Can't Come Back - Chapter 27

Discord Link: Hush Mittens

Her words made things move around her.

“What are you talking about? That’s impossible!”

The pitch of Lady Bland’s voice went up. She thought Berlia had made fun of her.

“Right, but isn’t your language too harsh?”

The countess, Lady Andrea, stepped in to help. But Berlia’s face did not change at all. She told what had happened this morning at the house.

– Berlia. Speaking of which, why did the Blands want to hold a tea party?

– Hmm. They sent out a letter saying that they are opening their gallery.

– Marquis Bland…

Cain was thinking for a short time. Berlia didn’t know that Cain was the one who sent Claudia to help her at the royal dinner. But since Cain was watching the scene, he knew that Lady Bland and Lady Andrea would get Berlia into trouble again.

– How about I help you out a little bit?

– Ah, no. I didn’t mean to make a request of you, Cain. I’m thankful that you’ve given me faith.

– I know that as a guy I shouldn’t get involved in what women do. I just want to tell you something useful.

Berlia looked interested when he spoke. When Cain told the story, he gave Berlia information that could be useful if she ever got into a tough position.

– From what I know, Marquis Bland is crazy about art. But this time, I heard that the Lady has bought ‘Joy’ of Morden. ‘Joy’ is a work that belongs in a royal tale, so it makes sense to brag if you really have it. But it isn’t real.

– Really? How did you know that Lady Bland had bought a fake?

Berlia’s questions poured out. Cain smiled sweetly at her and put his hand out to her. Berlia’s head was touched by Cain’s hand. He added a reason why.

– Because I have the original. Most likely, the Lady Bland doesn’t know yet. If they had known, they wouldn’t have let the Lady show off that fake.

Then Cain showed Berlia the real ‘Joy’ and told her about how it was different from the copy. He also said that if she had to, she could say that he has the original.

When Berlia thought about that memory, she started talking with a steady face.

“Would you like to look at this slice?”

Berlia took a piece of the fake ‘Joy.’

“…It’s just plain white?”

“Really.”

“…Gemstone powder…”

The women made low noises. Lady Bland went pale when she looked at the cross-section.

“I think everyone knows what happens when you grind up gemstones, mix the powder, and make a bowl.”

If diamond powder is mixed into the dough used to make a bowl, the bowl will have sparkles here and there. Not only should the outside shine, but so should the broken part. But this ‘Joy’ was shiny on the outside, but the cross-section showed no sign of jewel powder. The rest of Berlia’s answer continued.

“Even if this fake didn’t break, there’s another way to tell it’s a fake. This is Morden’s mark. Morden was left-handed. People say that he always signed from right to left.”

The piece with the name was put on the tea table by Berlia. It was copied well, but the end of the signature was a little bit angled to the right. The women all nodded their heads to say that this was true.

“Wow, really? The real one is then…”

“Has it not been discovered yet?”

“That’s too bad. Is it really gone with Morden….”

As their words, which were full of sadness that the fake had been proven, came to an end, Berlia finally said something clear.

“What’s more important is that the Hilldayden Duchy has the real ‘Joy.’”

When Berlia said what she did, everyone looked surprised. The aristocratic woman next to Berlia asked her.

“Duchess Hilldayden, is that really true?”

Berlia nodded her head.

“It is, yes. Lord Cain had already gotten it at some point. I was also lucky enough to see the real ‘Joy’ because of him.”

When it was said that Cain was the one who bought the real work, several women nodded their heads. They thought it was fair that Cain didn’t show off to the outside world, even though he didn’t talk much and had many great traits.

“Lord Cain could do that for sure.”

“Lady, next time, would you like to see the real ‘Joy’? I’ll ask you to come to the house.”

“Wow, really? I’m excited about it, Duchess.”

“Can I also come? I can’t even think about how great it would be in real life.”

All of the women were in a hurry to talk to Berlia. Soon, Countess Bland stopped being important. She and Countess Andrea both had their hands shaking in anger and gave Berlia dirty looks. But neither of the women could speak. Both of them thought that the fake ‘Joy’ that was broken was the real one. What else could they say after talking about a fake?

