I Reincarnated As An Evil Duchess - Chapter 128
Translator: Nabi
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Chapter 128
Side Story 1 — Happily Ever After
One day in July, when the hot sun was shining brightly, and a warm breeze was blowing, Min-ha was sitting in her bedroom by the high-backed chair near the window. She sat quietly, gazing down at the ring finger of her left hand.
It was so hot in the middle of the early summer that even the apprentice knights temporarily suspended their training.
In the meanwhile, she was holed up in her bedroom, struggling with the pile of sewing and embroidery in front of her. Min-ha, with a hunched posture, held a needle in one hand and a piece of fabric in the other, rapidly moving the needle to create a small doll.
Once the doll took shape, she gazed at it with satisfaction before filling it carefully with dried lavender and mumbling to herself.
“…This makes the twentieth doll.”
After one more careful examination, ensuring there were no loose knots or poorly finished areas, she finally placed the doll in the basket on the floor. However, because of the many dolls and potpourri already piled up in the basket, the doll she had just set down was pushed out and fell onto the floor.
After picking up the fallen doll, she lightly dusted it off with her hand and carefully placed it back in the basket.
As she did, the pile of items standing precariously on the top wobbled.
Min-ha, who had been watching a tense gaze as if expecting them to topple over again, let out a brief sigh as the trembling ceased and eventually put down the needle and fabric she was holding and massaged her throbbing fingers. Even though she had been cooped up in her bedroom for several hours, she could only make this much.
She glanced at the wall clock hanging in her room and muttered to herself.
“…Has so much time already passed?”
When lying still on the bed, one minute felt like a whole day, but now, when every second counted, how quickly time seemed to pass. At this rate, it seemed like she wouldn’t be able even to complete enough dolls to sell at the market outside the castle, let alone give them as gifts.
‘There’s no time for sighing. Let’s keep our hands moving.’
Taking a deep breath, she grabbed the sewing and embroidery materials again.
Min-ha, who returned safely to the Persen mansion after experiencing a series of events, was gradually withering away from boredom. A few months ago, she might have been busy cleaning the eastern wing and learning sewing from Wanda, but now, she is currently forbidden from doing any of those things.
The reason was none other than her husband, Duke Seth Persen.
“You need to rest for a while.”
“Huh?”
“Cleaning the mansion is now naturally prohibited, and you should also take a break from learning sewing from Mrs. Wanda for a while.”
“Why?!”
“Now that there’s no need to go out and work, there’s no reason for you to save money.”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“Considering everything you’ve been through, I’d like to let you go to the villa and rest for about a month… but that’s not possible because I can’t see you when I miss you… Of course, I’ll let you go if you want it.”
“No, I’m fine…”
“I’m not okay. When I think about what you’ve been through, I almost want to feed you.”
“It, it’s not to that extent. Sir Bediviel or Gareth are more…”
“Just for a week, no, even just three days, please don’t do anything and rest. Please.”
She couldn’t say anything when her loved one was pleading earnestly with a worried expression on his face.
She seemed to know what kind of emotions Seth had been experiencing after all that had happened since she, along with Gareth and Bediviel, had been taken to the royal guard.
So, Min-ha was spending her time in the annex without lifting a finger, as he had requested.
However, it was a little painful to just lay there without doing anything as she felt like she would go crazy from boredom. Sitting up in the empty bed, she gazed at the beautiful mural on the wall that she could now probably paint even with her eyes closed and suddenly sat up.
It had only been a day and a half, but not doing anything and resting made that time feel like a year and a half had passed.
‘I’m bored…’
At times like these, if there had been a smartphone, she could have experienced the magic of time disappearing in the blink of an eye, but unfortunately, this world wasn’t a modern world with smartphones but a time where magic and knights existed, so such things were out of the question.
In that case, it would be nice to at least be able to chat with someone.
Upon his return to his mansion, Seth had been entrusted by the Emperor to take on the responsibilities of caring for the estate, and handling the affairs of the fleeing Vivian and the bankrupt Marquis of Loengram. Thanks to this, he was constantly busy and had no time to even attend the Lavender Festival together, let alone have a proper conversation or see each other’s faces at night.
Noah had also recently begun learning swordsmanship and imperial studies. During the day, he was with the knights, and all the knights and servants who would exchange a word or two with him were busy with their own tasks.
So, Min-ha was the only one in the mansion who had enough free time to feel bored.
“Ha…”
Letting out a groaning sound, she flopped back onto the bed.
“Time really isn’t passing, seriously!”
After all, humans were homo-laborans, meaning they were beings meant to work. It was unbearably boring to do nothing but breathe as an exercise.
‘What on earth am I supposed to do for another day and a half like this? If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have agreed to take a break no matter how earnestly Seth pleaded with me…’
It was when she was feeling regretful…
Knock, knock—
All of a sudden, there was the sound of someone knocking on the bedroom door from outside. Min-ha quickly sat up and listened attentively to the voice coming from outside the door.
“Madam, it’s Wanda. I apologize for interrupting your rest, but may I come in for a moment?”
“Oh, Wanda! Come in quickly!”
