Chapter 6

A Wise Choice

As soon as Isabella returned from Fairy Garden to the ducal residence, she headed straight for the third floor.

“Lady Isabella?”

Delis, the butler of House Bruin, who had come to greet her at the entrance, looked puzzled by the dazed expression on her face, but Isabella had no room to answer him.

“Delis. I’m sorry. I need some time alone right now.”

As she made her way toward the study where the late Duke Bruin had spent most of his time, Isabella’s mind was filled with thoughts of the Kairan prince and his daughter.

She opened the firmly locked door of the study.

The portrait of the ducal couple, smiling gently as they looked straight ahead, seemed almost as if they were welcoming her.

At Isabella’s command, the study had been preserved exactly as it had been before her father’s death.

Even though only faint memories remained, this was the one place where she could reassure herself that her parents had truly existed. Whenever she felt anxious or overwhelmed, Isabella often came here.

“…Why did it change?”

Isabella slowly retraced her memories.

Leonard’s child had definitely been a boy.

He had taken in his friend’s blood relative and raised him as his own son. Because of that, he eventually came into conflict with the emperor, relinquished his position as prince, and left the empire.

That was how things had happened in all three of the lives she had experienced.

It was shocking enough that her uncle had produced an imperial decree to pressure her into marriage. But the fact that information about one of the more important supporting characters, the Kairan prince, had also changed was an even greater shock.

In her first life, she had been so bewildered by the sudden change in circumstances that she failed miserably. Even though she knew the original story, she had fallen into her uncle’s schemes and entered a political marriage. When she finally came to her senses and tried to resist, her uncle and husband branded her insane, locked her away in a monastery, and starved her to death.

In her second life, she had made plans and worked tirelessly in an attempt to resist her predetermined fate, but she failed again. The people she had believed would become her allies betrayed her, she was forced into the political marriage just as in the original story, and not long afterward, she died after eating poisoned food.

And in her third life, she abandoned resistance altogether and simply ran away.

She took whatever jewels and money she could from House Bruin and hid in a remote territory as far away from the capital as possible.

Some might have called her irresponsible, but a person had to survive first. Knowing exactly what the future held, she couldn’t simply remain where she was.

Fortunately, her plan worked, and she lived peacefully for three years.

That was, until one week before her twenty-first birthday, when a man who had passionately confessed that he had fallen in love with her at first sight happened to see a wanted poster seeking the heir of House Bruin—a person with dark brown hair and pale-blue eyes.

That bastard! Even thinking about it still makes me furious!

Blinded by the bounty, a sum of money he could never have dreamed of touching in his entire life, that man had caused Isabella to be captured by her uncle’s men, who stormed into her residence at dawn.

And at the age of twenty-two—one year later than in the original story—she died miserably when the carriage she was riding in plunged straight off a cliff.

What is going to happen from now on?

The emperor’s imperial decree. Leonard’s appearance. And the fact that his child had changed from a son into a daughter.

The original story had already deviated enormously.

Was it merely a coincidence?

Or did this mean she could actually change the future?

A flicker of hope stirred inside Isabella as she thought of the Kairan prince.

“You want to make things easy? Do you even know whose garden you’re asking me to give up a corner of?”

Even though Leonard had kept his thorns raised and grumbled constantly, he had possessed a warm enough heart to give a corner of his garden to a complete stranger.

Perhaps he could become the man she was looking for.

A man who was intelligent, perceptive, but had no greed.

Someone who could turn the original story’s sad ending into a happy one…

Isabella’s meeting with Leonard took place the very next day.

Their reunion came quickly, but the atmosphere was far from pleasant.

“I want a deal.”

Isabella was briefly rendered speechless by the timing, which seemed almost like a cruel joke from fate.

Leonard’s proposal came at precisely the moment she had given up on considering him and decided to look for another solution.

Only yesterday, she had been slightly excited by the possibility.

She had even wondered if she could propose a contract marriage when she met him…

But it didn’t take long for the hope that had been fluttering inside her to turn into disappointment.

