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Chapter 76
“Do you need something?”
“Has anyone gone into my lab? Something isn’t the way I left it.”
“Most likely a maid went in to empty the waste bin.”
“…A maid?”
No way—was it really Riana…?
Eight hours later.
In the cold dawn air, Deborah’s eyes fell on Riana.
We might both be victims of the same scandal, but that’s one thing. Being rivals in love is another.
Deborah was about to ask about the note she’d found when Riana’s voice hit her first.
“I have something to say. About Gray.”
“…Sir Gray?”
“Actually, I wanted to tell you earlier, when we ran into each other at Genevieve Castle, but I lost the timing…”
“It wasn’t a good situation in any case.”
Deborah’s cool reply made Riana bite her lip and lower her gaze.
She knew this wasn’t a great moment either. In truth, would there ever be a “good time” to talk with Deborah?
Still, if she wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, she had to try. She couldn’t afford to get executed by the prince.
Taking a deep breath, Riana confessed:
“The truth is, I once overheard a conversation between you and Gray.”
She quickly added, watching Deborah’s expression:
“I wasn’t alone. Prince Troy was with me too.”
It was the old trick: admit a wrongdoing, then mention an even worse person to make herself look less guilty.
“If it was with His Highness… then that must have been the day of the royal orphanage event.”
Deborah looked more surprised than angry.
“Yes, behind the Isolation Tower that day.”
Remembering, Deborah scratched the back of her neck.
“Ugh, how embarrassing.”
“I’m really sorry for eavesdropping. But there was a misunderstanding that day, and I wanted to clear it up.”
“What misunderstanding?”
“There’s nothing between Gray and me.”
“But Gray said—”
Riana cut in firmly:
“He used me as the excuse for why he couldn’t go on a date. But he never said I was his lover. You misunderstood.”
As Deborah hesitated, Riana let out a sigh and went on smoothly:
“It’s true he couldn’t date because of me. We had made a stupid bet, and that was his penalty. He was embarrassed, so he couldn’t explain it all in detail. He just brushed it off, and that led to the misunderstanding.”
That much was almost the truth—just lightly edited.
It would have been enough to clear things up. But Riana didn’t stop. She went further:
“All the times you saw us together, it was because we had the same goal. There’s an auction soon, and we’re rivals for the same item.”
Ignoring the twist of guilt in her stomach, she continued:
“So really, the idea of us being mistaken for lovers is ridiculous. We actually hate each other. Maybe we look fine in public, but when it’s just the two of us, we trade nothing but insults.”
This part was a heavier lie. In truth, they weren’t that hostile.
After all, I trusted him enough to give him an important role in my plan…
Maybe they’d even been friends, or on their way there. She had trusted him. She had known him before, in another way, too.
But not anymore.
For Riana, this world wasn’t about making friends. It was just a stopover on the way to the life she really wanted.
So if Gray got in her way, she could cut him off.
“He and I are just competitors. If one of us gets ahead, the other yanks him down by the collar.”
That was the image she wanted Deborah to believe. And now it would be the truth—because she decided she would treat him only as a rival from now on.
As for her “Love Potion Grand Project”? Gray’s failure wouldn’t stop her. She’d just switch to a different test subject.
“…So I misunderstood completely?” Deborah asked.
Riana nodded deeply. After thinking for a moment, Deborah asked quietly:
“Why tell me the truth at all? You could’ve just let me believe I’d been rejected.”
“Because I want you to know I don’t see you as an enemy. Just because a gossip sheet said we’re rivals doesn’t mean we have to act like we are.”
“If not rivals, then what should we be?”
Riana blinked—she hadn’t meant it that way. But suddenly Deborah’s cheeks flushed.
“…Maybe… friends?”
Riana’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
She had planned to slowly get closer, but she hadn’t expected the word friend to pop out so fast.
So this is how it feels when a webtoon heroine with a crush rushes ahead of the plot.
“…Would that be all right?” Riana asked carefully.
But Deborah narrowed her eyes and tested her:
“One thing first. Do the words ‘laboratory’ and ‘note’ mean anything to you?”
Riana shook her head quickly. Deborah’s expression relaxed.
“Then yes. I’d like to be friends with you, Miss Riana.”
Riana’s face bloomed like a flower.
The “test subject” had changed. As friends, she could feed Deborah the love potion directly.
Now she truly didn’t need Gray. Not in any way.
***
Meanwhile, at dawn in the knights’ barracks—
Gray couldn’t sleep.
The basket of heart-shaped palmiers sparkled under the sugar glaze, staring at him accusingly.
“Damn it. Damn it!”
He kicked the dresser hard. The old wood split open, and from the bottom drawer spilled the flyer for the Spes Island auction.
His jaw clenched. He grabbed it, ripped it into shreds, muttering the same curse again and again.
Paper scraps scattered everywhere: on the bed, under it, by the window, into the cracks in the floor.
But tearing it up didn’t erase it. The flyer still existed. The stupid promise tied to it still bound him.
“Gray!”
The deputy commander pounded on his door. “Some of us are trying to sleep!”
“…Haa.”
Gray flopped onto his bed, arm under his head. How was he supposed to sleep with his thoughts this chaotic?
His eyes went back to the basket.
Or rather—he felt like the hearts were looking at him.
“I know, damn it. I know.”
Know what? The little hearts seemed to whisper.
“Shut up.”
On impulse he grabbed one and snapped it in half. The pieces looked like teardrops. He liked the shape. He broke another.
Then another. Until there were no whole hearts left.
When he finished, he felt oddly satisfied and sprawled out across the bed.
“…”
But the relief didn’t last.
“…Shit.”
Breaking them didn’t make the feeling go away. The heavy weight inside him still stared back.
Even now, when he was miserable to the point of death—
“Riana…”
He wanted to see her.
***
The next morning, after the Postb scandal had swept through:
Far from dying down, it had only grown worse.
In his office, Killian slowly opened his eyes. Before him, Kim stood with hands folded respectfully.
At Killian’s signal, the report began.
“Just now, Duke Elcatre has withdrawn his promised investment. In the outer reception hall, a representative from Marquis Parvon is also waiting, saying they wish to pull out of the project—”
Before he could finish, the office door banged open.
“Your Grace! A message has just arrived from the royal family…!”
It was Butler Bastian, barging in with a loud voice. Both men fell silent at once.
“Out with it, Butler,” Killian said, giving him the floor.
Bastian straightened sharply.
“His Majesty asks—‘Is it true you are in a relationship with an improper young woman, as the rumors say? Have you forgotten the marriage pact made between our houses in the previous generation?’”
