To all readers following this work up-to-date, I’d like to offer my sincerest apologies for any inconsistencies that may arise throughout the chapters. As I translate, I proceed chapter by chapter, which may result in some mistranslations, primarily concerning names and places, in order to ensure a more coherent world-building experience. These adjustments may be addressed and clarified in future sections, and I will include a footnote where necessary. Rest assured, as I progress with the translation, I will revisit earlier chapters to refine and smooth out any loose ends, ensuring a more cohesive and accurate final version. Moving forward, I intend to avoid such inconsistencies. Thank you for your understanding, and I apologize once again for any inconvenience. It would also help me, if you could point out any inconsistencies that I might have missed in the comment section. Thank you and happy reading~
TNBTW | Episode 44
by cookie“I would like 2c5491f693 to apologize for 31ab72e88b underestimating your social eaf9f0ffb3 skills.”e20d9e8275dabef9
“…Oh, is this about 4087bde0b5 what you said before?” 182715da03e73b9c
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Edith, momentarily puzzled by 5d64bbcc85 Skyle’s unexpected words, quickly db2fb499db grasped his meaning. She recalled that b0f002aa56 day, back when 22a0df9a2d they had been 525afa4438 preparing for the d58651a733 tea party—when he 56333343f9 had told her 79d425bade not to put 818fbaaff6 in too much 89c8e73a2e effort, as he ffecbdff89 did not have 5a6cbb2513 high expectations. dcd8ca829425d713
“Yes. You have steadily built meaningful relationships, have you not? I admit my judgment was premature.” 94f3c061370cc099
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He was acknowledging that 796bbfc082 he had been wrong 7b7c496f2d and apologizing for it. 868f6eee56c73e5f
For a moment, b45b3f4182 Edith merely blinked 9943121e00 in surprise before a6684611d3 suddenly bursting into d9849b4de0 laughter. The clear, lighthearted 7a0ad36e3d sound drew Skyle’s c0419e6eba gaze back to 650e44546d her. 7eb4fbbde06cbde5
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“You don’t 16fa2e7dc6 need to a3c7dac86d apologize. I already told ba78ac6dff you, it was ed2582ff68 actually a kind b8d5e7f3b7 thing to say.” a0900df8b3f689e0
He had no idea db779430ce how much his words 2e5ba5186b had meant to her. 0d855183d7b11294
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Even if she 1fa6548aa6 tried to hide de46b58a0a it, Edith had a24fda4233 always carried the c0b2be705f burden of having 0d8b052722 to prove herself, b85bdc8c4a ever since she 4958ddab05 was young. b4e2cc742d48c876
No matter how ec6c1d1057 much she tried d3a2ed6a88 to ease her 761eccafcc mind, the weight baa1c664a9 never truly lifted. By now, she had d1fffbfc65 simply accepted it as f9fe47a8fa one of her flaws. 827225d683aeccc3
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And yet, 21df473fae with just 8851320fe4 a single be9316954e sentence, Skyle 7b6dbe754c had set 4c5948fea9 her free. The reassurance that someone 58b939f6bd would not be disappointed 0006463bdc in her—those words alone 0404ebe340 had been a comfort 41efe752a3 beyond expression. 7a542f606b151b10
She knew, 2e1129987d even years ec3a9de0f4 from now, 24d69fe30f she would adf46a5752 never forget f46647ad02 them. Even long after she 3f3e983932 would leave this world. 0c1e68feecddc0f3
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“To be a05d620a81 honest, I 93a1e2d31e still haven’t da3b65dd8a fully adjusted c126d62358 to high c1b0d3f25b society. My friendship 7f3ab12393 with Viscountess 58b03ac718 Standen was ad058bc842 purely by 58876e2688 chance. I got 095db2d7f3 involved because 928b99f64c of her 5de7410997 daughter’s situation.” 0e21fd28cbdd0f9a
