Chapter: 10
“Thank you, customer! Have a wonderful day!”
When I had entered the clothing shop, my hands were empty. When I left, they felt heavy—entirely because of the clothes I had just bought.
Beside me, Bell bounced on her feet, insisting that she would carry them for me, but I refused firmly.
“No. They’re my clothes, so I’ll carry them. You carry yours.”
Your hands have to feel heavy for it to really feel like shopping.
If someone were to realize that I was the Lady of the Atlante Ducal House, it could become troublesome.
They would sneer, saying things like, How could a noble lady carry her own luggage instead of making a servant do it? and criticize me over trivial nonsense, talking about dignity and propriety.
But there was no one here who would recognize me, so I didn’t need to care about anyone’s gaze.
No one would ever think that Silvia of the Atlante Ducal House and the current me were the same person.
“So, where to next?”
Going straight to the herb shop felt a bit unsatisfying.
I have plenty of money… I kind of want to enjoy spending more before I go.
Shopping like a wealthy person—buying whatever I wanted without worrying about the price—was exhilarating.
Wanting to savor that thrill a little longer, I scanned the street with a hawk’s eye, searching for another shop worth spending money in.
That was when—
“It looks amazing on you! As expected of Lady Eirin!”
Eirin?
At the familiar name, I turned around and saw Eirin standing among a crowd of people.
She wasn’t alone.
Unlike Silvia, who had no friends to speak of, Eirin had been popular since childhood, and even now she was surrounded by people.
Four women, two men, and seven knights acting as guards. Quite a large group.
Fortum Street, true to its reputation as the finest shopping district, was enormous and divided into several sections.
If you broke it down in detail, there were countless subdivisions, but broadly speaking, it was split into three main areas based on status and wealth.
A high-end district for nobles.
A middle district for wealthy commoners.
And a general district for ordinary shops.
For reference, this was the middle district, where nobles were rare.
That was why people slowly gave way, watching with curiosity as Eirin’s group—who radiated an unmistakable we’re nobles aura—passed by.
They probably don’t want to get involved with nobles and end up in trouble.
Since I didn’t want to stand out while staying somewhere quiet, I blended in with the people avoiding them.
Even though I had lost weight, looked different from before, and was wearing plain clothes, I couldn’t completely let my guard down.
Eirin was Silvia’s blood-related younger sister, and the men and women beside her were nobles who had attended Silvia’s birthday not long ago.
Since most of them have known me for over ten years, there’s a chance one of them could recognize that I’m Silvia.
If someone recognized me and reported it to the Duke of Atlante, it would be annoying.
I had no desire to see that cursed duke again, so I decided to pretend I hadn’t noticed them and move on—
“Giving that to Lady Silvia as a gift?”
Suddenly hearing my own name, I stopped reflexively.
Why was my name coming up there?
“Yes. I think it would suit my sister.”
Eirin smiled shyly as she held up a hairpin adorned with a blue flower.
From the sound of it, she was planning to give that hairpin to me as a gift.
Oh. So it’s nothing serious… Wait. No. Is it serious after all?
One of the biggest reasons Silvia’s future turned so bleak was her bad relationship with Eirin.
But if Eirin becomes close enough to Silvia to give her gifts, that future disappears, doesn’t it?
I couldn’t just ignore this. Of course, that didn’t mean I was going to step forward and greet her right now.
I should buy something to give Eirin before going home.
If I received a gift from Eirin and then gave her one in return, wouldn’t that bring us closer, even just a little?
Alright. Then I should hurry and pick out a gift.
I decided to leave without acknowledging Eirin’s group—
At least, until someone said something like this.
“Well… I don’t think giving a gift to Lady Silvia is such a good idea. You know what they say—pearls on a pig’s neck.”
Pearls on a pig’s neck… That’s an insult toward me, right?
I didn’t know who had said it, but after that remark, loud laughter erupted.
I didn’t find it funny at all, but they clearly did—men and women alike giggling without restraint.
There was only one person in the group who wasn’t laughing.
“Are you insulting my sister right now?”
When Eirin Atlante asked in a cold voice, the laughter quickly died down.
Among them, the highest-ranking person was Eirin, the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Atlante.
They were usually desperate to stay on her good side, so there was no way they could keep laughing when she turned serious.
They didn’t just stop laughing—they glanced at Eirin and quietly retreated backward.
In the end, only the woman who had made the “pearls on a pig’s neck” remark remained in front of Eirin. And her face looked familiar.
Where have I seen her before?
As I searched my memory, it came back to me immediately.
She was the woman who had once said to Silvia, “I feel sorry for the tailor who makes your clothes!”
People really don’t change, do they? Looks like her nasty habit of talking hadn’t improved.
What was her name again? I can’t remember. E—E… Eva? No, that can’t be right.
