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Chapter 1
“You said you’ve liked me for a long time, Duchess.”
At the sound of the man’s pleasant, low voice, Liriope froze where she stood.
‘This man…!’
The man before her had a face that anyone would recognize as belonging to the Grand Duke of the North.
Black hair. Black eyes.
His sculpted features, framed by sharp eyes, looked languid yet somehow arrogant, giving off an aura that made him difficult to approach.
Because of the difference in their heights, his lowered gaze seemed to prod painfully at one corner of her heart, and Liriope instinctively looked away.
‘Why on earth is this man here…?’
It was only natural for her to be shocked.
In the original novel that Liriope had transmigrated into, the male lead—the Grand Duke of the North—had never once visited the Duke’s estate.
She had reread her favorite romance fantasy novel countless times, devouring even the side stories. If he had ever visited the ducal mansion, there was no way she would have forgotten.
Besides, the body she had transmigrated into belonged to a villainess who had absolutely no connection to the original male lead and was destined to die halfway through the story.
Unable to tell whether the noble man before her was real or merely an illusion, Liriope could only blink in confusion.
Then—
“Liri! Father brought the engagement contract with Grand Duke Artein!”
Her father hurried in behind the Grand Duke, waving a golden sheet of paper in one hand as he shouted happily.
Seeing her father beaming brighter than ever and the Grand Duke staring down at her with a face as flawless as a sculpture, Liriope squeezed her eyes shut.
No, seriously… Father…
Liriope had transmigrated into her favorite novel.
She had loved watching the cold, aloof Grand Duke of the North gradually become a gentle yet obsessively devoted man—but only toward the heroine. She had read the novel until the pages might as well have fallen apart.
But of all people, she had possessed the villainess who was destined to die midway through the story.
Princess Liriope.
A woman who had loved the Crown Prince for years, tormented the original heroine out of jealousy, and was ultimately killed by the Crown Prince himself.
She had first lamented her terrible luck.
But then she remembered that as long as she survived, living as a duke’s beloved daughter was practically a dream life.
So she decided to alter the original story—just a little.
The first thing she needed to do was cut off her connection with the Crown Prince, the greatest cause of her eventual death.
So she told her father, who doted on her beyond reason, that she actually liked the Grand Duke of the North instead of the Crown Prince.
She had only intended to borrow the original male lead’s name for a short while in order to cancel her engagement to the Crown Prince.
But things had somehow turned into… this.
In other words, she had forgotten that her father was the type of man who would pluck the moon from the sky if Liriope asked him to.
‘Ha…’
Suppressing the sigh that threatened to escape, Liriope looked at the Grand Duke, who sat elegantly across from the Duke, calmly drinking his tea.
The man was so graceful that she felt as though her soul might leave her body.
She had adored the male lead so much that fans even nicknamed him “North Duke.”
Now, seeing him in person, she couldn’t help wondering if this was all just a dream.
Being inside her favorite novel felt less unbelievable than having the original male lead sitting right in front of her.
“I’d like to speak with the Duchess alone for a moment.”
Lost in her thoughts as she stared blankly at Theo, Liriope flinched the moment she heard the words alone.
She wasn’t mentally prepared for that at all, and instinctively shook her head.
“Oh, of course, of course. How thoughtless of me.”
Unfortunately, the Duke possessed absolutely no sense of timing.
Laughing heartily, he rose from his seat.
Whether he wanted to leave a good impression because Theo was the man his precious daughter loved…
Or because Theo, second only to the Emperor in political power, was someone he had to treat with caution…
Or because he simply didn’t want his daughter’s happiness ruined by offending the man…
Whichever it was, one thing was certain.
The Duke was absolutely thrilled about the idea of his precious daughter marrying the Grand Duke of the North.
As he left the reception room, he gave Liriope a confident thumbs-up.
She frowned.
She had absolutely no desire to know what that gesture was supposed to mean.
“Now tell me your reason, Duchess.”
As soon as the Duke left and the door closed, Theo spoke.
His naturally cold voice carried an overwhelming pressure.
But Liriope already knew that beneath that intimidating exterior was a genuinely kind man.
Tilting her head slightly, she asked,
“My reason? What reason?”
“The reason for pulling such an adorable stunt.”
‘An adorable stunt…? Ah… the engagement contract.’
Liriope lowered her gaze toward the golden document lying on the table.
If they were talking about that, she had something to say too.
She had never intended to become engaged to the Grand Duke.
She had only wanted to borrow his name temporarily to avoid marrying the Crown Prince.
Instead, her utterly oblivious father had brought over an engagement contract without consulting her at all.
