TOSWB 05

Chapter : 05

I thought the original story was over, but Episode 5

“What?”

“I asked if you have any lingering attachment to the past.”

“……Lingering attachment?”

Why was he suddenly talking about lingering attachments? I looked at Leopold with a puzzled expression.

Leopold stared straight at me for a moment, then slightly furrowed his brows and spoke.

“……Because your family was in poor financial shape, they treated you like a convenient bargaining chip and sold you off cheaply to a ducal house. Even after the marriage, your husband prioritized the woman he had sworn loyalty to over you and spent his time wandering outside. Ah—there’s even a famous story about how, at a party hosted by the ducal house, he appeared holding Eveline’s hand instead of yours.”

I stared at Leopold, mouth hanging open, as he poured out his words one after another.

Leopold, you… you were someone who could talk this much—no, that’s not it.

I never imagined Leopold would say something like this.

At first, he had merely listed the facts in a calm tone, but the more he spoke, the more his voice grew heated, unlike him.

What on earth is he talking about?

My question had been whether there was any way to go back.

“And because you never showed yourself outside, rumors even spread that you were dead.”

……Why is he suddenly dragging out someone else’s dark past?

I looked up at Leopold with an expression of disbelief.

“What kind of lingering attachment could you possibly have to a past like that?”

“……Hey.”

I was momentarily left speechless, then muttered in a low voice as if telling him to stop.

Everything Leopold said was true—if anything, it was even worse than he described.

I had been married off to the ducal house like I was being sold because of financial problems, and my husband, Asad, treated me as though I didn’t exist. Even the servants began to look down on me.

I had originally been a bright person, but back then, coupled with symptoms of depression, I hardly went outside at all.

As a result, everyone around me drifted away. I became more and more isolated… my personality grew darker, I avoided going out even more… a vicious cycle repeating itself.

The original story was already over, and my role had ended with marrying Asad.

I couldn’t change my fate, and I wondered if this was simply the end destined for an extra.

But Russell was listening too—did he really need to expose things so bluntly? Ah, right. Leopold couldn’t see Russell.

Anyway, it wasn’t something pleasant to say even in front of the person involved.

Reciting someone’s dark history point by point right in front of them—was he trying to kill me with embarrassment?

But how did he know my circumstances so thoroughly?

And on top of that, he seemed even more outraged about it than I was, the person who had lived through it.

That couldn’t be like him.

In any case, while it was true that I had not even a shred of attachment to my previous life, it wasn’t something Leopold needed to concern himself with.

“……It has nothing to do with you.”

I said it coldly, drawing a clear line.

Who did he think he was, lecturing me about how I’d lived my life? He should have just worried about Eveline, the female lead.

“Nothing to do with me?”

But Leopold twisted the corner of his mouth into a smile at my words, as if asking why it wouldn’t concern him.

“Nothing to do with me? I suppose that’s how it seemed. Because that’s what you wanted.”

“…….”

Leopold let out a self-mocking snort and murmured.

Hearing that reminded me of something.

Back when I was holed up in my house, I’d heard from servants several times that Leopold had come looking for me.

No—actually, quite a lot of times.

Eveline had probably sent him to check on me. With his status as crown prince, there was no one in the empire he couldn’t meet. Though Leopold usually didn’t force things by invoking imperial authority.

But I had refused to meet even my family and friends. There was no reason for me to meet Leopold, whom I wasn’t close to.

I knew he was angry about being turned away at the door several times in my previous life, but…

In the first place, how I lived my life naturally had nothing to do with Leopold. Because, from the start, Leopold had Eveline—

Ah. Eveline.

The name suddenly came to mind, and I hurriedly asked,

“What about Eveline?”

“Why is that woman’s name suddenly coming up?”

“What do you mean why…?”

Seeing as I was here, I had assumed Eveline would naturally be here as well—but judging by Leopold’s reaction, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Moreover, his response was strangely cold.

