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Chapter 7
“Now that Your Grace has become Lady Liriope’s fiancé, I didn’t think it would be proper for me to meet Grand Duke Theo alone to return this handkerchief. So… I thought it would be better if you could give it to him for me.”
“Oh, it’s nothing like that.”
Liriope smiled as she waved her hand casually.
“You can give it to him yourself, Miss.”
For a moment, Rosearin’s eyes widened.
“Huh?”
“It’s fine. You can give it to him yourself.”
“But…”
Rosearin looked deeply troubled.
Judging by the confusion mixed into her expression, she had never expected Liriope to so readily tell her to return the handkerchief herself.
It was understandable.
After all, one of the many rumors surrounding Liriope was her obsessive possessiveness.
Even though the Crown Prince had never been her man, Liriope had branded a young noblewoman as a shameless homewrecker simply because she had danced with him at a ball.
So, after much deliberation, Rosearin had chosen to give the handkerchief to Liriope instead of Theo.
That consideration was so perfectly in line with the original heroine’s personality that Liriope found herself smiling without realizing it.
The heroine had been every bit as lovable as the male lead in her favorite novel.
Her inner fangirl was threatening to awaken all over again.
“I said it’s fine, so it’s fine. You should be the one to thank him directly. So go ahead and do that.”
“…Th-thank you very much, Lady Liriope.”
For some reason, Rosearin’s cheeks turned pink as she carefully placed the handkerchief back into her handbag and looked at Liriope.
She seemed as though she wanted to say something, her lips opening and closing hesitantly.
Seeing that, Liriope tilted her head in confusion.
The moment their eyes met, Rosearin seemed flustered.
Then she bowed once more and said,
“Um… thank you. Truly.”
Liriope wondered if simply telling her it was okay to return a handkerchief personally and express her gratitude really warranted so much thanks.
But when she thought about all the terrible things the original Liriope had done…
Well, perhaps it did.
It left her feeling strangely conflicted.
Had Liriope’s image in Rosearin’s mind really fallen that low?
“I don’t think I’ve done anything worth thanking me for.”
Liriope laughed awkwardly.
Rosearin immediately shook her head.
“No! I’m truly grateful!”
Perhaps because she was nervous, her reaction was so exaggerated that Liriope blinked in surprise.
Then she simply smiled and nodded.
“Alright.”
Rosearin looked at her again, her lips moving as though she still had something left to say.
Unable to bear the suspense any longer, Liriope finally asked,
“Is there something else you wanted to say?”
“Huh? Ah… no.”
Apparently, asking had only made things more awkward.
Rosearin hurriedly shook her head and took a step back.
At that moment, an idea suddenly came to Liriope.
A tea party hosted by the Marquis’s daughter…!
“Um, Miss Rosearin.”
Liriope called out to her.
“Yes, Lady Liriope.”
Rosearin answered immediately, almost as if she had been waiting.
“Are you coming to the Marquis’s daughter’s tea party?”
“Huh? Ah… yes.”
“Oh, really? That’s great.”
Liriope smiled brightly.
Rosearin’s eyes widened.
She couldn’t imagine why her attendance at the tea party would be good news for Liriope.
For a brief moment, she wondered if Liriope planned to gather the other noble ladies and bully her there.
Her expression stiffened.
But Liriope’s next words completely overturned that assumption.
“I wanted to talk with you more.”
“…”
“As you can see, this isn’t really a place where we can chat comfortably. I was disappointed we couldn’t finish our conversation, but we can talk there instead. So be sure to come and spend some time with me, alright?”
Liriope smiled playfully.
There wasn’t the slightest trace of hostility on her face.
Though still puzzled, Rosearin found herself feeling unexpectedly happy.
She smiled warmly.
“Yes. I’ll definitely attend.”
“Sorry to keep you waiting!”
Just then, Peroche emerged from the workshop carrying an armful of fabrics.
“There were simply too many fabrics that would suit you perfectly, Lady Liriope! I agonized over my choices before finally narrowing them down.”
She enthusiastically placed the bundles of fabric onto the table in front of Liriope.
Even though Rosearin was standing beside her, Peroche didn’t acknowledge her until she had finished saying everything she wanted to Liriope.
“Oh my, Miss Rosearin, you’re here.”
But after offering only a brief greeting, she immediately turned her full attention back to Liriope.
“Look at this one, Lady Liriope. Doesn’t this fabric suit you perfectly?”
Rosearin smiled as though she didn’t mind Peroche’s behavior in the slightest and politely nodded in greeting.
She truly loved Peroche’s dresses and deeply admired her talent as a designer.
Later in the original story, after the Crown Prince learned this, he personally brought Peroche to Rosearin so she could make dresses for her in an effort to win her heart.
