Chapter 33
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Thank you Winkie and Mar for the ko-fi love!
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Riv left the drawing room on the first floor and returned to her room. She grabbed the pendant she had kept in a jewelry box.
Due to the frequent dress changes, she didn’t want to keep wearing and removing the necklace, but now she was so upset that she needed this pendant.
“Haa.”
‘Why am I so confused?’
‘Because I felt Lionel’s desire? Because I want to have him and be his woman?’
“Why am I thinking of quitting?”
Riv wore the necklace around her neck to come to her senses.
She did not know what kind of impulse she had, but she looked for the old bag that was brought from the palace and took it out.
Seven years of her life at the palace fit in one bag.
A few of her belongings had already been removed and organized, but one remained. Inside the bag was a pile of black and ugly clothes.
“The symbol of Madame Katana.”
The moment Riv took out the large mourning dress, the stuffed clothes escaped from the bag and expanded at once. It quickly became a huge mass and piled up.
An old and faded black mourning dress.
A huge dress that was so heavy to wear. Anyone who wore it would look a few years older.
“Haa.”
Riv stared at the black dress.
She always thought her body was weird.
She thought that Marianne’s short arms and legs which looked like they would easily break, and her body which was smooth and slender like a baby’s, were the measure of beauty.
Riv’s view of beauty became distorted as all the ladies in the palace loved Marianne.
Compared to Marianne, Riv had always been like a giant. Her stature, chest, hands and feet.
She thought she wasn’t normal. In addition, Madame Katana’s makeup made Riv look more gloomy.
Riv, who was trying to crumple Madame Katana’s clothes little by little to put them back in the bag, was caught in a depressed mood.
All kinds of negative emotions seemed to seep into her just by touching these clothes.
“I’m not ugly.”
Riv recalled how she felt when Lionel had looked at her passionately.
Alas, that was the first time she knew that she was capable of being loved. Whether it was out of lust or for their mental compatibility. As she put her old mourning clothes back into the bag, she suddenly looked down at her belly.
If she got married and shared the same bed with Lionel, she might one day have a child of her own.
‘How would it feel to have a child with the Duke?’
Lionel and her had already mixed their bodies.
What if she was already with child?
What would it feel like if she was pregnant and her stomach was full?
“Don’t think about that, Riv Katana.”
Why did she keep forgetting that she died and came back to life? That she was mortal?
‘I might die this year, why am I thinking of a child?’
However.
‘What is this?’
Riv’s eyes saw black, smokey orbs floating around her.
They were cloudy and disgusting. When she touched them with her hands, the shapeless things evaporated at once, leaving only a terrible stench.
“Ugh!”
Riv covered her nose and realized it wasn’t real. It was a hallucination that she created herself.
This was the power of the negative emotions that Riv elicited.
‘I wonder if I can see this because I’m a witch.’
It was said that Riv brought misfortune. But she no longer wanted to be Madame Katana, a symbol of misfortune.
‘Let’s think about good things.’
She cleared her head and calmed her disorganized mind.
“I’m outside the Ailte palace. I’m no longer Marianne’s maid. I have my own room and pretty clothes and new shoes.”
Riv also had maids who attended to her and the best fiancé among the nobility, Lionel de Sentoren, who said he would make her his wife.
Here, Riv didn’t have to worry about who was going to kill her.
She was safe here.
“Lionel.”
The moment she thought of him, all the black orbs disappeared.
Instead, bright and lively energies revolved around her. The energies that circled her got absorbed into her body.
Riv felt the sensation of the bright power flowing within her body.
‘This is magic.’
It had been a few days since Riv had woken up, and she was surprised that she had awakened the power of magic.
‘I couldn’t feel this kind of energy in the palace.’
Riv looked around her.
‘Is there something here that affects me?’
The Duke’s garden was connected to the banquet hall, and part of it looked desolate.
If she went outside, could she perhaps find some answers? Riv grabbed the hem of her dress and came out of the mansion.
A large glass greenhouse appeared in front of her as she walked aimlessly.
“It’s here.”
She felt a strong force in the greenhouse overflowing.
As Lionel explained, the greenhouse was his mother’s favorite place. Didn’t he also mention that it was still being managed?
