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Chapter 9…………………………………………………
“Please stop. He’s still young, so you’re being too harsh. I’m really fine, honey.”
When Radian, who should have been receiving gratitude, said this instead, Iriot and Shan looked at her with bewildered expressions. However, Sylvia, still in Iriot’s arms, was just as dazed.
Seeing such a merciful scene, several nobles who had come out for a picnic took out handkerchiefs and dabbed their eyes. What a beautiful sight! A daughter-in-law covering for her sister-in-law’s flaws! Some even clapped from time to time.
“The Marchioness of Scanan truly has a kind heart.”
“Who could disagree? And that delicate figure of hers. That compassionate smile on her face is just like a saint.”
“She truly suits being the saint of the Kreia Empire.”
Poor souls mourning the loss of their saint. Radian pretended not to hear them and took out a handkerchief, gently wiping Sylvia’s eyes. Sylvia, realizing too many eyes were on her, slipped out of Radian’s arms.
“I… I’ll go wait in the carriage first.”
“Sylvia. There’s still more I—”
“Marquis Iriot! What a coincidence meeting you here.”
From behind, a man approached with a bright smile. Iriot seemed to have decided to be ruthless and was about to continue speaking to Sylvia, but at the sudden mention of his name, he turned around.
“Viscount Ginadion!”
“It’s been a while, my lord Marquis.”
The viscount Ginadion, with dark green hair grown to shoulder length and deep green eyes, approached right up to the picnic blanket and spoke to Iriot. Radian was surprised by his sudden arrival but silently observed him without showing it.
“How have you been, Viscount?”
“Ah, yes. Let’s go over there and talk for a moment.”
Perhaps finding the situation awkward, Iriot cut off Radian mid-sentence and led Ginadion toward the Duke’s picnic area. Ginadion, being pulled along, still managed to bow politely to Shann and Radian. They both returned the greeting courteously. Sylvia had already left toward the carriage.
“How could I ever forget that man?”
Radian stared straight at him. Viscount Ginadion Sese. The man who had been her husband’s lover—and her accomplice in her murder. Just seeing the two of them together made rage surge through her.
Yet Ginadion, wearing his signature charming smile, was cheerfully conversing with the Duke and Marquis. The Duke seemed to like him quite a bit. Birds of a feather—murderers understand each other, huh.
Radian turned her head away with that thought. Damn it.
As Radian frowned in displeasure, Shan seized the moment and began nagging her again.
“What did you do to make Iriot act like that?”
“Act like what? My husband was simply raised properly to respect his elders. Didn’t you teach him that, Mother?”
Shan was speechless. When had she ever taught him that? Still, it seemed better not to dig further into this. There must be a reason her son was reacting so sensitively.
Shan, after thinking deeply, changed the topic.
“A married woman dressing so extravagantly must have ulterior motives.”
“No, Mother.”
Radian, speaking indifferently, only glanced at the stone in her hand from time to time. Seeing her gaze fixed on it with such intensity gave Shan a vague sense of unease, but she ignored it and continued cornering Radian into the edge of the blanket, nagging in a low voice.
“If not, then from now on wear black or navy clothes. In my day, it was unthinkable for a married noblewoman to wear such flashy outfits at a picnic and draw men’s attention.”
“The world has changed.”
“Even if the world changes, proper conduct remains! With thinking like yours as the Marchioness, Scanan’s discipline will never be restored. Because of you, Sylvia is also having foolish dreams about free love.”
“Why are you so fixated on the past? Mother, do you want to go back to the days when people made clothes from animal skins? When you had to walk because there were no carriages, and eat rye or barley bread instead of white bread? The world is changing. We have to adapt.”
Shan was dumbfounded by Radian’s rebuttal. She was being completely outmatched in the argument, but she still had one thing she relied on: her status as a mother-in-law.
“You’re going to swallow up your mother-in-law soon enough! The proper way is to say ‘yes, yes’ to everything I say! Didn’t my son also tell you to respect your elders? Do you think I am beneath you?”
“No, Mother. Of course not.”
It was an endlessly tedious conversation—always circling back to elders and hierarchy. Shan pressed on more aggressively, while Radian half-listened, wondering if she should just get up. She felt like she had lost too much blood and should change the cloth, but Shan showed no sign of letting her leave.
“…Huh?”
Suddenly, Radian stared at the air in disbelief.
A juice bottle was floating in midair.
