EVHE 18

Chapter 18

I wanted to run away exactly twenty-seven times, but I didn’t manage to do it. We didn’t finish our work until the usual end time for volunteering.

I was staggering down the hallway, half-leaning on Lake for support, when a priest came walking toward us from the other side.

His pale gray hair was unfamiliar—he didn’t seem like a priest from the Pallium. His ashen eyes looked as if they contained no soul.

There was something about him that felt off. I quickly looked away after glancing at him sideways.

And the moment we passed him—

“Ugh.”

A dull throb rang through my head, making me sway. A high-pitched ringing filled my ears, and voices murmured in my mind.

“Are you all right?”

Lake asked, supporting me. The pain, which felt like it would last forever, vanished quickly. I waved my hand to signal I was okay.

“I’m fine. I think I just overdid it.”

Saying that, I quickly turned around. But the priest who had passed us was already gone. It had only lasted a moment, but the pain left an awful impression. I didn’t know what had caused it.

When we stepped out of the temple, the once-blue sky had turned red with the sunset. A carriage from the Duke’s family was waiting for me in the plaza.

“Thank you again for today.”

“No need to thank me.”

As soon as I got into the carriage, my energy drained, and I collapsed onto the sofa. My whole body ached, and my mind had already fled far away.

I thought about dropping by the library to return the book I borrowed, but realizing the state my body was in, I gave up quickly.

“My lady.”

“Yees…”

At Lake’s call, I barely managed to sit up and looked down at him.

“Will you be attending the festival on Rueben Street next week?”

Rueben Street? That might be familiar to the people of this world, but I had no idea what it was.

Still, the name didn’t feel entirely unfamiliar. I just couldn’t place it clearly.

“I think I’ll go.”

Worried it might seem odd to hesitate over such a simple question, I pretended to know. And the moment I said it, the memory of what the Rueben Festival was came back to me.

‘It was in the original story too.’

I gathered the fragments of my memory with difficulty.

Olivia and Nox were in a contract marriage. Just as Olivia had first proposed a deal to Nox, there was something Nox demanded from Olivia.

“The Pearl of Eden.”

An artifact that made it impossible to feel pain, no matter the kind. And the only place to acquire it was from a guild called Rose Tower in Rueben.

‘There wasn’t a fire or terror attack there or anything.’

That meant the Rueben Festival was a safe one. It had to be—Olivia needed to obtain her item without incident.

“This time… you’ll accompany me, right?”

Lake asked with a soft smile.

“Sure.”

I nodded in response. At this point, it didn’t matter if my identity as a noble lady had been exposed. Besides, I was sure it would be fun with Lake.

“Then I’ll see you there.”

With that, Lake closed the carriage door. As the carriage slowly departed, I watched him grow smaller through the window.

‘Nox won’t come… right?’

Even though it had been some time since the banquet, I still broke into a cold sweat just thinking about it.

Nox didn’t appear at the Rueben Festival in the original story, so he wouldn’t this time either. No—he absolutely must not.

I returned to the mansion and spent the next two days lying in bed and sleeping. My entire body ached from muscle pain, forcing me into a kind of involuntary hibernation.

By the third day, I started to feel slightly better, but anything that required much movement was still difficult. Since I could at least walk, I settled down at the tea table in the garden for a change.

“Ah, thank you.”

I thanked the maid who brought the refreshments and opened the book she had also brought. The History of Magic, recommended by Saint, was both thorough and fascinating.

Though I had already finished it once, I enjoyed going back to the beginning and analyzing each sentence carefully. That had become my recent hobby.

After reading it so many times, I even started to memorize some passages. But in the back of my mind, I couldn’t stop thinking about the original novel.

‘I should’ve studied that thing like my life depended on it in my past life.’

Now that I’d gotten tangled up with Olivia, I needed to recall the sequence of events she’d go through—even just roughly.

‘It’s only the romance between the male and female leads that matters. Who cares about the rest?’

