Episode 60. Wedding Superstitions
At that moment, at the Serviat Mansion.
Rose simply sighed, her face filled with worry.
Rose's mother, Rivera, looked at her with an uneasy expression.
"You look so distraught after attending Count Wence's wedding."
Just as Daemon had said, she shouldn't have shown Rose the wedding invitation.
Even if she had no lingering feelings for him, he was her ex-husband, whom she had been married to for three years. So it was inevitable that she would feel uneasy.
"...You don't miss Eric or anything, do you?"
Rivera struggled to shake off the unease bubbling in her chest.
Rose loved Eric more passionately than anyone else.
Unless she changed into someone else, it would be difficult for such feelings to disappear overnight.
Even seeing an ex-boyfriend's wedding from long ago would be strange enough, but the wedding of her ex-husband, who had been divorced less than a week ago...!
Rose's mother worried, completely unaware that Rose had become a completely different person.
"Are you okay, honey?"
Rivera called out cautiously to Rose. But Rose, lost in her deep anguish, didn't hear Rivera's voice at all.
Rose groaned and clutched her head.
"Let me think about it..."
Rose muttered to herself and buried her head in the table. She regretted not having finished the original work.
"...The Princess's birthday banquet is less than ten days away."
To her, who had grown up in ordinary South Korea, "poison" was a story from a completely different world. That's why it was too difficult for her to solve alone.
"Poison..."
Rose closed her eyes and thought calmly.
"Come to think of it, poison was involved in that cosmetics incident last time, wasn't it?"
Suddenly, he remembered Doana stealing and using her own cosmetics, the source unknown.
Blisters had swollen on her right cheek.
"They said they couldn't be cured by medicine, let alone magic."
Medicines of the time were minimally effective. She'd thought magic could be omnipotent, but that wasn't the case.
"I thought healing magic could fix anything..."
Curious about his refusal to heal the scar on Doana's face, Rose had asked her butler, Gwen.
Gwen had answered that human magic couldn't reattach a severed arm or bring the dead back to life.
Restoration magic only maximizes a person's ability to heal, and it cannot repair already damaged organs or skin.
Gwen added that Doana's skin had been damaged by a strong poison, so it couldn't be completely healed.
Of course, Doana didn't seem to know this yet. She had assumed she was pregnant and unable to receive proper treatment.
“Why would you covet someone else’s stuff?”
If she hadn’t coveted Rose’s, she wouldn’t have suffered such misfortune.
“The culprit of the cosmetics incident is probably Cedric.”
That happened the day Cedric visited the mansion. Rose thought of Cedric’s face, looking at her with a sly, snake-like gaze. He resembled Eric, but unlike him, he was by no means an easy opponent.
“...Phew.”
Rivera held out a cup of warm cocoa to Rose, who let out a deep sigh.
“You’re going to get wrinkles on your pretty face. What are you worried about? Your expression is quite gloomy.”
Rivera spoke subtly, trying to gauge Rose’s feelings.
“It’s nothing. I just had something to think about.”
Rose smiled as if nothing had happened and picked up the cup of cocoa.
It was quite warm. Rose blew on the cocoa with a “whoosh” to cool it down.
When Rose didn't say anything, Rivera's worry grew even more. Finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore and asked Rose,
"Are you upset because you came back from the wedding?"
"Yes?"
"I'm worried because you've been looking so gloomy since yesterday... Are you worried about Count Wence?"
Rose waved her hand at Rivera's question.
"It's not because of the wedding."
"Really?"
"Of course. In fact, I felt so relieved after coming back from the wedding!"
Rose laughed as she thought of Doana. Judging by Rose's bright smile, it didn't seem like a lie.
"Well, that's good. I was worried because I thought I might have given you the invitation for nothing."
Rivera finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“But you keep sighing. Is it because of the business you told me about last time?”
“Oh, yes. That’s right. It’s nothing serious, so don’t worry about it.”
It wasn’t business, it was a matter of life and death, but she didn’t want to worry her. Rose reassured Rivera.
“I really wonder what kind of business it is. And you’re keeping it a secret from even your mother. I wish I could help.”
“I’ll take my mother first when we open.”
“Oh, really? I’m looking forward to it.”
Rivera smiled, her eyes narrowing into crescent moons at Rose’s words. He seemed quite pleased by Rose’s dignified appearance.
Knock knock.
“Hello, Mrs. Serviat!”
A loud voice rang out from outside the door. It was a welcoming voice Rose knew well.
“Oh, it seems we have a guest.”
Rivera untied the apron she was wearing and walked toward the door. Rose followed Rivera, preparing to greet the guest.
The old door creaked open.
Outside, Jane stood with a bright expression, and Serun smiled shyly.
