I Thought It Was a Common Transmigration - Chapter 35
“I can’t seem to fit in with society these days. A bunch of village hicks wandering around the bazaar. Besides, they’re clueless, aren’t they?”
They glared at me, not expecting me to attack them.
“Who the hell is that?”
“Edith Riegelhoff.”
“Alas, she’s just as she was rumored to be…… and she doesn’t look any better than that illegitimate child.”
“I hear she’s ignored by even her husband?”
They mocked me with a sneer. But I wasn’t the original Edith, so I didn’t let that get to me.
“Hmm…… so, to not know Edith ‘Ludwig’, what village are you from, I have no idea who you are just by looking at your face.”
I thought they were going to shut up, but one of the young ladies lifted her chin and replied, “If you don’t recognize the Countess of Bryn, Miss Edith, oughtn’t you to reflect on your own education and knowledge?”
“Anyone who makes a fuss over a mere passerby needs to relearn basic manners,” I replied.
The Countess Bryn’s brow furrowed further at that.
“Now that I think about it, that illegitimate child looks better, at least she knows her place.”
“And you’d better look good in the eyes of that very same ‘no better than an illegitimate child’ woman, because if this gets to the Duchess’ ears now, the County of Bryn will be in danger.”
The Countess of Bryn looked me up and down again, clutching her fan tightly.
“I’ve heard rumors that the Duke of Ludwig has an unwanted daughter-in-law, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad.”
“I heard that Count Riegelhoff forced the marriage.”
“I feel sorry for Sir Killian.”
Like worker bees swarming around a queen bee, the young ladies were spouting off whatever sounded good to Countess Bryn.
The sight was hilarious.
“Well, if you’ve said all you need to say, would you mind getting out of the way, because Sir Cliff Ludwig is coming after this.”
I said it without looking back because I thought I could feel Cliff’s energy, but when I did, the ladies gave me an awkward glance and hurried away.
And then I heard Cliff’s affectionate voice behind me.
“Why are you standing there?”
At Cliff’s voice, Lizé let out a shaky breath and looked up.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine, but……”
“Do you know any of them?”
“She’s a friend of Countess Sinclair. I’m so sorry that she’s been so mean to Edith because of me……”
“I’m perfectly fine. She can talk all she wants. I don’t care.”
As I shrugged, Cliff came over and examined Lizé’s complexion, and she quickly smiled as if it was no big deal.
‘She’s got a hard life, too.’
Those who wanted to look good to the Ludwigs knew that they cared about Lizé, so they praised her, but those who didn’t, looked down on Lizé, calling her an illegitimate child even after getting to the fourth volume of the original story.
‘I feel like I’ve become a part of that gossip, but……’
It would have made Edith’s eyes roll back in her head if the same group of people who looked down on Lizé had called her worse than her.
‘But to me, one Killian is more important than all of them.’
I headed back to the Ludwigs’ tent, repeating the mantra of choose and focus.
When I returned to the tent, the Duke of Ludwig was sitting there, but Killian was nowhere to be seen.
‘Oh, he must have run off to buy Lizé’s shawl, but well, Cliff just bought it.’
If I had known it would be like this, I would have come a little later.
By noon, the bazaar was packed, and there was a lot of chatter and greetings.
And the episode began to take its own course.
That is, the comparisons between me and Lizé began in earnest.
The horde of bullies that blocked our way earlier was nothing.
“Oh my, Miss Lizé is getting prettier and prettier every time I see her!”
“I suppose Duchess Ludwig has already made Miss Lizé her daughter-in-law?”
“I saw her work displayed at the bazaar before, how could she be so skilled?”
No, it wasn’t a comparison. I was completely ignored.
At least the previous group of bullies insulted me, so I could pay them back, but these people didn’t even look at me, ignoring me completely.
‘Choose and focus, choose and focus…… these people are nameless extras, don’t let the 2D people’s words hurt you.’
The elaborately dressed aristocratic ladies were calling each other by name, but when I turned around, they were faces and names I couldn’t remember.
That’s probably the fate of the extras.
Then someone said my name.
“Oh! There you are, Miss Edith! I see you’ve changed your style a bit…… haven’t you?”