“It’s citron tea. If I close my eyes, block my ears, and breathe in the scent of the tea through my nose, I suppose I can see why citron might help with headaches. Though, in my opinion, it doesn’t seem to be helping the young lady at all. Not until the root of the problem is solved.”

The boy who had once innocently given her a corner of his garden was nowhere to be found.

Neither was the man who was intelligent, perceptive, yet free of greed.

Instead, there was only a man whose thoughts were impossible to read, a man who made it impossible for her to let her guard down even for a moment.

“If you accept my proposal, I’ll give you money, of course, and I can also offer whatever assistance you want.”

Under normal circumstances, those were exactly the words Isabella herself had intended to say to him.

Until she realized that he was not someone suitable for making such a deal with…

The conclusion that the original story’s deviation might mean she could truly change the future had been far too naive.

All that remained was another layer of caution.

Isabella’s eyes met Leonard’s.

“Your Highness, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I have no reason to ask for your help.”

When she shook her head, he raised his light-brown brows and gave her an attractive smile, as though he had just heard something amusing.

“That isn’t what I’ve seen and heard. You must have a reason.”

“Your Highness. As I said just now, I…”

“I want authority over the Bruin Merchant Guild. And for the record, what I’m asking you about is limited to the Bruin Merchant Guild, not Fairy Garden.”

Fairy Garden…?

Isabella couldn’t process the bombshell Leonard had just dropped.

How did he know about Fairy Garden?

And on top of that, he wanted her to hand over one of her family’s most valuable interests?

“Do you really think that’s possible?”

Even if House Bruin was politically declining, there was no reason to sell the merchant guild when it was functioning perfectly well.

“If you show an intention to make a deal with me, it’s not difficult.”

“Your Highness, it isn’t that simple. You know that.”

Even if she wanted to sell it, she wasn’t yet the head of the family. As merely the heir, Isabella needed the approval of the elders of the family to transfer the merchant guild to someone else.

Leonard didn’t seem bothered by her sharp expression. He continued speaking leisurely.

“Viscount Tyron, was it?”

Isabella’s eyes widened again.

“Are you planning to marry the man he’s recommending?”

One corner of Leonard’s mouth lifted.

If it can’t be done, make it happen.

That was his principle whenever business interests were involved.

“If that political marriage goes through, neither the merchant guild nor your position as head of the family will be easy to secure.”

The Bruin Merchant Guild wielded the strongest influence in the Vilhoa Empire, and Isabella, as the heir to the ducal house, was its owner.

If she had no choice, that would be one thing.

But now that she had a weakness, she was an extremely tempting target for someone like him, who wanted to maximize his own gains.

“Try calculating the situation a little more generously. I can get rid of the piece of trash who’s going to ruin your life.”

A wrinkle appeared on Isabella’s smooth forehead.

She had already decided that she would reveal absolutely nothing in front of Leonard.

“What if I refuse to make a deal with Your Highness?”

His blue eyes glimmered.

Leonard lifted his teacup slightly, wearing an unusually generous expression.

“I like your eyes. And I like the caution that keeps you from blindly taking someone’s hand simply because you want something.”

“……”

“Let me ask you one thing. Do you know the man you’re supposed to marry well?”

He paused.

“If you know him and still agree to the marriage… fine. I’ll withdraw cleanly.”

Leonard leaned forward, bringing himself level with Isabella’s eyes.

“But can you really say that’s the case? The girl I remember doesn’t seem like someone who could.”

He looked directly into her eyes with his own clear blue ones, his voice becoming gentler.

“Didn’t you run into my garden because the banquet was too much for you?”

“……”

“So take my hand this time as well. Your instincts may be enough to help you.”

“……”

“I want to believe that you’re desperately searching for a way to escape your misfortune.”

As Isabella stared into his eyes, now devoid of their earlier amusement, she thought there was no way that could be true.

And yet, at the same time, she had the strange intuition that Leonard’s words would change many of the things that were going to happen in her future.

For some reason, those clear blue eyes, reminiscent of a cloudless sky, felt as though they were ensnaring her.

“You don’t have to answer right now. You need some time to think.”

“…Why?”

At her quiet murmur, Leonard stared at her.

Their eyes met in midair.

“Why are you trying to help me?”