The Villainess Who Accidentally Stole Their Hearts - Chapter 26
Chapter 13.2
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I wasn’t sure why Yusril had shown up at Ulysses’s birthday, but it worked out in my favor. Just in time, we arrived at an empty gazebo.
I sank into a chair and spoke up.
“When did I go looking for you? I was actually looking for the real Duke.”
“You found me, though.”
His quiet voice echoed in my ear. At the same time, a large hand rested on the armrest of my chair.
As the distance between us quickly closed, an unfamiliar scent mingled with my breath. It was a soft sandalwood fragrance, mixed with a heavy musk. I instinctively pulled back, but the chair kept me in place.
Trapped between him and the seat, I lifted my gaze.
“Desperately, for me.”
His eyes locked onto mine, holding me captive with their intense gaze so relentlessly that it almost felt suffocating.
‘That day, it wasn’t a mistake…’
His eyes, once a deep blue, now gleamed with an almost chilling clarity.
‘It’s the same.’
The same gaze I had seen long ago.
Or maybe in a distant future.
“Why did you come looking for me?”
…Because I wanted to survive.
Because I needed him in order to survive.
And above all—
“…Because you told me to find you.”
“….”
“You told me to find you, no matter what, and that I had to come to you.”
Before the regression, when my life force was being drained and I was on the verge of death, Duke Akelos had come to find me.
““Why are you in this state?”
“….”
“Why are you…”
He extended his hand toward my wrist, which was so thin and frail, like a fragile tree branch. The veins on the back of his hand strained, bulging under his grip. But as soon as his fingers wrapped around my wrist, his hold became as light as a feather.
“Find me. No matter what, find me. That way—”
He whispered as he looked into my empty eyes, where even despair had faded away.
He kept telling me to find him, to come to him, to reach him. It was as if he was trying endlessly to fill the emptiness inside me with his words.
“You can save yourself.”
He said to me.
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When I snapped out of my thoughts and turned back to face the Duke again, his gaze had already changed.
“Ah, haha, so… did you enjoy the meeting?”
Yusril asked with an awkward smile.
‘He’s completely different from the real Duke.’
I let out a sigh and made my way back to the party, heading straight toward Lady Bethril.
“Lady Bethril, may I have a word?”
“Oh my, I’m honored that the esteemed lady is speaking to me first. But what should I do? I’m just a humble person, not worthy of conversing with someone as distinguished as you.”
‘As expected, she really dislikes me.’
Most people didn’t like me, but Lady Bethril’s dislike was especially intense, even though we had no real connection.
“First, let me start with my side—”
“What’s going on?”
At that moment, Ulysses placed his hand on my shoulder and stepped in.
“…Lord Ulysses.”
While Lady Bethril lowered her head to Ulysses with a stiff expression, I frowned and responded curtly.
“It’s nothing.”
“I thought I heard raised voices, so I wondered if something was wrong.”
Lady Bethril didn’t particularly raise her voice at me. Instead, she smiled cheerfully, though her words were dripping with sarcasm.
“Lady Bethril, Nike is a dear friend of mine. At the very least, I’d appreciate it if you could be considerate of her on the day she came to celebrate my birthday.”
I stared at Ulysses, my mouth hanging open.
‘Why is he siding with me instead of his own lover?!’
Wasn’t this the reason Lady Bethril hated me? At the same time, a long list of Ulysses’s ex-girlfriends flashed through my mind. Even though I didn’t have any personal connection with them, many of the young ladies seemed to dislike me.
I thought it was because of Mikarin, but wasn’t Ulysses also a big part of it?
“Ah, forget it. I’m leaving.”
I decided it was best to leave, knowing that staying any longer would only make Lady Bethril angrier. Meanwhile, as if it were the most natural thing, Ulysses began walking alongside me.
When I glanced back, I saw Lady Bethril unfolding a small note.
The note I had secretly slipped to her.
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A few days later.
In a private room of a coffeehouse in the capital, three women who seemed like an unlikely combination were gathered.
“Did the daughter of Marquis Bethril come after receiving the lady’s invitation?”
The hottest designer in the capital at the moment, Belinda.
“I… I don’t have any connection with the lady, so I’m not sure why I was invited…”
April, a promising party planner who had even organized imperial palace banquets.
“How disrespectful. Inviting someone so busy and then showing up late…”
And lastly, the precious jewel of the Marquis of Bethril’s family, Selena.
Belinda, who had been uncomfortably observing the awkward encounter, noticed April’s headband and brightened up.
“Oh my, that headband is a new item from our store. It looks great on you.”
“Ah, my boyfriend gave it to me as a present. Hehe…”
“Really? Your boyfriend has great taste.”
“It’s nothing compared to your eye for style, Lady Belinda. I was really surprised when I saw the new piece from Athelan’s company in your shop.”
“Hoho, it was actually a gift from my lover.”
“Wow, that must’ve been really hard to get!”
“My boyfriend is somewhat capable. But Lady April, your boyfriend seems pretty impressive too. That headband was a limited edition.”
Huhu, huhuhu.
Hehe, hehehehe.
The two of them were laughing cheerfully when suddenly they stopped. Across the room, Lady Bethril, the marquis’s daughter, was staring at them intently.
“Ah, I-I’m sorry, Lady Bethril.”
“I apologize. I shouldn’t have said something so foolish in front of someone as noble as you…”
Lady Bethril shook her head as the two of them quickly lowered their heads in surprise.
“No, it’s just that, while I was listening, I… ahem.”
At the sight of her casually brushing her hair back with her left hand, revealing a large sapphire ring on her finger, Belinda, with her exceptional social skills, quickly feigned surprise.
“Oh? That ring! It’s gorgeous. Did your lover give it to you as a gift?”
“Hm, that’s right.”
“Wow— If he’s the lady’s boyfriend, he must be quite amazing.”
The three women, who had been joyfully talking about their boyfriends, glanced at their watches.
“By the way, Lady Delosif is quite late.”
“The lady isn’t exactly known for her manners.”
At Lady Bethril’s words, April and Belinda’s eyes sparkled.
“Honestly, I don’t want to make clothes for someone like her. Why should my work, which I worked hard to create, be displayed in the society section of the newspaper?”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to be in charge of the lady’s party either. It’s a good thing I haven’t gotten a request from her yet.”
“It’s all the lady’s fault. How badly must she have behaved for people to avoid her like this?”
At that moment, the door to the private room opened.
“Everyone’s here already.”
It was Nikaearsha Delosif.
Lady Bethril, disturbed from her rare moment of peace, asked sharply.
“Why is the person who called the meeting the last to arrive?”
The other two couldn’t openly go against the lady, so they expressed their dissatisfaction by slightly lowering their heads, about eighteen degrees.
Nikaearsha shrugged her shoulders.
“Wasn’t it better without me?”
“…I suppose that’s true.”
“The three of you must have gotten along really well.”
“…We did get along pretty well.”
Lady Bethril nodded with a pout.
Nikaearsha gave a faint smile.
“I figured you all must have similar tastes.”
She then nodded before continuing nonchalantly.
“Because all of you have the same guy as your lover.”
“…?”
When the three of them simultaneously exchanged looks as if to say, ‘Did I hear that right?’, Nikaearsha kindly repeated herself.
“Your boyfriend is juggling three relationships.”
“…..?!”
“…..!”
“…..!!”
It was the beginning of chaos.
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