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Chapter 10
“Thank you, my lady!
Have a great day!”
My hands were empty when I entered the clothing store, but as I left, they were heavy now.
It was all because of the clothes I just bought.
Belle next to me offered to carry the clothes herself, but I firmly refused, saying, “It’s fine.
I’ll carry my clothes.
You carry yours.”
‘Your hands have to be heavy to feel like you’ve been shopping.’
If someone were to recognize me as Lady Atlante, there could be a problem.
They might question how a noble lady could carry her own luggage without ordering her maid to do so and criticize me over such trivial matters like lacking dignity or so.
But since there was no one here who would recognize me, I didn’t need to worry about other people’s gazes.
People would never think that the Sylvia they knew from the Atlante ducal family and the current me were the same person.
“Now where should we go?”
Somehow, it seemed a little unsatisfying to go straight to the herbalist store.
‘I have a lot of money, so I want to enjoy spending more…’
Not having to worry about the price and being able to shop whatever I wanted as a wealthy person was thrilling.
Wanting to feel this thrill more, I searched with the eyes of a hawk for another store where I could consume.
And that was when…
“You look amazing!
You never disappoint, Lady Eileen, indeed!”
‘Eileen?’
Upon hearing the familiar name, I turned around and found Eileen standing among the crowd.
She wasn’t alone.
Unlike Sylvia, who didn’t have any friends, Eileen had been popular since childhood and was still surrounded by people, even now: four women, two men, and seven knights as escorts.
It was quite a crowd.
Fortrum Street was divided into several areas, as it was a large shopping district that lived up to its reputation as the best shopping area.
There were countless divisions to go into detail, but typically, it was divided into three areas according to social status and wallet thickness: the high-end shopping area for nobles, the mid-range shopping area for wealthy commoners, and the general shopping area.
By the way, this place was a mid-range shopping area, so there were almost no nobles.
That was why people, seeing the group of Eileen exuding the ‘I am a noble’ atmosphere, were both curious and cautiously avoiding them.
‘Maybe because people don’t want to get involved with nobles as it’s obvious to end up in trouble.’
I didn’t want to stand out while being in a quiet place, so I joined the crowd avoiding the nobles.
Although I had lost weight, changed my appearance, and was wearing plain clothes, I couldn’t be completely at ease.
Eileen was Sylvia’s sister by blood, and the women and men next to her were nobles who had been invited to Sylvia’s birthday party not long ago.
‘Since I’ve known most of them for over a decade, there’s a possibility that at least one of them could recognize me as Sylvia.’
Just in case, if someone recognized me and told Duke Atlante, it would be troublesome.
I didn’t want to see the nasty Duke again, so I thought I should just pretend not to know, but…
“You want to give that as a gift to Lady Sylvia?”
Hearing the name ‘Sylvia’ suddenly, I reflexively stopped.
Why was my name being mentioned there?
“Yes, I think it will suit my sister well.”
Eileen showed a blue flower hairpin with a shy smile.
From what I heard, it seemed that she planned to give me that hairpin as a gift.
‘Oh, it was nothing special.
… No.
Is it something?’
Having a bad relationship with Eileen was the biggest reason that darkened Sylvia’s future.
‘But if Eileen were to become so close to Sylvia that she would give her a gift, such a dark future will disappear, right?’
I couldn’t ignore this.
Of course, I wasn’t saying I would go and pretend to know them right now.
‘I should buy something to gift Eileen before I go home.’
If I received a gift from Eileen and gave her another gift in return, I would get a little closer to her, right?
‘Great.
Then I should go and pick a gift quickly.’
I decided to leave the place without making my presence known to Eileen’s group––
“Well, I don’t think it’s a good idea to give a gift to Lady Sylvia.
There’s a saying about casting pearls before swine, isn’t there?”
Until someone said something like this.
‘Casting pearls before swine… They are insulting me right now, huh?’
I had no idea who said it, but after the ‘casting pearls before swine’ comment, a huge laugh erupted.
It wasn’t funny to me, but it seemed amusing to them as they were all giggling regardless of gender. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Only one person in the group didn’t laugh.
“Are you insulting my sister now?”
When the only person who didn’t laugh, Eileen Atlante, asked in a cold voice, the laughter died down.
Among them, Eileen, the legitimate daughter of Duke Atlante, had the highest status.
Normally, those kids would go to great lengths to stay close to Eileen, so they couldn’t keep laughing when Eileen frowned.
Not only did they stop laughing, but they also stealthily stepped back while watching Eileen’s reaction.
In the end, only the woman who made the ‘casting pearls before swine’ comment remained in front of Eileen.
But the woman’s face looked familiar.
‘Where have I seen her?’
After carefully recalling my memory, I finally remembered.
That woman was the one who once told Sylvia, ‘I feel sorry for the seamstress who makes your clothes!’ They said people hardly changed, and it also seemed to apply to her who was still making nasty remarks.
‘What was her name?
I don’t remember.
Ev, Ev… Was it Evil?
No, that can’t be a name, of course.’
