USML 12

Chapter 12

I woke up only after everyone else had fallen asleep for the night.

“So it’s already night.”

I couldn’t clearly remember how I had returned to the capital.

After making up my mind to go back, I had rushed there in a daze. The only thing I distinctly remembered was that I kept biting my nails nonstop, and Dona had grabbed my hands several times to pull them away.

“Has the fever gone down?”

I placed my palm on my forehead to feel my temperature. Thankfully, it seemed the fever had subsided. With a groan, I pushed myself up in bed, and every inch of my body cried out for mercy.

“What am I going to do now?”

This was no longer the original story I had known. I should never have met Evan. Evan was a man who could potentially kill me—and he was also Sherry’s man.

When I became Vanessa, I thought they were nothing more than fictional characters, not real people. I believed it didn’t matter if I lived only for myself, that this was merely an imaginary world without true personality or selfhood.

But one day, it suddenly dawned on me. They breathed, spoke, and laughed just like I did—they were people, the same as me. The moment I realized that, guilt pressed down on the back of my head, and I couldn’t lift my face.

So I resolved not to desire anything. I thought I should be satisfied simply with having been given another chance at life.

“That’s why I left for Sent….”

And yet now, in a single moment, I had become someone who stole Vanessa’s body—and even snatched away Sherry’s man.

Maybe that was why, even as my body burned like a furnace and I groaned in pain, my mind was busy blaming Evan.

Why didn’t you tell me the truth, Evan? If you had, my plans wouldn’t have fallen apart.

But before long, I came to understand him. If the royal palace found out that someone who was supposed to be in the Kingdom of Nwart had left his post, it would obviously cause trouble. So he must have had no choice but to conceal his identity.

I had deceived him as well, so I had nothing to say in my defense.

“I have to give it back.”

I had to return everything. I couldn’t steal both the body of the woman Sherry loved as her younger sister and her lover as well.

“Should I run away?”

Lying on the bed, I buried my face in the pillow.

Now that I had returned to the capital, it was no longer possible to cut ties with my family—or to avoid running into Evan.

“No. I can’t run away.”

I rubbed my face against the pillowcase. After ten years of seclusion, I had little real-world experience, weak survival skills, and not much money. No matter where I went, I wouldn’t be able to live comfortably.

“Let’s find another way. Another way.”

At that moment, a flash of inspiration struck me.

“Flirtatious Vanessa.”

I opened my eyes wide and lifted my face. If I had to restore their relationship, then all I needed to do was return the situation to the original storyline.

If Evan came looking for me, he would learn that I was a flirt. After discovering my true nature and being deeply hurt, he would, just like in the original story, meet Sherry at a banquet, be comforted by her, and fall in love.

If I left without interfering in their relationship, I wouldn’t be killed. And since I was Sherry’s sister, I wouldn’t be directly threatened either. People might criticize my character, but as long as it didn’t turn into physical pressure, it was something I could endure.

Even if some displeased noble put my life in danger, I could simply leave as soon as things settled.

“I can do this.”

I buried my face deeply into the pillow.

“I can do this.”

Ero’s smiling face surfaced in my mind.

Basil.

Before long, his smile slowly faded away. A faint laugh slipped from my lips. How ridiculous.

“When you proposed, I felt so lost and overwhelmed… to think my heart would settle like this.”

Perhaps the love I felt for him was only that much, after all. Clutching the pillowcase, I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Evan.”

It was time to put an end to my secluded life. I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when, a little later, the fairy woke up.

“What the—why is the pillowcase soaked in the shape of your eyes, nose, and mouth?”

“Sniff… you don’t need to know.”

Avoiding the fairy’s gaze, I rubbed my reddened nose.

You want to go to the opera with me?

To be precise, it’s a social gathering.

My goodness, Vanessa wants to go to the opera with me….

A social gathering.

Vanessa wants to see me….

How did the sentence turn into that?

On the day I suggested going out with Sherry, she made a huge fuss, insisting that day should become her birthday. The count and Dave didn’t say much, but they watched Sherry with uneasy expressions.

Were they worried I might bully her? That was excessive—really excessive. Sherry was an adult too; what was there to worry about? I secretly shook my head at them.

And just like that, a year passed.

During that time, I attended various social events—riding clubs, hunting gatherings, theater groups—showing my face here and there. Perhaps thanks to my looks, natural encounters soon followed.

I thought it wouldn’t be bad to meet someone decent and fall in love… but unfortunately, after meeting Evan—the most handsome man in the empire—it seemed my eyes would only be satisfied if I summoned the god of beauty himself.