Unlike me, Leopold must have been full of attachment to his previous life. After all, he would have had a bride he’d been married to for about a year.

Rumor had it they were newlyweds enjoying a sweet honeymoon phase.

Yet Leopold’s expression only continued to harden. Ah, right—talking about Eveline in front of him was taboo.

I realized it belatedly.

“……I think I told you it’s better to choose your friends carefully.”

Whenever I brought up Eveline, Leopold would say things like that.

It was something I’d heard so often in my previous life that my ears practically rang.

Hearing it now made it feel all the more real that the guy standing in front of me truly was that same Leopold.

Ever since my previous life, Leopold had clearly disliked the fact that I was Eveline’s friend. That was why he got angry under the guise of giving advice, trying to separate us.

I felt a surge of emotion and spoke back in defiance.

“……No matter what you say, Eveline is my friend.”

“Are you really saying that even now?”

Leopold replied with a frustrated look.

Whenever Eveline came up in conversations with Leopold, things never ended well.

Perhaps Leopold didn’t like the idea of the woman who would become his wife associating with someone like me.

Compared to Eveline, I lacked ability, background—everything.

Eveline was a princess from another country, possessed mysterious powers, and was beautiful. I was nothing more than an extra from a declining noble family.

Sometimes, irritated by Leopold’s reactions, I’d cling even more closely to Eveline.

Or maybe it was jealousy? Either way, it wasn’t a welcome reaction.

“…….”

At that moment, I saw Leopold bite his lip so hard it turned white. He looked utterly furious.

Ah—he’d worn that same expression the first time he lost a sword match to Asad.

He’d won eventually, of course.

Ever since we were young, when Leopold set his mind on something, he showed an obsessive level of focus and perseverance, and in the end, he always got what he wanted.

“……No. I won’t let it happen twice.”

“Huh?”

After a long silence, Leopold muttered those words through clenched teeth in an angry voice, then strode toward me.

I’d been standing absentmindedly, lost in memories, and was startled by the dazzling face suddenly so close, instinctively stepping back.

Leopold grabbed my hand. I tried to pull away reflexively, but this time he didn’t let go, as if he’d made up his mind.

He began to stride forward, dragging me along with him.

Huh?

When I came to my senses, we were already standing in front of the banquet hall where the victory celebration was being held. Leopold marched straight inside with me.

As we entered, I saw a maid—who must have been searching for me after I disappeared—looking both relieved and horrified, her face pale.

Ignoring everything around him, Leopold led me straight toward someone.

“Your Majesty the Empress.”

At Leopold’s voice, the woman addressed as the Empress turned around.

She was a beautiful woman with black hair and blue eyes. She gave off a slightly intimidating aura…

She was very tall—so tall I’d have to crane my neck even in a child’s body to look up at her—and had downturned eyes.

Though she was called the Empress, there wasn’t a single feature that resembled Leopold. That was because Leopold was born of a concubine.

“There is someone I would like to introduce to you.”

“Hey—”

A sudden sense of unease washed over me, and I tightly grabbed Leopold’s arm as if to stop him. Surely, the person he wanted to “introduce” couldn’t be—

As I was thinking that, Leopold placed me at his side and said,

“She is my friend.”

“Your friend?”

The Empress’s sharp gaze turned toward me. She looked back and forth between Leopold and me with a puzzled expression. Under that piercing look, I shrank back slightly.

Her eyes seemed to say, There’s no way the Crown Prince has a ‘friend.’ What are you scheming? Speak plainly.

“Yes. She is my benefactor. She saved me when I was nearly assassinated.”

But Leopold was far more shameless than I’d expected. Without blinking, he lied straight to that terrifying Empress.

An assassin? Come to think of it, he’d said something like that when we first met too—he’d mistaken me for an assassin.

“……Is that so?”

At her faintly disappointed reply, I vaguely realized that this woman was the one who had sent the assassin after Leopold.