So I Was the Persecuted Grand Duchess Destined to Die? Chapter 65

The curtain opened.

“!”

For a moment, Xavier sucked in a sharp breath.

He couldn’t even gauge what he was supposed to say.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

With each heartbeat,
time seemed to slow in a strange way.

In his eyes, there was only one person.

“…Mm.”

Skin as white as first snow.
Pink cheeks faintly flushed.
And as always—those ruby-bright eyes that bewitched people.

And as if to make it worse, Renée was wearing a dress in a deep blue-violet—almost the exact shade of Xavier’s own eyes.

“Is it… too much?”

Renée looked a little tense.

Maybe she was just very embarrassed.

The chandelier’s gentle light traced the delicate line of her face,
then flowed along her silver hair, rippling like moonlight on water,
and down, down, down over the silk dress.

“My goodness!”

George clapped his chubby hands together with a dramatic smack.

“How can you be this beautiful?! You look like a goddess torn right out of a painting! This is what they call… a masterpiece-ripped woman—a living work of art!”

“Exactly! You’re totally a hydrangea fairy, Renée! Let’s buy this one right now.”

“S-sure…”

Even Katharina—who’d been covering her mouth and practically crying earlier—joined in on George’s fawning.

Renée’s face visibly grew thinner with each second.

Hmm.

Even while laying it on thick, George stayed thoroughly professional, eyes shining as he kept sneaking glances at the archduke, who’d been quiet this whole time.

Xavier didn’t show much expression—

but his ears and the back of his neck were burning red.

“Oh my. Your husband should say something too.”

At George’s subtle shove, Xavier flinched and shot to his feet.

Everyone’s gaze snapped to him.

“Ahem.”

His stiff expression froze solid—icy cold.

If someone didn’t know what was happening, they might’ve had their knees go weak from his presence alone.

“W-why…?”

Renée asked, stammering slightly.

Her face was like a startled rabbit.

Xavier, without meaning to, turned his head away.

For some reason, looking at her directly felt hard right now.

“…Bread.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll go… buy bread.”

Without even realizing what he was saying,
Xavier bolted out of the room.

“…What on earth…”

The ones left behind could only stare, dumbfounded.

How many hours passed after that?

“Haaah…”

I didn’t need a mirror to know.

My face had to be drowning in dark circles right now.

“Katharina… I can’t look at any more. Please, let’s look at yours now. I’m done. Please. Stop…”

I pleaded with her, half in tears.

This was my thirteenth dress change.

It turned out the archduke had been right to flee immediately at the start.

That bastard Xavier—he totally ran because he knew this would happen.

The Xavier I knew wasn’t the kind of man who’d volunteer to be a bread errand boy.

Damn it… I should’ve followed him.

I thought we’d try, like, three or four dresses at most!

At this point, even the most glamorous gowns all looked the same.

Maybe she finally noticed my hollow eyes—Katharina stuck out her lips.

“We haven’t even looked at half yet.”

“This is more than enough! Are we opening a boutique branch in the North or what?”

“Hiiing. Fine. Then I’ll go try on a few I picked out too!”

Still reluctant, Katharina tapped a few dresses in the catalog with her finger.

I nodded like a soulless puppet.

And the second Katharina disappeared behind the curtain, I hurriedly whispered to George.

“I’m stepping out for a moment. Where are my clothes?”

“Your Grace can go just as you are. The dress you’re wearing now has already been paid for.”

“…Huh? By who?”

“Ohohoho. Who else could it be? Your one and only… hus-band.”

George covered his mouth and laughed, putting special emphasis on “husband.”

He wasn’t my husband in my heart, but the way George said it came with visible heart-shaped sparkles.

Let it go.

That wasn’t important right now.

At this point I was out of sugar and out of energy.

Honestly, the fact that I didn’t have to change again was a relief.

I bobbed my head and hurried out of the boutique.

The dress—covered in lace and frills—was inconvenient, but it couldn’t stop me.

Because my brain had been nothing but salt-bread thoughts for hours.

I can’t trust the archduke.

“Going to buy bread” was absolutely just an excuse!

My destination was the bakery next door.

I moved quickly.

But—

“Oh, miss… I’m sorry. The salt bread is already sold out.”

“…What did you say?!”

Of course.

Only a few hours had passed, and the display case was already completely empty.

My world just collapsed.

I trudged out of the bakery like a citizen whose country had fallen—

when—

“Kyahahaha!”

A bright child’s laughter made me lift my head.

By the fountain, there was an ice-cream cart.

A man in clearly foreign clothing was skillfully teasing a child with showy hand tricks.

…Turkish ice cream?

No—starting with the salt bread earlier—

this world really had everything, huh?

This is fascinating!

Like I’d been bewitched, I lined up behind the child.

The vendor was clearly a pro.

Most people near the fountain were already holding an ice-cream cone.

“Hello! Um… strawberry, please.”

“Yep! One moment!”

The vendor answered in a slightly awkward accent—then grinned mischievously.

He scooped out an ice cream that stretched long like mochi.

“Here you go!”

“Th-thank y—”

“As if!”

He yanked the cone back so fast it vanished behind his back.

“Huh?”

When I froze, he doubled down—twirling the long metal rod through the air.

“O… ooh…!”

Why is he so fast?!

With reflexes approaching absolute zero, all I could do was swipe uselessly at empty air.

Honestly, even tracking it with my eyes was hard…!

“Okay, now for real. Take it.”

“Yes—ah!”

“You fell for it again.”

“…”

This is… weirdly infuriating?

Again and again, he shoved the cone right up to my nose—then whisked it away.

My eyes started spinning—

when a sharp voice snapped from behind me.

“Oh my. Well, well. Look who it is—our house’s little bookworm bug!”

What?

Is there a hygiene issue here? Are there bugs on this pristine street?

But street sanitation couldn’t compete with my ice-cream obsession.

“…Are you seriously ignoring me?!”

Thump!

A hard hand clamped onto my shoulder.

I jolted.

Spinning around—

a doll-like young lady with silver hair stood there, seething.

Even with her anger, her pale blue eyes sparkled like jewels.

“Hey! Why are you ignoring me?!”

…She’s cute.

No—focus.

I don’t know her.

There’s no way I’d forget someone this adorable!

“…Who are you?”

I asked, genuinely confused.

Her face turned even redder.

“This is insane.”

Ha.

Bianca—who had grabbed Renée’s shoulder—could only huff out angry breaths at the absurdity of it all.

And yet Renée just blinked like she truly had no idea.

“Did you lose your memory from the shock of going North or something? Huh?”

Bianca tilted her head with an angelic face—

and her dazzling silver hair swayed with the motion.

Her silver hair looked exactly like the Renée in front of her.

Which, really, made sense.

Her full name was Bianca Blanche.

Renée’s half-sister.

But unlike Renée—born of a maid—

Bianca was the youngest daughter born of the legitimate wife, a difference like heaven and earth.

And above all, most of the Blanche direct line had silver hair and blue eyes.

Compared to that, Renée was a bastard with red eyes—something that had never appeared before.

In old tales, they said such a child brought misfortune to the family.

Of course, Bianca knew it was nonsense.

Still, she never bothered denying it.

It made things easier.

Wasn’t it the perfect excuse to bully someone?