C136
"You've suffered a lot in the meantime."
Isidor went to greet his aunt early in the morning, and the Marquise Baslein gently hugged him and patted him on the back.
"I didn't even suffer."
"Well, you must be tired of cleaning up the mistakes of that wretched father."
She said coldly.
"The vassals also seem to follow you better."
The mansion, which used to have a gloomy atmosphere somewhere, was distinctly different than before.
"I never thought you would grow up so well."
She felt affectionate and proud.
Her nephew was smarter than she expressed.
All fencing masters agreed that Isidor would become a prodigy among swordmasters, and private tutors were surprised that he was smart enough to excel in every field of study.
That's why Brad Visconti, the former head of the family, cared about Isidor, his grandson, much more than his son.
It was one of the main reasons Albert Visconti, who never heard anything good about his father, felt inferior to Isidor.
"That fool. There's no doubt he's my father's son."
Albert even suspected that Isidor was not his son but his younger brother, although they had a significant age difference.
It was a miracle that he was raised with such a disastrous father.
"By the way, I never thought that wretched human would be so useless."
She muttered with a sigh as she drank tea, and Isidor took a sip of tea to hide his bitter smile.
His father's death was absurd because it was in vain.
When he heard the servants' testimonies, it was quite a spectacle.
"I never thought he would drink alcohol mixed with drugs."
Indeed, Albert Visconti's sudden death was not in the original story.
In the novel, Isidor stayed longer in the southern provinces than in the capital. If those unpleasant people stopped by the castle, he would quickly deal with them in the shadows.
However, Albert Visconti became more self-indulgent when Isidor stayed in the capital longer than expected due to his business association with Deborah.
He sought a great thrill. So, he died of a heart attack when he brought in the ruffians dealing with drugs into the mansion and drank heavily.
The sudden death of the former Duke Visconti was a coincidence caused by a change in Isidor's action.
Moreover, the influence of the third prince, who was elevated to a title, was not spoken of and was completely buried in the central social circle due to Isidor's sudden succession to the title of duke.
Their attention was fully focused on the young and elegant Duke Visconti regarding whom and when he would marry and what kind of moves he would make.
"I only hear about you everywhere I go recently."
The ladies had bothered Marquise Baslein, prying about her nephew for a while.
It was surprising that the partner who appeared with Isidor on his first official stage was Princess Seymour, who is also at the center of everyone's attention.
"I hope my nephew definitely figures it out for himself."
Deborah is a lady with a wonderful connection, but the marquise was bothered by the princess's bad reputation.
There's no smoke without fire.
"Why does it have to be the lady everyone talks about...?"
She only had those thoughts in mind. She already had a lot to worry about, so she didn't want to interfere in this kind of meaningless thing.
She seemed concerned, but Isidor smiled gently.
"Things will run and cool off quickly in the social circle, so it will soon calm down."
She shook her head.
"Yes. First, we have to see how it unfolds."
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The fact that Isidor's companion was Deborah made noise at the Academy every day.
It became an even hotter topic with the jewels he received from Duke Visconti, as they were very rare and even had his initials engraved.
This is because the preparation time requires quite skillful work.
"He already had Deborah in mind from the beginning, so Lady Cyril's efforts were in vain."
Lady Cyril hasn't appeared at the Academy recently, perhaps due to shame.
"According to what I heard, she even prepared a variety of evening dresses, not just jewelry."
"If they don't have a serious relationship, that kind of devotion can't be explained."
The ladies who had Isidor in their hearts were disappointed.
"By the way, the duke must have known Deborah's personality, so how...?"
"She is from a good family. She is a good match for the young duke to settle down with."
However, even in the midst of this, there were also some women who refused to acknowledge their relationship.
Nevertheless, the protagonists of the rumor walked together on campus as if flaunting it. In fact, Isidor went to the Magic Faculty suddenly because he wanted to see Deborah's face.
"Duke. Could you stop?"
"What?"
"Staring at me."
Isidor was staring at Deborah's face saying he almost died of withdrawal, even though they hadn't seen each other for only two days.
"Oh."
Guillaume, passing by, opened his mouth widely as he looked at the strange scene.
"Both seem to be in a good relationship. Are you dating?"