“It looks like you’ve made up!”
A smile spread across Rose’s face at the sight of Jane and Serun. Rose greeted them brightly.
“Welcome.”
Meanwhile, Tercia was enjoying herself with the ladies. She was quite upset that Doana had followed Eric on his honeymoon, but there was no need to spend the whole day frowning over that.
“Thank you for taking the time to attend the wedding.”
“Don’t be so kind.”
“Of course you should. Whose wedding is it?”
They smiled, trying to please Tercia.
“This is my in-law, the Marquis of Dikar. Please greet everyone.”
“Hello.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
Tercia introduced the Marquis of Dikar to the ladies.
With the Marquis of Dikar's family abandoning neutrality and choosing the Imperial faction, it was Tercia's job to connect with his wife, the Marchioness of Dikar.
Tercia briefly greeted the Marchioness of Dikar and then abruptly placed her bag on the table. She fiddled with it, seemingly oblivious to what the ladies were saying.
One of the ladies, unable to bear to watch, asked Tercia.
"Oh, is this the new item you mentioned earlier?"
"I'm so jealous. I wanted one too, but they said it was out of stock."
Tercia's bag was a new release from Hermea, the most popular brand among the ladies.
It was a limited edition design, so not everyone with money could afford it.
"I'm a VIP at Hermea. They said they set aside a bag for me."
Tercia smiled elegantly, fully enjoying the envious looks directed at her.
"Oh, and each of you can have one of these."
Tercia gestured to her servant with a haughty expression. The servant nodded at Tercia's gesture and returned with a large basket. It was filled with gift packages. The servant began distributing the gifts to the ladies.
"Oh my, what are all these?"
It was Hermea's box. The ladies' eyes sparkled as they looked at Tercia's gifts.
"I bought one for each of you while buying one for me."
Tercia shrugged her shoulders and smiled haughtily, as if it were nothing special.
The fifteen ladies hurried to open the box. They gasped in amazement upon seeing it.
"My goodness...!"
"Can I really accept this?"
"This precious thing..."
It was a bag.
It wasn't the same model as Tercia's, but it was a high-end model.
"Don't worry, take it. It's nothing special."
Tercia flaunted her wealth.
"Thank you."
"I'll take it."
Just then, an uninvited person appeared in the cheerful atmosphere and poured cold water on it.
"Do you have anything for me, Tercia?"
For a moment, the surroundings became quiet.
The noble ladies quietly greeted her when they saw her in a black dress.
Perhaps uncomfortable with the woman in black, the noble ladies were busy avoiding her gaze.
Tercia furrowed her eyebrows at the appearance of the woman she hadn't invited. With cold eyes, she greeted the guest with a slight raise in her lips.
"Oh, you're here, Sister?"
The voice sounded quite friendly. She smiled wryly at the word 'Sister' and approached Tercia.
"How have you been? It's so hard to see you."
"Ah."
Tercia chuckled at her words, then replied nonchalantly.
“Yes. I’ve been very busy. What are you doing here, Sister? How can someone who should be attending the funeral be absent?”
“The memorial service ended yesterday... didn’t you know?”
Tercia smiled wryly and spoke brightly. “I didn’t know. I was a bit absent-minded.”
The woman in the black dress’s expression hardened at Tercia’s words.
“...You didn’t know?”
“Yes. You heard the news, didn’t you? My son, Eric, remarried. That’s why.”
“It’s disappointing. It’s been three days since the funeral, and I haven’t even shown your face.”
“Well... that’s understandable.”
Tercia glared at the woman who was looking at her with a grave expression.
The woman, who had been staring at Tercia, turned her gaze to the ladies. The ladies quickly looked away when their eyes met hers.
“You must have been very busy. No one came to my husband’s funeral.”
"Sister."
Tercia replied in a sharp voice to her sharp words.
"Stop it. Every lady has her own circumstances."
"Huh, circumstances?"
The woman in the black dress looked at Tercia, bewildered.
"You didn't stop anyone from coming, did you?"
Tercia wiggled her eyebrows at the sound of her voice.
"Me? No. Why would I do something like that?"
The noble ladies were speechless at Tercia's nonchalant lying. She wasn't close to everyone here, but they were still quite friendly.
However, Tercia had not allowed anyone to attend her husband's funeral.
She had pressured them, saying that her son, Eric, was getting married and that attending the funeral would be useless.
The woman in the black dress was the wife of Marquis Bled, who had died in the Grand Duke of Artaeum's mansion.
Abandoned by the crowd, her face contorted with anger, she glared at Tercia.
At that moment, at the Serviat Mansion.
Rose simply sighed, her face filled with worry.
Rose's mother, Rivera, looked at her with an uneasy expression.
