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Chapter 4
At my answer, Linus showed his neatly aligned upper teeth as he burst into a refreshing laugh. Seeing that, I thought he might even fetch a ball if someone threw it.
Linus, still smiling, asked again.
“How about tomorrow?”
“Sounds good!”
I answered brightly, and Linus once again showed his refreshing smile.
Even when I got sucked into the dungeon, I thought my second life was ruined—but maybe it’s not so bad after all.
I even got a walking companion with a face like honey.
As I was about to step into the Gate with a light heart, Linus grabbed my arm.
“Iarvet, if this is what we were pulled into, it’s dangerous to proceed like this.”
“What’s dangerous about it?”
“This—it was floating in the air, wasn’t it? If we fall, we might get hurt.”
Just as Linus said, the Gate had appeared above our heads.
From my memory of being caught in the energy backflow, it was about five or six meters above the ground. It wasn’t dangerous for Awakened ones, but for ordinary people, it was quite a height.
I couldn’t even say I was fine just because I was Awakened, so I just looked at Linus. Then he held out his hand.
“If you don’t mind, I can help you.”
I only understood what he meant after I took his hand.
Linus lifted me into his arms and stepped toward the Gate.
“Hold on tight.”
I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck, and Linus leapt into the Gate without hesitation.
I didn’t even have time to stop him and ask if he wasn’t the one in danger—it all happened in an instant.
The next moment, a clear blue sky without a single cloud spread before my eyes, and Linus landed safely while holding me.
My walking companion had extraordinary athletic ability.
Linus gently set me down and bent over to straighten my wrinkled skirt.
My walking companion also had manners as outstanding as his athleticism.
When I looked up at the sky, the Gate that had spat us out had already vanished without a trace.
The talkative chubby cat we had met before being sucked into the Gate was also long gone.
Under the spring sunlight, the butterfly garden was peaceful, as if nothing had happened. It all felt like a dream.
I almost wished it had all been a bad dream.
I pinched my cheek just in case, but the sting was cruelly real, and I sighed.
Turning away dejectedly, I said to Linus,
“Let’s go back. We’ve been away too long.”
“Yes, we should.”
Linus also said he had someone he needed to meet and hurried his steps.
We quickly returned to the central area of the garden where the tea party was in full swing.
The engagement announcement of Heid and Larienne seemed to have already ended, and the venue was in a somewhat unsettled mood as people prepared to leave.
I looked around for Rene and Kristin, who had been sitting at the same table, when my father spotted me and approached.
“Iarvet, where have you been?”
“Father.”
“I’ve been looking for you. How can a child whose health is not even fully recovered wander off without a word?”
His voice was stern, but beneath it, in his purple eyes like mine, there was unmistakable concern.
My father, Duke Lloyd Titanoa.
He was the emperor’s crown prince Heid’s strong ally and had appeared many times in the novel.
There was never any mention that he had a daughter who had been in a coma for so long—but that daughter was me.
Lloyd had, according to rumors, kept his daughter alive for over ten years using magic, refusing to let her die even when everyone else said to let her go.
Ten years. That’s how long it had been.
In the novel he was described as cold and ruthless, but such a thing would have been impossible without affection for his daughter.
He was currently awkward, unsure how to treat a daughter who had woken up after ten years.
But I was just as awkward about having a father, so right now we were a pair of strangers trying to act like family.
“I just went for a short walk. I’m sorry.”
I chose a brief apology instead of a long explanation.
I couldn’t exactly say I had gone to a dungeon.
Lloyd frowned at my unsatisfying answer, and Linus stepped forward.
“I took up her time. Iarvet was only guiding me around the garden.”
I had worried he might say something honest, but my walking companion—who was exceptional in every way—also had remarkable social awareness.
After finishing a plausible excuse on my behalf, Linus gave me a small wink that only I could see.
I acknowledged him with a smile, and my father’s brow deepened.
He looked Linus up and down, clearly displeased, and suddenly asked while calling my name.
“And who might you be?”
“My apologies for the discourtesy. Linus Pictian.”
“Linus… Pictian?”
Come to think of it, even I had never heard Linus’s full name before.
Still, the name didn’t sound familiar, so I assumed he must be a background character.
But then my father’s expression softened.
“Lord Pictian? I heard you had come to Arendel, but to meet you like this… I am Lloyd Titanoa. I was close friends with your father.”
What? Linus… was a duke?
He was far too high-spec to be just a background character.
And he was the son of my father’s friend.
I looked at Linus with new eyes, and he shook my father’s hand with the dignified demeanor befitting a duke.
“I would like to arrange a proper meeting next time. For today, I must excuse myself as I am pressed for time.”
My father briefly ended the conversation with Linus and turned to me.
Then he delivered unexpected news.
“The Crown Prince’s engagement announcement has been canceled. Go home.”
“…Pardon?”
Canceled?
Wasn’t the engagement announcement of those two the opening scene of the novel Butterfly Garden’s Secret Meeting?
Suddenly a dungeon appeared, and now even the original plot was beginning to twist.
After my brief outing, chaos erupted at the Titanoa ducal residence.
The maids treated me as if I were made of fragile glass, and even our family physician was called in and fussed over me.
After a thorough examination, the doctor concluded that I was in perfect health and left.
However, the maids—especially my personal maid Ruby—still didn’t seem at ease.
“Iarvet, wouldn’t it be better for you to rest? You must be tired.”
“Ruby, it’s not even sunset yet. If I sleep now, I won’t be able to sleep at night.”
“Still, please lie down. Would you like me to bring you a book?”
“I’ll just sleep.”
I pulled the blanket up to my chin and closed my eyes tightly.
All the books Ruby brought were boring.
She had been trying hard lately to educate me into the proper etiquette of a noble lady.
Apparently, using the excuse that I had been asleep for ten years wouldn’t work forever.
Soon I’d probably even get a private tutor. Living a comfortable life wasn’t so easy.
And now a dungeon had appeared on top of everything. Honestly, where was my life going?
Still, it was fortunate the dungeon had disappeared without incident. I almost ended up fighting monsters in front of Linus.
Ah, right—Linus.
I stopped pretending to sleep and sat up suddenly, asking Ruby,
“Ruby, do you know anything about Duke Pictian?”
“The Duke of Pictian? You mean the one who passed away recently?”
“No, not him. The new duke. Linus Pictian.”
“Oh, you mean that mysterious duke?”
Mysterious?
Linus, whose appearance, personality, and manners were all honey-sweet—why did he have such a strange label?
“What do you mean, mysterious?”
“The previous Duke of Pictian didn’t appoint a clear successor. Everything from his death to the inheritance of the title happened so suddenly that there are all sorts of rumors in high society about the new duke.”
“What kind of rumors?”
“Well… not good ones. Some say he’s an illegitimate child, others say he’s not even the former duke’s real son but a fake. There are even rumors that he’s a strange person.”
So even in this world, fake news spreads like wildfire.
Strange? Where exactly was he strange? Linus was basically a perfect romance-fantasy male lead.
If anything, the world’s character balance was what was strange—how could someone like him be just a background character?
