Chapter 4

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Her surroundings got louder, the masses crowding around Mianel, leaving Soo-in alone and separated from the group.

She couldn’t figure out how the current situation had happened.

Soo-in did not know why Mianel, who was looking at her present, had suddenly collapsed, or why it had the same output as the novel.

However, people could only guess that it was because of herself that Mianel fell, due to the atmosphere.

‘Is the ending in the novel unchangeable?’

Soo-in felt desperate while muttering. Her two hands were trembling faintly.

Beckinia defied Mianel in the past for always being loved by the men around her, so her lovers secretly cheated on her.

Then, knowing that her favorite, Raysid, had been dating Mianel, she raised the level more and more to harass her. Beckinia used her acquaintances around her to trouble Mianel.

But, as I said, I have no desire to be well with Raysid, or to harass Mianel.

So I never expected this to happen today.

I thought there would be no problem with giving her the original gift, a cookie, but even she felt uncomfortable and changed the gift with a perfume.

How could this happen?

“I didn’t know that Beckinia Young-ae was this much.”

“Who is it? In fact, Mianel Young-ae pretends to be too lofty, so I usually hold a little dislike for her, but this is really too much. How can you try to kill someone?”

Several young girls criticized Beckinia fiercely. They were all the ones who had just attacked Mianel just before.

She regretted, not saying anything in Mianel’s defense. It was because it was so unexpected at first, and now I know that doing nothing is useless.

“Beckinia Young-ae, I will not just go over this matter.” ‘

When Raysid spoke to Soo-in in a firm tone, she became convinced.

His actions have been inconsistent since he first sang Mianel’s name in a surprised voice.

He called in the attendant and ordered her to be taken to the doctor, and ended the party.

His voice was firm but stable, and his actions were calm. That attitude brought great tension to her. Soo-in, as if watching someone else’s work, was watching the scene blankly, then escaped, running away from the scene. But she still couldn’t escape the afterimage of Mianel who fell in front of her.

***

“My lady, this is a letter from the Duke of Ruishita.”

In the early afternoon of the next day, their maid brought a letter to Soo-in.

[Dear Beckinia Young-ae,

Sorry to make an abrupt request, but I hope that Young-ae will come to the Duke by 6 PM today. I look forward to seeing you soon.]

At first, Soo-in was embarrassed when a letter came from the Duke of Louisita, but soon found stability. It was because she suddenly recalled that the Duke was a character in the novel.

‘Surely, in the novel, the day after the party was held, a letter arrived from the Duke of Louisita, just as it is now.’

Mianel wakes up at dawn after falling down and eating her poisoned cookie.

And in less than an hour, he sends a letter to Beckinia and other young ladies who have participated in Mianel’s party, asking them to come to the Dukedom.

Since most of the stories in the novel are narrated from Mianel’s point of view, it was impossible to know exactly when Beckiana received the letter.

However, considering the distance between the two mansions, she must have recei ed a letter around this time. If so, her future was already set.

There will be no punishment for Beckinia. Mianel would say this to Beckinia as if she were a saint.

‘I think the situation has caused this misunderstanding. Nothing was wrong with what Beckiana gave me. So, I hope this doesn’t cause any understandings between us.’

After thinking so far, Soo-in sighed and ordered her maid, Rishi, to prepare to go to the Duke. Even after Rishi left, she still sighed. This is because she had no idea what to do with the events that had happened, or why they occurred.

Soo-in wasn’t able to clear up her mind until Rishi came to pick her up again.

First of all, she thought to let the incident go, as it happened in the novel.

Because, from yesterday’s events, the conviction that the situation could change if she intervened.

***

“Beckinia, I’ll take you this way.”

The Duke’s maid spoke to Soo-in in a dry voice.

The maid didn’t express it openly, but Soo-in at once could see that the maid was not friendly to her. She sighed in a bitter heart.

Upon entering, there were everyone except Mianel and herself. Soo-in was a little puzzled that they were all gathered, even though she hadn’t arrived at Dukeseong very late.

“Good morning.”

Soo-in gently greeted them. Then they also said hello to her one by one. She didn’t want to associate herself with them anymore, so after that, she followed their instructions and sat down. The seat closest to her seat was empty.

“Thank you for coming to me like this even though I couldn’t tell you in advance. I sent the letters in a hurry.”

After a while, the door opened, and Mianel stepped inside, greeting the seated people with a calm voice. As their gaze focused on her, Mianel bowed her head slightly towards them and moved to her seat.

As she sat down, amuse-bouche, which was adorned with raspberries, was placed on the table. The meal has begun.

The three amuse-bouches were beautiful, as if they were painted, but unfortunately, there was no time to fully enjoy them. The purpose of today’s meeting wasn’t because it was a simple dinner or a social gathering.

t/n: amuse-bouches are basically a french-dish, pretty much finger food, I expect that it’s a small form of a pastery? considering the raspberry is on top. if you want to do further research, the term in the raws was “아뮤즈 부쉬”, Amuse Bouche in french, and Amuse Bush in English.

