The Reason I Got Engaged to My Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 69

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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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Episode 69

Someone who spends twelve hundred gold on a poetry book? …Here she was, right here.

I covered my mouth with my fan and looked toward where Seria was sitting.

‘…Why is she acting like that?’

Seria was glaring at me with a fierce expression.

She hadn’t participated in the auction even once until now, but it seemed like she was trying to steal it away just because our side showed some interest in the poetry book.

I felt like I was experiencing what Chris went through when he struggled desperately to obtain one of Justin’s paintings while competing with Seria at the auction house…

“Duchess Arviente has offered fifteen hundred gold.”

Sophia didn’t care and immediately wrote a note to send to Mrs. White. Her face was burning with competitive spirit.

And so began the battle of wealth between the two ladies.

“This time, Viscount Shartinez’s Daughter has…”

“The Duchess has…”

“The Young Lady has…”

“The Duchess again…”

Everyone watched the podium in silence, mouths shut at the amounts that kept rising relentlessly over a mere poetry book.

Among them, Esther, who had submitted the poetry book herself, looked the most anxious as she muttered.

“Um, I… d-do you really need to go this far…”

Right. In truth, it wasn’t something worth buying at such a price at all.

Unfortunately, that extremely rational donor’s words didn’t seem to reach the ears of the two ladies at all.

“…And so, the poetry book donated by Princess Solbiet has been sold for three thousand gold.”

Finally, the poetry book went to Sophia for an amount that could buy a house in the capital.

It was a natural result. Even in an atmosphere of ‘you’re nobility, I’m nobility too,’ the Obern Empire was a place where the gap between ducal families and the families below them was very large.

Moreover, Seria was unfortunately someone who had that idiot Louis Chartinez as her real brother, and I heard the marquess family’s financial situation had worsened recently.

As soon as I made eye contact with Seria, I blinked my eyelids conspicuously as if to show off.

Seria silently bit down hard on her lower lip.

The charity party ended successfully.

“I really saw the Duchess in a new light.”

Yudite said with a chuckle.

It wasn’t just Yudite who thought so – as soon as the auction ended, ladies approached Sophia with excited faces to greet her.

She was already a powerful noblewoman from a ducal family who would be good to befriend, and unlike what was known, she didn’t have a sharp and sensitive temperament, so it was natural that the ladies rushed over as if they had been waiting.

“…Well, yes, I suppose.”

Sophia seemed reluctant, but she appeared happy to finally engage in the social activities she had secretly hoped for.

“Well, I have some business to attend to, so I’ll be going, Mary. If you get bored, take a walk in the garden over there. The flowers are really beautiful these days.”

Yudite waved her hand lightly and disappeared into the interior of the viscount’s mansion.

While Sophia, who had spent a whopping three thousand gold on the poetry book, was going through the donation procedures, I was quietly waiting for her in a corner of the party venue.

As Yudite said, I was getting bored, so taking a walk wouldn’t be bad.

The garden was a bit much, but it would be nice to stroll around near the party venue and leisurely look around the viscount’s mansion.

‘Speaking of which, Princess Chartinez…’

Right after losing the poetry book to Sophia, Seria’s expression had been bad the whole time.

At first, I thought it was because her pride had been scratched.

But during the continuing auction, her complexion grew paler and paler, then she suddenly disappeared.

I wonder if there was some special circumstance. I was wondering about it belatedly when.

‘What’s this?’

Something hard was stepped on under my shoe.

I tilted my head and picked it up.

‘Hmm, surely not…’

Did I just step on a holy relic?

I held the glittering object up to the sunlight, examining it from various angles.

It was a hand mirror with ornate decorations, and the religious order’s emblem was drawn semi-transparently on the mirror’s surface.

‘Why is this here?’

Of course, borrowing holy relics wasn’t impossible.

But only people with clearly guaranteed status could borrow them, the procedures were incredibly complicated, the rental fees were expensive, and there weren’t really any uses for them, so opportunities to see them were rare.

‘Is it something belonging to the White Marquess family?’

Since it was an object inside the viscount’s mansion, I should probably hand it over to a servant here.

“That…!”

Right at that moment, I looked up at a sound that sharply cut through the air.

Seria was there, her clothes disheveled as if she had been wandering around somewhere.

Seria rushed over and snatched the holy relic from my hand.

“…?”

I was about to ask if it was the young lady’s item when I stopped.

There was something strange about Seria’s eyes.

Definitely…

‘They were red.’

Originally, Seria’s eyes were the same green color as Louis’s.

But what was that red light I saw in the brief moment when Seria took the holy relic?

Seria’s appearance of hastily hiding her face right after snatching the holy relic proved that I hadn’t seen it wrong.

Soon after, Seria raised her head again to look at me.

Eyes with their usual pale green tint.

“Why, why are you touching other people’s things without permission?!”

…?

I frowned at the absurd scolding.

She should have not dropped the holy relic here in the first place…

Seria fidgeted with the holy relic as she spoke.

“Don’t go around telling people you saw this here, understand? If you do, I really… won’t let it slide.”

It was a menacing voice that even seemed to show killing intent, but I replied calmly.

“Oh my, then I should definitely go around telling people about it. My fiancé happens to know many people in the religious order.”

To reveal her own weakness without even being asked.

And if she was going to ask me not to tell anyone about it, she shouldn’t have made a fuss about why I was touching other people’s things in the first place.

“Young Lady, really…!”

Seria flared up.

I didn’t care and tilted my head conspicuously.

“Can’t you take a joke?”

“…”

“Try drinking some herbal tea. I heard it’s good for calming emotions.”

Seria couldn’t say anything and trembled with her whole body.

Once upon a time, there was a period when just encountering Seria made me uncomfortable.

But now I knew.

‘It’s nothing now.’

The one who should hide isn’t me, who was hurt, but you, who caused the hurt.

I walked gracefully toward Sophia, who should have finished her donation by now.

***

The next day.

The naval base was particularly lively today.

The reason was simple.

Right away….

“As expected! It’s so good after waiting for it.”

It was because they had received the perfumed gloves they had reserved some time ago.

The sailors who had reserved gloves from Semapelaz smiled bashfully as they repeatedly put on the gloves, took them off, and smelled the fragrance.

Among them, Melvin, who was particularly entranced by the gloves, quietly approached Ransel.

The corners of his mouth curved upward.

“Want to smell this fragrance?”

“….”

“Man, you don’t know how sturdy and nice these gloves are.”

“….”

“It was worth reserving them right away when our Miss Berry brought it up, really worth it.”

Ransel, who had been silently listening to the continuing story, was a proper adult who knew how to separate public and private matters, so he was able to smile brightly this time as well.

“Shut up, Melvin Edward.”

Ransel was the only person at the naval base who hadn’t received the gloves he reserved.

Only me, alone.

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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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