“It looks like it’ll jingle every time you walk. It’s a bit… tacky, isn’t it?”

Olivia trailed off.
She seemed to be hoping my mood would sour a little more—but since her reaction lacked any real enthusiasm, there was no need to indulge her.

“They’re all diamonds,” I said. “A very precious pair of shoes.”

“A-all diamonds?”

“Yes. Each one was painstakingly set by a Bohemian artisan. So they’re quite different in quality from anything you’d find in a common market. And above all…”

“……”

“This one here, at the center of the shoe.”

“……”

“It’s the queen of gemstones—a blue diamond. Beyond the border, they even call it the devil’s jewel, you know?”

At my words, Olivia could only blink.

You must be dying to have them.

I hadn’t intended to tease her, but after having the exact same conversation in every regression, I’d grown deliberately petty.
Conversations where you already know the answer are terribly dull, after all.

“What are you two talking about so intently?”

Just as I was thoroughly scraping at Olivia’s nerves, Louis approached from a distance.

He was wearing a fur coat several times finer than anything we had on, and the sight of it made my brow crease on its own.
Like a greasy pig draped in something far beyond his station.

Why was it that even after regressing, I had to return to this moment of all times—to see that loathsome face again?
There had once been a time when merely looking at his face made my heart race, as though I might die from liking him too much.

Now, just seeing his face made me want to strangle him.
It was nauseating—enough to make me sick.

Still, today was the first day of this regression, so I endured it.
Rather than wasting my breath complaining, figuring out how to get a divorce would be far more meaningful.

“We were talking about shoes.”

While I was lost in my thoughts, Olivia spoke up in a dejected tone.
Louis startled and hurriedly wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Shoes?”

“The white ones adorned with blue diamonds.”

Perhaps sensing Louis’s unease, Olivia instantly let her disappointment show.

“You said I was more precious to you than Mia. So why is there nothing for me?”

It seemed Olivia believed the shoes were a gift Louis had given me.

“Ah, well… that is… those are…”

“I’m… I’m so sad, Louie.”

Seeing Olivia put on a fragile act and make a tearful face over a single pair of shoes left me speechless.
Forcing out tears that didn’t even come—what an ugly sight.

Did she really want those shoes that badly?
Just how covetous must she be, to act so desperately?

“O-Olivia. Don’t cry.”

The truly foolish thing was that Louis had no idea it was all an act.
A man who kept multiple mistresses while having a legal wife—how could he be so utterly oblivious?

“When someone as cheerful as a lark sheds tears, it feels as though my heart is being torn apart.”

Speaking in a plaintive voice, Louis rubbed Olivia’s cheeks with both hands.

“I want shoes like Mia’s, too. You can grant me that, can’t you?”

“The same ones?”

Louis looked troubled.
And no wonder.

Those shoes existed as a single pair in this world.
They weren’t a finished product but custom-made, handcrafted shoes—where would he even find another identical pair?

To begin with, Louis probably didn’t even remember where I had ordered them from.

“Oh… they’re terribly precious, so they must be difficult to obtain, yes?”

“Y-yeah. A bit…”

They couldn’t be obtained anymore.
No matter how wealthy Louis was, handcrafted shoes were bound to turn out differently every time.

“Then instead of shoes, come to my bedroom tonight.”

The Olivia who had just been whining about wanting the same shoes now wore a shy expression.
She wrapped her arm around Louis’s.

If the version of me who had once loved Louis so dearly had seen this, she would surely have been consumed by rage.

But now, I felt nothing in particular.

If anything crossed my mind at all, it was only this: They’re at it again.

“I’ve been feeling lonely lately.”

As she said she was lonely, Olivia shot me a sidelong glance.
When our eyes met, she even twisted one corner of her lips upward—deliberately.

“Will that be enough for you?”

“To me, there is no gift more precious than Louie’s love. You’ll come by for sure tonight, won’t you?”

“Well, if that’s what you want.”

Are you enjoying the thought of rolling around with someone younger than me, Louis?

“Kyaa! I’m so happy!”

