TOSWB 21

Chapter : 21

I thought the original story had ended… but here’s Chapter 21.

“…….”

At the same time as I answered, a fish in the lake popped up briefly to breathe, then sank back down. For a while, silence settled over the lake.

Asad, Evelyn, and Leopold—the main person himself—remained silent.

“……ahem.”

“…….”

I cleared my throat awkwardly in the tense atmosphere.

There was no way I could know Leopold’s strengths. I had only mentioned what was visible to the eye.

At the very least, Leopold’s appearance was remarkable. Or rather, should I say it was exquisite. The most beautiful in the world, probably.

So it wasn’t wrong. Being handsome was a strength—what else could it be? Good looks are a good thing, after all.

“…….”

Leopold said nothing. From his perspective, he must have heard countless compliments and praises about his looks until they were like background noise.

“I-I see. Leo’s definitely beautiful! Of course, his inner self is—”

Evelyn hastily added, trying to ease the cold atmosphere. I felt a little guilty.

My answer had been way too careless. I should have mentioned his body, not his face.

Just as Evelyn was about to smoothly continue Leopold’s “praise session—Part 2,” he looked at me quietly and spoke.

“……And you?”

“Me?”

Leopold nodded. I shook my head.

“I’m fine.”

Leopold seemed dissatisfied that I said his strength was his face. He probably wanted to redirect the attention, but I had no intention of participating.

“That’s right. Then it’s Tina’s turn.”

“No, I—”

But Evelyn spoke as if she had forgotten. Just as I was about to decline, someone else cut in.

“Eyes.”

“Eyes?”

Until now, Leopold had been sitting there with a somewhat indifferent expression, seemingly in a bad mood, but this was the first time he spoke first. I asked back in surprise.

He nodded lightly up and down.

“I think your eyes are beautiful.”

“…….”

I almost told him not to joke, but then I saw his golden eyes and shut my mouth. I should have said no, but his expression was far too serious.

“……Why?”

“They’re honest, and give a warm feeling.”

“…….”

I stared at him, unable to hide my surprise. He rarely showed emotion, almost like a sociopath, but today his gaze was unusually gentle.

I hesitated for a moment, then asked him:

“Do you… like green?”

I felt like I had asked something obvious after saying it.

There was an obvious reason why Leopold, who had been silent until now, singled out my eyes. Among my features, the ones most resembling Evelyn’s were my eyes. The shape was different, but my irises were the same green.

Yes, there was no other reason for him to say that besides Evelyn. He must have been shy to say it directly to her, so he was saying it indirectly to me.

Thinking that, I looked at him. His golden eyes flickered slightly at my question.

“……I like them.”

Leopold looked away slightly as he answered, then cleared his throat.

I had the strange feeling that he liked me. But that couldn’t be. I twisted my face in a mixture of confusion and disbelief.

“Next is my turn—ah.”

“Uh-huh.”

Evelyn, who had just opened her mouth with an expectant expression, suddenly stopped speaking. A few drops of rain were falling.

“It’s raining.”

“We should stop here.”

The sudden rain unexpectedly ended the “praise game.”

When I opened my eyes again, I was in my room. Dim light was streaming through the window—it was already morning.

“……an old dream, huh.”

I wasn’t sure if it was accurate to call it an “old dream” now that I had returned to this life.

I muttered to myself and sat up. I used to wake up at this time every day to run in the garden. Habit is a scary thing. I got up on time without anyone waking me.

“Haam……”

I yawned and stretched.

After getting up early as usual, finishing my morning exercise, and taking a shower, I came out of the bathroom.

While fixing myself in the mirror, I took a careful look at my reflection. A girl with light brown hair and green eyes was standing there.

“Hmm.”

…Eyes. Eyes.

I remembered the dream I had this morning and stared blankly at myself in the mirror.

Specifically, I looked closely at my green eyes. If there was any part of me that was presentable at age thirteen, it was my eyes.

Not as beautiful as Evelyn’s, but still fairly large, with long eyelashes. And the color was the same as the heroine Evelyn’s—green.

But there was a difference.

If Evelyn’s eyes were a clear, fresh green that smelled like spring grass, mine felt slightly dull, almost misty, like a foggy swamp. Same green, but worlds apart.

“……Of course.”

So he probably wasn’t talking about me back then.

I tried to shake off the strange fluttering feeling in my chest and moved.

“Tina!”

At that moment, I heard someone outside moving hurriedly and calling for me.

“Tina! Tina, where are you?”

It was definitely my mother’s voice.

“Mother, what’s wrong?”

I poked my head out of the shower. I saw my mother walking down the hallway.

She had long brown hair like mine and soft sky-blue eyes. Because I inherited my father’s features strongly, the only thing I shared with her was hair color.

She seemed surprised to see me emerge from the shower, widening her eyes.

“Oh! Tina, taking a shower so early in the morning—what made you do that?”

“I do this every day.”

My busy parents didn’t care much about raising me. All matters regarding child-rearing were handled by the nanny and maids.

Even though I had been exercising at this hour for a long time, they had no idea.

“Huh, you… seem to have grown a bit? Well, I guess that’s normal for a child.”

“…….”

As expected, my mother hadn’t noticed any change in me.

They were the same people who had easily sold me to the Duke’s family in my previous life. They wouldn’t care if I disappeared.

Having experienced that once, I no longer felt hurt.

Just as they had no expectations of me, I had none of them.

“What is it?”

“Ah!”

What could be so urgent that my mother was looking for me? Then she seemed to remember and exclaimed:

“Tina, hurry and get ready to go out.”

“Huh?”

Go out?

Come to think of it, my mother was already ready to go out.

I asked in confusion, and she spoke with an excited expression:

“Come on, let’s go get a dress made for the Founding Festival!”

“A dress?”

“Yes! Hurry and get ready.”

She spoke as if I was dawdling. The Founding Festival? A dress? What is she saying?

Ah, now I remembered—the empire’s biggest event, the Founding Festival, was scheduled for the end of this month. And now she wanted to go get a dress made.

Was she finally going to pretend to be my mother? Until now, she hadn’t cared whether I wore a dress or a sack of fertilizer.

“I’m not feeling well—”

“What nonsense are you saying? The Empress herself sent you an invitation. You can use her private salon for the day to prepare for the Founding Festival!”

“Huh?”

Her sky-blue eyes were full of excitement and anticipation.

I froze, unable to understand what she said. The name she mentioned was so sudden.

After a moment, I regained composure and asked calmly:

“Mother, isn’t there some mistake? Why would someone of such high rank send me a private invitation?”

“Of course not. Look at this.”

She handed me something as if to prove it. On stiff paper, the royal crest and the Empress’s signature were clearly visible.

And below it…

Salon de Francia

The name and crest of a salon named after the Empress’s first name. The owner was, of course, Francia Sistia de Langdretza, the Empress of this country.

The invitation indeed confirmed what my mother said—I could freely use the Empress’s salon.

“…….”

Just being a friend of Leopold apparently made me incredibly valuable.

But even so, there was nothing I could gain from this. It was all pointless. I carefully opened the envelope.

Inside was the invitation, along with a short letter written on luxurious paper in elegant handwriting.

It had never been opened before. It seemed my mother had come immediately after seeing the invitation.