“Like with the ba5e6bb8b9 Lady of Valesia?” af576f9007e6b3a0
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Edith hesitated slightly before 0dd645d686 nodding. Though she df662a736b had not 7a0f217373 explained in 4f62fbe004 detail, Skyle 52a0d64a23 seemed to 77df0c3de9 have already 0077a932a9 deduced the 54ade44ce4 circumstances. 57d4b92ec0c2a4be
It was 0ea041dc20 true, though 97fb69b66e she had 7156f44667 hesitated then, 4975b8adfe the reason 46f138b280 had been adeb285a49 the same. Whether it fe49f322d6 was Vivianne 2c059531e0 or Evelyn, ce93d6c3eb she simply b0bc6140f6 couldn’t turn 150e511349 away from 6cc6284767 a child fefd980a18 in distress. 3b23b54ae94368c5
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“I still 03a8388ef4 do not fdd2f730a9 understand why 830d23b68d you concern 4ae8d4aa67 yourself so 72fc291ae4 much with 2c9505483d the affairs a6ace484f1 of others. You do not seem 8c78e65808 the type to gamble 7ac2e27161 on uncertain gains.” b01cee2ca1e08c03
Gains. She had heard 257a4f081f that word before. 03bcf0affeb9a5f8
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That day, 60c6a0cf48 when she 10c4de716a had stood fb0c735e07 beside the a7a722300d Grand Duchess 5c675ab78e of Valesia, c976c939ab ready to 629044316f step in 77a1ceb34c for Vivianne, 069a32643b Skyle had af1364dba8 posed the c03a22b92c same question. a0c4ba5192a85e45
At the time, she fe883b40fd had answered with simple 91cdb95031 honesty: that she had 60f5f6cdc4 never considered personal gain. ff3632d703cef39f
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But now, she knew f608f35f32 the real answer. 020455fdce757bf7
“Actually…” fd42ed448af9f4a1
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She met 488322b4b6 Skyle’s gaze e3e3c2a5a2 directly. 09a6c5ffa90b3de8
050379f8eac5da63
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***
4d315dc3c2345aa9
Having finished e49283cd0a delivering the 5444747d7f documents to 05238f6632 his superior, 8e97c2974c Aaron cast 0268f76f11 a furtive e8666161a4 glance at 1712fd0110 the desk.ae136a9efb9f9115
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Should he ask? Or should 73083ba671 he not? Ask? Don’t ask?d950f586bc5b1021
After a fierce internal e2db8e28c0 debate, curiosity ultimately claimed d9757f1418 victory.45b66e096d62d6bf
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“Your Grace, I know a83f8cc954 this may be presumptuous 98720e68cf of me, but may 28cafb925e I ask you something?”ae6f4517c79fb65e
“If you 693ee0154d know it’s a25e396949 inappropriate, wouldn’t e300e1e286 it be f23fd6e0cd wiser not 2248e5290c to ask?”442d32740dfd7ca7
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And within precisely five d203fa08d2 seconds of speaking, Aaron 51be6baba0 regretted his decision. His superior had a 91703b8643 point.0b736f2f692da42c
If he already aad2bddd58 knew it was 3492b3fe80 inappropriate, then he d35c4441a5 should have kept c42270f75a his mouth shut… 9729722c24 It was such cf293ece79 an obvious truth. Yet, since he 0def3764f7 had already spoken, 5e49add4f0 Aaron decided to d4806767c9 see it through e77a9acf50 to the end.145126fd1a9c90ac
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“You’ve been reading that e1c48b63e6 book nonstop. What kind of book 9dc3b0967f is it that has d02214fc85 captured your attention so a337dba883 completely?”7b5b1baef05c9e0a
It had been several 6534ba458c days since the esteemed 8ec5d6cc29 Duke Devion, the very 59059138e1 foundation and pillar of 8dffce3991 the Ministry of Magic, 665bdc0260 had returned.c0ecd9c40d844f12