[ insert pic of food, ill add it later lol ]

“Yesterday was a gathering to meet everyone after a long time, but the party ended suddenly that I felt a lot of regret. I think you all feel the same. So I designed this meeting to continue our talk, in the afterglow of yesterday’s party.”

Mianel’s words through the awkward atmosphere and felt exceptionally calm. As if trying to break this cold atmosphere, she had a pale smile that was not usually visible.

After listening to Mianel, many people looked at her face, but they didn’t speak up. Then, as if expected, Mianel drank a little of the water in front of me, and slowly continued to talk.

“Also, yesterday I suddenly collapsed and many people seem to be very worried, so I think I need to tell you about it, so I prepared this place.”

Those words made the audience a little fussed. This is because Mianel finally brought up the problem they kept in mind.

“I fell down for a while, but as you can see I’m fine. So, I have to be clear about this.”

In response to Mianel’s remarks, Soo-in knew what was going to follow, but without even knowing, she swallowed with dryness in her throat. Without delay, she broached the story behind it.

“It seems to be misleading because the time when I felt exquisite after I smelled the fragrance of the perfume that Beckinia Youngae gave me. In my judgment, Beckinia Young-ae has nothing to do with this case. No poisons or harmful ingredients were found in the perfume she gave me.”

Her words were quite determined. But contrary to her attitude, there was something sloppy about what she had just said, unlike her usual shrewdness.

There was no mention of why she fell.

“. . .Then, Mianel Young-ae, why did you suddenly fall down like that? To be honest, the time I had was so exquisite that I think nostalgia is the fault/”

Aftecoincidence Mianel’s words, the voices of the young ladies began to be heard between them, and one of them finally asked her a question.

“That is…”

For the first time, her unstoppable and resolute attitude was disturbed. She thought about what to say for quite a long time, and then opened her mouth very carefully.

“In fact, toxic ingredients have been found in my body. However, as I just said before, the perfume t hat Beckinia Young-ae gave me did not contain any such ingredients. So, in this case, its just a coincidenc e.”

However, the others in the room still seemed to be completely disagreeable with her words. There was a louder voice between them.

“I don’t know in detail, but I think I heard that some poisons disappear after a certain period of time after contact with air. Did you test the perfume right away?”

“So, in the end, isn’t there no conclusive evidence that Beckinia Young-ae didn’t?”

Soo-in quietly squeezed her hand while listening to the story. She had expected it, but she couldn’t grasp the atmosphere. The situation was getting worse and worse.

It was because Mianel made a clumsy excuse about Beckinia, not like her. In this situation, implicitly, the criminal was forced to become a prisoner. In the novel, she was greatly impatient, making sure that Beckinia was not punished for the events.

“Beckinia.”

At that time, Mianel, who was watching the situation, opened her mouth again. Soo-in noticeably hardened. With intense tension, she had for a momentarily forgotten that Mianel had something to say to Beckinia.

“Once again, I think the situation has caused this misunderstanding. Nothing was wrong with what you gave me. So, I hope this doesn’t get twisted.”

Upon hearing this, Soo-in quickly nodded, avoiding her gaze. As if passing by, her face was very bright.

However, the afterimage stayed in Soo-in’s head longer than expected. And at that moment, Soo-in felt very alien to Mianel’s appearance.

It is like she is like a theater actress acting according to a well-written script. I remember having a similar feeling yesterday. Neither then, nor now is there any convincing evidence for this doubt.

In other words, it was her brightly smiling face that didn’t fit well with the current situation, which made her doubt her integrity.

Maybe she just feared that her relationship with Soo-in would be broken, so she showed an excessively bright smile that doesn’t go well with the situation.

Something here felt that something felt strange. But at the same time, she didn’t feel that this thought was absurd. Soo-in carefully, but persistently, scanned Mianel’s face as if she was searching for something.

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*cackles with my evil pot of potions* like and comment or i’ll. . . turn you into a frog? *scratches chin*

I feel like our MC… is a lil’ dumb in the head. like hello? miss girl? just accept it, Mianel’s out to get you. But like—the fact that Soo-in inadvertently called Mianel’s acting “theater acting” KILLED ME. I’m excited for the tea to be spilled.

Also, I think that it’s possible that someone is possesing Mianel, just as Soo-in is possessing Beckiana? I honestly wouldn’t be suprised if that is the case. For example like her excuse of a friend that cursed her? mhm, idk if this counts as spoilers, but I haven’t read anything more than ya’ll are reading? so, yeah.

I love you all, please take care and stay safe. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, of course, far from perfect so please feel free to reach out and point out any mistakes!