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Chapter 12
“No way—the female lead of a romance fantasy has a flower allergy?!”
Riana still couldn’t believe it and stomped the ground in frustration.
After all, she’d seen scenes in the webtoon where Deborah was surrounded by flowers more than once.
And every time Deborah smiled, there were flowers blooming in the background—so what was that all about?!
‘So they were just decorations? Ugh, seriously.’
After running far from Genevieve Hall, Riana snuck into a quiet little garden behind a tall tower to avoid people.
From the view of the castle wall, she figured she had ended up all the way in the far west of the Duke’s estate.
“Ugh, I’m getting tired now.”
Riana placed the peony down and plopped herself onto the ground.
She leaned against the hard wall, which, thanks to her exhaustion, felt just as comfy as a fluffy latex pillow.
The sun was still high in the sky, but she started to feel sleepy. It was so bright, she could see it through her closed eyes—wait. The light disappeared.
Riana slowly opened one eye.
“…Allen?”
A man was standing in front of her, blocking the sun.
Allen. The Duke’s magic-user, whom she had been introduced to that morning.
But right now, he looked very different in Riana’s eyes.
‘Oh right, he was the second male lead in the original story.’
Deborah’s childhood friend. The one who quietly loved her while she was torn between the prince and the duke.
“Oh, sorry! Allen.”
His eyes squinted sleepily, so she quickly corrected her tone.
“I just wasn’t fully awake yet.”
She waved it off with a sheepish smile, then looked around him quickly.
If the Duke’s human “magic charm” was here, then the Duke must be nearby.
“The Duke is in his office at Genevieve Hall,” Allen said, seeming to read her thoughts.
“Busy.”
His short replies brought back memories of the webtoon.
He was a quiet, stoic guy who only had eyes for Deborah. A lot of readers liked him for that.
“Shouldn’t you be with him? I thought you were a… magic-user?”
Honestly, Riana didn’t really remember the world-building or fantasy terms like “mana disorder” or “mage.”
All she really remembered was that the male lead was handsome and the female lead was pretty.
‘Ugh, if only I’d read the text and not just looked at the art!’
Maybe then she wouldn’t have mistaken the fake Diana for the real one.
Allen held out his wrist toward her.
“Here. Connected.”
“Connected?”
“Body link, through mana. It’s fine.”
Ah, that explained it. In the webtoon, the CEO male lead and the second lead never stuck together much.
So Allen wasn’t like a Wi-Fi device that needed to stay nearby—he was more like a long-distance wired connection.
Riana nodded, proud of her makeshift understanding.
“So you don’t really have anything to do during the day?”
As Riana rolled her eyes in boredom, Allen silently pulled a booklet out of his coat.
“That spot. Good for reading.”
“Oh.”
Riana looked down at the spot she had been sitting on. The grass was flattened—no wonder it had looked so comfortable. It had been Allen’s reading spot.
She quickly stood up and brushed off her skirt.
“Sorry! I didn’t know.”
But Allen shook his head.
“First come, first served.”
He gestured for her to sit again, but Riana couldn’t.
Her already-big eyes widened, and her pink pupils started shaking.
“That book…”
“Trending now.”
She stared at the curled-up paper booklet in his hand. The large letters on it were clear:
That wasn’t supposed to exist in this world. She had made up the name for her fake job agency.
‘Wait… it became real?!’
Riana was stunned.
She gave Allen back the spot and headed toward the east side of the estate.
‘Something’s not right.’
She needed to look into the ForceB Info Digest.
She didn’t have the time or means to investigate it herself, so she decided she’d ask the cat for help.
‘The Duke will be entering isolation soon, and the cat always visits the Isolation Tower then, so I can talk to it there.’
To get from here to the Isolation Tower, she had to pass through Genevieve Hall.
Riana walked cautiously, hoping not to bump into Deborah.
But Deborah wasn’t the only person she needed to be careful of.
“Huh?”
“What is it?”
“It’s that girl—that maid.”