Because of that incident, Rosearin was harshly criticized by the noble ladies of the Empire.
Naturally, the one who had led the harassment was none other than Liriope.
“Selly, please assist Lady Rosearin.”
Pointing toward the awkwardly standing Rosearin, Peroche instructed one of her employees before immediately turning her attention back to the fabrics.
“This color is absolutely perfect for you, Lady Liriope.”
She confidently held up a shimmering ivory fabric that stood out among all the others.
“Your neckline is already so graceful and elegant that I’d love to create a ball gown emphasizing the décolletage. What do you think?”
“Ah…”
Liriope nodded awkwardly.
She had been nothing more than an ordinary commoner from the Korean Peninsula before transmigrating.
There was no way she understood anything about dress design.
“The waist seam will disappear, and instead there’ll be vertical princess seams, giving you a fitted bodice that flows gracefully from the waist down.”
“…”
“The dress you’re wearing now already suits you wonderfully, but with your petite frame, I can stake Peroche’s reputation on the fact that a ball gown made from this fabric would suit you even better.”
“Ah… I see.”
She was momentarily startled.
Did someone really put their reputation on the line over making a dress?
Then again, Peroche personally designed even the Emperor’s clothing.
Perhaps that kind of confidence made sense.
In any case, Liriope knew absolutely nothing about dresses.
She wished Peroche would simply stop asking for her opinion and make whatever she thought looked best.
Her eyes wandered lazily over the dresses on display.
Honestly…
She just wanted to go home.
Her lack of enthusiasm apparently made Peroche think she disliked the ivory fabric.
So she hurriedly picked up several others.
“How about this one, Lady Liriope?”
Liriope immediately shook her head and pointed at the shimmering ivory fabric.
“I like that one. There’s no reason to doubt Peroche’s eye.”
She forced a smile.
Peroche’s face instantly lit up.
“Oh my! Hearing those words from you is more wonderful than any compliment!”
Liriope smiled awkwardly at Peroche’s over-the-top excitement.
Then her eyes met Rosearin’s, who was browsing ready-made dresses.
For a split second, Rosearin flinched as though she’d been caught secretly watching her.
She politely bowed once before returning her attention to the dresses.
Watching Rosearin’s back, Liriope couldn’t shake the strange feeling lingering in her heart.
The day of the tea party hosted by the Marquis Selzionel’s daughter finally arrived.
The moment Liriope took her seat, Selzionel approached her as though she had been waiting all along.
“Lady Liriope, is the article on the front page of the newspaper true?”
In the original story, Selzionel had stayed close to Liriope and constantly encouraged her to bully Rosearin even more viciously.
When Liriope was eventually killed by the Crown Prince, it was briefly revealed that Selzionel herself had secretly loved him for many years.
‘Well… people usually have their own reasons for bullying someone.’
Liriope glanced around and confirmed that Rosearin hadn’t arrived yet.
Then she smiled at Selzionel, who was looking at her with obvious curiosity.
“Yes. It turned out that way.”
Murmurs spread throughout the room.
Hearing the confirmation directly from Liriope herself, the young noble ladies immediately began whispering among themselves.
“When did you become so close to His Grace?”
“A scandal involving both of Gardeia’s two greatest heartthrobs? Lady Liriope really is on another level.”
“So what about His Highness the Crown Prince?”
“What else? Grand Duke Theo stole Lady Liriope away from him.”
“Aren’t those two rivals? Could this turn into a battle over Lady Liriope…?”
Each young lady chimed in with her own comment.
Every single remark was obvious flattery.
Liriope almost laughed.
The idea that the Grand Duke of the North and the Crown Prince would fight over her…
Even a passing dog would laugh at something so ridiculous.
To begin with, Kadin despised Liriope so much that he practically loathed her very existence.
And if not for this incident, Theo would never have had any connection to her whatsoever.
In the original novel, Theo and Liriope truly had nothing to do with each other.
Of course, after Theo fell in love with Rosearin, he eventually learned that Liriope wasn’t just bullying her—she was even threatening her life.
He had intended to deal with Liriope himself.
But Kadin acted first and executed Liriope before Theo ever had the chance to confront her.
‘Come to think of it… Liriope was hated by both men.’
A bitter smile tugged at one corner of her lips.
‘Well, all I have to do now is eliminate every reason Liriope was destined to die.’
Once again, she strengthened her resolve to become close friends with Rosearin.
And almost as soon as she made that promise to herself—
Rosearin arrived.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
Selzionel frowned irritably at the sight of Rosearin bowing.
“No, Count’s daughter, do you have any idea what time it is now—”
“Oh my, Miss Rosearin! Why do you look so beautiful today?!”
Liriope immediately raised her voice, cutting Selzionel off as she warmly called out to Rosearin.
