CHAPTER 93………………………..
Noella, shaken and anxious after driving away the maid who stole her things, was watched over by Chloe at her side.
“Don’t let this weaken you,” Chloe kept saying, gently steadying her again and again. Noella, who had been biting her thumbnail, suddenly turned to Chloe as if startled by some thought.
“Chloe, you’ll stay by my side until the end, won’t you?”
“Of course. I’ll be by your side forever, as long as you don’t abandon me.”
When was the last time something gave me goosebumps like that?
Back at her place, Adele found herself involuntarily remembering the original novel.
Shortly before the accident in her previous life, she had stopped reading right at this passage because it put her in a strange mood.
It felt as if Chloe’s whisper in Noella’s ear reached even to her.
That one’s no joke to train people.
Come to think of it, Noella hadn’t really done anything terribly wrong. It would be perfectly natural for a young noblewoman to dismiss a maid who stole from her, and yet Chloe deliberately sowed anxiety. Then, as if on purpose, Chloe secretly took in the maid Noella had driven away. And her way of calming Noella down was anything but ordinary.
“Noella, pull yourself together — for the prince’s sake. Don’t you get it yet? Everyone has a role to play.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you still don’t understand, look at this.”
Chloe picked up a red apple from in front of Noella. Her tone was firm, as if to emphasize that now was not the time for this.
“You are the one who eats the apple, not the one who peels it. Even a single apple contains the order of the world. Instead of offering half-baked pity, you must know what your role is.”
Honestly — so she expects Noella to drive out the maid and then dance a victory jig?
Even in the parts where other readers called Chloe wise, Adele only saw something ugly in her actions.
But it wasn’t enough to dismiss Chloe as “just a character in a novel” — because a person exactly like her was sitting right beside Adele now.
Yes — the executive’s woman is exactly that style. The idea that there are those who eat and those who peel — does that make any sense?
From Chloe’s perspective, it might have been an example of a heroine facing reality, but for someone who’d been through so much, Adele found it all too easy to empathize with Noella.
And at this point in the story, Noella was still the protagonist — so any episode hinting at a protagonist change was unwelcome.
Sure enough, after that incident Noella was lambasted for being a spineless heroine, and before long she was pushed out as the villainous force that even dragged the upright Sergio family toward ruin — and the root cause, the starting point, was Chloe.
“…Ah.”
Adele sighed, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead, closing and opening her eyes for a moment.
Maybe seeing someone like that in front of her triggered the memory.
She frowned without realizing it as she looked at the apple on the refreshment table set before her. Perhaps because this was the first great undertaking she was doing alone, the nervousness wouldn’t go away.
“Adele, I think they’re about to announce.”
“Yeah.”
Once her name was called, this anxiety would end.
Adele tore her gaze away from the apple and fixed her eyes on the clerk who was unfolding and checking the papers from the box.
“As you know, the person who submitted the highest bid will become the new owner of the marquessate.”
At the clerk’s words everyone in the room leaned in; a hush fell.
Adele bit the inside of her cheek and straightened her posture. She prepared both body and mind to come forward.
“First, the third-place bidder, who is no longer in contention for the acquisition, is Count Johannes, who bid 1.2 billion rubles.”
‘…As expected.’
When the amount was announced, Adele smiled faintly and offered the customary polite applause.
Twelve hundred million rubles for third place. She herself had written down 3.5 billion rubles, so the gap made the outcome obvious.
“Next are the first and second places… well.”
Even the clerk, who had done such auctions many times, wiped the sweat from his brow repeatedly — the sums were that large.
Adele returned a composed smile that said she understood. If her name were called in a moment, she would quickly put on an astonished face.
“Second place is… the bid of 3.5 billion rubles….”
…Huh? Had she misheard? Adele, about to turn and clap for whoever that was, froze.
Hadn’t that just been announced as second place? No—surely not?
The clerk put a final, decisive word in.
“Ms. Adelaide Sergio, representative of the Yuden guild, will be the second-place bidder.”
A deeper silence than before settled through the hall.
Not only Adele, but even those who had meant to congratulate her and make eye contact found their hands frozen mid-applause.
“Ah, Adele.”
“Quiet. It’s not over yet.”
Adele murmured to Jerochs, who had grabbed at her sleeve in panic.
The clerk, looking embarrassed as he stared at Adele with bloodshot eyes, averted his gaze.
“Th-then I’ll announce first place. The successful bidder is Lady Chloe of House Oren. The amount is 3.5 billion….”
“……”
“…and one ruble.”
Even after the final announcement, no applause rang out.
Half the room looked at Adele; the other half searched for the new protagonist, the Lady, in a daze.
Adele sat with her hands folded, eyes lowered like a doll.
‘Is this real?’
Three billion five hundred million — and one ruble.
If she let herself relax now she might laugh out loud. But if she laughed here, tomorrow’s newspapers might run headlines claiming the Sergio heir had gone mad from shock.
At that moment, the woman whose name had been called glided past Adele with an elegant bow.
“Thank you. I can’t believe it. How did this happen…?”
I feel like I know that woman.
Adele, lost in thought, brushed at the gooseflesh prickling on her skin with her fingers.
People’s gazes toward her had shifted; she could feel the temperature of the room change on her skin — an almost instinctual reaction.
