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Chapter 15
Iced Coffee on a Hot Day**
To survive properly, you need money.
“A place to wash! A place to sleep! A place to stay!”
Upon arriving in the South, Brody sold some simple fruits and bought herself new clothes.
The local clothing, suitable for the hot weather, was thin and had short sleeves.
Brody wore light innerwear and wrapped a cool fabric over herself to cover her face.
It was partly to avoid the sun—but more so because there was no benefit in having her face known.
Was she afraid someone might be chasing her?
Not really. Honestly, that didn’t concern her much.
Sure, she’d been marked by the “Grand Duke’s mysterious tracking magic,” but really—why would he come all this way for her? She’d even left behind medicine for his headaches, so he wouldn’t have much reason to look for her anytime soon.
He said he wanted to take responsibility and make her his wife, but once he met another woman, he’d forget all about her.
“So I’m not worried.”
She hammered the thought into her heart as if it were a proven fact. As if she needed to believe that.
“The real reason I have to hide my identity… is because of this.”
“Miss, how did you get so much of this rare stuff?”
“Oh, trade secret. You buying or not? If not, stop drinking…”
What Brody brought to sell was a rare and expensive plant called Torobit.
In Korean terms, it was about as valuable as wild ginseng.
A lone woman trading in such lucrative goods? Easy target.
That’s why she hid her identity so thoroughly.
After successfully completing several trades, money began stacking up neatly in Brody’s possession.
Whistling, she happily headed back to the inn—specifically, one with a bathroom where she could use all the running water she wanted.
But after a few days of doing business, she started attracting unwelcome attention.
“Hey, miss. Let’s share the good stuff, yeah?”
Four burly men cornered her in a back alley, trying to intimidate her.
“Wow, I never thought I’d hear such a cliché villain line in real life.”
Her hands trembled slightly, but she carried out the plan she’d imagined over and over again.
Plants shot up from the dirt, wrapping around the thugs’ bodies.
They screamed gibberish in fear and confusion, but soon they were tightly bound, unable to move even a finger.
Brody pulled out a purple leaf and rubbed it under their noses. One by one, they passed out.
“I can’t believe a plant this useful exists.”
That plant, with its purple leaves, was a rare species called Dream’s Edge. Inhaling its scent up close would knock someone out and send them into a dreamlike state, scrambling their memories enough to blur the line between truth and illusion.
After confirming they were fully asleep, Brody made the plants disappear and left the alley calmly.
“Seriously, Brody, you’re amazing. This ability is unreal.”
She marveled at her own powers—and at the knowledge the original Brody had accumulated through tireless research.
Since the ability was as useful as the knowledge backing it, she resolved to continue researching just as diligently in her new life.
Brody had thought she’d settle in easily and get rich fast.
But as she watched four burly men approaching her again, she bit her lip.
“Nothing in life is ever that simple.”
Irritated, she used her plants to bind them and knocked them out with the Dream’s Edge again.
It had become second nature by now.
“How many times has this happened?”
She brushed her hands off as the last thug collapsed to the ground.
This was already the fifth time something like this had happened in just two weeks.
The same thugs kept showing up, threatening her with the same lines, forgetting everything.
“This can’t go on.”
Even if the Dream’s Edge erased their memories, sooner or later someone would notice something was off.
So Brody moved farther south. It didn’t seem smart to stay in one village too long.
This time, instead of an inn, she built a shelter in the forest.
Do-yeon had never been comfortable in nature, but Brody was different.
Surrounded by thick vegetation, she felt instinctively at peace.
It felt like the world around her was finally on her side.
She soon grew used to life deep in the forest. It didn’t seem like a bad way to spend the rest of her life.
If only it weren’t for the occasional wave of loneliness and longing.
“Tell me, Grand Duke. Do you love her?”
“……”
Aidan hadn’t spoken a word as he rode day and night, but Duke Jax didn’t tire or give up.
Aidan had tried to shake him multiple times, but Jax wasn’t so easily shrugged off. After all, he was the most competent knight in the capital.
Aidan, already suffocating from the thick, humid southern air, glared at Jax with irritation when the latter insisted on sitting across from him at a tavern.
Even when Aidan changed tables, the innkeeper gave him a sharp look—“Why would you sit apart when you clearly know each other?”—so they ended up sitting together.
Aidan didn’t answer Jax’s question, but Jax talked just fine on his own.
“You must love her. Otherwise, the Grand Duke of the North wouldn’t be here instead of heading home. Ah, love… It drives people mad.”
God, please shut up. People started eavesdropping thanks to Jax’s theatrical gestures and noticeable appearance.
Aidan finally muttered in a hoarse voice, low enough for only Jax to hear.
“Stop calling me ‘Grand Duke.’ If you mention anything that could reveal my identity again, I’ll end it here. I have no reason to keep you as a prisoner anymore.”
“Oh, oh! I see. You’re right to be cautious. Then what should I call you?”
“…Call me Dan.”
