ITSND 09

Chapter 9

“Why him?”

One of Liriope’s eyebrows arched.

“With Sir Gray away, it’s honestly difficult to find an escort we can truly trust.”

“And the escort from the Grand Duke is trustworthy?”

At those words, Gemma looked puzzled.

“The Grand Duke?”

“I mean, can we really trust an escort sent by His Grace?”

“Wouldn’t an escort sent by His Grace be much more reliable than the ones Master could assign?”

Gemma shrugged as though the answer were obvious.

“So you’re looking down on my father’s guards now?”

Liriope narrowed her eyes at Gemma.

Gemma simply shrugged again, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“If Master knew about this situation, he wouldn’t assign anyone except Sir Gray anyway. He’d say no one else could be trusted.”

Come to think of it…

That was true.

Liriope’s father never allowed her to leave the ducal estate unless Gray was accompanying her.

No matter where she went, Gray followed her like a shadow.

Liriope herself had grown up taking that for granted and never left the estate without him.

Gray was the finest swordsman in the empire and a bodyguard who would gladly give his life for House Stella.

It was only natural.

Come to think of it, that Crown Prince deliberately sent Gray to the battlefield before Liriope’s execution in the original story.

Liriope clicked her tongue bitterly.

The scene of Liriope’s tragic execution surfaced in her mind.

By the time Liriope’s bullying of Rosearin had become intolerable, Kadin had decided he could no longer let her continue unchecked.

He resolved to punish her.

But even as Crown Prince, he couldn’t simply execute the only daughter of a duke—a woman protected by the empire’s strongest knight outside the imperial family.

He might have found a way to restrain the Duke.

But there was no stopping Gray, who would lay down his life to protect Liriope.

So…

Kadin had even used Peruan as part of his scheme.

He deliberately stirred up the monsters there, forcing most of the empire’s knights to head to the battlefield.

Then he appointed Gray as the commander.

Looking back… Kadin was pretty ruthless.

To eliminate the villainess who tormented the woman he loved, he cleverly persuaded both the Emperor and the ministers.

He framed Liriope for crimes she had never committed.

And to ensure Gray couldn’t interfere, he intentionally provoked the monsters on the battlefield beforehand.

Thinking back, the Crown Prince had seemed hopelessly dense throughout most of the novel.

Yet when it came to driving Liriope to her death…

He had been frighteningly clever and calculating.

Of course, all of that had only been described in a few short lines.

And now, by pure coincidence, Gray really is in Peruan…

Liriope thought about Gray, who had already been away on the battlefield by the time she possessed this body.

Although they exchanged messages through communication orbs, she had yet to meet him in person.

There was still a strange sense of distance between them.

Even in the original novel, Gray barely appeared.

He showed up briefly before Liriope’s death, then afterward quietly supported the grieving Duke after he lost his daughter.

That was all.

For some reason, Liriope suddenly found herself wanting to meet Gray in person.

Anyway…

“What if the Grand Duke refuses to send me an escort?”

She raised an eyebrow at Gemma.

Isn’t he exactly the type who’d say, ‘What nonsense,’ and hang up immediately?

Gemma merely shrugged.

“His Grace will definitely send one, so you don’t have to worry.”

Then she frowned slightly.

“But… why do you keep calling His Grace ‘Bukdae’?”

“It’s a nickname.”

Liriope answered casually.

Gemma immediately covered her mouth with both hands.

“Oh my!”

“A nickname? You never even gave one to His Highness the Crown Prince! You’ve truly fallen head over heels for His Grace!”

No… that’s not it at all…

That wasn’t the reason in the slightest.

But there was no way she could explain to Gemma why she’d started calling him “Bukdae.”

Liriope simply shook her head and sighed.

Gemma smiled reassuringly.

“Anyway, if you ask His Grace, he’ll definitely send you a dependable escort.”

“You’ve barely even met him. Why are you so certain? To me, he seems like the type to refuse because it’d be too much trouble.”

“My judgment of people has always been better than yours, Lady Liri.”

Liriope narrowed her eyes even further.

If only you’d read the original novel, you’d realize just what an arrogant, impossible, cold-hearted man Bukdae really is.

Theo was only gentle toward Rosearin.

To everyone else, he remained his usual unpleasant self.

But noble ladies who had never actually spoken to him often became enchanted by his handsome face and imagined him to be a perfect gentleman.