The person who came to rescue her from her boredom was Wanda.
As she responded as if she had been waiting, Wanda entered the bedroom while pushing a silver tray with a clinking sound as Min-ha approached her.
“Welcome! I was just feeling really bored!”
“I thought so, so I prepared tea and dessert.”
“Oh, my goodness! Thank you, Wanda!”
“To be honest, it was the Duke who asked me to do it. He thought the Madam must be quite bored, so he asked me to keep you company.”
“…He did?”
Hearing those words, Min-ha felt that her resentment toward Seth from a moment ago was subsiding as she approached Wanda, who was moving the tea and dessert from the tray to the bedside table.
It was to help her.
However, before she could intervene, Wanda quickly moved those items onto the table. As Min-ha sat down on the chair, feeling embarrassed at the sight, Wanda smiled as she extended a cup of well-brewed tea to her.
“Please try it. I’ve brought the finest herbal tea for you, Madam.”
“I’ll drink it well.”
Saying so, she held the beautiful teacup adorned with a floral pattern with both hands and took a sip of the tea. The tea, chilled to suit the hot weather, pleasantly cooled her slightly elevated body temperature and smoothly went down her throat.
Min-ha drank about half of it in one go and then smiled brightly as she spoke.
“Wow, it’s really delicious. Is this the tea you prepared, Wanda?”
“Yes, Madam.”
“It’s so refreshing and tasty that it would be a shame to drink it alone. Teach me how to make it when you have time.”
“I’ll teach you as much as you want.”
“Oh, don’t just stand there. Sit down, and let’s drink this together. It’s too much for me to finish on my own.”
“…Yes, Madam.”
As she urged her, Wanda hesitated for a moment before finally sitting across from her.
The next moment, Min-ha immediately lifted the teapot from the table and poured tea for her without waiting for her to say anything. Even though Wanda opened her mouth to scold her, telling her not to do such things, in the end, she simply sighed briefly without saying a word, seeing her Madam’s cheerful smile.
Afterward, Min-ha divided the cookies and cake piled in front of her and held them out in front of Wanda.
“You came today as my companion, so there’s no need for any formalities.”
“But, Madam… There is still such a thing as status and hierarchy.”
“We can do that outside as much as you want, but there’s no one here to see. Besides, strictly speaking, Wanda, you’re my teacher. Who would say anything if a student pours tea for their teacher?”
“Tea-teacher? What kind of…”
“So, let’s just eat and drink together. It’s more uncomfortable for Wanda to serve me, yes?”
“…Really. You must never do this in front of other people! Just for today!”
“Yes, of course.”
After seeing Wanda drinking the tea with a reluctant expression, Min-ha finally wore a satisfied look and took a bite of the cookie in front of her.
As soon as she put it in her mouth and started chewing, the fragrant aroma and the savory, sweet taste perfectly matched her taste. Even though her original purpose was to chat, she couldn’t help herself as she playfully poked the soft cookie with a small dessert fork and took one bite after another.
At this sight, Wanda quietly smiled, and Min-ha, with a belated realization, put down the fork she had been holding and looked at her.
‘…I made someone sit down to have a conversation, but I’ve been eating too much.’
She glanced at Wanda with embarrassment, trying to find a topic of conversation. However, her gaze was drawn to a new hairpin in Wanda’s hair. The hairpin, adorned with small amethysts intricately set, was quite beautiful.
Min-ha pointed at it carefully and asked.
“By the way, Wanda.”
“Yes, Madam.”
“Did you get a new hairpin? It’s very beautiful.”
“Oh. Are you talking about this?”
In response to her question, Wanda raised her hand and gently touched her hairpin, looking a bit embarrassed, before answering.
“…It’s a gift from my husband for this year’s Lavender Festival.”
“Oh my, really?”
“Yes. It’s quite luxurious and valuable, so even though I hesitated because it’s too much for me to wear around, he insisted, so I tried it once…”
“Oh, what are you saying? Of course, you should wear it! It suits you so well.”
“…Do you think it really suits me?”
“Yes, it suits you incredibly well!”
Her praise caused Wanda’s cheeks to blush like peaches. Despite the fact that she was usually stoic and rarely showed any facial expressions, a single word of praise for the hairpin her husband had given her made her look so delighted, almost like a young girl.
Min-ha looked at Wanda with a mischievous expression, her hands resting on her chin as she spoke.
“Do you like it that much? You’re smiling so brightly.”
“…I, I mean—”
“Oh, don’t try to act like it’s nothing. You’re clearly happy. I’ve never seen Wanda’s face like that before.”
“It’s, it’s nice! He’s not the type to give gifts or say sweet things unless it’s a special occasion.”
Wanda’s face was still peachy as she responded bluntly to Min-ha’s mischievous teasing.
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Translator’s Note: Hello, it’s Nabi! I’m the translator of this novel ପ( ๑•ᴗ•๑ )ଓ♡ If you like the novel and would like to support me, please feel free to click the button below to go to my kofi~! Thank you so much for always supporting the novels I work on, even if you don’t buy me a coffee, I really do appreciate it a lot. ❤︎
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