“Alright, Dan. You may call me Jax.”
Aidan didn’t bother nodding. He didn’t think he’d need to call him anything.
“Dan, I’m genuinely worried. The more sincere your feelings are, the more pain you’ll be in.”
Jax wore a serious expression, like he was offering the most profound advice in the world.
“I know her well. We grew up together. I’m sure where her heart lies. Oh, Dan, it saddens me to say this—but it’s with me.”
Aidan grimaced and chugged the beer the server brought.
“Her feelings for me are so deep and heavy that it’s hard even for me to handle. I can’t explain everything, but she went to the North for my sake. And she couldn’t come back… because she felt guilty. I came to find her in person, to say it’s okay and to bring her back myself. She wouldn’t believe it unless I told her directly.”
Aidan said nothing.
“I don’t mind you tagging along. But when we find her and the three of us are standing together, what then? She’ll choose me. Won’t that be too cruel for you?”
Jax’s words sank deeper and deeper into Aidan’s heart.
Whether he meant them or not, the poison in his elegant words was killing Aidan slowly from the inside.
Maybe Jax was right.
The nature of their relationship—it had always been one-sided.
Brody had never given any sign of wanting him. She never asked for anything from him.
She didn’t hate him, sure. If she did, she wouldn’t have wrapped her arms around his neck or kissed him with those breathy sighs, or fallen asleep beside him like a relaxed squirrel.
But wanting? That was different.
She was just being herself. The only one who wanted anything was Aidan. Maybe his desperate desire had made him imagine that she returned his feelings.
What if… what if the truth was that he’d simply intimidated her, as a warlord holding a prisoner?
There was no real reason she should like him.
Still, he kept riding south.
Even if she rejected him, he had to see her again.
He had to apologize for the mistake of believing she wanted him. He had to say he never meant to hurt her. At the very least, to say goodbye…
So many reasons ran through his mind, but in the end, it came down to one thing:
He just wanted to see her.
Late at night, under the deep moonlight.
The sounds of nocturnal birds chirping woke Brody.
She lay in a cozy shelter built atop a large tree. When she looked up, she could see stars pouring down through the branches.
“Why did I wake up?”
She stared blankly at the sky, then curled into a tight ball.
“Has my life ever gone this well? I can get as much money as I need. I love this place. I have the power to protect myself.”
But really, she was only fulfilling the second level of Maslow’s hierarchy—safety.
After transmigrating into a novel character, her sole focus had been survival.
She’d had some hiccups, but she succeeded quickly.
But when a goal is achieved, it disappears.
With no more need to survive, her mind finally had space to dwell on other things.
“I wonder if the Grand Duke’s army is safe.”
The novel’s plot had already veered off course.
How powerful was the original storyline?
Surely the world wouldn’t kill the Grand Duke just to follow the plot… right? Especially when I wasn’t even the one who killed him?
“Why am I thinking about him? I gave him up for my freedom. I should be lucky if he doesn’t kill me for deserting. Though… he probably wouldn’t go that far.”
If he weren’t the Grand Duke of the North… would I have chosen differently?
She kept recalling the soft smiles he showed her when they were alone—stripped of status and duty, he’d been surprisingly gentle. Not to mention that handsome face, that body, that aura… everything about him made her heart race.
If only he hadn’t been the Grand Duke…
Brody had fought hard to steel her heart.
Lost in thought, she barely slept through the night.
By morning, she made a decision to visit the village.
“Let’s go get some dessert! Maybe pick up a few more outfits. I need civilization!”
Surely news about the war would be circulating by now, right? Might as well ask while I’m out—just casually. Totally not because of him. Nope.
She rationalized her thoughts as having nothing to do with Aidan.
But in truth, all she wanted to know was—was he alive?
Fortunately, she didn’t even need to ask.
When she arrived at the town square, the outcome of the war was all anyone could talk about.
“They signed a ceasefire?! Ah… So they didn’t win. But the North gained independence, so the Grand Duke must’ve survived…”
Feeling a bit lighter, Brody made her way to the dessert shop.
And there, she saw a most delightful sight.
“Oh my god! Iced coffee!”
Excited, she ordered the largest cup.
“Phew!”
She sipped joyfully through a straw made of sugarcane, the cold reaching deep into her chest.
It wasn’t an iced Americano—there was no espresso—but cold drip coffee floating with ice in this sweltering heat?
Heavenly.
“I wish I could buy a bunch and stockpile it… but it’s pointless. The ice’ll melt. Ugh… No refrigerator…”
Sighing with regret, she slumped at the table and soaked in the fleeting moment.
And that’s when it happened.
Something warm approached from behind and wrapped around her shoulders and waist.
Startled, Brody jumped up to defend herself, knocking her cup over.
“Ah!”
She grimaced instinctively at the wasted coffee and ice falling to the ground.
But there was a bigger problem.
Turning, ready to punish the shameless stranger—
“Bri…”
A voice whispered in her ear.
And Brody couldn’t move.