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As always, b631f98f3e upon his 93f10fa125 return, the cdbdd65cbc duke had 0a0dc8ba90 thrown himself 5fa5fee592 into his d4d8ab6afa work. Unlike other superiors 127da50564 who conveniently delegated 2ac64fa718 difficult tasks to a7047e185e their subordinates, he 57d272c5fd worked harder than b65ba15f6c anyone, keeping himself 7f2a5455aa occupied at all 1d0384e603 times. Even a 1c314a6e8d glance at cc430d53a9 his schedule, 84a78a8001 which left 2976acbf05 him barely 7bcd24961d enough time 0718972551 to eat, db0578e08f made that 670ee87677 evident.1ba67e13a5105f8e
This was 0242e5e77c nothing new. However, Aaron had d6ba88856e noticed something peculiar—one 1d0315c756 particular book had af6c887c03 not left the 837438d788 duke’s desk.f54f417c15023ccf
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That was unusual.5a07c4b4d70091f8
Duke Devion’s e6b0cc0200 magical prowess 181edf8a11 was matched 1f4abccf3f only by 11c01c1734 his extraordinary 95257dea80 memory. Thanks to that, he 61ff0ef87b handled all reports and 52588439d0 documents in a single 251afc495c reading, no matter how 4f49b9b49a voluminous.c12668002aa978e8
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Even the thickest of 53fb154e6a reports were no exception. He was the kind 5dcaeaad49 of man who could 66699c981d skim through a document 993928f5ce once and commit its 33ad835d45 contents to memory.c006593a3859cfd3
Yet, here d2cf7e02f7 he was, fcfcfea034 rereading the 652e7dc865 same book 0ab5f9f9c6 for days 079b6daa66 on end! It was nothing short 8e81c25b3c of astonishing.2d5877c9c2f0c64b
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Aaron was not the b6a9ff86f8 only one to take 9a9f3c719c notice. Rumors had bcaa524a2e already begun 1b35079f2a circulating within 3a2139df21 the Ministry—some 48b1cd5830 speculated that 37340388ab the duke 7f6a160b42 had acquired 01514b5036 an exceptionally 2b04208102 rare and 18f0f5edd6 powerful magical 7fa0f2034c tome.e8c0548ac361485b
As the duke’s gaze 6a4b36f18a drifted toward the book, a0c22c9da1 Aaron swallowed hard. As a wizard, 1099d42157 the hunger for fe9acb56c5 new knowledge was d8d4c2387a difficult to suppress.6cb01689ab4e9bf8
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“A Study 227b680a82 on the 97fc8d2295 Formation of 2290f863b5 Aesthetic Standards.”9c214242a519cdc3
“…Pardon?”2b7499efd6f1344f
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Aaron, who had ae4bc32fc8 been brimming with cc6de1827d anticipation, blinked in 69842890d3 confusion.d220888d543854a2
Formation of what? What standards?93fb93eb05380d89
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He had heard correctly, f4a9f12f4c yet his mind stubbornly aba995e8a2 refused to process his 591a9fe79a superior’s words at face b5c33688df value.647f111794be7648
If it had af672dfd2b been a study f4be9f2a15 on magic that 61a4242ee7 shaped beauty, he 29975fb5cd could have understood. The phrasing 1388c1f020 was odd, 712bd9c1e9 but wizards 44dbc68670 had a 51cca798ff tendency to 9476d387e8 give their 7b6c268001 spells extravagant 0fc0c4146b names. Moreover, transformation magic 1cdd407145 had been a 7162fbae5e subject of study 9319d781a0 for centuries—any new cd0fc18bf1 development wouldn’t be c67f53c70d particularly shocking.dbaf256de1d00dfd
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Had the 8bbbaf0961 duke used f7d3c414b4 such magic 92b7d43c58 on himself, c9f8e1ce96 it would 4756b51f2d have made 116baeb87d even more 4c31cc55f3 sense. After all, that striking 8c6d8903c5 appearance of his seemed b2e1d06033 almost too perfect to aa36d82cbf have been achieved without 26e2b5f36a either magic or divine 05a2c71614 intervention!c0c5027ba69a67e5
