Chapter 381

Outaishihi ni Nante Naritakunai!! Chapter 381

She and the Beginning of the New Commotion

“Haa… It’s regrettable…”

“It will be all right, Marianne. I’m sure you will meet a better person!”

“Q-Quite so. He was just not destined for you, Lady Marianne. You will certainly meet a wonderful gentleman right away!”

“Yeah, there’s no mistaking it!”

Everybody was desperately consoling the dispirited Marianne.

I felt sorry because it had been caused by my involvement, so I couldn’t abandon her.

◇◇◇

The curtain came down on the chain of behind-the-scenes commotions, and peace returned to us.

Duke Pellegrini recovered right away, and he now uneventfully works with his utmost effort.

Knowing their father’s true feelings, Will and Glenn returned to work with a complicated state of mind.

Brother is busy with final confirmations that no other nobles have been approached by Sahaja, but for now, there seem to be no such people.

Freed also returned to his usual work, and my days went back to the ordinary as well, but I had the most important job ahead of me. That is, consoling Marianne, who had fallen in love with Abel pretending to be Apollo.

Somehow, I made time to host a tea party. The people who came were Marianne and Char, who had been recently close because of the ‘Watching Over Association’. And also Tiris.

Tiris seemed to stay in bed for a while from the shock of her footman falsifying his identity and betraying her, but she’s recovered a little by now.

As she forced herself to smile like that, I prepared a lot of Japanese confections for today’s tea party to cheer her up.

I’d told her she didn’t have to come to today’s tea party, but she did her best and showed up, wanting to cheer up Marianne.

“Lady Marianne. I’ve heard that man was a sham. No matter how wonderful he was, a person who deceives others is no good. I can only think that it’s good that he was stopped before you could get hurt.”

“… Tiris.”

Tiris’s words were filled with power. Marianne finally showed a smile.

“Thank you, Lady Lidiana and everyone. However, I am not feeling particularly depressed. Or rather, I’ve already got over it. As Tiris said, I have no use for a sham.”

“Eh?”

Everyone looked at her blankly.

Not depressed? That can’t be. After all, hadn’t Marianne been sighing the whole time throughout this tea party?

Perhaps hearing everyone voicing that thought in their mind, Marianne made a little awkward face.

“I apologize. Um, it seems I have made you misunderstand. If I seem depressed, it’s for another reason.”

“Another reason? What do you mean?”

I stared at Marianne, since I’d been sure she had been lamenting not being able to see the man she’d yearned for ever again.

She placed her hands on her cheeks and shyly said.

“No, apparently the real thing appeared at the masquerade ball when that man was exposed as a sham. According to the person who saw him, the real thing was more wonderful beyond compare. I thought the fake gentleman was wonderful as well, but since the real thing outshone him, I want to see this gentleman by all means. I’m simply feeling disappointed that I haven’t seen him.”

“…”

Everybody consoling Marianne was rendered speechless by the unthinkable remark that she wanted to meet the real thing.

That’s Marianne for you.

It seems that the curious her, instead of feeling sad from having her heart broken (?), was sad from the bottom of her heart that she couldn’t have met the rumored man.

“… That’s Lady Marianne for you.”

Although Char drew back, she praised Marianne.

Tiris smiled and told her.

“I was actually feeling slightly depressed, but somehow, I feel cheered up after listening to your story, Lady Marianne. You’re quite right. There’s nothing pleasant about forever dwelling on what’s over. Looking at Lady Marianne, I’ve realized I also have to face forward to enjoy every day. Lady Marianne, thank you.”

“Ara? Why might you be thanking me for?”

Marianne, unaware of what she’d done, tilted her head. Looking at her, everybody broke into pleasant giggles.

―― I’m glad. Everybody is enjoying themselves.

I’m relieved that the Abel matter hasn’t dragged everyone down. While I was having such thoughts, Marianne told everyone with her eyes sparkling.

“Actually. This is a special piece of information, but the real gentleman apparently came for a particular woman. I’ve heard that while the sham was courting that woman, he gallantly appeared and snatched her away, and they disappeared into a separate room together. Afterwards, the venue was in an uproar with people gushing over those two. My acquaintance said they looked like they had an extraordinary relationship… Aah, just who might they be? I want to know their identity. I sincerely hope they will attend a masquerade ball again… I will try to participate in masquerade balls again then.”

―― Whoa.

My face twitched, and I broke into a cold sweat.

Marianne was without a doubt talking about me.

I remember unashamedly disappearing with Freed that night, but I never would have thought it would cause rumors. Or rather, I didn’t expect Marianne to hear about it. And what the hell is with gushing over us?

While feigning ignorance, I sincerely thought.

―― I must make sure that it doesn’t get exposed.

If it did, I’d be in for a hard time.

While participating in conversation with the disappointed Marianne and the interested Tiris and Char, I only wished for the topic to quickly change.