"You look so distraught after attending Count Wence's wedding."
Just as Daemon had said, she shouldn't have shown Rose the wedding invitation.
Even if she had no lingering feelings for him, he was her ex-husband, whom she had been married to for three years. So it was inevitable that she would feel uneasy.
"...You don't miss Eric or anything, do you?"
Rivera struggled to shake off the unease bubbling in her chest.
Rose loved Eric more passionately than anyone else.
Unless she changed into someone else, it would be difficult for such feelings to disappear overnight.
Even seeing an ex-boyfriend's wedding from long ago would be strange enough, but the wedding of her ex-husband, who had been divorced less than a week ago...!
Rose's mother worried, completely unaware that Rose had become a completely different person.
"Are you okay, honey?"
Rivera called out cautiously to Rose. But Rose, lost in her deep anguish, didn't hear Rivera's voice at all.
Rose groaned and clutched her head.
"Let me think about it..."
She desperately recalled the original work she had left unfinished. However, nothing particularly came to mind.
"Haa..."
Rose's sigh escaped her lips.
"If I had known I could possess others, I would have read it all the way through..."
"Haa..."
Rose's sigh escaped her lips.
"If I had known I could possess others, I would have read it all the way through..."
Rose muttered to herself and buried her head in the table. She regretted not having finished the original work.
"...The Princess's birthday banquet is less than ten days away."
To her, who had grown up in ordinary South Korea, "poison" was a story from a completely different world. That's why it was too difficult for her to solve alone.
"Poison..."
Rose closed her eyes and thought calmly.
"Come to think of it, poison was involved in that cosmetics incident last time, wasn't it?"
Suddenly, he remembered Doana stealing and using her own cosmetics, the source unknown.
Blisters had swollen on her right cheek.
"They said they couldn't be cured by medicine, let alone magic."
Medicines of the time were minimally effective. She'd thought magic could be omnipotent, but that wasn't the case.
"I thought healing magic could fix anything..."
Curious about his refusal to heal the scar on Doana's face, Rose had asked her butler, Gwen.
Gwen had answered that human magic couldn't reattach a severed arm or bring the dead back to life.
Restoration magic only maximizes a person's ability to heal, and it cannot repair already damaged organs or skin.
Gwen added that Doana's skin had been damaged by a strong poison, so it couldn't be completely healed.
Of course, Doana didn't seem to know this yet. She had assumed she was pregnant and unable to receive proper treatment.
“Why would you covet someone else’s stuff?”
If she hadn’t coveted Rose’s, she wouldn’t have suffered such misfortune.
“The culprit of the cosmetics incident is probably Cedric.”
That happened the day Cedric visited the mansion. Rose thought of Cedric’s face, looking at her with a sly, snake-like gaze. He resembled Eric, but unlike him, he was by no means an easy opponent.
“...Phew.”
Rivera held out a cup of warm cocoa to Rose, who let out a deep sigh.
“You’re going to get wrinkles on your pretty face. What are you worried about? Your expression is quite gloomy.”
Rivera spoke subtly, trying to gauge Rose’s feelings.
“It’s nothing. I just had something to think about.”
Rose smiled as if nothing had happened and picked up the cup of cocoa.
It was quite warm. Rose blew on the cocoa with a “whoosh” to cool it down.
When Rose didn't say anything, Rivera's worry grew even more. Finally, she couldn't hold it in anymore and asked Rose,
"Are you upset because you came back from the wedding?"
"Yes?"
"I'm worried because you've been looking so gloomy since yesterday... Are you worried about Count Wence?"
Rose waved her hand at Rivera's question.
"It's not because of the wedding."
"Really?"
"Of course. In fact, I felt so relieved after coming back from the wedding!"
Rose laughed as she thought of Doana. Judging by Rose's bright smile, it didn't seem like a lie.
"Well, that's good. I was worried because I thought I might have given you the invitation for nothing."
Rivera finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“But you keep sighing. Is it because of the business you told me about last time?”
“Oh, yes. That’s right. It’s nothing serious, so don’t worry about it.”
It wasn’t business, it was a matter of life and death, but she didn’t want to worry her. Rose reassured Rivera.
“I really wonder what kind of business it is. And you’re keeping it a secret from even your mother. I wish I could help.”
“I’ll take my mother first when we open.”
“Oh, really? I’m looking forward to it.”
Rivera smiled, her eyes narrowing into crescent moons at Rose’s words. He seemed quite pleased by Rose’s dignified appearance.
Knock knock.
“Hello, Mrs. Serviat!”
A loud voice rang out from outside the door. It was a welcoming voice Rose knew well.
“Oh, it seems we have a guest.”