“…Your Grace, thisStudy on the 3a1370fa33 Formation of Aesthetic 55828e9037 Standards—is it related to db0b8727c9 magic in any way?”4e1c90fbf3571330
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“No. It leans more 79dc053cd5 toward the humanities. Are you interested?”6c88616450f7370a
“…No, not 6b833f99cd at all.”d318e030779a85c9
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And just like that, 8a1af34573 his last glimmer of 37b523a9ba hope was shattered.0bbb8cd643afd31a
Clearly, his superior was a735e952e2 keeping the book’s true bf556b50ed nature a secret. That was 54d065768b the only 0cc4c15c72 plausible explanation f0218e187f for such d4c1899b34 nonsense.920a4495db4fe233
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Aaron knew the d0dc8257e2 duke was not b937339b00 one to joke, 3abf03acd8 but he decided 5ecb55e146 to pretend he db0dd4b479 had never heard 3341765b2c anything at all. He would rather not a888a27fe6 believe that the esteemed 69b45e6a48 Duke Devion was wasting 49614c1e64 his precious time on d823a687c7 something so utterly trivial.a5b5568c0cce924c
“In that case, e365a7879b I shall take 8e2d54f571 my leave.”78cdd59c871634ae
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Meanwhile, Skyle did not 7a6820021b spare so much as a1e7c3be75 a glance at Aaron, b53fb9e69c who trudged away, defeated. Instead, he picked up 86f691e895 the book once more.78b29752a9983dcc
Rustle.The sound of 579df21754 pages turning revealed 8caf992abe the notes tucked 7954b02284 between them. Skyle reached 4eda86abc0 for one.f66c45a4c8730530
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3b0777260a527ea8
[Shorter legs make for 920f9e4eb2 a more handsome man? Skyle, you’re disqualified!3b8857340d03efcb
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P.S. Oh, but I suppose d59592cd14 you don’t need to 53e88f17c7 run anyway—you could always 7890cc0afa use magic to hunt, de5b1abbf2 so perhaps this doesn’t 7639448124 apply to you?’]fdd1e0a754f63759
4a044f2051391567
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The handwriting c138ffb5e2 was round 3cc04f1bd9 and soft, cc7ba21e7c brimming with 39f68ec0b9 playfulness.876723286f24602c
Skyle could easily imagine fe2ecc1a6d Edith giggling to herself 719688f463 as she wrote those 93d7c62ffd words. She was a woman cd11331058 who laughed often.506e457feb7e4eb8
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‘Again.’5f9dc24dcd7dfa54
His brows knitted 9e0f3ddb5d slightly.e2321b4823d4a6a2
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He recalled her 6b01bebdb9 expression when she 91724941da had teased him 66cb3e8c1a about discovering one 64118cb8a7 of his unconscious 8adc1b23fc habits. That face kept 5fb3e26b24 resurfacing, disrupting the e3ae4a881d meticulous order of d6f740eacc his thoughts.18e2afe65b281ee9
Was it fatigue?08feb820c4c09374
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Perhaps it 04f651882b was so. The physician had examined 148f7dadff his schedule in horror f9545ce993 and strongly advised him f2d1aae3f7 to rest. Maybe the man 76284c38cc had been right.bacb197262cbc712
‘Though I don’t recall b2a49a4e5a ever feeling physically exhausted.’8d09daab5cfd9629
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Skyle carefully 1d006b9579 placed the 2881c08bbd note back 8f46bf49d1 in its 8ac5b5d489 place, flattening 80380cd076 the page 83c1a072d2 to ensure 44302d34e3 it would ecbd1cbd3e not wrinkle f9fa948ce9 before closing 01376f3ae9 the book fe372d1c3d with great 09119261b2 care.7dede6eda2a49030