Thierry approached languidly behind the frozen Guillaume because Deborah had looked at him with her sharp eyes.
"Yes, if not... then it's fine."
"Why ask when it's true? I knew it; Thierry's wit is the best in the world."
Meanwhile, Isidor said calmly with a smile, and Thierry shivered.
"Really? Since when, Deborah? I may be less modest than Isidor, but I have many charms. Think about it."
"They're not charms, but audacity."
Isidor was quite annoyed by Thierry's provocation, as he wasn't sure if it was a joke or if he was being serious.
"Oh, I also play the piano better."
Although Isidor never heard him play again.
Thierry grumbled, thinking it was ruthless.
"That damned piano, I also practice it every day, so can you stop showing off about it?"
Then, Deborah seemed to contain her laughter, and seeing her, Thierry's mouth opened as if a frozen rose was melting.
"This will hurt my heart again."
"Do you want to duel with me?"
When Isidor took off his gloves halfway, Thierry treated him with generosity.
"I'm joking. I mean, you should treat her well. You're not the only one who is popular."
"I know better than anyone that she's popular."
"I'm glad. Deborah. If that idiot bothers you, tell me anytime."
Thierry joked secretly until the end and then disappeared. Isidor murmured, saying that Thierry is not someone he can let his guard down with.
Deborah seemed to take it as a joke.
"Are you still practicing for real?"
"That..."
When she lightly held Isidor's hands, he quickly cooled down.
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"Did you see them a moment ago?"
"The rumors that they are in a serious relationship may be true."
As if the words of the latter were written as forbidden in theology, Mia wanted to cover her ears for the most talked-about name that even pricks the ears of students with divine power.
"Annoying."
Just because she was born as a high-ranking noble, Deborah easily drew attention from the social circle that Mia desired.
"You should be grateful for being given this good opportunity when you're just the daughter of a fallen noble. How can you be so passive about everything?"
Every time she remembered Marquis Francois's words criticizing her with a stern expression whenever they met, her insides began to boil.
Mia lives under the patronage of Marquis Francois.
Marquis Francois is a noble from the Senate and was famous among the ladies for his good looks and gentle speech like a young man.
He had quite a broad connection and took Mia to various events.
Recently, there were many charity events organized by the nobles because it was the period for the Goddess's Birth Festival, and she played the role of a decorative figure by displaying her divine power in such places.
When she thought of Deborah, who got everything she ever wanted and attended social parties while wearing precious jewels, unlike Mia, who had to endure all kinds of hardships while tending to dirty patients, she bit her lips irritably as anger burned within her.
Blood began to flow, but she didn't feel pain because she had already become accustomed to it.
She clenched her fist while biting her swollen lips harder.
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"The same dreams keep repeating."
My dreams have been restless and ominous recently, but I tried to ignore them and took a sip of water because there's no particular issue with my health.
Purple was crouched on the expensive, high-quality cushion, then opened its eyes and approached carefully.
It licked my finger several times as if consoling me.
I stood up after hugging Purple, who had become much larger after escaping from the old artifact brought by Philap.
Seymour's house was misty with the morning air.
I looked at the garden emitting an air of tranquility before going out for a walk.
"You woke up early."
Her father was strolling in the garden.
"You look tired, didn't you sleep well?"
"I had a nightmare."
"Oh no. I'll send you a drink that's good for sleeping."
I felt quite better after seeing Duke Seymour's worried face. I had accepted him as my father at some point. The duke suddenly opened his mouth as we walked through the dark turquoise-tinted garden.
"Oh, and I'm in the midst of asking the lady who will teach you etiquette."
"It's okay."
I still have time, but the duke was making the initial preparations for my debut.
In normal cases, the mother is in charge of teaching her daughter etiquette before her social debut, so the duke's face looked somewhat bitter.
"Don't worry."
I took his arm, and the duke stroked my hair while smiling.
"I can't believe you're trying to console me. Everyone has grown up. When you were digging in the garden, it was absurd, and I wondered what kind of bastard would do that."
Duke Seymour had been talking about such ordinary things and also said that Enrique wanted to go out together.
"Speaking of which, it would be nice to go for a walk."