The crises and climactic events were just dramatic tools to deepen the couple’s bond. That’s why I didn’t remember the timeline of events very clearly.

‘I’m pretty sure the Rueben Festival passed by without any incidents.’

All I remembered was that Olivia visited the shopping district during it.

‘But what about the event after that? And the one after that? Can I really assume everything will go smoothly from here on?’

With that thought, I deeply regretted meddling at the banquet. I should’ve called someone else.

No, even that would’ve been fine. What I really shouldn’t have done was write a rejection letter to Olivia and then go out into town. Even if I had gone out, I should’ve called for guards and left the scene.

“Maybe I should just hole up at home…”

Honestly, that sounded like the best choice.

I’d tried to wash away the villainess image to avoid triggering the original story’s ending. But all my efforts had only complicated my life.

“Young lady.”

“Mm?”

“You’ve received an invitation.”

The maid handed me a mountain of letters.

“Thank you for bringing them.”

I didn’t forget to smile and thank her.

Though the household members seemed more open to me these days, if I didn’t keep at it, it could all disappear in an instant.

Once the maid returned inside, I glared at the pile of invitations.

More banquets. I knew nobles held frequent parties to flaunt their status, but actually living through it made me sick of them.

‘I don’t know this family… don’t know this one either… never heard of that one.’

I quickly flipped through the invitations. If I were the real Lilith, I would’ve attended them all, but I wasn’t. Just one was tiring enough—how could I possibly go to all of them?

“The Count of Espane…”

That was the first familiar name I found.

It was the young lady who had been at the previous tea party. Compared to others, she’d been rather quiet, but I remembered her dignified and graceful appearance.

‘If I have to go, I might as well go where people are friendly.’

After all, no one wants to walk on thin ice.

‘Eat, sleep, eat, sleep—what a great life.’

For three straight days, I stayed indoors, didn’t meet a soul, and happily lazed around the house.

When I first possessed this body, the atmosphere in the mansion had been tense. It had been hard to find even one person who didn’t feel uncomfortable around me—be it servants or knights. But that had changed.

‘If everything keeps going well, I’ll be able to live in peace. Just hang in there a little longer.’

With renewed determination, I flopped back onto the bed.

I blew out the candle, and the warm light that had filled the room disappeared. Tonight, the moonlight was especially bright, spilling over the bed.

Cold wind rushed in through the open window I’d left wide for the heat. The curtains fluttered and tangled in the breeze. Lying there, it was so refreshing it almost felt cold.

“Ugh, what a pain.”

Is there anything more annoying than having to get up again after lying down to sleep? I dragged myself out of bed and approached the window.

Just as I reached out to close it, my vision was suddenly filled with a dark shadow.

‘Huh? What? What?!’

A figure cloaked in black with their face covered by a mask—only their eyes visible—was perched on the windowsill, halfway inside.

Shocked, I nearly fell backward, but before I could, the intruder grabbed my arm.

‘Is this… an assassin? Are you kidding me?! Who sent this person? Tane? Or that big guy I met the other day?’

My thoughts raced as I tried to guess the attacker’s identity, but Lilith had too many enemies to even begin to guess. Thinking I was about to die again, I couldn’t even think to resist and just squeezed my eyes shut.

“Lily.”

But the voice that called my name was familiar.

When I opened my eyes, the intruder had lowered the mask to their chin and was looking at me.

Eyes and hair that glowed golden, bright as the full moon behind him. A soft smile lingered at the corners of his lips—gentle enough to shake a weary heart.

“Richel?”

Only then did I exhale the breath I’d been holding.

“Why are you here?”

My words came out in a sharp tone before I realized it. Given I thought I was about to die, it was a natural reaction.

Forget that the supposed assassin turned out to be someone I knew.

The second prince of the empire, sneaking into my mansion at this hour… climbing up the wall and breaking into my room?

‘Don’t tell me… is this because I didn’t go to the palace?’

I thought it was fine since he didn’t drag me there by force, but now this?!

The scream of frustration rising from deep inside—I didn’t even dare let it out.