Acidity of Regret Ch 112
- Mar 1
- 7 min read
Three days later.
She stood at the entrance of the drawing room with Dina, her face a mask of bewilderment.
[Vanessa] "What on earth is all this......?"
Around noon, the butler had announced a visitor. She had been puzzled. In a place where she had few connections, she couldn't imagine who would come to see her.
Thus, she had descended with Dina’s support, only to find the drawing room overflowing with more dresses than she dared to count.
[Tailor] "Ah, are you Lady Rohawk? It is a pleasure to meet you."
[Vanessa] "......Who are you?"
She cast a suspicious glance at the woman addressing her so familiarly.
The woman introduced herself as a tailor from a boutique and immediately dragged over the nearest dress, launching into a detailed explanation.
Vanessa, who didn't even know the reason for the visit, quickly waved her hand at the woman thrusting fabric in her face.
[Vanessa] "I didn't summon a tailor."
[Tailor] "Yes, I am aware. I received a commission from someone else."
[Vanessa] "Someone else? Who?"
[Tailor] "I do not know. I received the payment in advance along with the request......"
Vanessa studied her closely. Seeing the tailor tilt her head without flinching, she seemed to be telling the truth.
In fact, she looked just as curious about her client's identity. Unlike her, Vanessa had a strange feeling she knew exactly who was behind this.
No, there was only one person around her capable of such a scheme.
[Vanessa] "Could you please leave?"
[Tailor] "Pardon?"
The tailor blinked blankly at the unexpected instruction before her expression turned flustered.
[Tailor] "But you haven't even looked at the dresses yet. I prepared them according to this year's trends in the capital, so I'm sure you will like them. Please, just take a look......"
[Vanessa] "I don't need them. Please take all of this back."
[Tailor] "W-wait a moment, My Lady. This puts me in a difficult position. What should I do with the payment I've already received?"
[Vanessa] "Keep it."
[Tailor] "Pardon?"
[Vanessa] "I said, you keep it."
She didn't know the exact amount, but judging by the number of dresses lined up, it was likely enough to buy a decent house. Hence the tailor’s troubled expression.
But she genuinely didn't care. And losing this amount of money wouldn't even dent the pockets of the man responsible.
Dent? It was a speck of dust, small enough to be considered charity.
[Vanessa] "Instead, if another request comes in, please refuse it."
With that, she turned away as if she had no further business. The unexpected visit from the tailor ended just like that.
Unfortunately, this was merely the beginning of the events to come.
From then on, three more tailors visited the estate, each showcasing different styles of dresses. Vanessa had to massage her temples as she faced them.
However, the end was always the same. Just as she had done with the first visitor, she issued an order to leave without even glancing at the dresses they had painstakingly brought.
Next came a jeweler from a foreign empire. Having entered through the small port upon receiving a request, the man with the impressive gold tooth opened the dozens of display cases he had lined up in the drawing room.
Gems so brilliant they made one’s eyes spin were revealed one by one. Vanessa felt momentarily dizzy at the dazzling display.
And she cut him off faster and colder than ever before.
[Vanessa] "Leave."
[Jeweler] "Then the commission fee......"
[Vanessa] "Return it, keep it, or throw it away. Do as you please."
Five jewelers were chased out in this manner.
Just when she thought he might have given up, the recipient of the polite "request" appeared again.
However, this time, the item brought was so unexpected that she stood dumbfounded, unable to issue her habitual dismissal.
[Vanessa] "What...... is this?"
[Deliveryman] "It is a piano."
She shot him a look that clearly said, 'Do you think I'm asking because I don't know what it is?'
But the man who had come to transport the magnificent instrument offered no explanation, perhaps simply following orders.
She spoke in an incredulous tone.
[Vanessa] "I don't know how to play."
[Deliveryman] "Ah, in that case, I was instructed to connect you with someone suitable to be a teacher. Shall I call them tomorrow?"
[Vanessa] "......"
She sighed deeply as she stared at the luxurious piano occupying one corner of the drawing room.
[Vanessa] "Please take it back."
[Deliveryman] "Pardon? But......"
[Vanessa] "Don't worry about the fee and just discard it. Actually, since it's in pristine condition, it would be a waste to throw it away. Donate it to the monastery in the territory instead."
A piano this large and glossy would never suit the small, shabby monastery in this rural estate. However, faced with Vanessa's firm demeanor, they couldn't utter a peep and had to pack up the heavy instrument they had struggled to bring in.
And as it had been for days, the situation didn't end there. The next day, a lute arrived, and the day after that, an instrument she had never heard of called a cornet.
Just as she had done with the tailors and jewelers, she ordered them returned without a shred of regret.
[Dina] "Good heavens, musical instruments......?"
Dina, watching the scene, let her jaw drop.
