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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: A Temporary Friend's Conditions
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I was aghast.
“What?!”
My pupils trembled as if an earthquake had hit them.
Am I being rejected already?!
B-but. Didn’t things go reasonably well today?!
The Duchess even laughed several times!
Just then.
The Duchess declared coolly.
“I can’t even make you a temporary friend with such a frumpy outfit. It’s a matter of my pride.”
Ah…
I sighed inwardly.
Of course, it was only natural that my attire didn’t meet the Duchess’s exalted aesthetic sense.
Until now, I had always worn drab-colored dresses to make Serapina stand out.
Even if I rummaged through my entire wardrobe, a new dress wouldn’t just magically appear.
Still…
“W-when I came to see you this time, I tried my best to wear the most decent thing I have…”
“Decent?!”
At my timid protest, the Duchess’s eyes blazed.
“That drab gray dress is decent?! Even my late grandmother wouldn’t have worn a dress like that!”
“…”
Unable to withstand her forcefulness, I meekly backed down.
But the Duchess’s fury was not yet spent.
“And your hair, too!”
“M-my hair? What about it?”
“You’ve just let it hang down, completely unstyled and without any care!”
“…Is that not allowed?”
“Of course not! To be born with such thick, voluminous hair! Isn’t it a waste?!”
Her blue eyes glinted with a manic light.
“Honestly, does Lady Lopes think it’s all fine as long as she’s the only one who looks pretty? That’s why people mock Lady Ansi even more! What kind of friend is that?!”
The Duchess was now practically stomping her feet and breathing fire.
“It’s so obvious Lady Lopes is just dragging you around as her foil! To make herself look better! It’s so conniving, I can’t stand it!”
What? She’s seen right through Serapina’s intentions?
I was a little surprised.
A moment later.
After her lengthy tirade, the Duchess, having calmed down a bit, placed a hand on her forehead and shook her head.
“Hah, what’s the point of having good natural features? You’re not using them at all.”
Hm?
My eyes widened.
“R-really?”
When I reflexively asked, the Duchess narrowed her eyes and shot me a look.
“What is it?”
“W-well, you just said my natural features were good…”
My words trailed off uncertainly.
The Duchess didn’t even try to hide her exasperated expression.
“What, are you about to put yourself down again?”
“N-no, it’s not that.”
Serapina and Gregory had always told me.
That there was no other lady as ugly as I was.
How dare I even think of wearing splendid jewels and dresses? I should know my place…
After realizing I was in the world of the novel, I understood that Serapina’s words were filled with hypocrisy and malice.
Even so, the words that had been drilled into my head for so long were not easily forgotten.
“Honestly, do I really have to spell everything out for you?”
The Duchess chided me, then continued, ticking off points on her fingers.
“Lady Ansi, your skin tone is clear, you have a slender figure, and your features are well-proportioned. Your posture is especially straight and elegant, which is a strength. It’s a sign of a good upbringing.”
Then she frowned and shot at me.
“You should at least be aware of your own strengths. That’s the only way you can enhance them, isn’t it?”
“I-I see.”
I nodded blankly.
To have someone tell you, ‘Actually, you have all these strengths’…
‘So this is what it feels like.’
The depths of my heart tingled as if tickled by a feather.
But I couldn’t linger in that feeling for long.
“Anyway, we’ve gotten sidetracked.”
Because the Duchess had planted her hands on her hips.
“If you want to be even a temporary friend of mine, it’s not just your clothes and hairstyle, but that habitual self-deprecation too!”
Then she glared at me murderously.
“You have to fix every last bit of it!”
“I-I’ll take it to heart!”
I instinctively straightened my posture.
At the same time, the Duchess spoke decisively.
“Tomorrow, 10 in the morning.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll come to your townhouse to pick you up, so be waiting.”
“Pardon?”
…I was having a hard time following this conversation.
As I kept repeating “Pardon?”, the Duchess clicked her tongue loud enough for me to hear.
“What is it? Didn’t you say friends go shopping together and eat delicious food together?”
W-well, I did say that, but.
So suddenly?
“If you stand me up, I won’t let you off the hook. Got it?”
Only after giving me another stern warning did the Duchess let me go.
“See you tomorrow, then.”
“Ah, yes… I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I boarded the carriage in a daze.
The carriage began to move slowly.
Behind it, the magnificent townhouse grew more and more distant.
“…”
I happened to glance down.
A sweet fragrance rose from the bouquet of roses resting on my lap.
I carefully picked up the bouquet and buried my nose in it.
“…It smells so nice.”
Somehow, I felt these roses resembled the Duchess.
Despite being covered in sharp thorns.
The sweet fragrance and soft petals made those thorns seem completely insignificant…
A lovely rose that anyone would be bound to love.
***
Through the large window, Dietrich could see Evanjeline returning to the townhouse with light, quick steps.
Watching her, he casually struck up a conversation with his sister.
“Eva.”
“Oh, Brother.”
Evanjeline blinked and looked up at her older brother.
“I never thought I’d see the day you’d hang out with a lady your age. Did you finally make a friend?”
“Sh-she’s not my friend, you know?”
Evanjeline suddenly snapped.
“She’s just a temporary friend! You don’t know anything, Brother!”
“…”
She’s either a friend or she’s not.
What on earth was a temporary friend?
Dietrich’s expression turned rather peculiar, but for now, he decided to chalk up the fact that Evanjeline was trying to form something resembling a friendship as a positive development.
“Besides, you looked like you were having a lot of fun earlier.”
“Fun? What are you talking about!”
“Your laughter was ringing through the garden. You’re telling me you weren’t having fun?”
“I-I just laughed a little. It wasn’t even that loud…!”
“Alright, alright.”
Waving a hand dismissively, Dietrich asked with a somewhat puzzled look.
“By the way, that lady from before, wasn’t she from the Viscounty of Ansi?”
“What about it?”
“I heard that Lady Ansi is close with Lady Lopes. But you dislike Lady Lopes, don’t you?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
Pouting, Evanjeline turned her head away with a huff.
“Well, I guess she’s not as stuffy as I thought.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. We talked about my hobbies today, and, well… it was reasonably fun.”
Dietrich was surprised once again.
To think that the prickly Evanjeline would give such high praise as ‘reasonably fun’?
That meant her satisfaction level was at its peak.
“Lady Ansi is a good listener. It was easy to talk to her.”
Evanjeline chattered on.
“But she said she doesn’t have any particular hobbies.”
“No hobbies?”
“That’s what she said. Wow, I thought, there are really people who live such boring lives.”
Evanjeline added primly.
“So I’m thinking of trying out a few things with her from now on.”
“So she is your friend.”
“I said she’s not! She’s a temporary friend!”
At her brother’s nonchalant reply, Evanjeline shot him a glare.