“Everyone in the Empire knows you’ve spent more than ten years in love with the Crown Prince. Yet suddenly you’ve fallen for me…”
Theo stared at her with sharp eyes before suddenly stopping mid-sentence.
Frowning slightly, he cleared his throat.
“Ahem.”
Then he continued.
“…You’ve come to like me.”
“There must be another reason.”
“Another reason?”
At her question, Theo’s dangerously narrowed eyes relaxed into their usual sharp expression.
“The real reason you want to become engaged to me.”
His words filled Liriope’s face with panic.
“A real reason? There isn’t one.”
Forcing an awkward smile, she answered.
One of Theo’s perfectly shaped eyebrows twitched.
Even that looked ridiculously handsome.
How could someone look so attractive even while frowning?
Liriope found herself inwardly admiring him instead of feeling nervous.
Just looking at him made her heart race.
The male lead truly was the male lead.
So this was what people meant when they said someone looked like they had a halo behind them.
She found herself absentmindedly staring at his breathtakingly beautiful face—a face that seemed capable of charming everyone around him simply by existing.
Perhaps her expression looked too foolish.
Or perhaps he assumed she was lying about having no hidden motive.
Either way, Theo’s brow furrowed irritably.
“There isn’t?”
“No.”
She answered immediately.
“Then are you saying you’ve really come to like me?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Since when?”
“Uh… since when was it…?”
Caught completely off guard by the question, Liriope hurriedly searched for a believable answer.
Just then, Theo looked uncomfortable and cleared his throat once again.
As though he could no longer hold it back, he raised a clenched fist to his mouth and coughed once—short and restrained.
Seeing that, a brief episode about Theo flashed through Liriope’s mind.
She quickly scanned the room.
Then her eyes widened in realization.
Picking up the small bell on the table, she rang it briskly.
The golden bell gave off a bright, pleasant chime.
A moment later, the door opened and her maid, Gemma, entered.
“Yes, Lady Liri.”
“Remove every Lazerian flower from the reception room.”
The white Lazerian flower resembled a calla lily.
Because of a unique substance in its pollen, it was the only flower that triggered Theo’s pollen allergy.
Liriope remembered reading about it in the novel.
Lazerian was every noble lady’s favorite flower.
Even the original heroine, Rosearin, loved it.
In the original story, Theo had planted Lazerian flowers in the greenhouse of the Grand Ducal castle for Rosearin’s sake, enduring his allergy just to make her happy.
One memorable scene described him desperately trying to suppress his coughing while inside the greenhouse.
Liriope had loved that episode.
So the moment she saw him coughing uncomfortably, she immediately remembered the Lazerian flowers.
While Gemma and the maids removed every vase of Lazerians from the room, Theo’s expression stiffened slightly.
Then he watched Liriope with an unreadable gaze as she personally went around opening every window.
After opening them all, she brushed her palms together as if dusting them off and sat back down.
The moment she noticed Theo staring at her intently, her body stiffened.
“Since we’re airing the room out, you should feel better soon.”
Unable to withstand his penetrating gaze, she looked elsewhere and smiled awkwardly.
Then Theo asked in his cold voice,
“How did you know?”
Realizing she’d made a mistake, Liriope forced herself to smile naturally.
“Know what?”
“Lazerian.”
“…Oh, you didn’t know? The rumor’s spread everywhere.”
“A rumor?”
“They say you always start coughing whenever you’re around Lazerian flowers. So everyone figured out you’re allergic to their pollen.”
It was a story she’d invented on the spot.
Still, considering how many rumors constantly circulated about the Empire’s two greatest heartthrobs—the Crown Prince and the Grand Duke—it didn’t sound completely unbelievable.
But Theo frowned as though it was the first time he’d ever heard such a rumor.
Before he could think too deeply about it, Liriope hurriedly changed the subject.
“A-Anyway, let’s continue what we were talking about. What were you asking earlier?”
She smiled brightly.
Theo narrowed his eyes.
Apparently deciding not to pursue the topic of the flowers any further, he crossed one leg over the other and leaned back against the sofa.
“I asked when you started liking me.”
“Oh… right. Since when… Hmm… when was it again?”
Turning her gaze to the side, Liriope muttered to herself.
Theo watched her without taking his eyes off her for even a moment.
“Maybe… at the Imperial Palace ballroom during the Founding Festival two years ago…?”
She tilted her head thoughtfully.
Without breaking eye contact, Theo replied,
“I never attended the Imperial Palace ballroom during the Founding Festival.”
‘Ah… I guessed wrong.’
