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There were few people who could throw a stone into Grace’s bedroom. She carefully approached the window but didn’t open it, just peeking out.
“…!”
Even in the dark, Benjamin somehow spotted her, beaming broadly and waving his hand.
‘What should I do?’
Grace hesitated, but since their eyes had already met, it would look strange not to open the window. She figured Benjamin must have something to say if he went through this much trouble to get her attention.
Grace unlatched the window. Benjamin, realizing she was willing to speak, hurriedly adjusted his bangs.
“Madam, you’re still awake.”
“Then, Your Grace, why were you knocking on a sleeping person’s window?”
Grace asked sharply. Both Benjamin and Grace felt a twinge of awkwardness.
“Ah, no, it was just a small stone. If you were awake, you could hear it; if not, you would have kept sleeping…”
“….”
Benjamin faltered in his excuses, groaned, lowered his head, and rubbed the back of his neck.
“You’re right. It’s my fault.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Recently, it seemed you weren’t going for your walks, so I got a bit anxious.”
“…I think I responded a little sharply too. Sorry.”
Grace’s apology brightened Benjamin’s expression.
Looking curiously at his face, she asked:
“But why didn’t you just call me through the butler downstairs or enter the annex?”
“I cannot enter the annex.”
“…?”
Benjamin started to explain, assuming it was obvious, then added with an ‘ah’:
“The annex is off-limits to outsiders. I cannot enter without your permission.”
“Then….”
Grace paused to think. Since the main mansion belonged to the head of the family, Duke Felton—Benjamin Felton—could he really be considered an outsider? Then a question she had overlooked struck her:
‘Huh?’
“Did I… ever forbid Your Grace from entering?”
“Exactly.”
Crazy.
Grace’s first thought at Benjamin’s answer was disbelief. Just a few hours ago, she had been reminiscing bitterly about the past Grace who had been heartbroken by Benjamin. Back then, Grace had actually forbidden her unrequited love from entering the annex.
‘No, I don’t want to allow entry now…’
Grace turned pale, unable to say anything.
What had that version of Grace done in this blurry memory?
While she was fumbling, Benjamin hurriedly defended her past—or rather, her pre-possession actions.
“It was natural, given that I had wronged you, Madam.”
“I see….”
Grace didn’t have the courage to ask what exactly he meant. Even remembering this much was overwhelming.
First, she decided to ask why he had called her to the window now.
“So why did Your Grace call me here?”
“Oh.”
Benjamin smiled faintly at her question.
“I was happy that you responded to my call and forgot to ask.”
“….”
“The masked festival will be held soon. If it’s all right, would you like to go with me?”
‘Masked festival.’
Grace froze at Benjamin’s invitation.
“Madam?”
Her face turned pale, then purple, then blue. Benjamin, even in the dark night, immediately noticed her troubled complexion.
“D-doctor…!!”
“No!!”
Grace shouted sharply, cutting him off.
Benjamin and Grace rarely raised their voices. So their sudden loud voices late at night lit up the servants’ quarters simultaneously.
Grace realized a commotion was about to start and felt the need to end it quickly.
“Let’s go!”
“…Yes?”
Benjamin didn’t expect her to agree so readily and looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.
Thinking he hadn’t heard, Grace shouted even louder:
“I said let’s go! The festival!! The masked festival!!”
She then hurriedly locked the window and drew the curtains.
Even after Grace disappeared, Benjamin stared blankly at the spot she had been in and smiled foolishly.
“…Your Grace?”
Only then did the attendant, who had been watching from a distance, approach.
Benjamin composed himself and regained some social decorum.
“Go.”
“….”
“Since Madam has given me time, I must devote the next 24 hours entirely to her.”
“The festival doesn’t last 24 hours, though.”
“What if Madam suddenly calls me?”
The attendant thought: Madam Felton would never summon Benjamin at dawn.
⋆★⋆
The reason Grace turned pale at the mention of the masked festival was simple:
‘Benjamin actually asked me to go?’
In the original story, there was a ‘masked festival’ episode. Grace remembered it.
But back then, Benjamin hadn’t gone with her. Though he wanted to, he had instead flattered Aria.
‘He even begged Aria to pick a gift for me since he didn’t understand women’s hearts, then gave her one too. Then he kept buying gifts according to Aria’s tastes, reassuring her we were friends so she wouldn’t feel pressured.’
It was the perfect setup for a secondary male lead.
Grace recalled the traits of a man committing adultery: the first is emphasizing how family-oriented he is to break a woman’s defenses.
Yes, it was like bait from a scoundrel.
‘The masked festival, huh?’
Yet this time, Grace responded to his invitation. Would it change the original story? she wondered.
‘Did he propose to go with me even in the original story?’
Unable to understand Benjamin, Grace decided to focus instead on the Felton Dukedom.
‘House Felton.’
Its symbol: a tree supporting the sun. The previous Duchess had belonged to the old Kremlin Counts…
Grace remembered the history of the Felton Dukedom, then stopped herself.
‘Enough with this nonsense.’
Despite barely remembering herself, she recalled the dukedom’s history in detail.
If the symbol of the Feltons was a sun-supported tree, naturally, the sun represented the royal family.
The Feltons had stood with the royal family since the empire was founded.
‘But in the Saint’s Wish, it’s gradually said that it’s not supporting the sun, but swallowing it,’ she noted.
That’s because the dukedom governed the Felton territory. The empire had a mild climate, but the northern region was harsh.
‘Usually northern dukes have black hair, right?’
She decided to stop judging Benjamin’s appearance.
Setting aside the fantasy-like imperial history, the north was overrun by beasts, and the first Felton Duke acted as a sword to protect the empire from them.
The emperor granted him the title Duke of Felton, giving him the northern territory.
Two generations later, the empire had grown strong, and the Feltons were granted two more mild-climate territories.
‘Of course, the northern land was the harshest.’
There were hardly any subjects, and beasts constantly emerged. The title was mostly honorary. The books emphasize that the Feltons were never greedy, and their wives were the same.
But then, the Feltons’ status changed abruptly.
With the rediscovery of magic, the profession of mage-artisan appeared, introducing the concept of “magic stones.”
The highest-quality stones came from the hearts and bones of monsters.
‘And the north is crawling with monsters.’
No one could confiscate land or demand donations. The Feltons always paid military expenses from their own wealth.
Grace marveled at herself for recalling all this.
Even though he would become a morally corrupt kind man later, until then he had been her favorite.
‘I shouldn’t have switched to my phone to read ahead… I should have stuck to the book.’
Anyway, by selling the top-grade magic stones, the Feltons gradually became powerful, and the royal family had to curb them.
‘That choice makes sense.’