Liriope couldn’t help sighing at Gemma’s misunderstanding.

Gemma simply shrugged.

“You could cut off my head right here, and I still wouldn’t change my mind. If Lady Liri goes out without Sir Gray, Master will cut it off himself.”

Since there was no convincing the Duke, the only way she would be allowed outside was with Theo’s help.

Liriope puffed out her cheeks in frustration.

There was no point trying to out-stubborn Gemma.

In the end, she’d have to contact Theo.

“Why would I cut off your head? Just bring me the communication orb.”

Clicking her tongue, Liriope walked over and sat down on the sofa.

In this world, there existed a perfectly round, snow-white object about the size of a soccer ball called a communication orb.

It functioned much like the smartphones from her previous world.

It allowed face-to-face conversations through live video.

Better yet, there was no need to hold it.

The orb floated freely in midair while people spoke through it.

It was incredibly convenient.

The picture quality was so sharp that it felt as though the other person were standing right in front of you.

You could even make out the faint shadows beneath someone’s eyes.

When she’d only been reading the novel, she’d accepted it without much thought.

But now that she was actually using one herself…

She realized what an incredible invention it was.

With such amazing communication technology, why do that Crown Prince and Bukdae keep showing up without warning? Well… Bukdae at least tells me before he comes.

Wondering whether Theo might be busy with work, Liriope activated the orb.

She thought he might ignore the call if he was occupied.

Instead…

He answered almost immediately.

That caught her slightly off guard.

Then she saw Theo’s face reflected inside the glowing sphere.

Once again, she found herself stunned by how absurdly handsome he was.

Her surprise disappeared instantly as she stared absentmindedly.

Seriously… no matter how many times I see him, he doesn’t even look human.

His jet-black hair contrasted sharply against his pale skin.

Perhaps because he’d grown up in the cold northern lands, his complexion was strikingly fair.

Yet despite that, he still exuded unmistakable masculinity.

His sharp eyes, neither too large nor too small, suited his cool and distant personality perfectly.

His elegant nose and perfectly sculpted jawline made her unconsciously want to reach out and touch them.

The male lead really had received every possible blessing.

Even through nothing more than a communication orb…

He was handsome enough to make anyone fall for him.

[What is it?]

His personality, however…

Was absolutely awful.

“Are you busy right now?”

[If I were busy, I wouldn’t have answered.]

He could have simply said he wasn’t busy.

Instead, he had to phrase it like that.

Really…

His personality was terrible.

“Um… I actually have a favor to ask.”

[You? Asking me for a favor?]

Theo raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow in surprise.

“Yes.”

[Unexpected. What is it?]

“Well… I’d like to go into town, but… my personal knight is currently away in Peruan.”

Theo nodded once.

[Ah, I know. His Majesty personally dispatched Sir Gray because of the giant monster that appeared in Peruan.]

“Yes. So… unfortunately, I don’t have an escort right now.”

One of Theo’s eyebrows rose elegantly.

Even that expression was so beautiful that Liriope momentarily lost herself looking at it.

The male lead really was the male lead.

[Surely Duke Stella didn’t dismiss every guard in the estate except Sir Gray.]

“My father won’t allow me to leave the estate without Sir Gray.”

[I see.]

Theo nodded as though everything now made perfect sense.

[So… you want me to send you an escort?]

“Yes. Gemma… my maid… said that if the escort came from Your Grace, she could trust them.”

[Ha.]

Theo let out a quiet laugh.

For some ridiculous reason, Liriope’s heart—which had already been pounding because of his appearance—began beating wildly.

She had seen him smirk mockingly before.

But she’d never seen him laugh like this.

Relaxed.

Soft.

Almost lazy.

So handsome men really do look insane even when they laugh.

Her heart pounded so loudly that her ears almost hurt.

Liriope unconsciously let out a long breath.

I’ve been completely bewitched by that face ever since this call started.

She had always believed she wasn’t someone obsessed with appearances.

But looking at that face…

Even that confidence seemed ready to sink into the deepest abyss.

Feeling her cheeks growing hot, Liriope found herself grateful they were speaking through a communication orb instead of face to face.

Then…

[Ten minutes.]

Leaving behind those two incomprehensible words…

Theo abruptly ended the call.

“…Huh?”