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Chapter 6
Liriope stared absentmindedly at the sheet of paper Theo had left behind, the one listing several possible engagement dates for her to choose from.
His smile—so charming it seemed designed to enchant people—and his teasing attitude lingered in her mind, leaving her face hot even now.
In the original novel, the male lead’s playful side had been reserved exclusively for the heroine.
Toward every other woman—especially those who fell for his looks and pursued him—Theo had always been cold and distant.
People didn’t say that he was a man best admired from afar for nothing.
Yet somehow, that same man had been teasing and charming Liriope the way he had only ever done with the heroine in the original story.
“What on earth is wrong with him…?”
Liriope muttered as she buried her face in her hands.
After a moment, she lowered them and glared at the paper on her desk.
His words echoed repeatedly through her mind.
One sentence in particular made her let out a dry laugh.
“If you’re going to regret it, you should’ve done so before using me. Even if that foolish Crown Prince cries and begs, our engagement can’t be undone.”
She had never intended to regret it in the first place.
Not that she believed Kadin would ever cry and beg for her.
Still, hearing Theo confidently declare that the engagement could never be broken made her feel strangely sorry for him instead.
Sooner or later, he would fall in love with Rosearin.
And when that happened, he would eventually be the one asking her to break off the engagement.
No matter how many engagement dates he brought for her to choose from, once he met Rosearin during the Harvest Festival and lost his heart to her, he would probably wish she would simply disappear.
Whether she had used him or not…
Whether he had been angry about it or not…
In the end, this engagement would become meaningless.
What is this uneasy feeling…?
Resting her chin on one hand, Liriope stared at the list of dates once again.
Somehow, by dragging the male lead into her plans, she’d become deeply involved in the relationship between the hero and heroine before the original story had even begun.
She had only said she liked the Grand Duke instead of the Crown Prince because no other suitable character had come to mind.
She had never imagined things would turn out like this.
Her mistake had been overlooking the duke—who would have gladly plucked the stars from the sky for Liriope if she’d asked.
“Haah…”
She sighed and picked up the paper again.
“I just can’t shake this bad feeling.”
Murmuring softly to herself, she lightly waved the paper.
She had intended to avoid the second male lead in order to survive.
Instead, she’d somehow become entangled with the main male lead.
Of course, she had absolutely no intention of meeting the gruesome death that awaited the original villainess.
Nor did she see any reason why she would.
Once Theo and Rosearin fell in love, she planned to graciously break off the engagement.
She also intended to become Rosearin’s closest friend, so there would never be any reason for her to bully the heroine out of jealousy.
Even if she had somehow ended up engaged to Kadin instead, she had never planned to repeat the original Liriope’s evil deeds.
“Maybe I tried too hard just because I wanted to stay alive a little more safely…”
Liriope muttered with another sigh.
The lingering sense of unease still bothered her.
But she decided she’d simply do everything she could to avoid the tragic ending and leave it at that.
Well… as long as I become best friends with the original heroine, I probably won’t die.
With that thought, she set the paper listing the engagement dates back on the desk and gave a small shrug.
“Oh my, look who it is! Isn’t this Gardeia’s most talked-about young lady?!”
After the newspaper announced her engagement to Theo, Liriope decided that her first social appearance would be at the tea party hosted by the daughter of Marquis Selzionel.
Gemma had insisted that, since the engagement had become the scandal of the century, she absolutely had to look her very best.
Dragged there by her overexcited maid, Liriope found herself at Feroche’s Dress Atelier.
She hadn’t expected such an enthusiastic welcome.
Madam Feroche was the empire’s most famous designer.
She personally tailored clothing only for members of the imperial family and nobles of ducal and marquis rank.
Counts and below could wear only ready-made dresses that had been designed by her.
Back when she’d only been a reader, Liriope had found that rather unfair, especially since the original heroine happened to be a count’s daughter.
Now that she herself was one of Madam Feroche’s direct clients…
She couldn’t help finding the exclusivity rather satisfying.
Perhaps everyone naturally preferred whichever side benefited them personally.
Which, admittedly, was only natural.
“A fabric that perfectly complements our lovely Lady’s deep golden hair arrived just recently. It’s almost as though you knew and came at the perfect moment.”
With that, Madam Feroche disappeared into her workshop to retrieve the fabric.
Meanwhile, her assistant designer, Sally, escorted Liriope to a sofa.
Liriope and Gemma sat together, sipping the tea the atelier had prepared while waiting for Madam Feroche to return.
