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Chapter 41

I had never introduced myself as a noblewoman, yet she called me "my lady" and then collapsed in the snow. Well, "collapsed" is how a child might describe it—in truth, she had lost ‌‌consciousness from severe blood loss.
It was my keen sense of smell that allowed me to discover her lying there, her abdomen ‌‌‌‌pierced, bleeding out.
With Emma, there had been many trials ‌‌‌‌and tribulations, but...
To cut to the end of the story, she had spent over a decade at ‌‌‌‌my side, caring for me. Now she was my ‌‌dearest friend and my devoted personal ‌‌‌‌maid.
But before that, I needed to find out who was using the name of ‌Adeline.
I continued shopping while waiting for the door to open again.
"By the way, which family does the young lady belong to?"
The Shop Clerk asked me, her eyes gleaming with barely contained curiosity.
"I have a feeling you must be from a very prestigious family. I've worked here for a long time, but I've never met anyone with such an elegant presence."
"I am..."
Bang!
The door swung open, and Adeline emerged with a refreshed expression on her face.
"Let's go. We've bought enough here."
"Yes, my lady!"
She was adorned from head to toe with glittering necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and rings—whether they were jewels or not.
The women following her were similarly laden with purchases.
"...Huh?"
As Adeline passed by me, she suddenly stopped and walked backward.
A laugh ‌‌escaped me. ‌‌
"...?"
I had never seen anyone walk backward while stepping on the hem of their own dress.
"Are you laughing?"
Adeline's voice came sharp and angry.
She lowered ‌‌‌her fan and rolled her eyes dramatically.
"This dress...! This was the one I wanted to buy, but someone threatened the shopkeeper never to sell it to anyone else, so I couldn't get it!"
The furious noblewoman ‌‌‌forcibly tore open my robe to examine the dress underneath.
Pop!
As a button clattered to the floor, the staff's faces went pale.
"My lady, please don't do this. Come with me for a moment..."
"Get out of my way!"
Whack!
Adeline shoved ‌‌‌the Shop Clerk ‌‌aside and looked down at me.
"Who are you? Why do I feel like I've seen you somewhere before?"
"I couldn't say."
"Well, I'm not sure."
"Well? Ha!"
Adeline's lips curled upward as she raised ‌‌her hand with a flourish.
"This!"
Whoosh!
But she merely feinted the motion, unable to actually strike my cheek. From that gesture alone, I understood.
She had ‌likely been impersonating me and causing trouble elsewhere in precisely this manner. ‌‌‌
'...How am I supposed to clean up this mess?'
Merely contemplating the damage made my head throb.
First I needed to expose this woman, and then the real me ‌‌‌would have ‌‌to appear—otherwise our family's honor would be irreparably tarnished.
'Most people ‌‌don't know what the real Adeline ‌‌actually ‌‌‌looks like.'
Where had this woman been causing her rampage?
Had she been wreaking havoc throughout the entire Empire tour? The mere possibility made my headache worse.
"Sigh...."
"You're sighing in front of someone? You."
Poke!
Another version of me—one I hadn't known existed—jabbed my shoulder repeatedly ‌‌with her index finger. ‌‌
Her sharp nails dug into the bare skin of my shoulder where the robe ‌‌‌had slipped away.
"Do you think you ‌‌deserve to wear this dress?"
She seemed to be the very ghost of the dress itself.
"Because of you, I couldn't wear this dress and had to miss the party! It was a noble's ball held in the Northern Region!"
"You went all the ‌‌way to the Northern ‌‌‌Region?"
I nearly cried out.
She had clearly conducted a nationwide tour of disgrace.
"A lord from the Northern Region who attended that gala chose ‌‌his bride there! You ruined everything! I absolutely had to wear this dress that night! Why?"
The woman's voice rose as she grew increasingly furious.
"Because this shade of pink looks best on my face!"
It was absolute nonsense.
If she'd only gone to the Northern Region, I'd count myself lucky—but she must have gone elsewhere too. Surely she had.
"Don't you wear it either!"
"?"
In that instant, I heard the sharp sound of fabric tearing—riiiiip!
The woman seized my dress with brutal force and tore it apart.
I stared in bewilderment at the cloth shredded like paper. Could it really be torn apart so easily?
"Wait a ‌‌‌‌moment."
"It's mine. All of it is mine! Mine!"
"Good heavens! My lady!"
