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IBP 66
Chapter 11. Dahlia Melomande
"......That is all. This concludes the explanation regarding the East Continent spice business you have invested in. Basically, a return rate of 5% or more has been guaranteed."
It was a gathering of investors.
Dahlia wore a soft smile as she listened to the polite applause.
Everyone crowded around her, offering words of praise.
"This venture is a success as well. Truly impressive, My Lady!"
"Once one hears Lady Dahlia's business plans, it becomes impossible not to invest!"
Watching the people shake the money in their hands, desperate to invest like fanatics, Dahlia played the part of the shy and humble lady.
"It is all thanks to the help of my fiancé, the Admiral of the Fleet."
"The romantic love story between you two is quite famous."
"Of course, the Admiral is wonderful, but where else can one find an orator as skilled as Lady Melomande?"
Dahlia Melomande.
Once the youngest daughter of the fallen Melomande family.
A noble and beautiful woman with pale blue hair and silver eyes.
She had begun to emerge as a promising entrepreneur in social circles about a year ago.
It was thanks to her aggressive attraction of investment funds from other nobles through investment societies.
"The next project will be on a completely different scale. My family has put in a great deal of effort as well. It will certainly bring innovation to the Empire."
People whistled, their expressions filled with anticipation.
After busily listening to the investors' questions and providing answers, a noblewoman who had been sitting quietly in the very back stood up.
"I, too, am curious to see what that innovation is."
Click, clack. Dahlia beamed as the noblewoman walked toward her, the sound of her heels echoing.
"Duchess Lucrezia?"
"Yes. Lady Dahlia Melomande. It has been a while. A year has passed, and you've changed quite a bit, haven't you?"
"I wonder. Shall I say I've gained quite a few realizations?"
A year ago, Dahlia had been passive.
She had been suffering from a severe complex due to being from a fallen family.
The person such a Dahlia admired was Chloe, who was confident and full of ambition in everything.
The two had barely become close because Dahlia had practically clung to Chloe.
That precarious relationship ended when Dahlia stole her fiancé.
'Coincidentally, a dog died at that time and Chloe went into seclusion, so rumors of an affair didn't spread. Lady Dahlia really is lucky.'
Lucrezia looked at the seemingly peaceful Dahlia with a questioning gaze and whispered lowly in her ear.
"Chloe is planning to return to society. You must have heard the news?"
"Of course."
"Contact me if you need help."
After all, it was Lucrezia who had helped Dahlia when she had fallen out with Chloe.
"Chloe will probably realize her place soon enough."
Dahlia stood up and smiled brightly.
"I've invited her to a social party hosted by a lady I'm close with tomorrow. On that day......."
"That day?"
"She is scheduled to be completely isolated from society—no, from the world of nobility."
Her expression suggested she had a very firm trump card up her sleeve.
* * *
Doesn't everyone have days like that?
Days when a premonition of misfortune wraps around your entire body, and for some reason, it feels like the world is about to stab you in the back.
And Chloe thought that arriving at the spring villa where Lady Morocco's social party was being held was exactly such a day.
"......You, why are you here? Coco?"
When she was invited to a new social party, she had naturally excluded Coco.
Society was a silent battlefield, and she worried that Coco might be hurt by meaningless words.
And yet.
"Hey, our little scruffy one said she wanted to see a social party! Didn't we have to bring her?"
Coco appeared, clutching Ruth's hand tightly.
"Having an older brother is really no help in life......."
"Thanks for not cursing at me, kid."
Chloe brushed her hair back as she walked down the hallway.
"If anything happens, it's all your responsibility. Even though I brought you as a chaperone. Got it?"
"Yeah. I'll take responsibility. Scruffy, come play with me."
"Ung......."
Although she had shifted the responsibility, those two weren't particularly reliable, so Chloe naturally walked down the hall with them.
"How is it that I keep carrying a burden around?"
"Gasp! I'm not a burden. I'm a person. A very brave person, too......."
"Brave? You're going to cause trouble here too, aren't you?"
"......Hup."
"Ruth, catch her."
"Alright, scruffy. Come here! Give me a hug!"
Chloe had a purpose for restarting her social activities.
Therefore, she had to stay sharp and maintain a flawless gait.
Yet, she felt as if the light teasing was dulling her sharply honed heart.
Chloe suddenly looked toward the window and was startled.
She was smiling faintly.
'I shouldn't just be happy after sending Coco away like that.'
She hardened her expression again and walked.
However.
"Wow! Sister! Over therrre, a lake! It's huge!"
......The little kid walking beside her was too, far too distracted for her to maintain a poker face.
Her puppy, Coco, also used to make walks longer because she kept sightseeing here and there.
As Chloe reminisced about the past, a thin smile began to form on her lips, then stopped abruptly.
'Chloe Ardos. Calm down. What on earth are you overlapping?'
One was a human, and the other was a dog.
Thus, Chloe intentionally quickened her pace.
"Let's go, hurry."
"Ung!"
The child entered the villa with a beaming smile.
'The host of today's party, Lady Morocco, is said to be best friends with Dahlia.'
And Chloe suddenly thought of Dahlia Melomande.
The way Dahlia's eyes had sparkled when she first saw Marquis Gillen Amadeus, who had been Chloe's fiancé.
"Marquess, I've wanted to see you!"
"Hmm? Who is this?"
Without Chloe noticing, Dahlia and Gillen had become close enough to exchange frequent greetings.
"Um....... It seems Chloe doesn't particularly like Marquess Gillen."
The reason Chloe had left it alone even while knowing Dahlia was driving a wedge between her and her fiancé was that she was numb to her emotions.
But from when was it?
The time when her fiancé began to openly bring up Dahlia.
"Try acting lovely like Dahlia, Chloe."
Yes, he had compared her to her in every single matter.
Until then, Chloe had feelings for Gillen that were similar to affection.
A man of a similar age. A future marriage partner.
Even if she had no interest in romance, it was a situation she couldn't help but care about.
But.......
When she went into seclusion at the mansion following Coco's death, they stabbed her in the back and announced their engagement.
"It seems Lady Chloe is not meeting Lord Gillen because she is in seclusion at the mansion. Lady Chloe is unilaterally......."
Despite having deceived her and continued their private meetings even before she secluded herself.
With a few words from Dahlia, Chloe became the trash who had abandoned Gillen.
Because she struggled just to open her eyes and breathe and did not offer an explanation, the rumors rolled like a snowball.
"While I was comforting the heartbroken Marquess Gillen, he happened to fall in love with me......."
"......Since it's Lady Dahlia, who is so aegyo-filled, lovely, and possesses the virtues of a woman. He couldn't help but fall in love."
Chloe, who had vanished from all activities and gone into hiding while leaving her fiancé behind.
It was disgusting how they boasted of their love, portraying themselves as a romantic couple who had overcome the obstacle of a broken engagement with such a woman.
She had endured up to that point.
"Haa, I'm worried about Chloe, who secludes herself just because one dog died."
That one casual remark from Dahlia swept through the society gossip rags and became a headline.
Under the title: <The Reason for Lady Ardos's Seclusion: The Death of a Mere Dog>.
A mere dog.
At that moment, Chloe had wanted to kill Dahlia.
She couldn't because her father had forcibly locked her in the annex.
Just thinking about it now made her hands turn cold with rage.
But at that very moment.
Coco, who was about to cross the threshold first, pulled Chloe's hand tightly and smiled brightly.
A warm heat flooded into her hand.
As if warmly melting away her anger.
"Sister, aren't you coming in?"
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