As she slowly drank the hot tea, Liriope began wondering why it was taking so long just to fetch a single piece of fabric.
And just as that thought crossed her mind…
The atelier’s front door opened.
An extraordinarily beautiful young lady walked inside.
Although Liriope had never actually seen her before, there was something strangely familiar about her face.
She found herself unable to look away.
“Oh my, welcome, Lady Rosearin.”
The moment Sally spoke the young woman’s name…
Liriope’s heart skipped a beat.
The beautiful woman who somehow looked both unfamiliar and familiar at the same time…
Was none other than Rosearin Meljebian, the heroine of the original novel.
Liriope stared blankly at Rosearin, just as she had when she’d first seen the Grand Duke.
Rosearin’s brilliant platinum-blonde hair perfectly complemented her porcelain-white skin and mysterious emerald-green eyes.
She was breathtakingly beautiful.
Anyone seeing them together would probably mistake Rosearin—not Liriope—for the duke’s daughter.
Even the way she walked was elegant and graceful.
Beside her stood Mary, the commoner maid who followed her everywhere like glue.
Mary had been one of the heroine’s greatest supporters throughout the original story.
Liriope had always liked her as well.
I can’t believe I’m seeing both of them in person…
Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Hello, Lady.”
Just then, Rosearin noticed Liriope looking at her and immediately approached with a polite greeting.
Oh my goodness… she’s real! The real heroine!
Without thinking, Liriope sprang to her feet.
“Ah… hel—”
Fortunately, she caught herself before accidentally speaking too politely.
Liriope held a far higher rank than Rosearin.
She wasn’t supposed to use honorifics toward her, nor bow first.
Realizing her mistake, she awkwardly sat back down.
Rosearin approached with her usual graceful steps.
“I’ve actually been hoping to meet you, so I’m glad we happened to run into each other here.”
…Me? Why?
Liriope looked up at her in complete confusion.
The original story hadn’t even begun yet.
There was absolutely no reason Rosearin would want to meet her.
Seeing Liriope’s puzzled expression, Rosearin reached into the small handbag hanging from her arm and took out a neatly folded handkerchief.
“I thought it would be best if I returned this to you.”
The handkerchief had been folded with great care, as though it were something precious.
It even carried a pleasant fragrance, as though perfume had been lightly applied.
Liriope stared at it.
Then her eyes widened the moment she noticed the embroidered emblem.
It was unmistakably the crest of the Grand Duke of the North.
She remembered it clearly because one of the illustrations in the original novel depicted the Grand Duke’s castle.
The emblem embroidered on the handkerchief was identical to the one flying on all the banners above the castle in that illustration.
“It belongs to His Grace the Grand Duke.”
As Liriope silently examined the handkerchief, Rosearin spoke.
Looking up, Liriope saw Rosearin offering her an awkward smile.
Why does Rosearin have this…?
Her face stiffened in confusion.
But she quickly composed herself.
“I see.”
Instead of voicing the countless questions racing through her mind, she simply nodded calmly.
For some reason…
She didn’t want Rosearin to see that she had been shaken.
But why does she have it? Don’t tell me they’ve already met?
If she remembered correctly, Theo and Rosearin were supposed to meet for the very first time during the Harvest Festival.
Before that, during the annual Hunting Festival, Rosearin would become acquainted with Crown Prince Kadin.
That encounter would make Liriope unbearably jealous of her.
The Hunting Festival was still over a month away.
Which meant Theo’s first meeting with Rosearin should have taken place much later.
What is going on? Why have they already met? And what’s with the handkerchief?
The more she thought about it, the more confused she became.
Did this happen because I changed the original story…? No… that can’t be it. They met before Theo and I even became engaged.
No matter how she thought about it, this meeting between them had never existed in the original novel.
It wasn’t simply that the novel had failed to mention a previous encounter.
The story explicitly stated that Theo and Rosearin first saw each other at the beginning of the original plot.
Then why…? Why did they meet early…?
The changes from the original story filled Liriope with an unsettling sense of anxiety.
Perhaps noticing the seriousness of Liriope’s expression, Rosearin spoke apologetically.
“The Grand Duke helped me the other day.”
“…Ah.”
“He gave me this handkerchief then, but I felt uneasy about returning it to him directly.”
Uneasy? About what?
Liriope looked at her in bewilderment.
Rosearin pressed her lips together for a moment as though embarrassed.
Then she looked directly at Liriope and spoke.
