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Chapter 57
“Still holding a grudge about that?”
Riana clicked her tongue inwardly.
Instead of snapping back that the only reason this world didn’t have the Great Wall of China was because Gray’s grudges had already knocked it down, she put on a sweet smile.
Now was not the time to fight with him. Now was the time to compromise.
“Of course—it was a dangerous accident. Not just an explosion, but a magic explosion.”
If she’d had a tail, it would have wagged just then.
Riana reached toward Gray. He had rolled up the sleeves of his training clothes, so his whole arm was exposed from elbow to wrist. She placed her hand gently on his forearm.
“But I wasn’t worried—because it was you. I know how strong you are. Wow, look at this. Your muscles got even harder!”
She couldn’t bring herself to compliment him on his lats or his butt like the curly-haired knight had suggested, but this much flattery she could manage with clenched teeth.
“You must have been startled though. I’m sorry. That won’t ever happen again. I promise.”
Her big round eyes blinked up at him, long lashes fluttering like a wagging tail.
It was pitifully sycophantic.
Dignity? Pride? Who cared. If sweet talk could solve her problems in one stroke, she would even kneel down if that’s what it took.
She held onto Gray as if she might actually drop to her knees.
“I mean it. This time, nothing dangerous, nothing scary—”
But as soon as she tightened her grip slightly, Gray suddenly shook himself violently, like a wet dog flinging off water.
“Whoa!”
Riana’s eyes widened—not because she was faking flattery, but because she was genuinely shocked.
“Hey! What the hell are you doing?!”
His large frame even flinched and hopped back, making her shrink a little.
“What was that?”
“You… why do you keep doing this?”
“What do you mean? You’re the one acting weird!”
“You told me not to like anyone! But you can’t act like this with me either!”
Riana squinted in confusion.
Why was he suddenly blowing up?
Gray brushed himself off again and again, as if she’d dirtied him. He didn’t actually think Riana was dirty, but the feeling unsettled him.
When she tried to reach for him again, his big body flinched away like she was about to burn him.
“…”
She tried a third time, and he reacted the same.
“What are you doing?”
Frowning now, Riana glared at him. Gray muttered a warning:
“Don’t touch me.”
She blinked in disbelief.
“When was it that you told me to hold your hand, huh?”
Gray froze. He hadn’t expected her to remember those words he’d tossed out in the garden.
But that had only been for confirmation. He’d already decided she was his savior, and once confirmed, that was enough.
Now though…
‘If I feel that again, it won’t be right…’
Her gaze, her touch, her voice—it all made him feel strangely off-balance. Like seasickness, like there was a gap between what was happening and what he was feeling.
It felt… wrong. Like he was feeling something inappropriate toward his savior.
“I don’t need it anymore. Don’t come near me. Don’t play around with me.”
At that, Riana’s eyebrows shot up sharply. She looked around nervously, afraid someone might have overheard.
“When did I ever play around with you? What kind of dangerous thing are you saying…!”
She’d been so careful to come here in secret just to avoid Deborah or the prince misunderstanding.
She was about to argue back when the doors to the knights’ hall slammed shut in her face.
‘That curly-haired knight is dead to me.’
Clearly, it wasn’t working.
“Ughhh…”
Well, this time had failed. But she’d get another chance.
Riana felt certain—though she couldn’t explain why—that Gray would eventually agree to do what she asked.
Watching the setting sun, she realized something.
She had grown more used to the night than the day.
‘I need to hurry up and leave… I’ve gotten too used to this place.’
As she left the knights’ area, another thought struck her.
‘By the way… why did Deborah suddenly come to the broom closet?’
Was it another villainess flag?
Was the giant hand of this story moving again, determined to make her the villainess?
She was crossing through the castle’s central grounds toward the maids’ quarters when something tapped against the bridge of her nose.
She stopped walking.
It looked like a tiny seed, bouncing off her nose and falling to the ground.
When she bent to pick it up, she saw it was a rolled-up scrap of paper.