Countess Bland was no longer the most important person at this tea party.

After the ‘Joy’ episode, Countess Bland and Countess Andreacouldn’t go out in public for a while. Berlia’s days were much busier than theirs were.

People looked for Berlia for a while. It was so they could see the real ‘Joy.’ Since then, many women have come up to Berlia.

Berlia treated them with care. Because of this, she was asked to attend more gatherings and tea parties with other noble women. Her standing in the group had gone up a little bit. Berlia thought that Cain was to blame for everything.

“Oh my, it’s Lord Cain.”

“How does he have such a vibe?”

“Right. Lord Cain’s face is a lucky sight for the Duchess Hildayden to see every day.”

“Oh my, young girl. You can say that because you are single, but Duchess Hildayden is married. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”

“Oh, did I misspeak? I’m sorry, lady.”

“No, it’s okay, young lady.”

But it was still lonely that she couldn’t say anything when other noble women liked Cain. Because she and Cain were so close, she couldn’t tell anyone about it.

After the guests left and a long time had passed, it was a dark night. Berlia was sitting alone in her room, thinking.

“But I haven’t felt lightheaded since then. That’s a good thing.’

When I went to the Countess of Bland’s house, my head felt like it was going to spin. I even tripped and broke a fake ‘Joy’ when I fell. But luckily, I only felt dizzy that one day and haven’t felt that way since.

“Maybe I’ve been fine lately because I’ve been getting enough sleep.”

Berlia recently went to bed early because she thought it might have been because she was tired. Even though it was a bit early to go to bed today, she decided to get ready to sleep. Then, all of a sudden, she thought about the scented candles that help people fall asleep.

“Where did I put the scented candles that I keep burning when I sleep?”

Berlia got up from where she was sitting and walked toward the box. After a few times of her house shoes being heard, she stopped. She pulled out a drawer and dug around in it to find the scented candles.

“It must be here somewhere, I can’t remember where I put it…”

Knock Knock-

Someone knocked on Berlia’s door at that very moment. No one but Cain would have knocked on her door at this time.

“Come on in.”

Berlia told him to come in with a happy heart. Cain entered.

“What were you doing?”

“I was looking for candles… scented”

“Candles with scents? Why do you want to find those?”

“Oh, I was hoping they would help me sleep. I don’t think I’ve been sleeping enough lately…”

“If that’s the case, I’ll help you look.”

Cain did what she did and also started looking for candles with scents. They looked through each drawer one at a time for scented candles. Not long after that, Berlia got a small jar with a scented candle in it.

“Well, this is…”

Berlia’s face got red as she looked at what she was holding. It was, in fact, a lamp with a smell. She wasn’t looking for that one, though. It was a candle with a smell that Cadellin gave to her.

This candle smells different than most. She wondered what Cain would say if he knew she had a candle that smelled like an aphrodisiac. He might think she was a woman who wasted her time.

Berlia tried to quickly put the scented candle back in the drawer as she thought about this.

“What on earth is that?”

“Huh?”

Cain came up to Berlia from behind and asked. Berlia was upset and didn’t even realize she was stuttering.

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”

Berlia said it didn’t matter and quickly moved her hands.

“What you’re holding looks like a scented candle. Isn’t that what you were looking for?”

Cain took the candle from Berlia and held it in his hand.

“Yes, that is…”

He opened the lid slowly. The lid of the scented candle opened with a pop, and they could smell a faint scent.

“Wait, Berlia, this isn’t just a scented candle…”

When Cain smelled the scent, he knew right away what the scented candle was. Berlia started making up reasons because she was afraid he would think she made this scented candle.

“No, Cain, I didn’t buy this. It was a gift. Well, since it was a gift, I couldn’t just throw it away.”

Her eyes moved around in the air and then slowly fell to the ground. She was too embarrassed to look straight at Cain’s face. Even though she didn’t buy it and only kept it because it was a gift, she couldn’t get around the fact that it was embarrassing.

“Is that all there is?”

Cain felt sneaky as he listened to Berlia’s panicked chatter. He went up to Berlia and spoke quietly.

“Did you really think you wouldn’t use it?”