Before any relationship could turn into something official, problems always arose.

A muscular royal knight, the second son of a count’s family:

“Do you even have feelings for me?”

A rather handsome but sharp-tongued third son of a viscount’s family:

“How could you do this?!”

Even a palace official of commoner origin:

“This is too cruel!”

They accused me of exhausting them, mistaking me for a cheater, doubting my sincerity, becoming obsessed, and seething with jealousy.

Among them, the viscount’s third son latched onto the name “Ero,” which I had accidentally let slip. In front of everyone, he pointed at me and shouted, “Flirt!” Thanks to that, I became infamous among everyone who mattered.

The most unfair part was that he had cheated first. Who was he calling a flirt?

And thus, I earned the nickname: “Flirtatious Vanessa.”

Today was no different. I had merely attended a riding gathering—so what in the world was going on?

“Get away from her!”

“You get away!”

I let out a hollow laugh at the dogfight unfolding before my eyes. Two men had spoken to me at the same time, so I’d simply answered them both. By the time I came to my senses, this was the result.

Two knights I didn’t even recognize were grabbing each other by the hair, rolling over one another on the ground as they fought. They should have just drawn their swords—this was downright undignified.

Sensing the attention gathering around us, I shaded my face with my hand and cautiously approached them.

“Let’s just let go first—”

“Stay out of it!”

Excuse me? I’m the cause of this fight. When I tapped the shoulder of the knight on top, the one pinned beneath shouted.

As the two continued to wrestle back and forth, I had to step back to avoid them.

“Um, maybe stop fighting and calmly talk it out—”

“You step back!”

Fine. This time it was the knight on top who yelled. The murmuring grew as more eyes turned our way.

“Isn’t that Lady Vanessa?”

Like a criminal, I ducked my head and slowly backed away, then quickly mounted the horse waiting nearby. As I settled into the saddle and pulled the reins, the horse whinnied and bolted forward.

“Lady Vanessa!” I heard men calling after me, but I deliberately ignored them.

“This is driving me crazy.”

What drove me even crazier was that despite going through all this turmoil and becoming known as a flirt, Evan had proposed—to me, not to Sherry.

Had Evan perhaps not heard the rumors that I was a flirt? Was that why he proposed? But then how did he find me so quickly?

“What do you think, my lady?”

Did he know me from the beginning? No—that couldn’t be it. It couldn’t.

“My lady?”

The other person asked a question, but I was lost in thought and didn’t hear it. Only after some time passed did I look up at Lady Yuria with a startled expression.

“I’m sorry, Lady Yuria.”

Yuria placed a hand on the back of my hand and gave it a gentle pat. Fortunately, she didn’t seem offended.

“It’s all right.”

Reassured by her calm voice, I nodded.

The social gathering I attended after the riding event was a reading club hosted by Sherry—without Sherry herself.

Lady Yuria of the Count of Siretium’s family was Sherry’s childhood friend and Dave’s fiancée. With her bright orange hair and eyes, she was an elegant and intelligent woman, widely trusted by everyone.

After returning from Sent, I learned of Yuria’s existence rather late, and I couldn’t help being surprised to discover that she was engaged to Dave. That stiff, inflexible man, in a romantic engagement?

Yuria asked with a worried expression.

“Are you really all right?”

“What a waste. Such a waste.”

“Pardon?”

“Such a waste.”

Yuria was far too good for Dave, that sister-obsessed man. Seeing how worried she looked at my muttering, she furrowed her brow.

“Lady Vanessa, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Are you really all right?”

Following Yuria’s words, the other young ladies at the gathering began to check my complexion one by one.

“I’m fine.”

I forced an awkward smile to settle the situation when a lively voice rang out diagonally.

“Then please answer!”

Juliana leaned forward with a bright smile. She was Yuria’s cousin, a fourteen-year-old girl, and the young ladies gazed at her affectionately.

“We were talking about who Duke Dustin proposed to! Everyone’s talking about it!”

“Really?”

“Yes! They say he even turned down the offer to become captain of the royal knights! Who do you think it might be, unni?”

Juliana’s eyes sparkled with anticipation. Evan had openly submitted his letter of proposal to the royal palace, and the rumor, witnessed by officials, had spread all the way to social gatherings.

Ah, of course. I should never have come once I realized Sherry wasn’t at the gathering. I should have skipped the riding club and the reading group alike and rested, using a cold as an excuse. Pushing aside the wave of regret, I answered.