The Wicked Wife's Dark History Keeps Coming Back To Haunt Her - Chapter 279
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Marchioness Belmore is what one might call a fraud character. Or rather, an overpowered character who doesn’t look like it at all.
She rarely appears in public now that she has entered her seventies.
But if she chose to exert influence in high society, she could display authority rivaling even Her Majesty the Empress.
And that wasn’t simply because she had been His Majesty the Emperor’s wet nurse.
Fifty years ago, the right to learn how to read had been the exclusive privilege of men, and it was she who fought to claim that right.
Why must women rely on servants even to write a trivial letter?
Because they cannot read, they must spend the entire day beside a secretary servant. At this rate they might as well end up committing adultery.
The story that these words once left the former Emperor speechless had become legendary.
At one time she faced heavy criticism.
But founding vocational academies for women, socially ruining nobles who appeared at parties with their mistresses, rescuing women suffering from domestic abuse, and more.
Her footsteps drew endless respect and praise.
For the women of noble families, she was something like a living idol.
Perhaps it was because she had escorted such a person.
After Countess Coventry and her daughter were thrown out, the gazes directed at Nina had already changed into admiration.
As if it no longer mattered what kind of person she had been in the past.
Didn’t that simply show how enormous the influence of Marchioness Belmore was?
.
.
The day after returning home—
Marsha was standing before the dressing table, touching Nina’s hair.
“I’m really glad things worked out well. From now on you’ll definitely have far fewer things weighing on your mind.”
“I suppose so.”
Even though she had changed from before, Nina had believed she could never completely separate herself from the person she used to be.
But after escorting Marchioness Belmore, she could clearly see that people’s gazes had completely changed, especially those of middle-aged and older noblewomen.
Until recently, no matter what they truly thought, they had approached her because they desired her ‘power’.
Now their approach seemed to be based on ‘curiosity’ and ‘favor’.
“Shouldn’t you send some kind of thanks to Marchioness Belmore and Marchioness Lambert? I heard that thanks to them, things worked out well for Miss Bernard too.”
“I’ve actually been thinking about how I should thank them.”
The main actors in high society were noble ladies, but it was impossible to escape the influence of parents.
Throughout the major events that followed the charity ball, the charity banquet, and the auction.
Thanks to Marchioness Belmore treating her and Sophia like granddaughters, Nina had gained considerable goodwill from middle-aged noblewomen.
Throughout the event, she saw many noblewomen and young ladies offering Sophia words of comfort and inviting her to gatherings.
It was clear that the day Sophia returned as a central figure in high society wasn’t far away.
‘On the other hand, it’s safe to say that Lady Coventry is finished.’
Nina gave a cynical smile.
After causing such a disgrace in a ballroom filled with hundreds of people, the story would likely be talked about endlessly for quite some time.
She knew this from experience.
At first they would try to maintain connections with relatives and acquaintances somehow.
But those ties would snap one by one like threads cut by scissors.
Because the words they spoke that day would return to them like karma.
Lady Coventry would be hit the hardest.
It would become increasingly difficult for her to find a marriage partner that met her standards.
In any case, no one would be able to torment Sophia over past matters anymore.
“Hmm, since the Marchioness is elderly, maybe I should send her some soft snacks.”
Food that was good for one’s health would already be provided in abundance without her adding anything.
And judging from her conversation with Marchioness Belmore…
“I’m truly embarrassed that such a disgraceful scene happened over a personal matter in front of you, Marchioness.”
“There’s no need to worry about it. It reminded me of old times, so it was rather amusing.”
“Old times?”
“There’s a saying that one’s stomach aches when a cousin buys land. Do you think people like that didn’t exist in the past as well?”
She seemed to have a simple and free-spirited personality.
If someone like that received an expensive gift, she would likely feel burdened.
If Nina wanted to maintain the connection, it would be better to express her gratitude with a small gift.
After all, it would be a waste for her meeting with Marchioness Belmore to remain a one-time encounter.
“Alright, I should ask the head chef to develop some snacks suitable for an elder.”
What kind of unique snack would be good for making by hand?
Perhaps red bean jelly or honey cookies.
T/N:
Yanggeng – a kind of traditional confection made of red bean paste, agar and sugar, usually sold in block form and eaten in slices.
Yakgwa – traditional deep-fried, wheat-based cookies that are made with honey, rice wine, sesame oil and ginger juice. It’s known to be a ‘medicinal (yak) confection (gwa)’ because of the large amount of honey used to prepare the cookies, and pre-modern Koreans considered honey to be medicinal.
I’m not sure how relevant Nina’s past as a transmigrated Korean woman still is to her life at this point lol but it’s fun to see that she still has little tidbits like that