“Lady Evadin.
Please answer.”
Right, she was the daughter of Count Evadin, although I still couldn’t remember her name.
Evadin, who was left alone to receive Eileen’s cold gaze, seemed flustered, and started making excuses with a blushing face.
“Huh?
No, Lady Eileen.
It’s just…… I don’t think she would appreciate it.
Last time, she threw away the gift you gave her in the trash, remember?
It’s too much for such a terrible woman to receive a gift from you, Lady Eileen.
That’s what I meant by my comment.”
Ah, that did happen too.
Seriously, Sylvia’s misdeeds were endless, like waves.
‘As soon as I thought to have resolved something, a new past of hers appears, and when that’s resolved, another one surfaces…’
Anyway, if such an incident happened, it wasn’t strange for people close to Eileen to badmouth me.
However, Eileen didn’t seem appeased even by Evadin’s excuse.
“Is it really true that you meant it that way?
Why do I feel like you were belittling my sister, her appearance?”
“Ah, no, Eileen!
Never, never did I mean it that way.”
Evadin began to feign pity, her face on the verge of tears.
As tears welled up in her eyes, Eileen’s fiery spirit waned a bit.
She was still angry, but she didn’t seem to want to make Evadin cry.
Considering Eileen’s naturally kind personality, it was understandable.
However, I was a bad girl and didn’t have the heart to let this end here.
“Belle, hold this for a moment.”
After entrusting Belle with the items in my hands, I broke through the crowd and approached Eileen’s group.
Hearing the sound of my footsteps, they all looked at me in unison.
“Eileen.”
As I called her name, those who had been looking at me with curiosity began to glare at me warily.
It was natural since I was a stranger calling the name of the precious daughter of the Atlante ducal family.
They didn’t just show their caution with their eyes.
Swoosh––
The knights drew their swords and pointed them at me.
“Halt!”
It was a familiar feeling.
This was probably the same aura, the killing intent, that Duke Atlante had emitted the first day I possessed Sylvia’s body.
“M… My lady!”
I could feel Belle trembling behind me, whether from the killing intent directed at me or just the strange atmosphere.
It made me feel worse.
The knights were threatening, but nothing compared to Duke Atlante’s aura.
And I had faced that kind of killing intent before, head-on, and endured it.
‘Besides, the difference between then and now is incomparable.
Back then, I had a completely untrained, fragile body, and now I can control the mana accumulated through mana breathing.’
I ignored the knights’ warning and took another big step forward.
The tip of the sword touched my neck.
I felt a sting and pain.
It seemed that the sharp sword aura had cut my neck.
It hurt, but for someone who had suffered all sorts of pain in the hospital room, it wasn’t even worth a flinch.
With mana-enhanced fingers, I gently pushed the sharp sword tip away.
The knight who pointed the sword at me was startled by my control of mana and recoiled.
Shooting daggers at him, I calmly called Eileen once more, “Eileen, it’s me.”
Eileen, who was quietly staring at me from beyond the knights, replied in a surprised voice, “Sylvia…?”
“Yes, it’s me, Sylvia Atlante.”
“Sylvia!”
At those words, the knights froze, still holding their swords.
They took a few steps back, their eyes full of disbelief.
“Sylvia!”
In the momentary silence, Eileen quickly ran toward me.
I watched Eileen’s bright smile, and then I spoke while looking at the part that especially entered my sight.
“Has your arm fully healed?”
“Yes, it healed a while ago, and now it’s completely fine.”
With a cute smile, Eileen rotated her arm, which had been broken and reattached.
“I’m glad.
I was worried.”
As I patted Eileen’s shoulder with that response, the others, who had been rigid in shock, began to breathe again.
“Gasp!”
As they took a breath, their brains seemed to receive a jolt of oxygen, gradually registering the situation.
First, the knights who had pointed their swords at me quickly dropped them to the ground and knelt.
“My lady, we apologize!”
“We failed to recognize you.
We’re sorry!”
The knights’ powerful apologies echoed in the street.
This caused an already crowded area to become even more packed with people.
“What’s going on?
Did something happen?”
“Those knights pointed their swords at that woman in front, but after exchanging some words, they suddenly knelt!”
“Eh?
What did she say that made them do that?”
“I’m not sure.
How could I know?
But that woman must be a very high-ranking noble since the knights are kneeling!”
Before I knew it, all eyes were on me.
‘I’ve never been the center of attention like this in my life…’
Almost feeling overwhelmed by the curious gazes, I felt the need to quickly resolve the situation.
“Please, stand up.”
“Our sincere apologies, my lady!”
“It’s alright, so stand up.”
Why were they still kneeling when I told them to get up?
It was making me uncomfortable.
While I was trying to figure out how to persuade these uncooperative knights, the paralyzed nobles reacted belatedly.
“What is going on?!”
“Sylvia Atlante?
That woman?”
“Is this a dream?”
How could it be a dream?
“It’s impossible!”
Impossible?
Your reactions, more fitting for extras in a low-budget movie, were what was truly more impossible.