* * *

I bit my lower lip at the unpleasant sensation on the back of my hand. I knew it was just a customary greeting in this world, but as a man, it wasn’t exactly a comfortable situation for me.

‘Carlisle Abeloss, huh? It seems he changed his surname to hide his connection to the royal family. But… does he not recognize me? That would be a relief.’

The Abeloss family was one of the founding families of the Kaisar Empire. While the Efilia family symbolized the empire’s wealth, the Abeloss family represented its military strength.

The meeting of these two noble houses drew the attention of the surrounding aristocrats, who even stopped their conversations to watch us.

They looked like they were dying to see what kind of blunder the infamous troublesome lady would make.

“Jeanne, you need to respond.”

When I didn’t say anything, Cedrick nudged me.

In the original story, Jeanne would have been flustered by Carlisle’s striking appearance and made a series of blunders.

In reality, the incident where I fell while chasing after Carlisle became a long-lasting joke among the nobles.

With a faint smile lingering on my lips, I spoke up.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I got lost in thought for a moment… It’s nice to meet you, Lord Carlisle. I’m Jeanne van Efilia, the daughter of the Duke of Efilia.”

My reaction, devoid of any malice, caused the young noblemen around me to blush.

At the same time, the smile that had been lingering on Carlisle’s face disappeared.

It was inevitable.

The contrast between Jeanne, who had charged at the heretics with an arrow in hand, and the polite Jeanne now must have been stark.

I quietly mocked Carlisle in my mind.

‘You think you’re the only one with a dark heart, huh? I even managed to win over the prickly Duke Carlotte. Don’t expect any kind of protagonist buff from me.’

In the original story, Carlisle used Jeanne to bring down the House of Efilia, following Luke’s advice. Jeanne, who had been naively chasing after the man who would destroy her family, could be seen as innocent in a way.

I asked Carlisle, who had frozen like a statue, with a puzzled expression.

“Oh, by the way, did you come here alone, Lord Carlisle?”

“Haha… Of course not. I came with a close friend.”

“I see. Then you’d better hurry back to him. I’m sure he’s waiting. Oh, and I’ll be hosting a banquet at my estate soon, so please make sure to attend.”

That close friend is probably Luke. Come to think of it, Luke might be experiencing that event where Mia bullies him right about now. He should hurry up and either rescue or comfort him.

Carlisle nodded obediently. It seemed he finally understood my subtle hint to leave.

“I’ll be sure to visit. It was a pleasure to see you again, Lady Jeanne.”

I quietly glared at Carlisle as he turned and walked away. Cedrick narrowed his eyes.

“See you again? Have you two met before?”

“…He must have mistaken me for someone else. By the way, why did you introduce me? Are you two close?”

“Well, that guy specifically asked me to introduce you to him.”

I gritted my teeth anxiously.

The reason was obvious—he planned to use Jeanne to bring down the House of Efilia, just as he had in the original story.

I sighed and rubbed my forehead.

‘If it ends with just an engagement, that would be fortunate. If it goes as far as marriage, that will be the end for Jeanne. The imperial family will do everything they can to produce an heir, which means they’ll have to share a bed.’

I forced myself to shake off the complicated thoughts.

Although I was flustered by the sudden reunion with Carlisle, finding the Archbishop Revulin before Luke was now my top priority.

I slipped over to Cedrick, who was talking to another noble, and whispered.

“Cedrick, I’m going to step out to the terrace for a bit of fresh air.”

Cedrick nodded indifferently, while the young nobleman he was speaking with urgently grabbed my arm.

“Lady Jeanne, if you have time later, may I have the honor of a dance…?”

I sharply turned my body away, pretending not to hear. Why is everyone so desperate to dance with me?

Perhaps my friendly demeanor toward Carlisle had an effect, as I sensed a change in the nobles who had been mocking me earlier.

Watching the laughing and chatting nobles, I suddenly felt sentimental.