All the nearby mages stopped what they were doing and glared at her.
“She’s the maid from the Isolation Tower, right? What nerve…”
“I’m not a huge fan of Deborah either, but watching a maid mock her like that? It was disgusting.”
Apparently, Riana’s identity and job had spread among the mages. Some even started shouting at her.
“You should be ashamed!”
Riana had to walk faster to get away from them.
‘What the heck is this?!’
At this rate, she wouldn’t even last two months.
Deborah, being a noble and the heroine, could live however she wanted no matter what others thought.
But Riana, a commoner from an orphanage, couldn’t afford to take those risks.
Even if this was a story world, it was still a class-based society. And things could turn dangerous whether it followed the original or not.
She looked up at the clock tower. There was still time before the Duke’s isolation started.
“Let’s fix this mess first.”
She turned around.
Repairing her relationship with Deborah was the top priority.
“Blueberry pie?”
“Yes!”
Riana clasped her hands and sparkled her eyes as much as she could. But the chef just replied bluntly.
“Busy!”
Mrs. Baker, the chef in charge of the maids’ meals, was right in the middle of preparing dinner.
Clearly, asking her to bake a pie now was impossible.
Riana pulled a gold coin out of her pocket.
“Could you just give me the recipe, ingredients, and a place to cook?”
Mrs. Baker squinted at her, then snatched the coin and handed over the recipe and ingredients without protest.
“Hmph.”
She even packed everything nicely and handed it to Riana.
“But why blueberry pie?”
“I need to give it to someone.”
Riana just winked instead of explaining. She wasn’t about to treat the chef like Bastian and explain every little thing.
“Not so hard, right?”
“Yes! It’s my first time baking, but I think I can do it!”
Thanks to the magic-enhanced cooking tools, she finished quickly.
It actually looked pretty decent. Riana finally felt like she might be able to make up for the misunderstanding with Deborah.
‘Deborah misses her late mother’s blueberry pie.’
She’d offer this pie as an apology and clear things up.
It was the perfect plan—something only someone who knew the story could think of.
With the blueberry pie neatly wrapped in a basket, Riana arrived in front of Genevieve Hall.
‘Around this time, the mages finish work and head back to their homes…’
If she could just catch Deborah, she was willing to endure all the dirty looks from others and wait here.
Luckily, not long after, Deborah came out of the building.
“Miss Deborah!”
Riana didn’t know the proper way to address nobles, but she tried her best to greet her politely.
Deborah looked surprised at first, then suddenly clapped her hands.
“Oh! You’re that… uh…”
Her reaction made Riana feel sad.
‘Yep. She definitely remembers me—and not in a good way.’
She couldn’t let that be her lasting image, so she started blurting out her explanation.
“I really didn’t know about the flower allergy! I had no intention of hurting you. The terrace incident was just a coincidence. I didn’t even join in the conversation—just sat there.”
She couldn’t stop rambling, afraid this might be her only chance.
“I won’t deny that I was there when they said awful things about you. I admit it was wrong to sit by and say nothing. I’m truly sorry.”
It wasn’t a fake apology. It was sincere—her face burned with embarrassment.
Deborah just stared at her quietly.
Under that calm gaze, Riana kept talking until her face turned red.
“I know it makes sense for you to dislike me, and I don’t expect you to forgive me. I just wanted to make up for hurting your feelings.”
The early autumn sunset helped hide her blushing face.
Deborah’s expression softened. Even her gaze toward the basket didn’t look hostile.
“Oh… you’re not allergic to blueberries, are you?”
“No, I’m not…”
“What about almonds?”
Even though Riana already knew Deborah liked blueberry pie, she asked anyway to seem thoughtful.
At that, Deborah realized what was in the basket and gasped.
“Is that a blueberry pie?”
“Yes! I really like them, but… I don’t know if you’ll feel the same.”
Riana said casually, pretending not to know. As she walked toward the terrace, Deborah quietly followed.
Things were going well.
