I’m Done Being Your Best Friend

“I saw someone that looked a lot like you at another ball I attended recently.”

“…That can’t be right.”

I could feel his body, walking next to me, tensed up.

His whole body was stiff and his face looked uncomfortable as if he was chewing on eggshells.

“I couldn’t attend balls.
I don’t have much of a fortune to be invited to that kind of place.”

You? The most powerful man in the kingdom, Duke Harrison?

The aristocrats usually joined in businesses by investing with the funds they had.
Evaluating a business as exceptional on the surface, Duke Harrison would pour his money in like a typical aristocrat.

But he was doing businesses in various fields such as fabrics, art, and mines, so he must really be raking it in.

He was making money even though he seemed to be leisurely playing around with me like this.

But I pretended to buy his words.

“I see.
I’m just saying.
You don’t have to be that mindful of it.”

“Who said I was bothered by it?”

Logan asked as though what I said was strange.
He was so clueless.
He denied my words with all seriousness.

“I was not bothered in the slightest.”

He was resolute.
To deny this firmly, he must have wanted it to be a strong affirmation for me to believe him.
When I first saw him, I could not figure out what he was thinking from his stoic outlook.
But now, after having met up with him a few times, I started to know how to read him.

Even today, he only brought one book into the reading room.
A book with a very antiquated title called ‘Finding Ancient Magic’.
He sat opposite me and began to look through it.

Wait, didn’t he read that last time? I recalled the last time I met him.

While I had looked through several books, he was still holding onto that one book.
How long did it take him to finish a book? Logan must have been quite slow on reading.

Is this why he asked me for help? I had read three books while he was still stuck with the same one.

With that in mind, I started reading a book that recorded the activities of ancient wizards.

And after a while, I found an interesting passage.

[Different from others’ reputations, Blanche was famous for his mischief.
He used his power to make someone else’s eyebrows turn white, to reverse the clockwise, or change his appearance into a child to play pranks on others.]

I thought he was a useless wizard.
Until I read the next sentence.

[His pranks also included having a person’s essence reflected in the mirror.]

Isn’t it a bit similar to the magic fountain? The magic fountain showed one’s fateful partner.

Then, if I focus on this person, I might find something!

I might be able to discover a new mysterious place for him to travel to.
I was going to show Logan this book and let him read it, but….

Standing at the bookshelf nearby, Logan’s eyes met mine.

Was I too absorbed in the book? I didn’t know he was looking at me.
Slightly startled, my eyes widened, but he instantly lowered his head back down to the book he’s holding.

What the..? His book was closed as if he had not read it at all.
He opened it and turned to the bookshelf as though he hadn’t looked at me in the first place… Isn’t that page at the front of the one he was reading earlier?

Why is he reading backward? It was so suspicious.
I watched him read then pulled out a note and a pen from my bag, which I brought from the mansion.

I left a note with it and pushed it toward him.

[Were you flustered?]

After reading the memo, he looked at me with his face stiffened.
He mouthed ‘I was not flustered’.

Ah, I see.
So you were not flustered, you were just reading in an irregular way. I smiled at him.

***

Today I went out with Sir Bolt.
I had become close with many people these days, but the person I met today was far from close.

“I have been waiting.”

He was already waiting for me at the tea house, the place we were supposed to meet.

“Count, what did you mean when you say you have some business with me?”

The person I met today was none other than Count Page, my ex-husband before the regression, George.

I haven’t seen George’s face in a long time.
Was this the first time I had seen him since Earl Parker’s ball? He asked to meet me, but he looked somewhat dissatisfied when we met.

“Well…”

Having lived with George for over ten years, I could tell.
It seemed he was displeased about something.
He gave me that same face when he found out I could not have children.

Having lived with him and being conscious of him my whole life, how could I not know the look on his face?

I already guessed why he called me today.

“I have something to discuss with you about lady Moore.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

As expected, it was this.
Again.
If it’s not about Daisy, of course he would not want to see me personally.

“You said you will help me to be with her, so what’s going on?”

‘What’s going on’ he meant? He must be referring to me not doing anything lately.

After finding out about Percy and Heidi’s relationship, I gave up on George’s love affair.

