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No matter how kind he was or how brightly he smiled in front of her, Grace couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that if she stayed in this house, she might end up dead someday.
She carefully examined her own body, wondering if she might actually be sick, but aside from having gained some weight, she was healthy.
With a heavy sigh, Grace stepped out into the garden.
‘Huh?’
Benjamin wasn’t there today.
Without even realizing it, Grace found herself glancing around.
‘Well, it’s not like he has to come out every day. It’s always just been a coincidence anyway.’
Besides, she had come out later than usual today.
As her thoughts kept circling, she realized she was just making excuses to avoid feeling disappointed.
Eventually, as she began her walk alone, something strange caught her eye.
‘What’s that?’
In front of the garden bushes, small signboards had been neatly placed.
“……”
Each sign had the name of a flower written on it.
Grace felt a ticklish flutter in her chest.
It was only natural that seeing the signs made her recall her conversation with Benjamin.
“I see. I hadn’t considered that problem before.”
‘…No way.’
It hadn’t been long since he’d said that.
Grace turned to a nearby maid, just in case.
“Did the gardener put up these signs recently?”
The maid eagerly replied, as if she’d been waiting for the question.
“Yes! The master ordered it himself!”
“His Excellency did?”
“Yes!”
‘Why?’
Was it because she had said she didn’t know the flower names?
Her thoughts tangled together and spun wildly.
‘But seriously, why?’
Grace knew Benjamin was kind.
But this felt like more than just ordinary kindness.
He hadn’t missed a single offhand comment she’d made—he’d remembered and acted on it. Her heart couldn’t help but stir.
Then a voice whispered in her head:
<Wake up.> <What kind of delusion are you about to have? How embarrassing.>
It was like a sudden splash of cold water. Grace flinched, and her mind cleared.
The maid who had told her about the signs asked,
“Madam, are you feeling chilly?”
“…Yeah, maybe a little.”
“Then why don’t we head inside early today? You’ll catch a chill.”
Grace glanced around, then nodded.
“You’re right, let’s do that.”
Even when she looked toward the main house, there was no sign Benjamin would be coming out. For some reason, that made her feel a bit disappointed.
‘Already gotten used to it, huh.’
As she kept staring toward the mansion, Sally brought over a warm blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“Madam, you’ve gotten so thin lately. I’m worried.”
“Thin…”
Grace touched her own cheek.
“Has something been bothering you? I know it’s not my place to ask, but still…”
Sally spoke with genuine concern.
‘Sally was always kind to Grace.’
Before Grace possessed this body, Sally had been the maid who spoke to her the most warmly. The other maids were polite, but distant.
Naturally, Grace felt some affection toward her.
Grace smiled softly.
“It’s nothing. I’ve just been losing weight all of a sudden, that’s all.”
“…Did someone say something unpleasant to you, Madam?”
“Hm?”
Unpleasant things? Grace blinked in surprise.
‘Well, basically everyone in the Empire says unpleasant things to me… And if I don’t get divorced, I’ll end up a corpse found in the Duke’s estate…’
She thought of all the things she couldn’t say aloud.
Unaware of Grace’s thoughts, Sally continued to worry.
“You haven’t been going to the library lately either, so I wondered if something had happened.”
“The library?”
Grace wondered what she meant—then realized the original Grace had often locked herself away there.
‘Oh, that’s right.’
At first, she had been too busy adapting to this body. After that, she’d been preoccupied with survival. She had completely forgotten.
‘Not that my original self was any different—I was always buried in books, too.’
Grace recalled her life before she possessed this body.
She’d been in poor health, always in hospitals.
Because of that, she’d always been close to books. She couldn’t play outside—or even go outside at all.
“Lately I just prefer moving around more,” she said.
“……”
“Staying in my room makes me feel depressed.”
Sally’s expression grew even more sorrowful. She remembered how Grace had practically been a shut-in before.
But what Grace was thinking of now was her life before transmigration.
Her wealthy family had neglected her. When she got sick and hospitalized, they rarely visited—they only sent books occasionally.
One day, among those books, was The Saint’s Wish.
It was different from the usual books her family sent.
Grace had always liked romance fantasy, but her family despised such novels, calling them worthless trash. They hated seeing her read them.
So when she received The Saint’s Wish, she had read it eagerly, over and over, fascinated.
‘Ah, useless sentimentality.’
Grace shivered and gripped the blanket tightly.
“Are you very cold, Madam?”
“I guess so. You know what, I’ll go to the library after all. Could you bring some warm tea there for me?”
“Of course, Madam.”
Grace trotted toward the library.
‘Maybe the diary is in the library.’
There’s a saying: if you want to hide a tree, hide it in a forest. Perhaps the original Grace had hidden her diary there.
‘Maybe it would’ve been easier if I didn’t remember anything at all…’
If she had total memory loss, she could’ve just pretended to be amnesiac. But instead, she had fragments of knowledge about this world and Grace’s life—like the utterly useless memory of how her heart had fluttered the first time she saw Benjamin at the wedding.
“Is it here?”
She arrived at the library door, hesitated briefly, and opened it.
The sight that greeted her made her jaw drop.
‘What the hell.’
The library in her memory wasn’t small—but she had not remembered it being this huge.
‘This is nothing like my memory.’
The real library’s scale was overwhelming.
‘How could I have remembered it so small…’
The shelves were so tall they reached multiple levels, with staircases scattered here and there.
The books were organized by genre and alphabetized with meticulous precision, showing perfect management even from a distance.
Even though she hadn’t been here once since her possession, the air was fresh, not stuffy.
The carpet was spotless, as if it were cleaned daily.
Grace couldn’t help but admire it.
‘I love that book smell.’
The smell of books in the hospital used to sometimes make her nauseous. But here, it smelled heavenly.
A bright smile spread across her face.
‘I love it so much.’
She loved it so much that, for once, the usual negative thoughts and intrusive voices that plagued her in the annex disappeared completely.
In the sunniest spot of the library sat a wide, soft sofa—Grace’s usual reading spot.
‘The windows are spotless too.’
She walked quickly to the sofa near the window.
Through the window, she could see the main building.
The moment she saw Benjamin’s residence, her mood soured, and she scowled.
‘What a terrible view.’
With only that brief thought, she grabbed a random book, sat on the sofa, and leaned back.
A little while later, Sally brought in tea. Small white flowers floated on the surface.
“How cute.”
“It’s a recent trend, apparently,” Sally said.
“The tea?”
“Yes, well—more like something from dessert cafés. It’s tricky to brew properly at home.”
Sally brightened when Grace responded positively.
“Floral desserts are trendy too. Should I bring some in?”
“No.”
“……”
“Desserts make you gain weight.”
Her firm refusal made Sally’s face fall. But Grace, busy admiring the flowers floating in the teacup, didn’t notice.
“Alright then, I’ll leave you to your reading, Madam.”
“Thanks.”
Composing her gloomy expression, Sally gracefully exited the library.
Grace flipped through the book’s table of contents, then snapped it shut.
‘This isn’t the time for that.’
She lifted her head.
Her eyes landed on the desk.
‘The diary.’
She needed to find the diary.
She couldn’t remember where it was hidden, but…
‘My body remembers.’
When she’d entered the library, her body had instinctively reacted to three spots:
First, the window.
Second, the sofa she was sitting on.
Third, the desk.
Grace immediately headed for the desk.
‘Not here.’
The first drawer was filled with pens, paper, and bookmarks.
‘Not here.’
The second had sealing wax and candles. The third had envelopes, stationery, and exchanged letters.
“Why isn’t it here?”
Frustrated at her string of failures, Grace scowled and slammed her hand on the desk with a bang.
