The Wicked Wife's Dark History Keeps Coming Back To Haunt Her - Chapter 210

Because Ian was as kind and warm as sunlight, she had expected he would be popular… but not that his popularity would transcend gender.

Boys and girls alike surrounded him, all trying to speak to him at once in a flurry of competition.

‘At this rate, someone’s going to start a fight.’

Wondering if she ought to step in, Nina watched with mild concern. But at that moment.

“I’ve heard about how Young Lord Bayern is very popular even at the academy.”

At one lady’s comment, Nina’s eyes widened slightly.

“Is he that well-known?”

“Indeed. My daughter secretly admires him. Every school break, she talks endlessly about him.”

So they were already trying to stake a claim on Ian’s future engagement, were they?

‘Well, I can’t blame them. Ian’s the kind of boy any parent with a daughter would dream of introducing.’

As the lady fluttered her eyes, boasting of how fond her daughter was of Ian, another woman joined in, unwilling to be outdone.

“Why, it isn’t only your daughter, Madam. Young Lord Bayern is rumored to be the first love of the entire academy. My daughter’s part of that rumor, too.”

Nina’s lips curved as she looked at the two ladies laughing playfully.

She couldn’t quite understand why, but hearing about her nephew’s popularity made her shoulders lift with pride.

‘Well, his nickname does make sense.’

Dressed in that refined beige-and-black formal suit, he looked every bit the perfect young noble.

“…But I heard something rather surprising the other day.”

Flinch.

‘Something surprising…?’

At the lady’s suggestive tone, Nina’s shoulders stiffened on instinct.

Perhaps because she had suffered from countless rumors in the past, this kind of hush-hush atmosphere always made her wary that the next topic would be her.

“They say Duke Nord has been staying out frequently these days. There are even reports of him being seen at a hotel. No one knows who he was with, but it certainly wasn’t his wife.”

“Ah…”

Another lady frowned, her face twisting in disgust.

“To be honest, I can’t even feel sorry for Duchess Nord. One must reap what one sows. She sowed discord between another married couple, so now she’s simply getting back what she did to others.”

That ‘other couple’ must mean Ash and her, right?

So the rumors had already spread far and wide.

That Rebecca had meddled in her marriage.

Somehow, the whole thing left her feeling strange, as if Rebecca were now walking the same thorny path Nina herself had once trudged in her previous life.

The strange, heavy feeling passed quickly, however, at that moment.

“Duchess Bayern, may I have a word with you about Samuel? I was hoping to ask your advice for a moment.”

Advice… on childrearing, of all things? Nina had never raised a child in her life. What could this woman possibly want to ask her?

Curious, Nina politely excused herself from the group and followed the Countess to a quieter path in the garden.

Once she confirmed there was no one around, Countess Crest took out a small folded note and held it out.

“Please take this, Madam.”

A note, so suddenly? Hadn’t she said she wanted to ‘consult’ about something?

Nina blinked in puzzlement, eyes round, and noticed the flicker of tension in the Countess’s gaze.

“It’s something your mother asked me to deliver.”

So that was the real reason.

Nina carefully looked down at the note.

It contained a list of unfamiliar names.

The Countess continued in a low, subdued voice.

“Some time ago, Duchess Taylor asked me to look into rumors circulating in society about certain aphrodisiacs. In the process, I happened to identify some who are suspected of being addicted to them.”

“Ah…”

As she’d guessed, her mother had been investigating the matter separately as well.

Nina’s eyes dimmed as she recalled that day.

The pain and terror she had felt under the drug’s influence still made her wary of even sipping tea.

“I thought it best that you be informed as well, so I brought it along while attending today’s luncheon.”

If they were addicts, then they were undoubtedly connected in some way to Marquis Crewe…

“And one thing they all have in common is—”

Before the Countess could finish her sentence.

“Madam! Duchess!”

Someone’s urgent voice called out to Nina, cutting her off just as she was straining to catch the Countess’s next words.