TRFDTV ~ 29

Chapter – 29

Hana thought to herself that the position of the Grand Duchess must be enticing enough to make up for all that loss.

Kelly’s lips twisted ever so slightly.

“Everyone’s been whispering about how scary His Grace is.”

“That’s one thing, and this is another.”

“Well, those rumors only started circulating recently.”

“And they’re exaggerated.”

“Are they just exaggerated, though?”

“They could be complete nonsense.”

The twins tilted their heads at the exact same angle.

There had always been strange rumors about Duke Calient, but nothing had ever been clearly proven.

“His Highness the Crown Prince said he would take care of everything, didn’t he?”

“Mm.”

Annrie gave a vague reply, and Kelly made a similar face.

The Crown Prince dealing with something the Duke of Calient orchestrated?

The twins didn’t voice it, but they both silently agreed — there was no way that was true.

“More importantly, the Grand Duchess seems already decided, doesn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

“They suit each other.”

“Perfectly.”

While everyone else burned with ambition, the twins appeared indifferent, almost detached.

From the start, they had no interest in becoming the Grand Duchess.

That’s why the two of them attended the party together instead of separately — and why they moved about as a pair even now.

They hadn’t gone to compete for the position but to show their family’s continued prestige and to demonstrate their closeness with the ducal house.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Kelly muttered with a sigh,

“That explosion… what on earth….”

“Kelly.”

“I know, Annrie. I’ll shut up.”

The mysterious explosion that had shaken the entire Lemaire family — enough for people to whisper that the house was no longer what it once was — still showed no signs of being solved.

Kelly had grown visibly dispirited since then, and Annrie squeezed her hand tightly.

“For now, let’s at least fix up the garden so it looks presentable.”

“Okay.”

As the twins walked toward the garden, the morning sun was climbing toward noon above their heads.

That late afternoon.

As the sun sank low in the western sky, Ashili returned to the grand duke’s mansion, rubbing her face, weary and drained.

Her already poor stamina had been completely spent from touring that vast garden, and having to see and deal with certain unpleasant faces had only drained her emotionally.

She was utterly exhausted — yet no matter how hard she tried to rest or close her eyes, her nerves, sharpened like finely honed needles, refused to relax.

Abandoning the wide bed, she curled up on the sofa and tossed and turned before finally giving up.

She really needed sleep.

If Ludwig were there, she’d be able to sleep — she should go find him….

“But it’s his working hours right now.”

Asking him to stop working and come nap with her — that was the height of selfishness.

“Maybe I should help him with his work instead and borrow his time that way.”

She was still learning about this world, but she had worked before, so surely she could at least assist him somehow.

And if she couldn’t — then she’d just have to find a way.

Because, truly, she was desperate for sleep.

Just as the world started spinning before her eyes, Ashili took a step forward — and suddenly, her vision went dark.

Ah—!

Before she could react, her body was already tilting, the floor rushing up to meet her. She squeezed her eyes shut—

—and then her fall stopped with a jolt.

“Ashili.”

A soft sigh followed, and a familiar scent filled her senses.

“Lu…dwig.”

Her voice came out hoarse and sleepy, and Ludwig, saying nothing more, simply lifted her into his arms.

Ashili wrapped her arms around his neck and exhaled a long, slow breath.

That familiar voice, familiar scent, familiar warmth.

She could feel her taut nerves easing all at once.

Ludwig carefully laid her on the sofa, then brushed his cool fingertips over her forehead.

“Did you not sleep last night either?”

“No.”

With a long sigh, Ashili’s tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed. Her eyes, hazy with fatigue, blinked dully.

“Maybe it’s because I drank too much coffee.”

“Coffee?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve never heard of coffee causing insomnia. Was there poison in what came into the estate?”

Ashili blinked at his overly serious tone and then burst out laughing.

“Ashili?”

They say laughter is contagious.

As she laughed uncontrollably like a loose screw, Ludwig’s lips curved into a faint smile too.

They laughed together for a while — long enough for her sides to ache.

Rubbing her sore ribs, Ashili sat up.

“It’s not poison. Coffee itself just has that… side effect, I guess. It makes your heart race, gives you headaches sometimes.”

“And you drank several cups of that every day?”

“But if I don’t drink it after waking up, I can’t function.”

