The Wicked Wife's Dark History Keeps Coming Back To Haunt Her - Chapter 76
At the Garnet Room, in the Imperial Palace of the Nesman Empire.
This elegant, garnet-themed room was a private chamber reserved for the elite.
“What is with your clothes and makeup right now?”
Rebecca, seated in front of the grand vanity adorned with golden trimmings, continued applying red lipstick, barely acknowledging her husband’s loud voice.
“Are you deaf? Don’t you hear me?”
“…Goodness, dear. I’m not deaf, so please keep your voice down. People will talk.”
That I’m vulgar.
Swallowing her inner thoughts, Rebecca rose from her seat.
Frederick D. Nord.
She saw him every day, yet he was a husband she felt no warmth toward. He approached her, huffing with frustration.
“I’m asking, what’s with that makeup?”
“What’s wrong with it? Everyone dresses up at least this much.”
“You should consider the time and place! Are you planning to appear before Their Majesties dressed like that?”
Rebecca frowned.
Her makeup was a bit heavy, and the dress had a deep back, but it wasn’t inappropriate enough to warrant his criticism.
It wasn’t even the day of the charity event. If he expected her not to dress up even a bit for the dinner party, he might as well be asking her to suffocate.
“Dear, everyone dresses up to this degree when attending a dinner party. Surely you know that. So what’s gotten into you today?”
Frederick, looking exasperated, tugged at his cravat irritably.
“I heard that Her Majesty the Empress has given the Peridot Room to Duke Bayern!”
At his words, Rebecca’s face twisted slightly as well.
The Peridot Room.
The finest guest room, known to be offered only to those beloved by Their Majesties, who were famed for their happy marriage.
The significant detail here was that peridot symbolized happiness and harmony between married couples.
Happiness and harmony for the Duke and Duchess of Bayern—could there be words less fitting?
Rebecca quickly dismissed her displeasure and spoke soothingly to calm her husband.
“Dear, Her Majesty likely didn’t mean anything by offering them the Peridot Room. You know how awful things are between those two… Perhaps that’s the reason.”
“Hmph, yes, perhaps you’re right…”
“Anyway, don’t think too much of it. Besides, you’ve heard how badly they’ve been fighting recently, haven’t you?”
As she adjusted his cravat and patted his shoulders, Frederick nodded.
“…You’re right. Perhaps Her Majesty heard those rumors and arranged it as such.”
He seemed to have forgotten that even when Duke Bayern was single, he often stayed in the Peridot Room.
‘Fool.’
Rebecca glanced at her husband with a look of contempt, his face full of insecurity, and sat back down at the vanity.
‘What does it matter? The Duke will likely stay elsewhere, as he always has for the past two years.’
That much hadn’t changed.
‘I’ve heard that their relationship seems different lately, though…’
Hadn’t there been talk that the woman from House Granvil had saved Duke Bayern?
Rumors claimed the Duke had carried his wife out himself, but gossip was always exaggerated or distorted.
Whether or not the rescue had happened, the reason the Duke carried his wife must have been due to the particularity of the time, place, and incident.
Ignoring an injured wife at House Granvil?
Even if Duchess Bayern was known to be a wicked woman, some softhearted people might criticize the Duke for being cold.
It must have been because of that.
There couldn’t be any other reason.
Rebecca examined her face carefully in the mirror.
Her heart raced at the thought of seeing her first love, whom she hadn’t been able to let go of even after marrying.
But…
Looking beyond the mirror at her husband, she felt a sigh escape her.
Unlike her perfect first love in every way, her husband was short and unimpressive.
‘I should have been the one to marry him…’
Yet, if she thought about the possibility of being treated as Nina was, a chill ran down her spine.
‘No, if it had been me, I would have handled my husband well and made our marriage work.’
After all, they say a man can be managed by how his wife treats him.
How difficult could it be to cater to a man’s moods?
In any case, Nina Bayern…
How would that foolish woman react when she found out that society was whispering about her being banished from the marital bed?
Rebecca could hardly wait for the night to come.
*
Or so she had thought.
As Rebecca sat in front of her vanity, waiting for the dinner party to begin, she repeated the news her maid had brought, unable to believe it.
“…What did you say?”
Duke Bayern, who usually kept his wife at a distance, had appeared with that woman by his side.
Rebecca’s eyes, which had been gleaming with anticipation to mock Nina, now shook with confusion.