As if proving that some time had passed since her return to the estate, Vanessa, now able to walk without support, spun around.
Dina, who was still looking dazedly at the spot where the instruments had been, quickly followed her.
[Dina] "Even if you send them back like that, I feel like something else will come soon."
[Vanessa] "Tell me about it."
[Dina] "I can't even guess what he'll send next."
Vanessa stopped abruptly while climbing the stairs. Staring straight ahead with a complicated expression, she muttered to herself.
[Vanessa] "......Why is he doing this?"
[Dina] "Doesn't he just want to give you a gift, My Lady?"
Dina, who had realized as early as Vanessa that the Grand Duke was the protagonist behind this indiscriminate gift offensive, asked quietly.
[Vanessa] "But I can't even play?"
She could understand dresses and jewelry, as they were indispensable for a noble lady. But random instruments? She couldn't grasp his intent at all, nor did she have the desire to think deeply about it. However, with them arriving day after day, she had no choice but to think.
She shook her head and began to move again.
*****
Meanwhile, Declan wore an equally grim expression.
[Declan] "Again."
[Carter] "Yes......"
At Carter's dispirited answer, his expression wavered. Declan put down his quill and crossed his arms. He remained silent, lost in thought.
[Carter] "The instruments were a bit random."
As he spoke abruptly, Declan lifted his gaze.
[Carter] "Wouldn't it be better if... the recipient knew how to play them?"
Declan pulled out a cigar without a word. His face held a trace of frustration.
Before long, he let out a deep sigh at the situation not unfolding as he wished.
[Declan] "I sent them thinking she might want to learn."
[Carter] "Pardon?"
He ruffled his hair and leaned back heavily against the chair. Two weeks had just passed since he obtained permission to stay near her.
Two weeks ago, after the banquet at the estate, he had returned to the shabby villa where he had originally stayed. Since he had shaken off his injuries earlier than she had, there were no issues with his movement.
Of course, not every part was fully healed. Declan stared down at his left hand. The bandage was still wrapped around it.
As he blinked slowly, the image of the pale, slender hand that had moved over it surfaced like a phantom. It was an ecstatic memory from the cave, where she had personally tended to him—one he couldn't distinguish from a dream or reality.
[Declan] "I wanted her to have a hobby."
[Carter] "A hobby?"
That day, the events in the cave, which had been akin to confinement in the cold, had a profound impact on him.
After safely bringing her back and collapsing, Declan fell into a deep sleep for the first time in a very long while. It was a sweet slumber so distant he couldn't remember the last time he had experienced it.
Just the fact that she was near made everything okay.
But that was a one-time occurrence. After returning here, insomnia and nightmares repeated as if nothing had changed. The anxiety that had subsided for a fleeting moment surged back vividly, consuming him.
So, he obsessively thought of gifts to send her.
Such things would have been impossible to dream of in the past when he had to hide his existence, but hadn't he now received her permission?
Thus, he initially chose dresses and jewelry she might like, but starting with the tailor, it eventually reached musical instruments.
The instruments stemmed from the thought that it might be good for Vanessa to have a plausible hobby.
He had been thinking about hobbies for a while.
Throughout his observation here, she didn't do anything in particular. At most, she took walks along the beach or visited the market held once a month.
Of course, he hadn't seen her life inside the mansion, but recalling their time married, it likely wouldn't deviate much from his expectations.
The driving force that allows a person to live through a day was simpler than one might think. The joy of today, and the anticipation of tomorrow. If those two things were met, one wouldn't even think of death.
Therefore, all of this started from his vague assumption:
If she has a hobby, wouldn't a will to live take root in her?
[Declan] "......Or does she dislike it simply because it's from me?"
[Carter] "I can't say for certain that it isn't the case......"
Carter, answering tactlessly, quickly shut his mouth at Declan's instantly darkening aura.
Frowning, he turned his attention away from Carter and headed to the window. His gaze toward the gently rolling winter sea looked somewhat complicated.
Carter stared blankly at his weary back. He felt he could finally understand the random instructions Declan had been issuing.
So the white horse he prepared after the instruments, and even the beautifully sculpted ship, were all extensions of that intention?
He hadn't known such circumstances lay behind the attitude of someone anxious to spend money.
How can anyone be this clumsy?
He shook his head inwardly, thinking his master was genuinely inept in this regard.
[Carter] "Instead of thinking from your perspective, Your Grace, how about giving her something she might like?"
[Declan] "Something she likes?"
[Carter] "Hobbies are simpler than you think. Isn't a hobby just doing what you like?"
[Declan] "......"
[Carter] "Try to carefully consider what Her Ladyship enjoys. The answer might be in there."
What she likes......
Declan remained trapped in his own thoughts long after Carter left the office.
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