There’s a reason office workers drink coffee like it’s water.

Some enjoy the taste and aroma, others carry it around for show, but for most — it’s their lifeline. They drink it because without it, they feel like they’ll die.

“So it wasn’t just one cup.”

“I drink it because I feel like I’ll die if I don’t.”

Ashili rubbed her lips, chapped and tinged faintly violet.

“Are you sick? Tell me if something’s wrong. Don’t hide it.”

“I’m not sick, so don’t look like you’re about to call the doctor.”

“Ashili.”

“I mean it, I’m not sick.”

Chronic fatigue might count as an illness, but not something worth summoning a doctor over.

“I’m just tired. That’s all, so—”

Before she could finish, Ludwig’s large hand covered her eyes.

“Lie down.”

“Okay.”

As if reading her perfectly.

He pulled a thick blanket from somewhere, wrapped her in it, and sat down with her nestled in his arms, half-reclined on the sofa.

Listening to the slow, steady thump of his heartbeat, Ashili’s eyelids grew heavier.

She burrowed closer into his solid warmth and yawned.

She hadn’t acted this childish since she was a baby — and yet with him, it felt natural.

He was someone she met in a dream. Someone she would one day have to part from.

…Or maybe not anymore.

Still, only with him could she entrust everything and truly breathe.

What would she do if he were gone?

“I’m addicted.”

The words slipped out of nowhere, but Ludwig only tightened his hold on her slightly.

“If you weren’t here—”

“I’m here.”

His immediate, unyielding answer left no room for hypothetical worlds.

Ashili chuckled softly, her voice thick with drowsiness.

“Then I’d probably just be a lost child in this world, crying all alone.”

“You? You’d be invited into the home of the first person you met and treated like an honored guest.”

His confident certainty made her laugh again.

“So that’s how much you believe in my shamelessness and survival instincts?”

“Of course.”

“Then if I leave the garden as it is, you won’t think I’ve just given up because I’m lazy, right?”

Even as she jumped from topic to topic, Ludwig followed her train of thought with practiced ease.

“You find it troublesome, then.”

“You know me too well.”

“And you know me, so let’s call it even.”

After a moment of quiet, they both laughed.

Then, poking her head out from under the blanket, Ashili began recounting what had happened that day.

“The Lemaire twins.”

“Mm.”

“They said they were returning something we’d given them. Did you send anything to House Lemaire?”

“No.”

“Then what could it be? Hm, well, they said it was enough already, so never mind. Anyway, about the garden—”

“Go on.”

“They called it the Empress’s Garden.”

“The Empress’s?”

“Yeah.”

“Then that would be the eastern palace.”

“Exactly. They called it the Garden of Mist. But honestly, it’s more of a jungle than a garden.”

“The late Empress treasured that garden deeply. But a jungle, you say?”

Ludwig shifted, pulling Ashili from his arms and seating her before him as she pressed a sore spot on her shoulder.

“Mm, there, right there. Harder.”

His hands moved slowly from her slender neck down across her shoulders and smooth back, pressing firmly.

“It seems it hasn’t been maintained at all. They said they couldn’t speak of why it was left to fall into such disarray.”

“Before His Majesty closed off the garden, the Crown Prince spent all his time there.”

“That bastard again?”

“Most things that happen in the palace or the empire are connected to the Crown Prince.”

“Well, of course — he’s the pro—”

Ashili stopped herself midword, lips pressing tight.

This world was a novel. Of course the Crown Prince, as the protagonist, would be tied to every major event.

But Ludwig before her — he was also a character from the novel, and not just anyone — the final villain, the ultimate shadow behind everything.

She couldn’t exactly tell him he was just a fictional character.

Besides, by that logic, she too had become one, after being dropped into this world out of nowhere.

A character that wasn’t even supposed to exist — the villain’s accomplice.

Her presence alone might already be changing the story’s course, or even its ending.

But she’d never read the novel, so there was no way for her to know.

In the end, there was no point worrying.

Her wandering thoughts were interrupted by Ludwig’s calm question.

“‘Protagonist’?”

“I meant ‘future ruler.’ The next emperor.”

She slid past the slip of the tongue like a snake gliding over a wall.

But there was no way Ludwig hadn’t noticed that wasn’t what she originally meant.