She blinked, rubbed her eyes, but it was still there—an opened juice bottle swaying unnaturally in the air. It was large enough that if it fell and hit someone’s head, it would be catastrophic.
For a moment, she even wondered if Beelzebuth had come to fulfill her wish.
She looked around, but no one else seemed to notice. The bottle stopped swaying, tilted, and then fell behind Shan with a dull thud. Startled, Radian stepped back onto the grass.
Shan, thinking she was afraid of her, became even more smug and approached her.
“L-Lady!”
“What is all this fuss about?”
Shan turned toward the maid who had raised her voice, only to notice the servant pointing at her dress hem.
When Shan stood up angrily, she felt something wet on her backside. Turning around, she saw it—her beige dress soaked in purple grape juice.
“Aaaah! Wh-what is this!”
The stain ran down her dress in a long purple streak.
You wench!
Shan glared at Radian, but Radian had a solid alibi, having been cornered the entire time. The target of Shan’s rage shifted instead to the servants.
SMACK!
“Aaaah! M-Madam… I’m sorry! Please forgive me!”
A maid was slapped hard, her face turning bright red as she bowed repeatedly despite having done nothing wrong.
The Duke, who had been enjoying his conversation with Ginadion, frowned at the commotion from his wife’s side. Shan had become an object of ridicule for the nobles. Murmurs spread everywhere.
What a disgraceful scene in such a place. First the daughter, now the wife. And the daughter-in-law breaking wine glasses. It was the worst picnic.
Finally, overwhelmed with embarrassment and irritation, the Duke stood up abruptly.
“Let’s end this gathering here!”
He strode toward the carriage. The servants quickly began packing up in silence.
Shan, unable to vent her anger, followed behind while biting her lip tightly.
“L-Lady, here is a blanket.”
The maids carefully tried to cover her.
“It’s because you all failed to do your jobs that I ended up like this!”
“Ahh, we’re sorry…!”
On the way back, Shan struck and pulled the maids’ hair in frustration. The servants could only apologize and follow.
Before boarding the carriage, Radian narrowed her eyes and looked toward the oak tree where she had seen a shadow earlier when the juice bottle fell.
The reason she had been able to escape at the perfect moment was because of that interference.
There had been a faint blue thread connected to the juice bottle—mana flow only visible to her eyes, those who could see mana.
A strand of silver hair had been glimpsed behind the tree.
“Michael… who exactly are you?”
Why was he helping her only after her regression? What were his intentions?
She decided she would investigate once she returned home.
“Lady, please get in.”
At the urging of the servants, Radian climbed into the carriage. With a shout from the driver, the carriage began to move.
Feeling the rocking motion, Radian thought her life would be very different from before.
“Oh my, miss?”
Radian widened her eyes as she entered the dining hall.
Sylvia was eating alone in the large dining room. Since the picnic incident, their relationship had grown distant. Sylvia coughed when she saw Radian.
“Cough… cough.”
“Miss, here—please drink some water.”
A maid quickly handed her a glass. After gulping it down, Sylvia finally wiped her mouth with her sleeve.
“Where are the others?”
“My father and brother are at the imperial palace, and my mother is bedridden.”
Radian nodded slightly and sat down.
The servants set the table: warm potato soup with croutons, soft white bread, fried eggs, salad, and fresh orange juice. Radian smiled.
“Thank you, chef. As always, you work so hard.”
“N-no, Lady. Just seeing you enjoy it fills me with joy.”
“It’s always delicious. I can’t help but enjoy it. Your cooking is the best.”
“Thank you so much. Would you like tea after the meal?”
“Peppermint, please.”
“I’ll bring it right after the meal.”
“Thank you.”
In the warm conversation between Radian and the chef, Sylvia’s expression twisted.
This is all because of you!
What she had thought would be a small incident had instead become widely known. The picnic incident had spread so much that she was now forbidden from going out until the rumors died down. All her tea party plans had been canceled.
Her mother was now bedridden out of humiliation.
And yet Radian was calmly chatting about soup with the chef.
Sylvia felt her anger rising. She wanted to hurt Radian—but Radian had become too sharp-witted, even able to outtalk both Sylvia and Shan. Any confrontation might backfire.
Then Sylvia smiled slyly, as if a good idea had come to her.
“Lady.”
“Yes, miss?”
“Did you know something?”
“What is it?”
She lowered her voice so only Radian could hear.
“My brother… before he married you, he was actually a womanizer.”
