The Wicked Wife's Dark History Keeps Coming Back To Haunt Her - Chapter 89
ââŚWhat are you going to do about this! My dress is completely ruined!â
The noble lady with brown hair and brown eyes, dressed in a bright pink gown, yelled at a commoner woman who was sitting on the ground.
âHere we go.â
Miss Catherine of the Barrington family, daughter of Baron Barrington. The future owner of the Barrington Gazette, who, one year from now, would spread rumors of the Taylor familyâs downfall and turn them into a laughingstock.
On this day in the past, Nina was already in a foul mood due to her husbandâs choice to stay elsewhere overnight, and Catherineâs shrill hysteria grated on her nerves to no end.
âIs one little dress worth all this fuss?â
âD-Duchess!â
âMaking a scene in the streets over the price of a single dress? If youâre so hard-pressed, why donât you go stand in line and get a meal here like everyone else?â
While novels are full of nobles who change dresses with every occasion, in reality, dresses are extremely expensive.
Nobles often treasure their dresses for years, repair or alter them when out of style, and even resell them. Many even wear hand-me-downs from their great-grandmothers.
I heard later that Catherine had been humiliated by rumors that sheâd stained her dress, gaining a reputation for poor character in the process.
ââŚYou should take a rest here.â
Nina took out a cape she had âprepared for just this momentâ and approached Catherine.
âOur family motto is âDouble the kindness and repay grudges tenfold,â Duchess. Soon enough, your name will be synonymous with infamy.â
That was what Baron Barrington said to me when Nina had ended up in the streets.
And heâd been right.
Her name became so notorious that nobles couldnât even say, âYouâre a Ninaâ without sparking fights.
âWeâll see if I get back tenfold from this.â
Even so, it was my duty to smooth over this incident, so Nina couldnât just stand by.
âI-Iâm so sorry! I just got dizzy andâŚâ
âDo you think an apology will fix this?! Tell me what youâre going toâ!â
Nina calmly stepped between the two women.
âWhat seems to be the problem?â
âW-WellâŚâ
Catherine stammered, visibly caught off guard.
Of course, anyone would be thrown off meeting Nina Bayern, the social outlaw, right up close.
âYour Ladyship, please calm down. If we cover it like this, no one will even notice the stain on your dress.â
With a gentle smile, Nina draped the cape over Catherineâs shoulders. Embarrassment seemed to replace her anger as the girlâs face gradually softened.
After all, she was only seventeenâbarely a child to someone with lifetimes of experience.
Though she was acting hysterically now, she was at that delicate adolescent age, and an expensive pink dress stained with stew could certainly provoke such a reaction.
âI was just walking, and she bumped into me. The stew⌠it got all over my dress. I⌠I was worried people would thinkâŚâ
The young lady, on the verge of tears, bit her lip.
âSo youâre saying you were worried people would think you⌠well, you know.â
Nina gently patted her shoulder, smiling warmly.
âItâs alright. If anyone makes any rude comments, feel free to tell them my name. Iâll handle it. And are you hurt anywhere?â
âNo, DuchessâŚâ
âThatâs a relief. Above all, itâs most important that youâre unharmed.â
After soothing the baronâs daughter, Nina then turned to the commoner woman, who was sitting on the ground, pale and shaken.
âAnd you? Are you alright? No injuries?â
The woman, shocked to be receiving such concern from a noble, stood up, blinking in disbelief.