“Oh, yes,” I replied.
The girl who used to emphasize her cleavage and favor fancy dresses suddenly showed up in plain clothes. Perhaps that’s why they didn’t notice my presence.
‘Ah! Is that why Edith wears racy, fancy clothes? Because otherwise she wouldn’t even be noticed next to Lizé……’
In this way, I understood Edith again.
Just then, Killian, who must have failed to buy Lizé’s shawl, approached.
“Killian! I haven’t seen you in a long time.”
As expected, Lizé greeted him first.
Apparently, he hadn’t seen Lizé since returning from the estate yesterday either.
I don’t know why that’s so comforting.
“I know. How have you been?”
“Good! What about you, Killian?”
“Me too, well…….”
His gaze shifted to me.
If I say hello, will I be ignored? But if I don’t, what if people say I’m rude?
“I miss– no, did you have a good trip?”
I almost blurted out that I missed him. Why am I so distracted these days?
“……I did.”
Fortunately, Killian didn’t ignore my greeting.
He even walked over to me.
“What have you been up to?”
“Busy getting ready for the bazaar, I guess. I’m a terrible embroiderer.”
“I could see that.”
What, did you see that?
“Is that all……?”
“No big deal, I was just a little…… bored.”
“Why? Because I wasn’t there?”
“Ha! Aren’t you being overconfident?”
But I couldn’t say no.
To be honest, I was bored and tired of everything without Killian. Even when he was at the mansion, there were many days when I didn’t see him, and I don’t know why.
He just smirked at me, but didn’t say anything barbed.
We enjoyed the bazaar as a family for the first time in a long time.
Every once in a while, Lizé said something to Killian, but strangely, Killian did not reply at length.
‘What happened?’
Killian stayed seated next to me, and I was spared the drama.
How I wish the day would continue just like this.
“I’m going to go touch up my makeup for a minute.”
The iced tea I’d been drinking was making me need to use the restroom.
After using the mansion’s luxurious restroom, I emerged feeling refreshed, but someone grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me to the side of the building.
“B- brother?”
“Long time no see, Edith.”
Shane Riegelhoff, Edith’s brother.
I must have let my guard down, I’d forgotten that the Riegelhoffs could be here too!
Shane is blond, like Countess Riegelhoff, and quite handsome, but from the moment I saw him, I felt uncomfortable.
Maybe it’s because I had a brother in my previous life, but he didn’t look at me very kindly either.
In Edith’s subsequent memories, this man was the same as my brother from my previous life. It was clear that he saw me as expendable for his own advancement.
“Ha, haha! You came alone?”
“Of course I came with my father, but you, what the hell happened to you?”
“What?”
I feigned ignorance, and his eyes narrowed.
“Are you being watched by the Ludwigs?”
“What?”
“We received a letter telling us not to think about fighting the Ludwigs, and I thought you were crazy, but then we received a weapons-related document right after that, but it was all fake.”
I paused.
“Brother. When and from whom did you get the weapons dossier?”
“It came through a private courier shortly after you replied. They gave you the fake document, didn’t they?”
Who the hell sent that document?
At the time, I suspected Lizé, but in retrospect, she had no reason to. What could she possibly be lacking that would make her want to hurt me?
And I have one more question.
“If you’ve guessed that far, you also realize that I’m in a precarious position in the Ludwig family, right?”
“That’s why you have to play it cool. Can’t you do better than that?”
“I’ve had a hard enough time with the suspicion that I stole that document.”
“So? What do you expect me to do about your stupidity?”
The question was quickly answered. Shane wasn’t worried about my well-being after all.
Suddenly, I felt a surge of anger that I hadn’t been able to channel toward my brother in my previous life.
“By the way, I didn’t send that weapons-related document.”
“What?”
“I don’t know who did it, but I think they sent it to screw me over.”
“What the hell do you mean…… wait a minute. If you weren’t the one who sent it, then you were……”
“Uh, yeah. That letter to my father was my real letter, and don’t even think about trying to do anything to the Ludwigs. You’ll be in big trouble later–”
-slap!
My head turned with a snap.
My ears went deaf, physiological tears burst out, and my cheek burned like it was on fire.