After I Regressed, I Proposed to My Childhood Friend
Chapter 7
The crushing sense of helplessness that would wash over her when she was left alone, or the shock of realizing that she herself was nothing more than a hollow shell—those were the kinds of things.
The things she thought were hers were nothing but illusions, like sand, and no matter how hard she struggled to overcome the situation, her own strength was not enough to move her forward.
‘Well, it’s not like I plan to wallow in self-pity!’
The past is the past, and failure is failure. Isn’t that just how it is?
Everything was far too precious to spend time ruminating on the past and being consumed by self-pity.
Beatrice’s light green eyes stared at the person sitting across from her for a moment. More precisely, at the complex emotions gently rippling in the blue eyes that met her own.
Clicking her tongue lightly, she tapped his forehead with the back of her hand and opened her mouth.
“Hey, my mom once said that the most thrilling thing is a comeback victory. Why are you so serious when we can just start now? It’s not like we’ve died and come back to life or anything.”
“……I suppose that’s exactly what happened, isn’t it?”
“Hmm, the key is how to build up our power, but actually, I have an idea.”
“You too?”
Beatrice, who had been thoroughly ignoring Clyde, rolled her eyes and met his gaze.
The two of them, locking eyes, wore identical smiles as if they hadn’t just been bickering. It was the same smile they used when they were children plotting something behind their parents’ backs.
Convinced they were thinking the same thing, they both spoke at once.
“It’s to earn merit as soon as possible and receive a title, right?”
“It’s to build up our own side of allies, right?”
……Huh?
Silence filled the carriage for a moment at their completely divergent answers.
Blinking in a daze as they stared only at each other, the two began to sneer at one another as if they hadn’t just been quiet a moment ago.
“What? Earn merit and receive a title? The only merit a knight like you could possibly earn is by winning a war or, I don’t know, dramatically recapturing a region in crisis. You, who whines even when you get a scratch on your arm during training!”
“That’s my line, Bea. You want to win people over to our side? You, who doesn’t even know when the annual social season is and has no interest in what others think?”
“Oh my, I suppose you have it all figured out? Wow, that’s amazing. Caelen-oppa doesn’t even know when the social season is because he’s so focused on practice. I guess you have time to spare even after training?”
“Wow, playing dirty by bringing family into this? Then shall I talk about your father? Just how great he is?”
The childish argument, worse than that of five-year-olds, reached its peak the very next moment.
“No, to begin with, what are you going to do with just a title? It’s not like my house or yours went bankrupt because we lacked titles.”
“Do you think you can just gather people without a focal point? We call that a ragtag bunch.”
Honestly, both of them knew it was a chicken-and-egg problem. In the end, they both knew they had to do both. It was just, how should I put it…….
‘……We’ve come too far to back down now.’
Is it a matter of pride to admit it now?
Still, they couldn’t just stay like this. Beatrice gave a light cough and offered a compromise.
“Fine! Then let’s test whose proposal is more effective for our goal. But since we might be stubborn if we just do it, let’s do the opposite of each other.”
“The opposite?”
“Yeah. I’ll earn the merit and get the title. You go and build up our side.”
“How did the conversation suddenly turn into that?”
“Why? Do you think you’ll lose?”
“Me?”
Clyde swept his bangs back with one hand, looking like someone who had just heard the most absurd thing in the world.
Then, with a relaxed expression, he tilted his head slightly.
“Fine. Go ahead and try. The loser becomes the winner’s servant for a week.”
“Deal.”
Beatrice nodded readily, let out a light scoff, and turned her head toward the window.
She was confident she would never lose.
There were roughly three ways to receive a title in the Empire.
One was when you accomplished something beneficial that everyone acknowledged, such as saving lives or improving the system.
The second was when you earned military merit in war to raise the name of the Empire, or defended and protected regions in danger from disasters, conflicts, or raids.
And the last was when you made an astonishing achievement, such as a new invention or theory that had never existed before.