“Lady Evadin. Please answer.”
That’s right. The daughter of Count Evadin. I still couldn’t remember her given name, though.
Left standing alone and faced with Eirin’s cold stare, Evadin seemed flustered and began to make excuses, her face flushed red.
“What? No, Lady Eirin. I just thought… she wouldn’t like it very much. Last time, she threw away the gift you gave her, didn’t she? A cruel woman like that doesn’t deserve Lady Eirin’s present. That’s what I meant.”
Ah. Right. That had happened.
Truly, Silvia’s past misdeeds were endless—the more you dug, the more there was.
Every time I think I’ve cleaned things up, another piece of the past pops up…
Given that, it wasn’t strange for people close to Eirin to speak badly about me.
But Eirin didn’t seem appeased by Evadin’s excuse.
“Is that really what you meant? Then why does it feel to me like you were mocking my sister—her appearance, even?”
“N-no, Lady Eirin! I swear, that was never my intention!”
Evadin put on a pitiful expression, her eyes welling up with tears.
As tears gathered in her eyes, Eirin’s momentum faltered slightly.
She still hadn’t forgiven her, but she didn’t seem to want to make Evadin cry.
That was just how kind she was.
But I wasn’t kind at all—and I had no intention of letting things end here.
“Bell. Hold this for a moment.”
After handing Bell the bags in both my hands, I pushed through the crowd and approached Eirin’s group.
At the sound of my heels clicking against the ground, they all turned to look at me.
“Eirin.”
When I called her name, the curious looks turned wary.
A complete stranger calling the precious name of the Atlante Ducal House—of course they would be suspicious.
Their wariness wasn’t limited to looks.
Shing—
The guards drew their swords and pointed their blades at me.
“Halt!”
The force of their killing intent pressed down on my body.
It was a familiar sensation.
Probably the same murderous aura the Duke of Atlante had emitted on the day I first possessed Silvia’s body.
“Y-young lady!”
Whether she sensed the killing intent aimed at me or simply felt the tension in the air, Bell trembled behind me in fear.
That only made me angrier.
The knights’ killing intent was strong, but it was nothing compared to the Duke of Atlante’s.
And I was someone who had endured his killing intent head-on.
Besides, then and now can’t be compared. Back then, this body was weak and untrained. Now, I can wield the mana I’ve accumulated through mana breathing.
Ignoring the knights’ warning, I took another step forward.
The tip of a sword touched my neck. I felt a sharp sting of pain—the blade must have cut my skin.
It hurt, but compared to the pain I had endured in the hospital, it wasn’t even worth flinching over.
With fingers reinforced by mana, I lightly pushed the sword’s edge aside.
The knight who had been pointing his sword at me flinched, clearly shocked that I could use mana.
Staring him down, I calmly called out to Eirin once more.
“Eirin. It’s me.”
From beyond the knights, Eirin stared at me before answering in a startled voice.
“Sister…?”
“That’s right. It’s me. Silvia Atlante.”
“Sister!”
At those words, the knights froze with their swords still drawn, disbelief plain on their faces as they took several steps back.
“Sister!”
Seizing the opening, Eirin hurried over to me.
As I watched her beaming face, my gaze lingered on something in particular before I spoke.
“Is your arm fully healed now?”
“Yes! It healed completely not long ago. It’s perfectly fine now.”
Giggling, Eirin rotated the arm that had once been broken and mended again.
“That’s a relief. I’d been worried.”
When I said that and patted her shoulder, the people who had been frozen in shock finally began to breathe again.
“Gasp!”
As oxygen returned to their brains, they slowly began to grasp the situation.
The knights who had pointed their swords at me hastily dropped them to the ground and fell to their knees.
“Lady, we sincerely apologize!”
“We failed to recognize you. Please forgive us!”
The knights’ booming apologies echoed down the street, drawing even more attention from the already crowded area.
“What’s going on? Did something happen?”
“Those knights were pointing swords at that woman, then after she said something, they suddenly knelt down!”
“Huh? What did she say?”
“No idea. But she must be some incredible noble—look, the knights are kneeling!”
Before I knew it, all eyes were on me.
I’ve never been this much the center of attention in my life…
The curious stares pricked at my skin, making me feel uncomfortable, and I realized I needed to resolve this quickly.
“Please, stand up.”
“We’re sorry!”
“It’s fine, so please stand up.”
Why were they still kneeling when I told them to get up? This was exhausting.
As I wondered how on earth I was supposed to persuade these disobedient knights, the frozen nobles finally reacted.
“What in the—!”
“That woman is Silvia Atlante?!”
“Is this a dream?”
Of course it’s not a dream.
“No way!”
What do you mean, no way? Your reactions are more unrealistic than anything—like third-rate movie extras.
