My Past Life is Riddled With Many Sins - Chapter 52

“No, but I don’t understand why you are doing this. There’s a root cause to this situation. What if I say no? What if Darien keeps confessing? If I keep rejecting, but he keeps confessing? This will only end when Darien decides to give up. So wouldn’t it make more sense to go directly to him to resolve this?”

The fan brigade exchanged looks. The most elaborately adorned fan wielder, presumably the leader, spoke up.

“How do you think we should resolve it?”

“Go to Darien and talk to him frankly. Tell him it’s disappointing. He shouldn’t be confessing to such a girl; it lowers his stature. He should withdraw his confession. Look around—his destined match might be right next to him. Something along those lines?”

Regina gave sincere advice, hoping the fan brigade would go and create a fuss for Darien to retract his confession.

“We can’t say that to Darien! How embarrassing.”

“Don’t be embarrassed, senior. Courageous women win the handsome men.”

“Is that a saying?”

“Yes. It’s a saying left by the Great Empress Yekarna.”

While Yekarna had never said such a thing, Regina was ready to sell off her past life’s dignity if it meant she could survive.

The leader of the fan brigade brightened.

“If it’s her words, I can trust her! She was known for her love affairs!”

“Exactly. The legendary flirt who touched and got tired of all the handsome men and even reached out to the ladies!”

“Words from the top expert in that field must be right.”

Watching the fan brigade readily agree with her, Regina felt conflicted. Things were going according to plan, but what an image Yekarna had in people’s minds…

If anything else, it’s not true that she even touched a woman. Yekarna is an irredeemable flirt, but she has always touched men.

The reason she took Mary Batusha as a concubine from a baron family, had its own story.

‘With the dead unable to speak, there’s no way to clear up these misunderstandings.’

Regina swallowed the bitter laugh rising in her throat. Adding one more piece of incorrect information to her already tarnished reputation didn’t seem to make much of a difference.

“But are you really not interested in Darien?”

The fan brigade’s leader sent a piercing look as if intent on uncovering the truth. Regina suppressed another sigh and replied.

“Senior, do you know the three things a woman should be wary of in life?”

“What are they?”

“Alcohol, gambling, and handsome men. They cloud a woman’s judgment and impair her ability to think logically. That’s why I’ve decided to stay away from all three in this life.”

Her sage-like demeanor left the fan brigade baffled.

Why did this junior…. sound like an old sage who had been through life’s trials and tribulations? Why did she emit the aura of a weathered adult rather than the freshness of youth?

“Seniors, take note. It’s natural for a woman in the prime of her youth to be drawn to handsome men, but if you don’t want to end in disaster, remember it should just be a brief flirtation.”

The fan brigade realized this junior’s mindset was overly mature, maybe even a bit stale. Staying with her might make that staleness contagious.

“So, you’re saying you’re not interested in Darien? Understood. We’ll leave you be then.”

Following their leader, the fan brigade left. Watching their retreating figures, Regina muttered a silent cheer.

“Go, fan brigade.”

Go and confront Prince Iskanda…

“Fan brigade, huh? That’s an interesting name.”

Startled by the sudden voice, Regina froze. Turning her head toward the sound like a rusty gate, she saw Darien smiling slyly.

Why are you here?

Watching her fluster, Darien added as if observing an interesting specimen.

“I know someone who’s terrible at naming things. She once built a library for her lover and just named it after her. Know what she called it? Just her name.”

Regina understood immediately. He was talking about the Mary Library.

“Really straightforward, right? Just like ‘Fan Brigade’.”

“Ha, ha.”

While trying to suppress her awkward laughter through controlled breathing, Regina looked for a way to escape the situation, but nothing came to mind immediately.

“You seem to have quite interesting values for this life. Planning to keep away from handsome men?”

“Ah, well, that’s… yes.”

“That seems like a good plan. No need to surround yourself with many handsome men.”

Darien agreed surprisingly easily, which made Regina suspicious of his intentions.

“But maybe just one would be okay?”

“What?”

“Couldn’t you make an exception just for me? Huh?”

As Prince Iskanda’s hazelnut eyes softened, his voice took on a sweet tone that caught Regina completely off guard.

Humans are visual creatures, and Regina was no exception. Her heart wavered momentarily, but fortunately, her reason quickly intervened.

“You said I didn’t have to answer right away, but this kind of pressure is a bit much, senior.”

“I didn’t mean to pressure you, but sorry if it felt that way. However, I have to try to win you over if I want you to accept my feelings. It seems like you might be a bit weak for my face.”

Knowing her from their past life as her spouse, he understood her all too well.

Yekarna had indeed been unable to resist beauty. Why else would she have so many concubines and lovers? But that was all in her past life as Yekarna. Regina firmly shut her eyes and then opened them to speak with resolution.

“There’s no need for that. I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in dating you.”

He was silent for a moment.

“Then I’ll be going now.”

Regina didn’t wait for him to respond and quickly left the spot, half-running in case he decided to follow her.

What exactly is Prince Iskanda’s true motives?