Rivera untied the apron she was wearing and walked toward the door. Rose followed Rivera, preparing to greet the guest.
The old door creaked open.
Outside, Jane stood with a bright expression, and Serun smiled shyly.
“It looks like you’ve made up!”
A smile spread across Rose’s face at the sight of Jane and Serun. Rose greeted them brightly.
“Welcome.”
***
Meanwhile, Tercia was enjoying herself with the ladies. She was quite upset that Doana had followed Eric on his honeymoon, but there was no need to spend the whole day frowning over that.
“Thank you for taking the time to attend the wedding.”
“Don’t be so kind.”
“Of course you should. Whose wedding is it?”
They smiled, trying to please Tercia.
“This is my in-law, the Marquis of Dikar. Please greet everyone.”
“Hello.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
Tercia introduced the Marquis of Dikar to the ladies.
With the Marquis of Dikar's family abandoning neutrality and choosing the Imperial faction, it was Tercia's job to connect with his wife, the Marchioness of Dikar.
Tercia briefly greeted the Marchioness of Dikar and then abruptly placed her bag on the table. She fiddled with it, seemingly oblivious to what the ladies were saying.
One of the ladies, unable to bear to watch, asked Tercia.
"Oh, is this the new item you mentioned earlier?"
"I'm so jealous. I wanted one too, but they said it was out of stock."
Tercia's bag was a new release from Hermea, the most popular brand among the ladies.
It was a limited edition design, so not everyone with money could afford it.
"I'm a VIP at Hermea. They said they set aside a bag for me."
Tercia smiled elegantly, fully enjoying the envious looks directed at her.
"Oh, and each of you can have one of these."
Tercia gestured to her servant with a haughty expression. The servant nodded at Tercia's gesture and returned with a large basket. It was filled with gift packages. The servant began distributing the gifts to the ladies.
"Oh my, what are all these?"
It was Hermea's box. The ladies' eyes sparkled as they looked at Tercia's gifts.
"I bought one for each of you while buying one for me."
Tercia shrugged her shoulders and smiled haughtily, as if it were nothing special.
The fifteen ladies hurried to open the box. They gasped in amazement upon seeing it.
"My goodness...!"
"Can I really accept this?"
"This precious thing..."
It was a bag.
It wasn't the same model as Tercia's, but it was a high-end model.
"Don't worry, take it. It's nothing special."
Tercia flaunted her wealth.
"Thank you."
"I'll take it."
Just then, an uninvited person appeared in the cheerful atmosphere and poured cold water on it.
"Do you have anything for me, Tercia?"
For a moment, the surroundings became quiet.
The noble ladies quietly greeted her when they saw her in a black dress.
Perhaps uncomfortable with the woman in black, the noble ladies were busy avoiding her gaze.
Tercia furrowed her eyebrows at the appearance of the woman she hadn't invited. With cold eyes, she greeted the guest with a slight raise in her lips.
"Oh, you're here, Sister?"
The voice sounded quite friendly. She smiled wryly at the word 'Sister' and approached Tercia.
"How have you been? It's so hard to see you."
"Ah."
Tercia chuckled at her words, then replied nonchalantly.
“Yes. I’ve been very busy. What are you doing here, Sister? How can someone who should be attending the funeral be absent?”
“The memorial service ended yesterday... didn’t you know?”
Tercia smiled wryly and spoke brightly. “I didn’t know. I was a bit absent-minded.”
The woman in the black dress’s expression hardened at Tercia’s words.
“...You didn’t know?”
“Yes. You heard the news, didn’t you? My son, Eric, remarried. That’s why.”
“It’s disappointing. It’s been three days since the funeral, and I haven’t even shown your face.”
“Well... that’s understandable.”
Tercia glared at the woman who was looking at her with a grave expression.
The woman, who had been staring at Tercia, turned her gaze to the ladies. The ladies quickly looked away when their eyes met hers.
“You must have been very busy. No one came to my husband’s funeral.”
"Sister."
Tercia replied in a sharp voice to her sharp words.
"Stop it. Every lady has her own circumstances."
"Huh, circumstances?"
The woman in the black dress looked at Tercia, bewildered.
"You didn't stop anyone from coming, did you?"
Tercia wiggled her eyebrows at the sound of her voice.
"Me? No. Why would I do something like that?"
The noble ladies were speechless at Tercia's nonchalant lying. She wasn't close to everyone here, but they were still quite friendly.
However, Tercia had not allowed anyone to attend her husband's funeral.
She had pressured them, saying that her son, Eric, was getting married and that attending the funeral would be useless.
The woman in the black dress was the wife of Marquis Bled, who had died in the Grand Duke of Artaeum's mansion.
Abandoned by the crowd, her face contorted with anger, she glared at Tercia.
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