The clerk coughed awkwardly, apparently embarrassed to keep staring at the frozen Adele.
“Madam, if you would like, shall we verify the result?”
“No.”
She’d touched each mana-stone herself; if she stepped forward now claiming she couldn’t believe it or that it was a trick, it would only make her look pitiful.
Could things get any more humiliating? Whether she would preserve her pride to the end came down to her own stance.
“Ahem, then everyone may leave. The successful bidder should sign here and confirm the deposit, and the second-place bidder, Ms. Adelaide, should remain.”
As the room emptied, people gave Adele one last look.
By tonight, the image they had seen would spread across the southern region.
Knowing that, Adele let a picture-perfect smile play at her lips.
Jerochs, who could not even guess at that feeling, couldn’t bring himself to ask if she was alright — he only sent her a look of helplessness.
“A-Adele… you should go too—”
“…Chloe. Chloe Hamilton.”
Adele’s lips moved; she did not look well.
Jerochs tried to take her arm, but Adele pushed him away and stood up as if to shrug off help.
She had never once taken another’s assistance when rising to her feet.
Adele finally moved forward. Her steps were steady and haughty, and everyone knew who they were aimed at.
“Good afternoon.”
“Oh my…”
Chloe, who had just finished signing, bumped into her and clutched her chest. A long, sticky silence fell.
Chloe, with a slightly embarrassed expression, folded her fan and was the first to speak.
“…This is our first meeting. I’ve heard plenty of rumors about you, Madam. I wish we could have met under better circumstances.”
“I see.”
“I’m truly sorry. I never imagined such luck would come to me. I thought if it happened, it happened; if not, so be it.”
Her look of sincere apology could soften the heart of almost anyone.
If Adele hadn’t been hardened by Noella, she might easily have been swayed.
“Lady, it seems you were very fortunate.”
“You could say that. I didn’t expect things to go this way, but people have their set fortunes, after all.”
“…May I ask your full name?”
“Chloe Oren.”
“…….”
I see.
Adele lightly stroked her jaw. The name was half-known, half-not — she wondered which side it leaned toward.
As if retracing memories in her head, her face tightened, and Chloe kindly offered further explanation.
“I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but my family runs the merchant house in the capital — the ducal House of Oren.”
“…Is that so?”
Adele responded with a painted smile to the subtle display of family and rank.
Chloe’s lips trembled as if she wanted to say something else, but she refrained.
‘She must have been hurt in her pride.’
Chloe repressed an almost-exploding smile and returned the gesture with an elegant smile. Pirel urged her on, signatures were finished, and it was time to leave.
Besides, she would get more than enough of that high-and-mighty country bumpkin’s stunned expression in the days to come, so she could leave it for now.
“Well then, I shall be going. But what shall we do? I paid the full amount at once, so your second-place standing is meaningless. Please, allow someone of your status to wait.”
“No. It couldn’t be helped. I would have done the same.”
“Then I thank you for understanding.”
Dream on.
Chloe left a pointed message like that and turned away with Pirel.
Jerochs only gave Adele a look of pity instead of suggesting they leave.
“…Adele.”
This had to be her first time dealing with such a thing.
Knowing how much preparation his friend and heir had done, his chest ached and his stomach churned.
“If you start looking now, you can still find a good place—”
“Shh.”
Adele cut him off with pursed lips and stared calmly ahead.
Suddenly her red eyes deepened. It was the telltale sign that she had come to a realization.
Before Jerochs could ask what she was thinking, Adele’s hand, unexpectedly, moved to a place no one expected. She gripped something, lifted her head, and spoke quietly.
“Lady Chloe.”
“…Yes? Do you mean me?”
Chloe, who had been striding forward with the air of a victor, turned on her heel. She had perhaps been waiting for Adele to say something.
“What is it…?”
“Since you’ve come from the capital, I’m not sure if the food here will suit you. This apple is a local specialty of our south — would you like one as a memento?”
Adele picked up a red apple from the refreshment table and offered it to her as if urging her to take it.
What nonsense is this?
Chloe, puzzled and frowning at the odd proposition, politely declined.
“No, thank you. I didn’t bring a maid to peel it.”
“…Still, you’ll regret it if you don’t taste it.”
“Thank you for the thought, but peeling apples isn’t my job.”
With that firm refusal, Chloe shrugged toward Pirel and turned away.
An apple in this situation — are you out of your mind?
Chloe’s gesture made her meaning perfectly clear, and Jerochs, offended, was about to say something despite his timid nature. Adele’s arm blocked him.
“Adele!”
“…So that’s it.”
Adele smiled meaningfully and looked at the apple in her hand. The skin shone as red as her eyes.
“What on earth do you mean, Adele? That’s not the point — even if she’s the daughter of a duke, this attitude is—”
“Duke’s daughter?”
Well. I don’t think she is.
“Jerochs, I have to say, I’ve never really believed in gods that much.”
“……”
“There they are. They exist.”
Adele’s corner of her mouth lifted in a smile that was no longer fake.
With an expression that seemed a little unbelieving, she bit into the apple, skin and all. As the sweet juice filled her mouth, the peculiar smile on her face turned intoxicating.
“…Wow. Finally, I’m being given a chance to repay.”