Olivia bounced in place, making a great fuss.
Only afterward did she come over to me and say, “Mia, I’m sorry.”

She even put on a drooping, apologetic expression.
Though I knew it was all an act, I didn’t let it show.

“I’m fine, Miss Hursel.”

It wasn’t even something to be jealous of.

My affection for Louis had already withered away long ago, so I didn’t feel anything so trivial as jealousy.
If anything, I was irritated.

My pride was hurt, that was all.
It wasn’t pleasant to be looked down on by a woman who wasn’t prettier than me—and whose family background was nothing to speak of, either.

“Mia isn’t so narrow-minded that you need to apologize over something like this,” Louis cut in abruptly.

“Still… I feel bad.”

“Olivia, you’re too kind for your own good.”

As he said that, Louis stepped closer to Olivia and pressed a deep kiss to her lips.
The obscene sounds scraped at my ears, but all I could think was how shameless they were being.

Watching them like this, they really did make quite the pair.
One bloated with empty bravado, the other thoroughly seasoned in acting.

They even resembled each other in the way neither of them possessed even a trace of truth, both dressing themselves up in nothing but vanity.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a combination like this anywhere in the world.

A match made in heaven indeed.
Sir Simon, and Miss Hursel.

“Mm…”

After clinging to Louis and pouring out what seemed like a thousand years’ worth of desire, Olivia cast her gaze aside.
Soon enough, she pulled away from him and looked at my shoes.

She clearly wanted them.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t be staring so blatantly.

“Do you want them?”

“N-no. Louis.”

“Hm.”

Louis rubbed his chin as if pondering something, then reached out toward me.

“Give me those shoes.”

Whenever I’m with the two of them, I can never quite tell whether I’m a maid of the Simon household—or its mistress.

These shoes were something I had ordered with my own money before the marriage.
Even the delicate, swaying ornamentation—I had personally requested that, too.

And now he was telling me to hand them over?

“Louis, those are my shoes.”

They were my shoes—every gem used in the embellishment carefully chosen with my own money.

“You can just buy another pair.”

“Louis!”

“I’ll get you the exact same ones, so hand them over.”

“No.”

“Don’t be so petty over a single pair of shoes. You’re not a child, are you?”

As he finished speaking, Louis grabbed my foot.
Then he forcibly pulled off the shoes I was wearing.

At his rough touch, all I could do was flail helplessly.
I shouted that he shouldn’t—more than once—but it didn’t seem to reach him at all.

So now he was taking even my shoes.

“Here, Olivia.”

Having taken the shoes from me, Louis smiled toward Olivia.
And Olivia’s expression, coveting my shoes, was something to behold as well.

Even though I’d been wearing them just moments ago, her eyes sparkled as if she were looking at a brand-new pair.
Watching that scene left me speechless.

I was the one who had always walked with my head held high.
I was the one who had never had my belongings taken by someone else.

And yet here I was, grinding my teeth in silence, swallowing my anger alone.

Should I snap both their necks?
The thought crossed my mind—then I dropped it.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that this whole mess had started because I’d shown off the shoes in the first place.

“How do they look? Pretty, right?”

At some point, Olivia slipped into my shoes and lifted her heel slightly.
Then she cast me a sideways glance and curved her eyes into a sweet smile.

It was a look that clearly asked if I was dying of jealousy…
but honestly?

It felt like placing fine shoes atop pig’s feet—utterly unremarkable.

So yes, the shoes were beautiful.
Just the shoes.

“Olivia, they suit you well, don’t they?”

“Oh my, really? Hohoho!”

No matter what my expression looked like, the two of them were positively delighted.
Practically dripping with affection.

“Mia, are you upset?”

“How could I be? I’m truly pleased that you like the shoes.”

Truly pleased—my as$.
Thinking that to myself, I still smiled brightly.

“I’m sorry. Really…”

“Miss Hursel, I’m fine.”

“Truly?”

“Of course. If we’re going to be living under the same roof, we should share things like this.”

I can always take them back later.

“Thank you, Mia.”

“Think nothing of it.”