In the beginning, I tried to set Daisy up with George in order to reduce her chance of rising in status.

Now that Percy had Heidi, there was only one Duke left in the kingdom.
But he was known as a commoner to Daisy.
Above all, Daisy had failed to look good in front of Logan.

All in all, it was no longer necessary to stick to Daisy and pass her good words about George.
Which was tiresome and disturbing by the way.

I opened my mouth to George, who was waiting for my answer.

“I think it will be difficult from now.”

Shocked, George’s eyes bulged.

“Why?”

“I have no more reason to help.”

You probably didn’t come here today to hear this, did you?

George burst with rage at my words.

“Lady Nelson! How can you say that? You got the necklace I gave you!”

He even pointed at the necklace around my neck

What I wore to the meeting with him today was the blue diamond necklace he gave me.

It was a design with a polka dot-shaped frame made of gold and a small blue diamond the size of a fingernail in it.

“You have gotten what you needed.
Can’t you just tell me what I have to do?”

Well, I did expect George to react like this.
I wore it here just in case he mention the necklace.
I untied the necklace and laid it down on the table.

“I’ll give it back.
Are we good?”

I didn’t beg for it, so I didn’t have any regrets about it.
Still, it was put to good use in places I hadn’t thought of.
I succeeded in humiliating Daisy at Chloe’s salon with this.

Even after receiving the necklace, he was still huffing, unable to calm down.

My change of attitude must have been sudden.
Well, I guess I could give him one last favour before we part.

“Count.
Let me tell you one last thing.
About the most important thing to have Daisy’s heart.”

“What is it? There’s still something else besides what you told me last time?”

Again, George immediately showed interest. 

I had already told him about Daisy’s favourite flowers, perfumes, songs, and so on.

But that wasn’t really the way to shake Daisy’s heart.
Daisy would just think that any lucky fool could guess all of that right.

The frustrated George rushed to me for an answer.

“Come on, tell me.
What else does lady Moore like-”

“Daisy…”

I cut him off and spoke softly.

“…likes handsome men.”

 

 

 

 

“I saw someone that looked a lot like you at another ball I attended recently.”

“…That can’t be right.”

I could feel his body, walking next to me, tensed up.

His whole body was stiff and his face looked uncomfortable as if he was chewing on eggshells.

“I couldn’t attend balls.
I don’t have much of a fortune to be invited to that kind of place.”

You? The most powerful man in the kingdom, Duke Harrison?

The aristocrats usually joined in businesses by investing with the funds they had.
Evaluating a business as exceptional on the surface, Duke Harrison would pour his money in like a typical aristocrat.

But he was doing businesses in various fields such as fabrics, art, and mines, so he must really be raking it in.

He was making money even though he seemed to be leisurely playing around with me like this.

But I pretended to buy his words.

“I see.
I’m just saying.
You don’t have to be that mindful of it.”

“Who said I was bothered by it?”

Logan asked as though what I said was strange.
He was so clueless.
He denied my words with all seriousness.

“I was not bothered in the slightest.”

He was resolute.
To deny this firmly, he must have wanted it to be a strong affirmation for me to believe him.
When I first saw him, I could not figure out what he was thinking from his stoic outlook.
But now, after having met up with him a few times, I started to know how to read him.

Even today, he only brought one book into the reading room.
A book with a very antiquated title called ‘Finding Ancient Magic’.
He sat opposite me and began to look through it.

Wait, didn’t he read that last time? I recalled the last time I met him.

While I had looked through several books, he was still holding onto that one book.
How long did it take him to finish a book? Logan must have been quite slow on reading.

Is this why he asked me for help? I had read three books while he was still stuck with the same one.

With that in mind, I started reading a book that recorded the activities of ancient wizards.

And after a while, I found an interesting passage.

[Different from others’ reputations, Blanche was famous for his mischief.
He used his power to make someone else’s eyebrows turn white, to reverse the clockwise, or change his appearance into a child to play pranks on others.]

I thought he was a useless wizard.
Until I read the next sentence.

[His pranks also included having a person’s essence reflected in the mirror.]

