I Transmigrated into the Nameverse, and My Name Came with a Time Limit - Chapter 20

Rose, wearing a friendly smile befitting a younger sister, spoke with deliberate innocence.

“Sister, you should drink yours before it gets cold too. The fragrance is really nice. They say it’s surprisingly good.”

After glancing briefly at Rose, who was smiling at her as if nothing were wrong, Mina secretly looked around at the noble ladies seated nearby. Everyone was holding their teacups and savoring the tea with great interest.

“Wow! It really is fragrant!”

Watching them all exclaim and sip enthusiastically, Mina fell into a dilemma. If she alone didn’t drink here, it would look strange. But if she did drink, there was no telling what kind of trouble her hand, which was slowly beginning to go numb, might cause.

At that moment Angela suddenly turned to Mina.

“By the way, is your hand uncomfortable? It looks like you’ve been rubbing it for a while now…?”

“……!”

Startled, Mina quickly separated the hands she had been clasping together and waved them.

“Hm? Ah, no. I’ve just been very tired lately, so everything feels a little stiff.”

“Oh my… then is that rumor true? I heard the Grand Duke was so smitten with you that he bought a huge number of dresses from Amaryllis…”

Lady Engelmann, a marquis’s daughter, leaned forward eagerly as she asked.

“And the expensive jewels that were displayed with them too.”

As soon as Lady Engelmann finished speaking, Lady Kellinger, a count’s daughter, added with an interested expression.

Four pairs of eyes were staring at Mina as if they might bore straight through her. Their sparkling curiosity was incredibly burdensome, but there was nothing she could do. These hyenas clearly had no intention of backing down until they got an answer.

After hesitating for a moment, Mina finally opened her mouth.

“Ahaha… yes, it’s true.”

“Kyaah! Oh my goodness!”

“That’s incredible!”

The moment Mina finished speaking, cheers burst out around the tea table inside the orangery. The noble ladies blushed with excitement as if they themselves had received the gifts.

“Then the Grand Duke must have truly fallen for his old childhood friend again?”

“Of course he did. That must be why he chose her as his partner!”

Ironically, the one who felt most awkward at their overwhelming reaction was Mina. It was extremely uncomfortable how they exaggerated things as if something truly existed between them.

But it also felt awkward to actively deny it, so she simply stayed silent and showed an ambiguous smile.

Seeing Mina’s foolish smile, Rose scoffed inwardly. Even if she wanted to forget, the events of last night rose vividly in her mind. She had even lost sleep after witnessing Mina return to the ducal residence like some princess, followed by a long trail of people.

Seriously, how could this make any sense? A mere side character bringing back twenty three enormous boxes with the clear mark of the Empire’s finest boutique, Amaryllis, stamped on them?! Even she had only managed to visit that boutique three times after pleading with Duke Wittgen just to prepare for her debut in high society. She had even had to act all cute and whiny to the Duke just to get two dresses made.

‘Even I had to put on that kind of show, and what? Twenty three dresses?’

Rose ground her teeth in frustration.

‘Why would a man like that spend such an enormous amount of money on a partner he’ll only use for a few days?’

It was incredibly suspicious. Could there be something more here? Since they had been close since childhood, perhaps they had actually had some kind of relationship in the past. Her instincts about these things had never once been wrong.

Rose waved her hands modestly and smoothly continued the excited chatter of the two young ladies.

“Oh my, it really was enviable to watch from the side. His Highness treated my sister so kindly! I’m only saying this because it’s just us here, but… you know how Grand Duke Tessen always seems a bit intimidating since he’s been on the battlefield all this time? But when I saw him yesterday, the way he looked at my sister seemed very unusual!”

“Oh my goodness!”

“Kyaa!”

“He spent eight whole years on the battlefield longing for his first love! And now they’ve finally met again…!”

“Kyaah! That’s so romantic! There’s no devotion more pure than that!”

Exclamations close to shrieks burst out everywhere. The piercing screams ringing in her ears made Mina shift uncomfortably in her seat. It was mentally exhausting, painful to her ears, and nothing short of torture.