The Circumstances of Being Chosen as the Villainess’s Favorite - Chapter 68
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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 68
Meanwhile, after remaining silent for quite some time, Lady Claudius asked,
“Do you really have to go that far?”
She asked me with a sulky expression.
I answered firmly.
“Yes.”
“…Fine.”
In the end, Lady Claudius let out a deep sigh and threw up her hands in surrender.
I quickly continued.
“Then I’ll return all the dignity maintenance fees I’ve received so far through my lawyer.”
“What?!”
At my words, Lady Claudius jumped up from her seat like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
“Don’t you know who I am? I’m Lady Claudius!”
Lady Claudius got angry again.
“I have my dignity as a lady, would I take back such pocket change?!”
…Setting aside the fact that she called what amounts to about 50 million won in Korean currency “pocket change.”
I smiled bitterly.
“I think settling this matter cleanly is part of becoming true friends.”
“T-true friends?”
“Yes. True friends.”
I put strength into my voice.
For reference, Lady Claudius is somewhat weak to the word ‘friend’…
“I want to share a long friendship with you, Lady Claudius. So I want to settle this matter clearly.”
“I, I also.”
Lady Claudius, softened by the words ‘true friends,’ pouted her lips and muttered.
“I do want to stay close with Lady Ansi for a long, long time…”
“Then could you please follow my opinion on this matter?”
After contemplating for a long while, Lady Claudius finally shook her head from side to side.
“Do whatever you want.”
“Thank you.”
I smiled brightly.
Then Lady Claudius asked me with a sullen expression.
“Still… I can give you gifts occasionally from now on, right?”
Having started that way, Lady Claudius subtly avoided my gaze and muttered.
“I, I want to be good to Lady Ansi. Lady Ansi is…”
Lady Claudius, who had been moving her lips for a moment, squeezed her eyes shut and finished her words.
“…my closest friend.”
Somehow my heart felt touched.
I answered readily.
“Of course. I’ll gladly accept them.”
Only after hearing my definite answer did Lady Claudius look somewhat relieved.
But that was only for a moment.
Lady Claudius looked at me with a strangely sulky expression, glaring at me in a way that wasn’t unpleasant.
“But, how long are you going to keep calling me Lady Claudius?”
“Pardon?”
“You know. Friends usually call each other by nicknames.”
Huh?
I became a little confused.
At the same time, Lady Claudius subtly avoided my gaze.
She fidgeted with her fingers and continued speaking.
“…Lady Lopez also calls Lady Ansi ‘Lari.'”
The tips of Lady Claudius’s ears turned bright red.
“So… I also, I mean.”
But Lady Claudius couldn’t easily continue her words.
I blinked my eyes.
‘Oh, could it be?’
On behalf of the hesitating Lady Claudius, I opened my mouth.
“Um, Lady Claudius.”
At my call, Lady Claudius subtly raised her head.
Toward Lady Claudius, whose face had turned completely red, I lightly shrugged my shoulders.
“As you well know, Lady Claudius, my nickname is Lari.”
Then I smiled with my eyes.
“If it wouldn’t be uncomfortable for you, would you also call me Lari from now on?”
At that moment.
Lady Claudius’s face brightened like the sky after dark clouds had cleared.
After moving only her lips for a while, Lady Claudius carefully called my nickname.
“Lari.”
“Yes, Lady Claudius.”
Lady Claudius smiled brightly.
It was a radiant smile like pure white roses blooming in clusters.
“Lari knows my nickname too, right?”
Of course I knew it.
I had heard Lord Claudius call Lady Claudius by her nickname every time.
After hesitating for a long time, I carefully spoke Lady Claudius’s nickname.
“…Evangeline.”
What was so special about just that.
“Yes!”
Lady Claudius nodded her head with her eyes sparkling like stars.
Watching that sight, I somehow felt my heart growing warm.
But then.
Knock knock knock.
The sound of knocking echoed.
At the same time, Lady Claudius frowned deeply and glared behind her.
That look was, how should I put it, like air hissing out of a balloon that had been fully inflated?
“Ah, what is it! The mood was so good!”
Lady Claudius made a deflated face and got irritated.
“Come in.”
Click.
The door opened.
The person who appeared beyond the door was, unexpectedly, Lord Claudius.
“What, why did you come here, brother?”
Lady Claudius pouted her lips with an unpleasant expression.
“Really, you’re no help at all.”
Whether Lady Claudius grumbled or not, Lord Claudius only looked at me with worried eyes.
“Lady Ansi, how are you feeling? Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Really, it was nothing at all…
Feeling like I had made a fuss over nothing, my face belatedly grew hot.
Then Lord Claudius politely suggested.
“Then please join us for dinner before you go.”
Just then, the sun was slowly setting outside the window.
Well, it was time for dinner anyway….
“Huh? Brother, did you eat something wrong today?”
Just then, Lady Claudius asked with her eyes wide open.
“Usually you say you’re busy with work and tell us to send meals upstairs, don’t you?”
“We have a guest today.”
Lord Claudius replied without batting an eye, then urged me again.
“How about it? You’ve come to our townhouse after such a long time.”
Honestly, to call it ‘such a long time’ when I’ve been coming and going so frequently?
I felt a bit bewildered.
“Oh right, that’s true.”
At the same time, Lord Claudius casually added.
“Today’s dessert is apple pie, which Lady Ansi is said to enjoy.”
Ah.
For a moment, I was stunned.
‘…I didn’t expect Lord Claudius to remember my tastes.’
Previously, when Lady Claudius was ordering a tea pot set.
She had mentioned asking the chef to make apple pie for me.
He had remembered that.
Somehow my face grew hot, so I nodded while subtly averting my gaze.
“Then… I’ll gratefully accept.”
“Very well. I’ll inform the chef in advance.”
Lord Claudius elegantly lowered his eyes.
“Please rest comfortably. I’ll send someone when dinner is ready.”
Click.
The door closed.
I stared blankly at the closed door.
Seraphina’s destined man.
The male protagonist of this world, who would someday fall into a passionate love with Seraphina.
Even though I knew that fact well.
…I couldn’t stop my heart from fluttering.
* * *
“Today, Lady Ansi will also be joining us for dinner.”
Dietrich immediately conveyed the message to a maid.
“Since it’s been a while since we’ve had a guest, make sure the meal preparation is perfect.”
…A guest after a while?
To say that, when Lady Claudius calls for Lady Ansi two or three times a week?
But since there was no particular reason to argue about it, the maid obediently bowed her head.
“Understood.”
After the maid left.
Dietrich stroked his chin with a strange feeling.
‘Why did I go looking for Lady Ansi myself?’
Actually, he could have sent a maid to invite her to dinner together.
But Dietrich had gone to find Larite directly.
Because.
‘I was concerned.’
That soaking wet appearance kept bothering him.
It strangely irritated him to see Larite in such a state.
He was worried she might catch a cold and wanted to check her condition directly.
Of course, Lady Ansi was Evangeline’s one and only friend….
‘Is that simply all there is to it?’
Because he owed Larite a debt?
For saving Evangeline from getting drenched?
Countless reasons swirled in his mind, but none of them felt convincingly clear.
“….”
Dietrich narrowed his eyes.
His world had always been clear.
Right and wrong, likes and dislikes were definite, and there were no confusing points at all.
However, ever since getting involved with Larite….
‘This is rather strange.’
For the first time, Dietrich found himself difficult to understand.
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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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