Isn’t it a bit similar to the magic fountain? The magic fountain showed one’s fateful partner.

Then, if I focus on this person, I might find something!

I might be able to discover a new mysterious place for him to travel to.
I was going to show Logan this book and let him read it, but….

Standing at the bookshelf nearby, Logan’s eyes met mine.

Was I too absorbed in the book? I didn’t know he was looking at me.
Slightly startled, my eyes widened, but he instantly lowered his head back down to the book he’s holding.

What the..? His book was closed as if he had not read it at all.
He opened it and turned to the bookshelf as though he hadn’t looked at me in the first place… Isn’t that page at the front of the one he was reading earlier?

Why is he reading backward? It was so suspicious.
I watched him read then pulled out a note and a pen from my bag, which I brought from the mansion.

I left a note with it and pushed it toward him.

[Were you flustered?]

After reading the memo, he looked at me with his face stiffened.
He mouthed ‘I was not flustered’.

Ah, I see.
So you were not flustered, you were just reading in an irregular way. I smiled at him.

***

Today I went out with Sir Bolt.
I had become close with many people these days, but the person I met today was far from close.

“I have been waiting.”

He was already waiting for me at the tea house, the place we were supposed to meet.

“Count, what did you mean when you say you have some business with me?”

The person I met today was none other than Count Page, my ex-husband before the regression, George.

I haven’t seen George’s face in a long time.
Was this the first time I had seen him since Earl Parker’s ball? He asked to meet me, but he looked somewhat dissatisfied when we met.

“Well…”

Having lived with George for over ten years, I could tell.
It seemed he was displeased about something.
He gave me that same face when he found out I could not have children.

Having lived with him and being conscious of him my whole life, how could I not know the look on his face?

I already guessed why he called me today.

“I have something to discuss with you about lady Moore.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

As expected, it was this.
Again.
If it’s not about Daisy, of course he would not want to see me personally.

“You said you will help me to be with her, so what’s going on?”

‘What’s going on’ he meant? He must be referring to me not doing anything lately.

After finding out about Percy and Heidi’s relationship, I gave up on George’s love affair.

In the beginning, I tried to set Daisy up with George in order to reduce her chance of rising in status.

Now that Percy had Heidi, there was only one Duke left in the kingdom.
But he was known as a commoner to Daisy.
Above all, Daisy had failed to look good in front of Logan.

All in all, it was no longer necessary to stick to Daisy and pass her good words about George.
Which was tiresome and disturbing by the way.

I opened my mouth to George, who was waiting for my answer.

“I think it will be difficult from now.”

Shocked, George’s eyes bulged.

“Why?”

“I have no more reason to help.”

You probably didn’t come here today to hear this, did you?

George burst with rage at my words.

“Lady Nelson! How can you say that? You got the necklace I gave you!”

He even pointed at the necklace around my neck

What I wore to the meeting with him today was the blue diamond necklace he gave me.

It was a design with a polka dot-shaped frame made of gold and a small blue diamond the size of a fingernail in it.

“You have gotten what you needed.
Can’t you just tell me what I have to do?”

Well, I did expect George to react like this.
I wore it here just in case he mention the necklace.
I untied the necklace and laid it down on the table.

“I’ll give it back.
Are we good?”

I didn’t beg for it, so I didn’t have any regrets about it.
Still, it was put to good use in places I hadn’t thought of.
I succeeded in humiliating Daisy at Chloe’s salon with this.

Even after receiving the necklace, he was still huffing, unable to calm down.

My change of attitude must have been sudden.
Well, I guess I could give him one last favour before we part.

“Count.
Let me tell you one last thing.
About the most important thing to have Daisy’s heart.”

“What is it? There’s still something else besides what you told me last time?”

Again, George immediately showed interest. 

I had already told him about Daisy’s favourite flowers, perfumes, songs, and so on.

But that wasn’t really the way to shake Daisy’s heart.
Daisy would just think that any lucky fool could guess all of that right.

The frustrated George rushed to me for an answer.

“Come on, tell me.
What else does lady Moore like-”

“Daisy…”

I cut him off and spoke softly.

“…likes handsome men.”

_____________________