Chapter 40

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: Chapter 46

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She wondered if she should step forward and explain herself, but given the heated atmosphere, it seemed it would only fuel more suspicion.

‘But...’

Turning her back and pretending not to know felt terrifying—the backlash would come crashing down like a storm.

It was at that moment, as troubled Luciana hesitated, unable to tear her feet away.

“This Spring Festival is invalid. Who else but that lady could possibly suit the Goddess of Spring?”

“?!”

Richt’s voice suddenly cut through the crowd, overwhelming the entire gathering in an instant.

It was little more than a mutter to himself, but it lodged firmly in the ears of the unguarded Luciana, the dumbfounded Louis, and even the nobles passing nearby.

“Gasp!”

“Heavens...!”

What did I just hear...?

The noisy surroundings erupted into chaos in the blink of an eye.

In the Spring Festival, which doubled as the season’s second marriage market, the impact of a young, handsome, titled bachelor’s words was immense. And this was no ordinary noble—he was the pinnacle of the Cassio ducal house, none other than Duke Cassio.

As if that weren’t enough, his deeply furrowed expression proved his words were sincere, fanning the flames of the crowd’s excitement and gossip.

“Sis, Luciana?”

Louis, recovering his composure first, called out repeatedly to the rigidly frozen woman beside him, but no answer came.

They said that when something too absurd happened, your eyes and ears went dark? Luciana heard nothing but the ringing in her head filling her mind completely.

Deborah, today’s protagonist, was right there nearby, yet people’s attention swiftly shifted to the two radiating a strange tension.

“For the duke to say something like that! Those two must definitely be lovers!”

“What? Lovers? Duke Cassio?”

From nobles buzzing with pure excitement,

“But Lady Leslie, of all people!”

“Exactly! I thought there was no connection at all between her and Duke Cassio.”

to those harboring strong doubts about why it was Luciana and not Deborah.

People’s gazes turned to Deborah all at once, as if by prior agreement.

No one gathered here was unaware that she had long harbored feelings for Richt. Deborah had been fervently devoted to him.

Of course, his attitude toward her had remained consistently cool, but didn’t love sometimes bloom even between sworn enemies?

In fact, not a few had watched with shining eyes, anticipating that Richt’s icy heart might soon thaw, sprouting a firm love any day now. With her violet eyes curving gently and her sweet smile, she was utterly lovable—no one could hate her.

“Ah...”

And that fragrant young lady wiped the smile from her face—her pride—and stood trembling, utterly stunned.

His declaration that he couldn’t accept her as the Goddess of Spring must have struck her hard.

Even all the cold shoulders she’d endured hovering near Richt wouldn’t have hurt as much as this.

Deborah felt the countless pitying gazes upon her in that moment. Having plummeted into the role of the heartbroken heroine in an instant, she couldn’t stem the tears welling up and clamped a hand over her mouth.

Oh, how tragic.

The crowd’s sympathetic stares, like those for an abandoned beast, stung her skin sharply.

But what was even harder to bear was something else. He didn’t spare her a single glance amid her sorrow, too busy watching another woman’s reactions. His heartlessness tore at her most painfully.

“Sob...!”

It was a side of him she’d never seen even once.

Unable to bear looking at this utterly unfamiliar Richt any longer, Deborah finally fled in tears.

“Oh no!”

“Oh... my goodness.”

The onlookers sighed in pity for her.

As her pitiful retreating figure faded, their sparkling eyes snapped toward Luciana in unison, as if on cue.

Had Deborah’s pathetic tears ignited some dormant sense of justice?

The nobles, their eyes now sharper, began chattering like busybodies without missing a beat.

“How on earth did she capture the duke’s heart?”

“Seduction? That’s too obvious.”

“So she’s been hiding impure intentions behind that innocent facade all along?”

My, my.

A lady hid her expression behind her fan, her eyes narrowing slyly with lewd interest.

She had merely been caught up in a one-night mishap.

Yet somehow, Luciana had become the shameless thief who’d stolen another’s prize.

That spot wasn’t yours to begin with, was it?

Their gazes, brimming with blatant distrust, all seemed to ask as much.

Thump, thump.

Luciana pressed a trembling hand to her chest.

Her heart pounded so wildly she feared it might burst.

Like someone had grabbed her by the hair and dunked her in ice water, all color drained from her face in an instant.

The insidious whispers circling her mind were slowly driving her toward the cliff’s edge.

“Ah...!”

Her vision blurred for a moment.

“Hey! Lucy!”

As Luciana staggered, her face ashen, Louis—looking alarmed—rushed to support her.

“...Let’s get out of here first. Can you walk?”

Louis eyed Richt, who had approached but halted, then silently moved his feet.

He didn’t know the full story, but distancing her from the duke seemed the way to calm her. He had plenty of questions for both of them, but her well-being came first.

“You look dizzy. It’s a long way to the carriage... Want me to carry you?”

No response came.

Luciana’s ears still rang with nothing but that murmur, now growing louder as it dredged up long-forgotten pains.

“Ugh...”

Of all the memories.

Luciana recalled the incident she’d buried deep in her subconscious and let out a short breath.

“How could you do this?”

Her best friend’s voice, demanding angrily.

“Acting all innocent to my face, you crazy bitch.”

“W-what are you talking about? Why would I ask to meet your boyfriend?”

“It’s disgusting, so shut up! I don’t even want to hear your filthy excuses.”

The friend who’d endured grueling college life with her spat those dagger-like words and stormed out.

Overnight, she’d become the shameless girl who stole her friend’s boyfriend.

When the guy was the real culprit.

“Sorry, but I’d prefer if you didn’t text me every night.”

Despite her repeated rejections, he even showed up at her one-room apartment.

She’d ignored him at first, pretending not to be home, but with his stubborn persistence, he kept lurking nearby whenever he could.

In the end, she had no choice but to face him. All she’d done was meet him once, out of unbearable frustration, just to reject him outright.

But was the mere fact of meeting him privately the issue?

Not just her closest friend, but classmates and club seniors and juniors too.

No one believed her innocence. They all seemed to see her as the type who’d do such a thing.

Was human trust this shallow? They all turned their backs like flipping a pancake, as if by agreement.

Where had it all gone wrong? Why had the rumors twisted so badly?

The school forum buzzed with her story for a good while.

She wanted to scream that it was all lies, that she’d done nothing wrong—but knowing no one would believe her, her lips stayed sealed.

In the end, she wrapped her face in a hat and mask and submitted her leave of absence form.

Whether misfortune or fortune, she died in an accident just one day before resuming school.

“Your face is completely drained.”

“...I’m fine. Just startled for a moment.”

Once, it had felt like the whole world was condemning her.

But time healed all wounds, they said. By taking a break from school and starting anew as Luciana, she’d gradually shaken off those painful memories.

She never imagined they’d resurface like this.

Was it because the situation mirrored that time? In that instant, the eyes staring at her felt just like the thorny gazes from her past life.