Beatrice knew how to pull off two of these three at once.
‘If I can help Her Majesty the Empress and keep magic within the institutional framework, I can definitely earn a title with the inventions I made in the past!’
Even if someone said it was cheating to use things from before her regression, she had no qualms of conscience about this.
‘The alchemy I learned from my father is one of the few things I’m proud of, something I cultivated with my own two hands!’
However, what she didn’t know was that Clyde, right beside her, was thinking the exact same thing.
‘If I can just save the Marquis of Downer, who was isolated in the past, many things will be solved. To be honest, winning against Beatrice is just a bonus.’
The two, having already achieved a complete victory in their imaginations, wore smiles on their lips with a much more generous attitude.
Part of it was that they felt good thinking about putting the other to work on trivial, useless tasks.
Beatrice, who was humming a little tune while setting up her detailed plan, let out a small exclamation as if she had just remembered something.
“Oh, right. But before that, there’s something we need to do first for the smooth execution of our plan.”
“Ah…… that.”
Clyde, who nodded as if he truly knew what she was talking about this time, opened his mouth at the same time as Beatrice, right on cue.
“Valois Edvain Crawford.”
“We have to get rid of Valois! If it’s too hard, at least tie her feet down.”
Ah, now we’re finally communicating!
Beatrice nodded with an expression of relief.
“Valois is, what should I call it… she’s that. A variable who moves on a whim and you never know where she’ll bounce.”
“And she’s become even more dangerous after today’s wedding.”
As long as they didn’t know where or how she would appear to interfere with them, the best policy was to get her out of their sight one way or another.
“Is there… any good way? Should I try to recall any incidents she was involved in in the past?”
“No. There’s no need for that.”
“Hmm?”
“Valois Edvain Crawford is a violent and self-willed brat, but because of that, she’s a simple person whose actions are obvious.”
Since she was a person who moved on a whim, if they poked at that ‘whim,’ her actions would be self-evident. That must have been how Princess Elodie used her as well.
“You mean we should set a trap and lead her to commit bad deeds on purpose?”
“It’s similar, but we don’t even need to be that proactive. We just need to show off how happy we are as newlyweds to everyone in town. I have faith in Valois.”
“……Faith?”
“Faith in her cruel nature. Even if we just show the two of us being happy, she’ll destroy herself on her own. And it won’t take long, either.”
At his voice, laced with cynicism, Beatrice rolled her eyes slightly.
‘Come to think of it, she seemed to have quite a bit of hostility toward Valois at the wedding, didn’t she?’
Was there something… that happened in the past?
No matter how much she racked her brain, she couldn’t recall any specific instance where she had done anything to her. Unlike now, where they had suddenly announced their marriage, the Beatrice of the past hadn’t been a thorn in Valois’s side.
Quickly giving up on the thought, Beatrice opened her mouth toward Clyde. Asking directly was always best for these things.
“Clyde, what did Valois do to you?”
“Suddenly?”
“Not suddenly. You tremble with disgust every time you see that person. Like you’re looking at some creepy bug.”
Beatrice watched intently as Clyde’s blue eyes widened slightly before settling back down calmly.
“Look at that expression. There really was something. What is it? Did she tell you to become her husband if you wanted to save your life? Or did she treat you like a pet, saying you were nothing because the Duke family had fallen?”
“…….”
“Ah, what is it!”
Despite Beatrice’s prodding, he stared at her silently before suddenly pressing both of her cheeks with one hand.
Then, he smiled slyly as usual and parted his lips.
“Forget it. Kids don’t need to know.”
“……Kids…… what did you say?”
“I’m saying if you have time to be curious about useless things like this, you should practice more, my honey. Or, shall we practice kissing while we’re at it?”
“Ah.”
In a situation that felt like déjà vu from the wedding, Beatrice’s face crumpled.
Valois or whatever, the war with this jerk came first.
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