The Regret Novel Female Lead with Unbreakable Mentality Chapter 79

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As the flower of high society, Shabel was writing a small booklet titled <A Lady’s Guide to Society>. It was something she prepared as a gift for the ladies in her social circle. As usual, Shabel was chatting with her close friends, gathering information to include in the guide, when the ladies brought up a new topic.

 

“Lady Cordelia’s recent activities have been quite intriguing.”

 

“Hm? Lady Cordelia? In what way?”

 

“She suddenly participated in the clock tower auction, you know? And apparently, she bought out everything from a single dealer.”

 

It was certainly an unusual event. Shabel was jotting it down with her quill when one of the ladies continued.

 

“Of course, everyone was curious about who had caught Lady Cordelia’s favor, so people started digging into who this dealer, W, actually was.”

 

“Oh my, who is it?”

 

“Well, don’t be too shocked. You know Assistant Wot, right?”

 

The young ladies’ eyes widened. They, too, had heard rumors about the assistant named Wot.

 

“Believe it or not, that person revealed the secret to curing Lord Neslan at the clock tower auction.”

 

“Oh, you mean Wot?”

 

“As expected of Wot, their potions are apparently quite popular. I heard they work wonders for headaches.”

 

At the mention of headaches, Shabel’s hand paused for a moment. She remembered someone who often complained of headaches. If it’s Wot, maybe they could help my fiancé, Marquis Berto.

 

But meeting Marquis Berto was a distant hope for her. Not long ago, she had tried to arrange a meeting, only to be flatly rejected.

 

[I’m afraid my headaches are too severe to meet. I’m sorry.]

 

Since being thoroughly humiliated at the Feast of Saint Gladius, Marquis Berto had been shutting himself away, avoiding not only society but even his acquaintances. He was even avoiding Celestine Green, whom he had prepared so ambitiously, after her lukewarm response. But now that she had found a promising remedy for his headaches, Shabel wanted at least to talk to Marquis Berto.

 

Fortunately, Marquis Berto didn’t turn away his fiancée when she came all the way to his front door. When the door opened and Shabel came face to face with Marquis Berto, she couldn’t help but flinch.

 

“I’m sorry for intruding. Marquis Berto, you really don’t look well.”

 

Pale skin and unfocused eyes. If someone asked whether her feelings for her disgraced fiancé had changed, she could honestly say they hadn’t. Yet, for some reason, her body kept wanting to retreat, and just standing there felt like an ordeal.

 

“Yes. That’s right. It’s all because of that damn Kalinos family. And that wretched woman, Giselle Florette, is partly to blame as well.”

 

Once, she would have only felt sorry for him, but now his appearance struck her as strangely unsettling. This is odd. Why does Marquis Berot feel so unfamiliar these days? No, unfamiliar wasn’t quite the right word. To be precise—Right, somehow, being near him feels unpleasant. But Shabel shook her head firmly herself. She found it strange to have such thoughts about Marquis Berto, the handsome man who had always loved her so dearly.

 

“Oh! Do you know what’s the latest craze in society these days?”

 

“A craze, you say?”

 

“It’s the goods from that assistant, Wot. Ever since Lady Cordelia Inferna participated in the clock tower auction, everything’s become so popular that you can’t get your hands on them.”

 

“Assistant Wot?” Marquis Berto frowned at the unfamiliar name.

 

“They say Wot sells headache medicine! I heard it re-really works.”

 

“Unfortunately, no medicine works on my headaches.”

 

His cold reply made Shabel uncomfortable. Still, as his fiancée, she did her best to continue.

 

“But about this Wot, did you hear? They cured Lord Neslan’s incurable disease.”

 

“Cured an incurable disease?”

 

Seeing Marquis Berto show interest, Shabel felt a little happy and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, that’s right! Maybe there’s a way to cure your illness too, Marquis.”

 

She tried to explain gently while unfolding the notes she had taken for the society guide. But Marquis Berto snatched the note from her hand as if he couldn’t spare another moment listening.

 

“Assistant Wot, who cured the Former Duke Neslan Kalinos’s incurable disease, ‘Mana Infarction.’”

 

“…Yes.”

 

“They said Wot has honey-colored hair, didn’t they?” Marquis Berto let out a short, bitter laugh and muttered to himself. “So, the heavens haven’t abandoned me after all. Even if that idiot Giselle dares to defy me…”

 

For a moment, Shabel felt a visceral sense of disgust and blinked. The way Marquis Berto was obsessing over Giselle was so disturbing that it sent a chill down her spine. I was actually going to mention that Cordelia and Giselle seem to be getting along better these days, but now I just don’t want to say anything.

 

“Well, I’ll be going now. I hope you get well soon.” Shabel decided to leave in a hurry. She had wanted to talk more with him after so long, but for some reason, she couldn’t stand to stay there any longer. It was a stark contrast to how she used to wait for him with longing when he was away at sea. That felt as if the world she knew was changing.

 

* * *

Meanwhile, the men of the Kalinos family had gathered together for the first time in a while. It was all because Duke Inferna had coaxed Neslan into coming to the racetrack. Neslan, who’d found it boring at first, was now completely absorbed in the race, clutching his ticket for horse number one.

 

“If I win big in this race, I’ll have to give my daughter-in-law some pocket money.”

 

“You keep bringing up your daughter-in-law. It’s like seeing your old self.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Back when you married Madam Yuliana. Don’t you remember?”

 

“…”

 

“You used to be such a cold man at first, just like Duke Kalinos is now.” Duke Inferna glanced sideways at the man beside him.

 

“You mean my wife?”

 

“Hmm? We were talking about Madam Yuliana, weren’t we?”

 

“I thought you mentioned Giselle.”

 

“Oh ho. Looks like someone’s been thinking about his wife quite a lot.”

 

At that moment, the ever-clueless Count Teren clapped his hands and chimed in. “Brother, come to think of it, I’ve noticed this for a while now. You tend to bring up Lady Giselle out of nowhere, even when it’s off-topic.”

 

“Me?”

 

“Yes! Even today, while we were talking about Mother, you suddenly brought up Lady Giselle, just like that!”

 

Only then did Duke Kalinos bother to look directly at Count Teren, who had been an afterthought until now.

 

Count Teren beamed and nodded enthusiastically. “Brother, did you know? When people fall in love, there’s this side effect. They can’t help but mention the person all the time. Hahaha.”

 

Duke Kalinos ignored him completely and turned his gaze back to the racetrack. The only reason he kept mentioning Giselle lately was that she was acting suspicious, nothing more.

 

Just then, Count Teren pointed off into the distance. “Oh? Is that Lady Giselle over there with some man I don’t recognize?”

 

In that instant, Duke Kalinos found himself rising to his feet before he even realized it. “Don’t tell me that b*stard—”

 

Count Teren crossed his arms and shook his head. “No, Brother, it’s nothing. With your eyesight, I can’t believe you’d fall for that. Hahaha. Love really does make people fools, doesn’t it?”

 

Watching his brother tease him so smoothly, Duke Kalinos was suddenly struck by a fresh wave of emotion. Something like… annoyance. He raised his hand and gave his younger brother a flick on the forehead.

 

Count Teren’s eyes went wide in shock. It was the first time in about fifteen years that this had happened.

 

“Argh!”