Riv stepped inside the greenhouse.
The greenhouse manager guarding the entrance saw Riv and greeted her. After the caretaker left, Riv was left alone.
“Ah.”
A space where tropical plants have grown to the fullest.
The inside of the greenhouse was warm and humid because it was tailored to the tropical plants. Sweat dripped under the dress Riv wore.
There was no wind in the greenhouse, so it was even hotter.
Riv was sure.
“There is magic here.”
Riv narrowed her eyes and encountered a vivid green energy.
A little breeze blew as she touched the energy. The wind became stronger as she touched the wind more gently.
“Ah.”
Riv couldn’t explain how she handled the power, but she seemed to just know. The moment Riv’s hand touched the green energy, the plants around her grew taller in an instant.
The flower buds in front of Riv also bloomed quickly.
The scent of the blooming flowers was intense.
“Oh my God.”
If anyone had seen this, Riv would have been taken as a witch.
But Riv was alone here.
“It’s safe here.”
Riv spoke to herself, then breathed into the green energy. The inside of the hot and humid greenhouse suddenly cooled.
“Are you guys okay with this temperature?”
When Riv asked, the plants shook their branches and leaves, making a rattling sound. An hour passed quickly as she observed the exotic plants in the greenhouse. Riv’s feet were sore so she sat down on a bench in the greenhouse to catch her breath.
‘I’m dizzy.’
This greenhouse without anyone else was her only pleasure.
It drained her strength when she used magic. Riv, who had lost stamina, seemed to need some time to recover her strength.
“Haa.”
It had only been a few hours after she awakened her magic.
“I might be able to use more power once I get better.”
The inside of the greenhouse became warm as Riv took back the cooling magic she used.
Riv gasped for breath and fiddled with the pendant hanging from her neck.
The ring of the former Duchess was still hidden as if it were a pendant. The ring did not heat up or change shape after she came here.
“Are you happy to be back where you belong?”
However,
“Everything is happening too fast.”
Marriage to the Duke, her magic awakening. These were no coincidences.
“This may be the beginning of everything.”
Riv muttered to herself and gently shook her head.
She was revived and went back in time, changing her past. She didn’t know if this would change her fated ending. Riv muttered to herself.
“I have no choice but to live all the way to the end.”
After thinking for a long time, Riv went back to the house.
The maids, who saw Riv, trembled.
“Madame, where were you coming from?”
“We were worried because we couldn’t find you all of a sudden.”
Riv looked back at those who were worried for her and said,
“I was in the greenhouse.”
“All this time?”
As Riv nodded her head, the faces of the maids grew more concerned.
“We knew you went to the greenhouse, but we didn’t expect you to stay this long.
“You must have been sweating a lot.”
The maids wiped sweat from Riv’s forehead with a handkerchief.
“You seem to have stayed in the greenhouse for too long. It would be best to wash up and rest.”
Riv returned to her own room, listening to the scolding of Claudel and the other maids. After she washed, she laid down on her bed.
When she woke up, Riv’s room was full of new dresses and accessories.
The maids were stacking boxes and carefully opening them.
“What is all this?”
“These are dresses sent from the boutique. They said they sent some of them for adjustments.”
“Oh, do I have to try them on now?”
“Yes.”
Riv was tired just from seeing the many boxes.
“I don’t think I need that many clothes.”
Claudel replied softly.
“This alone is not enough to preserve the dignity of the Duchess.”
Duchess.
Riv still wasn’t used to it.
“This still looks like too many clothes.”
For Riv, who had only worn her black mourning clothes, the stitching fit her body well and was expensive.
It was burdensome trying on the revealing dresses.
Some dresses exposed her shoulders.
Riv was completely exhausted as she repeatedly tried on and took off about ten dresses.
“I think we’ve overdone it, I’m sorry for having you try them on.”
“Haa.”
Was this a result of the magic, or was her stamina too low?
“I want to rest.”
Riv ate some food and fell asleep again. She didn’t even know that Claudel had called the doctor in the middle of her sleep, worried about Riv’s condition.
It was later that she learned that an aftereffect of using magic was deep sleep.