“A note?”
She could have ignored it and tossed it in the trash. But she felt a strange pull, and so she stepped under a magic streetlamp and unrolled it.
Her eyes went wide.
EXAM 4 PART 7 139
Wake up!!
It was the first time in so long she’d seen English letters—and Korean characters.
The English and numbers were printed in Gothic typeface, but the Korean writing…
“…That’s my handwriting.”
Her breath stopped in her throat. Her legs gave way, and she couldn’t stand.
Memories from Korea rushed back like a crashing wave.
She remembered studying for TOEIC with her friend in the school library.
‘Did you throw this?’
‘Open it.’
‘Wake up?’
‘Yeah, you slept for two hours with your head down. Wake up!’
Her friend had been dozing off in the front seat, so she’d ripped a scrap from the corner of the TOEIC workbook, scribbled with a red pen she’d been using to grade herself, rolled it up, and tossed it.
That note—the exact note—was now in her hand.
“Who’s there?”
Riana whipped her head around.
Someone must have thrown this to her. Otherwise, how could it have reached her so precisely?
“Who’s there? Come out!”
Her voice rang sharp, but no one answered. The path was empty except for her.
‘Then… from above?’
She tilted her head back suddenly.
The maids’ building was nearby. Its staircase column stood tall.
‘The third floor window!’
Out of six identical windows, only one was open—the one on the third floor.
Clutching the note tightly in her fist, Riana dashed into the building.
‘…Missed them.’
She searched the place top to bottom, skipping dinner in the process, but the culprit was already gone.
Even if they’d been right in front of her, how could she have recognized them?
She slumped onto the third-floor landing, staring out at the moonlight streaming through the open window.
But one thing was certain now.
‘Inside this castle… someone knows who I really am, and where I came from.’
And that person had been right here, moments ago.
‘What’s their goal? And why now, with this note?’
She was on the brink of carrying out a major scheme—making Deborah drink the love potion. And her odds of success weren’t bad either. If she could just recruit Gray, it would be half done already.
“Is that it?”
She whispered toward the shadows, as if the note-thrower were still nearby.
“Did you throw this to stop me?”
But she had no clear answers.
Riana went to the window and looked down. The streetlamp below glowed brightly—the exact spot she had been standing when the note struck her nose.
‘That was their view.’
Standing in the same place, what had they been thinking? What was their intent?
Had they meant to punish her for tampering with the story? But if that were the case, why hadn’t they interfered earlier?
When she’d unknowingly tormented Deborah?
When she’d profited using knowledge of the original story?
When she’d tangled up the male and female leads’ relationship?
Never a single word from them.
“And besides… this world was already different from the original story.”
She recalled what she’d learned thanks to the memory potion. This world wasn’t a perfect copy.
And that wasn’t her fault. She was practically a victim, shoved into the role of villainess because of those differences.
Her fists clenched.
But then another thought chilled her.
What if they hadn’t stayed quiet all along?
What if someone who knew about both the original story and her true identity had been secretly nudging things from the beginning?
What if the gaps between this world and the original story existed because of them?
“Then… the one who made me the villainess…”
Her eyes sharpened.
It was possible the person who had pinned the “villainess flag” on her was nearby.
She needed to confirm it.
And she already had a way.
That night, she slipped into the crowd of mages leaving work.
Even if she excused past events as coincidences, today couldn’t have been chance.
Deborah leaving her meeting to appear at the broom closet at that exact moment—
‘That couldn’t have been an accident.’
Riana scanned the crowd until she spotted Diana—the brown-haired, brown-eyed mage.
“Ah—excuse me—”
But she quickly snapped her mouth shut.
Because standing right next to Diana… was Deborah.
That was the real Diana.
The one she was looking for… was the “fake Diana.”
The one who looked like Diana, but wasn’t.
“…Oh.”
A voice came from behind her.
Riana turned with a sharp smile.
And there, luckily, stood the very person she had been desperate to find—
The fake Diana.