"Get out of my way!"
The Imposter, her ‌‌‌‌eyes now completely wild, shoved aside the Shop Clerks who tried to stop her and lunged toward me.
Just as her sharp nails were about to rake across my cheek—
"That woman ‌is the lady?"
A soft, low voice tinged with cold authority reached my ears.
"So Duke Hexagon had a late-born child while he was imprisoned?"
The man easily twisted Adeline's wrists and let out a quiet chuckle. At that moment, our eyes met.
He narrowed his gentle eyes and smiled.
"We meet again, my friend's wife."
It was Marquis Cassion Schultz.
"...!" ‌‌
"Surprised? It's hardly a face one forgets so quickly."
His soft voice reached me.
"Whether you or I."
He released Adeline's hand and approached me.
He tilted his ‌‌‌chin toward her and looked at me—as if asking whether I ‌‌‌knew that woman.
"Friends?"
"That's hardly the case."
"Then ‌‌acquaintances?"
"I've never seen her before. Just like you, ‌‌Marquis."
"Like me?"
Then he burst into ‌‌laughter. The blond-haired man stretched his lips wide in amusement.
"So Dale did mention me. Judging by how much you dislike me."
"...! M-Marquis?"
Adeline looked at the man in great surprise. The shop ‌clerks were already on the verge of fainting.
Marquis Schultz straightened me up and smoothed out ‌‌‌my wrinkled collar. Though he claimed unilaterally that he and ‌Dale ‌‌were friends, he seemed like a man who would share absolutely no common interests with him.
With his brilliant golden hair and pristine, ‌‌gleaming attire, he appeared to be someone who pursued aesthetic refinement.
"So, my lady."
"Why... rather than."
Ah, that's right. Not me.
I reflexively looked at Marquis Schultz.
At the same moment, our eyes met.
'...What is this?'
He chuckled softly, narrowing his eyes as he gazed at the Imposter.
"There should be only two ladies of noble birth in this Empire. Are you a foreign aristocrat? Or perhaps Duke Hexagon's late-born child?"
"H-How rude! Did you think I'd let this slide ‌‌just once?" ‌‌‌
Snap.
Marquis Cassion caught the woman as she tried to flee hastily after her sharp retort.
"I know the faces of all members of the two ‌‌‌ducal families in this Empire—the Hexagon Family and the Lockhart Family."
He narrowed his eyes with a smile.
"I'm curious which family's lady you are."
"...W-What are you saying?"
"If I can't satisfy my curiosity, I won't be able to sleep tonight."
The Imposter's ‌‌‌face flushed red, then began to darken.
She couldn't fix her gaze in one place, rolling her eyes about as she avoided Marquis Cassion Schultz's stare. ‌‌‌‌
"M-move, move aside!"
Thwack!
The noblewoman shoved the Marquis and bolted out of the Boutique.
"Let's go together, Miss!"
Those who had been following her naturally rushed out after her.
Once they left, ‌‌the Boutique fell into profound silence. Yet the destruction they'd wrought was spectacular.
I stared at the Boutique reduced to chaos and found myself at a loss for words.
Just then, a soft sensation touched my shoulder.
It was a coat that carried no artificial fragrance—instead, a warm, sweet scent emanated from it. The very coat Marquis Cassion Schultz had been wearing moments before.
When our eyes met, he smiled brightly.
There was no helping it.
I accepted the coat he had draped over me.
My appearance was hardly presentable, after all.
"If you ‌‌‌‌don't ‌‌accept the Marquis's coat, Dale will ‌‌‌worry, won't he?"
"To be honest, he'd worry either way."
He scrunched his nose and laughed playfully.
"You might not realize it yet, but that fellow has possessive tendencies that are quite extraordinary."
His cheerful, light baritone voice suited his sociable demeanor perfectly.
Marquis Cassion Schultz touched his own hair as he gazed ‌‌‌‌at me.
"It's admirable, ‌watching from the ‌‌‌sidelines."
He murmured something incomprehensible.
"His heart is even more remarkable. True devotion never wavers."
"Dale is a good person, after all."
"Indeed."
Marquis Cassion Schultz nodded at ‌‌‌‌my words and laughed ‌‌‌‌more deeply.
"You've found yourself a good husband."
He ‌‌‌‌fastened the button at the collar of the coat I wore and whispered near my ear.
"Adeline."

---------------
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and ‌‌‌enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------