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Chapter 5
The only daughter of the Grand Ducal House of Hernia, one of the empire’s great noble families—Florence Hernia.
Lady Florence, blessed with both a prestigious family and beautiful looks, was considered the most ideal bride in the entire empire.
At tea parties I attended with my mother, I often heard her name—no, I heard it quite frequently—from noble ladies and young noble girls.
Most of it was praise.
Recently, her name and Kaillen’s name were often mentioned together. Rumors naturally circulated that marriage talks between the two were underway.
However, in the original story, she was a villainess who tormented the heroine because of her unrequited love for the male lead. In the novel, Eliana was one of the minor lackeys who stood beside her.
Knowing the original plot, I had deliberately avoided any contact with Lady Florence. There should have been absolutely no connection between us…
So why was she sending something to me?
On the silver tray, the letter seemed to emit a dark, swirling aura.
Swallowing nervously at an unknown sense of foreboding, I lowered the knife I had picked up to open the envelope.
“C-can’t I just not read it right now?”
Mia, who had just finished fixing the curtains, frowned and looked at me. Ignoring her suspicious gaze, I picked up the newspaper beside the envelope.
There was still no article about the arson case.
I had cautiously tried to probe my father about the imperial atmosphere, but even he shook his head, saying he knew nothing.
It might not be so bad if it simply got buried like this. I tried to think positively—but every time I remembered Kaillen asking me to dance on the last day of the banquet, my legs started trembling.
“Oh dear. Don’t bite your nails. Where did that habit suddenly come from?”
Mia clicked her tongue and grabbed my hand, just as someone urgently knocked on my door.
Before I could even say “come in,” the door burst open.
“M-Mother?”
My mother strode in without even blinking, grabbing my hand from Mia roughly.
“Eliana! You, you, you—”
“Mother?”
My mother stammered, her face serious. Before I could ask what was wrong, my father rushed in behind her, out of breath.
“Darling. L-let’s get Elly changed first.”
At his urgent words, my mother snapped back to her senses and clapped her hands sharply.
“Mia! Make her presentable!”
So I wasn’t presentable before?
Before I could protest, my parents quickly left the room, abandoning me to Mia.
“Why are they like this?”
At my question, Mia shrugged as if she didn’t know and promptly stripped off my nightwear. My fine hair stood on end from static electricity.
Thanks to Mia’s quick and precise hands, I was ready in no time.
Leaving behind Mia, who seemed dissatisfied with the rushed styling, I headed to the reception room.
As I stepped onto the staircase leading downstairs, a strange unease suddenly rose inside me.
I stopped halfway down.
I briefly considered going back upstairs and pretending to be sick, but the butler spotted me.
“A-ah, young lady!”
The butler who managed our estate, Cian, had come with us from our territory and oversaw the townhouse in the capital. He was like a grandfather to Eliana Rudd.
Seeing him so tense made me realize something was wrong.
I tried to turn back upstairs, but Cian quickly climbed the stairs and grabbed my arm.
“Please, you must come quickly!”
“C-Cian! Who exactly is here to make you act like this?!”
He practically dragged me downstairs. Stopping in front of the reception room, Cian cleared his throat and knocked.
Before even hearing an answer, my father’s voice called from inside.
“Come in.”
Cian opened the door and bowed. I glared at his back and slowly entered.
Inside, I immediately saw a man sitting on the red velvet sofa—carefully chosen by my late grandmother, the former baroness.
“…I-I greet the small light of the empire.”
It was Kaillen Liveliden, the Empire’s Second Prince, the arson suspect, and the male protagonist of the original story.
I swallowed hard. The sound was so loud it nearly echoed, but thankfully my father’s heavy breathing covered it.
Sweat beaded on my father’s round face. He kept wiping his face with a handkerchief, which was already damp from nervousness.
My mother looked slightly calmer than my father, but her voice was unusually high-pitched as she conversed with Kaillen, glancing at him repeatedly.
Kaillen Liveliden—kind to everyone.
Unlike the Crown Prince, who was rumored to never smile, Kaillen was well-known for his gentle personality and frequent smiles, making him popular among all genders and ages.
Sunlight poured through the carefully maintained windows of the reception room, striking Kaillen’s golden hair.
He sipped tea with his eyes lightly closed, lips slightly upturned, long pale fingers holding the familiar teacup.
The Kaillen sitting there looked different from the one I had seen at the palace.
His hair, usually slicked back perfectly, now fell softly over his forehead, making his expression seem gentler.
While I was secretly watching him, I instinctively raised my hand to bite my nails—but my mother stopped me again before I could.
“Ahaha… by the way, what brings Your Highness to our humble home…?”
My father asked cautiously, squeezing his wet handkerchief.
“Oh, I actually came because…”
Kaillen glanced sideways at me.
“I have something to return to Lady Eliana.”
He reached into his inner jacket pocket.
“I borrowed a handkerchief from Lady Eliana while she was helping me, and I wanted to return it personally.”
He placed a white handkerchief on the worn table.
“Oh my, our Eliana did something so thoughtful… hoho.”
My mother laughed, covering her mouth, then subtly nudged my shoe under the table.
Kaillen smiled elegantly in response, and my mother’s lips stretched wider.
My father’s face turned even paler, while mine also went white.
The white silk handkerchief on the table was not mine.
“Today is a beautiful day. So I was thinking…”
Kaillen’s gaze slowly shifted to me. I curled my fingers tightly in my lap.
“May I take Lady Eliana on a walk in the garden?”
The room fell silent.
Everyone—my mother, my father, and I—wondered if we had heard him correctly.
But Kaillen’s green eyes were fixed on me without hesitation.
“No!”
My loud voice cut through the silence.
“Gasp—uugh!”
My father’s startled cry was quickly muffled by my mother’s hand. Very fast reflexes.
While I briefly admired her unexpected agility, Kaillen stood up.
He slowly buttoned his jacket and lifted his gaze toward me.
“The garden is quite beautiful. You might regret not seeing it…”
The Rudd townhouse gardener had served the family since he was young and was now over seventy years old.
Despite his bent back, he tended the flowers carefully from morning until sunset.
There was no way his flowers wouldn’t be beautiful.
I knew this well because I often helped him after possessing this body.
But the garden of a baron’s townhouse in the capital was tiny—walkable in five minutes.
If anything, I was the one who would regret going, not him.
Damn it.
I forced the corners of my trembling lips upward.