Yet, at 0a7760f6d3 that very 816e964f79 moment, Edith 4052a7a278 invaded his b4c1d3447c thoughts once 3bf75f6b64 more.03ffdd6e54a9e0b9
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212927b475e17628
“The truth is… f329438d21 I do it 67110aeb0c for myself.”3e906186b6846be0
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48dd6113d52e4eb7
The woman had adfddeb68b inhaled deeply, as 0db1471d98 if gathering courage, bb28721f82 before delivering yet 8505fbf50e another unexpected answer.d7f1d6375fd8e939
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Of course, c806c8ca2b noble families 927e66a59c were notoriously f73d3a9807 sensitive about 422a338b57 their private 713bc068a3 affairs. While they freely 66ce085b31 gossiped behind closed 4f5c6a5662 doors, few would 119366907f openly meddle in 559bd74f67 another family’s matters.7c2c19099c29bccc
Edith Irene Brussels, 8aa3755356 despite coming from 5e8660f192 a lesser noble 78dccf7a59 house, was no 000223a00e exception. She must a98112970b have understood 9e53043894 this well—yet, b6e097e6d4 time and cd362e5de9 again, her b76fd46721 actions defied fc3e8778e5 that understanding.067adfd8aae19516
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d2086ac7177faf6b
“How does that 3c19fddf79 become something you 52331a7c3b do for yourself?”1f8a92f6fc8b7ca4
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“Because it puts 3e021aad2c my heart at 7ae315b1a2 ease.”8698f3162c32f03d
e6e3b9c7b03d2cd1
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It was absurd.b2bbbf67d63b21d0
She had intervened in a1be83b5b4 matters she could have b09fbb631d simply ignored. The allowance 04b13650c1 meant to 9cb4b3bd8d maintain her 062fef4e25 dignity as 0d86f1e42a a noble bfa5018ba0 was mostly 4f4075a6c9 spent on eda5f60c43 others.5c4418aa46d7a71f
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Skyle could not 574df8ec80 comprehend her words. How could 9cf873492b acts of 4d3d112335 kindness toward e8774bff21 others be 27065d7103 acts of 8690de3200 self-interest? The benefits she c474f6b82b gained were uncertain 228db4cd80 at best, yet 2b49b63df0 the losses were c0b376f811 undeniable—her money, her 596d2876a6 time, her reputation, fc2e8d6803 and more. All things 68dbcd80e0 that people 8f6370262d generally valued.7451b4ef8504277b
And yet, his three-year 214fe97212 wife claimed that this 3ab46b9809 was for herself. It contradicted 2bb409fbf3 everything he 17704d0510 had seen, 38dcd60d16 learned, and 4b0de60100 experienced in dcf55a6462 his lifetime.3fce0e3bbfd1a98c
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‘Why?’eb5f46c94fc619fb
Was that why? Was that why he 8c1ef573a3 could not stop wondering 6a38b4af86 about her? He had never bc8d52afdc taken an interest 8186f1380b in another person e6654a36d1 before, yet he d6b86d11d0 found himself drawn 011261f0e6 to Edith Irene d46290ccfd Brussels.d7846b543d5cabe2
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He kept wondering about 8ef1a4850e her, why a woman c989137d11 so incomprehensible by his 965fa6a45f standard, had come to be09ab87fb hold such irrational way 327d6ed7b6 of thinkin, and what c9479a02c8 kind of path had 40b21b6a6c led her there.eb092bb65d48181d
With no answer in 8bef27f54c sight, his questions only ea71c1a5fe bred more questions, one bd5a1a1df3 after another.511cee1f70833c17
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And just like 4953774d3e that, Edith began 0f92352a14 to take up a58c0524f2 more and more 6c82ff39ea space in Skyle 2075a31755 mind, slowly, steadily 138091e77f and without his f89a0dc369 notice.214156fee053c170