The Former Empress Roughly Hides Her Abilities - Chapter 11

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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 11】

The awkward atmosphere continued until the dinner table.

Vanessa, who had been glancing around nervously at the Duke, finally managed to pull up the corners of her mouth into a smile.

“I meant well by it. I hoped Rianel would find a good match and stability…”

Then she pulled Rupert, who was beside her, close and linked arms with him.

“I found peace of mind after meeting this person too. Rupert said the same thing. Right?”

When Vanessa lightly shook the arm she had linked with his, Rupert, who had been standing like a faithful wife waiting for her husband’s return, nodded like a manipulated wooden puppet.

The Duke’s eyebrows curved sharply.

“Do you think I asked that question because I wanted to hear such excuses?”

Vanessa’s barely managed smile instantly faded away.

“I… I think I was being thoughtless, Father.”

Normally, the conversation would have ended there.

But the Duke glanced sideways at Rianel and applied pressure.

“Is that all you have to say?”

The meaning of his look was clear. He meant for her to apologize to Rianel.

Vanessa’s pride was hurt, but she recognized reality and suppressed her emotions.

Vanessa had not yet married Rupert. She was merely here as a prospective daughter-in-law candidate.

At times like this, it would be dangerous to let the Duke think of her unfavorably.

She reluctantly bowed her head.

“I’m sorry, Rianel. I absolutely didn’t mean any harm by it. Can you understand?”

Though she was actually full of malice, Vanessa said this.

At the same time, she was thinking that if Rianel accused her of arranging only terrible people as matchmaking candidates, she would counter by bringing up how Rianel had brought people from the Tax Bureau and ruined the occasion.

But the response that came back was something Vanessa had never expected.

“That is not how the word ‘understand’ should be used.”

…What?

Rianel’s voice was calm, but that made it sound even more chilling.

“Understanding is a word used when conveying unknown concepts to someone or when you’ve realized the other person’s position that you didn’t know before. But there are no circumstances of yours that I don’t know, Young Lady.”

Thus began Rianel’s literature lesson. Vanessa stared blankly at Rianel like a student who couldn’t keep up with the curriculum.

“Since you committed the error of pursuing an engagement without my consent, Young Lady, it would be proper for you to ask for forgiveness.”

“I, I see. Will you please forgive me?”

“Forgiveness is something you ask for, not something you extort. Therefore, saying ‘please do it’ is not correct.”

‘Despicable liberal arts bastard.’

Vanessa truly felt murderous intent.

The only reason she didn’t glare at Rianel was because the Duke was present.

‘If you weren’t going to do it anyway, why did you bring up forgiveness first?’

When Vanessa clenched her fists where no one could see.

“Excuse me, Master. Right now outside…”

A servant’s voice was heard along with a knock.

After receiving the Duke’s permission to enter, he became flustered and hesitated upon seeing everyone gathered together.

Pushing past him, a small boy came running in.

“Please let me see the young lady quickly! I have to deliver this and go make other deliveries too!”

The boy, who appeared to be about ten years old, was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. But upon seeing Rianel, his face broke into a bright smile.

“You’re the one who ordered flowers, right? Just as you requested, I filled a whole bouquet with only dahlias!”

He held out the basket in front of Rianel as if having his homework checked.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Rianel handed him three silver coins.

“Thank you! Please come to us again!”

The boy quickly grabbed them, bowed, and ran out in a hurry.

After the brief commotion ended.

Vanessa looked at the basket.

Colorful dahlias resembling chrysanthemums were neatly arranged inside. A sneer appeared at the corner of Vanessa’s mouth.

‘How tacky, what’s with the flowers?’

Rianel responded calmly.

“Today is the anniversary of the late Duchess’s death, so isn’t it natural to offer flowers that she loved most to her grave?”

Vanessa’s expression hardened.

“Of course I understand. You’ve never paid respects to the Duchess before, Young Lady.”

Except for the funeral, holding time each year to honor and remember the deceased was the family’s responsibility.

Vanessa, who had not gained the Vincenheim name, could not yet participate in this event.

Rianel was pointing this out. Even using the word ‘understand’ that Vanessa had misused!

‘This girl?’

Even after suppressing her with perfect logic, Rianel spoke calmly.

“Now that all necessary items and attendees are prepared, let us go.”

Rianel’s thinking was simple.

Since her plan to meet with high-amount tax delinquents through Vanessa had fallen through, there was no reason to spend more time here.

“Let’s do that.”

The Duke nodded briefly. Rupert looked back at Vanessa, then casually unlinked his arm from hers. His touch was as cold and indifferent as flowing water.

He followed behind the Duke and Rianel without looking back.

Left alone, Vanessa bit her lower lip hard.

When she became Rupert’s fiancée and was about to drive Rianel away, she thought her time had finally come.

Rianel would get married someday, and she would remain at the Duke’s estate forever.

‘So I thought the winner would naturally be me.’

Reality was different.

To them, Rianel was ‘family,’ while she was merely an outsider and prospective daughter-in-law in this house.

Vanessa bit her lip even harder. The metallic taste of blood spread, but there was no one to notice her pain.

* * *

The family cemetery where the Duchess’s body was laid to rest was quiet.

It was natural since no one but family members ever set foot there.

Even the butler, who was the Duke’s confidant, only waited at a distance and did not enter the burial ground.

However, the atmosphere here was not heavy at all.

The sun had fully settled, brightly illuminating the tombstone, and the wind path was open so even moisture could not linger.

The bright and peaceful atmosphere, hard to believe for a gravesite, seemed to honor the deceased.

The Duke stood before the tombstone and murmured.

“I’m sorry, Lisa. For not keeping my promise to visit often this year too.”

The State Minister’s mask was removed before his beloved’s grave.

He smiled bitterly as if bringing out long-held regrets.

Rupert stood one step behind, silently watching his father.

His face, lost in silence, seemed to be mourning his mother, but also looked like someone dragged to the wrong place.

Rianel offered the dahlias she had prepared before the tombstone.

As the Former Empress, she had never met the Duchess while she was alive.

However, she knew that she had been a girl-like person who spent her childhood at the temple and was kind even to Rianel, who was a maid’s daughter.

And.

Perhaps she was someone who often smiled while looking at flowers.

Otherwise, she couldn’t have turned the Duke into a young man who knew longing.

“….”

The three people stood before the grave without conversation.

The gently brushing wind seemed to offer comfort on behalf of the deceased.

After a long while had passed.

The Duke spoke with his head bowed to hide his bloodshot eyes.

“Still, you came this year.”

His voice trembled, dampened with moisture.

Only then did Rianel realize this was her first visit to the grave in three years.

“Lisa would… be happy too.”

Though Rianel didn’t like the Duke, she knew it wasn’t right to show personal feelings at a place meant to honor the dead.

“…Yes.”

She silently nodded her head.

* * *

“Since you’ve visited the mansion after so long, have dinner before you go.”

Rianel had resolved not to argue with the Duke’s words, at least for today.

However, the moment she heard what followed.

“What reason is there for you to struggle so hard living alone outside? If you have any grievances against me, let them go and come back home.”

Even that resolve crumbled.

“I refuse.”

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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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