasn’t Lady Claudius’s atmosphere become a bit softer recently?”

“That’s right. She smiles much more than before too.”

“Before, it felt difficult to even approach her, but lately it’s not like that.”

“I happened to run into Lady Claudius recently, and she actually greeted me first.”

The ladies who once gossiped about Seraphina and Lady Claudius had flipped their attitudes like turning over their palms, now taking Lady Claudius’s side.

Moreover.

“Lady Lopez always said Lady Claudius was cold, so we thought that was the case.”

“That might have been our prejudice after all.”

…They even subtly pushed all that gossip onto Seraphina’s responsibility.

‘Endure it.’

Seraphina closed her eyes tightly and composed herself.

At least she still had influence in this gathering, so she had to stay attached as much as possible.

One of Seraphina’s biggest foundations was ‘Peony.’

For now, the best strategy was to consistently show her face at the meetings while looking for an opportunity to somehow push out Lady Sanchez.

She no longer had Larite to use, and the House of Lopez was too humble to provide any help.

Also, Gregory had been cold to her recently…

‘Gregory.’

Thinking of that name, Seraphina felt her breath catch.

And for good reason.

‘Lately Gregory seems to be avoiding me.’

Since the incident in the Southern Region, Gregory seemed to have completely lost interest in Seraphina.

Before, he used to visit Seraphina so often that the threshold wore thin, but lately his visits had completely stopped.

Unable to bear it any longer, when Seraphina finally went to visit Gregory herself.

“Sera, what brings you here?”

He clearly showed his lack of interest in Seraphina.

“Didn’t Larite come with you?”

…The devastation of hearing those words to her face.

And that wasn’t all?

He would seat Seraphina beside him, then become lost in other thoughts in a daze.

Or he would frequently leave Seraphina alone and step away.

If not that, then,

“Sera, have you heard anything about Larite lately?”

He would only ask detailed questions about Larite.

‘No, I must be imagining things.’

Seraphina clenched her fists tightly.

Just Larite attaching herself to Lady Claudius was already such a huge blow.

If she lost Gregory on top of that…

‘That absolutely cannot happen.’

She didn’t even want to imagine it.

* * *

The time when the sun was slowly setting.

The gathering finally came to an end.

“Today was really enjoyable, Lady Sanchez!”

“See you again!”

The ladies exchanged warm farewells.

Seraphina, who had remained until the very end, finally relaxed a little.

‘I need to go back and rest quickly.’

Having sat under the ladies’ piercing gazes all day, her entire body had stiffened.

Her lips, which had been forcing a smile, were almost cramping.

But then.

“Oh my.”

Covering her mouth with her fully opened fan, Lady Sanchez smiled with her eyes.

“Gusto Youngshik isn’t here today?”

“…”

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Seraphina swallowed nervously.

Lady Sanchez continued speaking while gently waving her fan.

“Usually, Gusto Youngshik would always come to pick up Lady Lopez.”

“…That’s.”

“He would even take care of Lady Lopez before Lady Ansi, his own fiancée, wouldn’t he?”

Lady Sanchez’s smile deepened slightly.

“Whenever I saw that, I thought ‘Lady Lopez is truly loved’— and I was envious.”

Having said that, Lady Sanchez looked Seraphina up and down with eyes full of mockery.

Seraphina felt her face burning hot.

Lady Sanchez snapped her fan shut with a sharp sound and shrugged her shoulders smugly.

“Well then, get home safely, Lady Lopez.”

And so the ladies disappeared, each boarding their family’s carriage.

Seraphina climbed into her carriage as if fleeing.

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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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