‘Those people are enjoying such trivial things because they don’t know the future. If only I didn’t know anything either…’

I quickly wiped away the lonely thoughts and steeled my expression.

‘What nonsense? If I didn’t know anything, I’d be dead the moment I got possessed. Stop wallowing in self-pity, Ji Eunsoo. Snap out of it.’

Resilience was one of my few strengths. I giggled and turned around a pillar, only to be silenced by a hand grabbing my arm.

I thought it might be an assassin and was about to scream when I heard a familiar voice.

“You’re good at hiding your true nature.”

“…”

“You con artist.”

Who’s calling who a con artist? You’re the one living while hiding the fact that you’re the First Prince.

Just as I have a public smile, Carlisle, now without his public smile, looked like a completely different person. I tilted my head slightly with a smirk.

“What does it matter to you what I’m hiding?”

“…You were smiling so sweetly at that marquis’ fool earlier. Why do you snap at me as if I owe you money every time we meet? I’m starting to feel hurt.”

“Well, if you’re hurt, then stop showing interest and just pass by. Isn’t that what you should do? Or are you going crazy because you can’t help but be interested? Enough to sneak off to try and meet in secret?”

Our gazes clashed sharply. I thought I was being provocative, but Carlisle simply smiled without a hint of anger. I stepped back cautiously.

“Yeah. I keep finding myself interested.”

Carlisle stepped closer as I retreated. Though he was smiling, his eyes were the same as when he cut down the heretics.

Carlisle, who had brushed back my hair, murmured in a low voice.

“I’m curious about what other secrets you might be hiding.”

At his words, a chill ran down my spine. My expression faltered, fearing he might have discovered I was actually a man.

Carlisle watched me tremble with my head down and continued.

“I’m joking. Actually, I called you to give you this necklace. You seem to cherish it since you wore it to a place like this, so I thought you’d be sad if you lost it.”

Carlisle casually handed me the necklace. It must have fallen off since it kept coming loose from the carriage. I snatched it up with trembling hands and spoke in a shaky voice.

“…Thank you. But I hope this is our last meeting.”

“So you do know how to say thank you. But this won’t be our last meeting.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Don’t you remember? The clock tower bell rang.”

The bell that only rings during Maya’s miracle. But since Jeanne wasn’t Maya’s saint, it was likely just a coincidence.

I sighed as I looked at Carlisle blankly.

‘Nobles are so needlessly romantic.’

As I hurriedly walked away, I heard his meaningful voice.

“A bad connection is still a connection.”

Among the many people who tormented Jeanne in the original story, Carlisle was undoubtedly the one I should never have met.

If I hadn’t met Carlisle, I wouldn’t have gotten deeply involved with the imperial family, been caught up in Luke’s schemes, falsely accused, or abandoned by Duke Carlotte.

‘Oh? Is that…’

I noticed a familiar face among the crowd leaving the hall. It was none other than the Archbishop Revulin.

‘Damn, I’ve missed the timing.’

If I lost him now, my efforts to get this far would be in vain. I hurriedly tried to follow Rebulin when someone called out to me from behind.

“Are you Lady Jeanne?”

I stopped in my tracks at the sound of my name. Turning my head, I saw a young girl with red hair. My eyes widened.

“You are…?”

Her beauty was like a work of art, leaving me momentarily spellbound.

With curly red hair and a well-trained demeanor, it was clear that the girl before me was the youngest princess, Layla. In the original story, I was a tragic character who died young from an unexplained illness.

The princess, who had been smiling gently, suddenly approached with her hands clasped behind her back.

“This is our first time meeting, isn’t it? I pestered Cedrick to introduce me to you so many times, but he kept hiding you and wouldn’t let me see you.”

The princess was incredibly mature for her age, probably due to her strict etiquette training. In contrast to the relaxed princess, my expression grew stiffer by the second.

Knowing the original story, this was not a welcome encounter for me.

‘Luke deliberately made Jeanne the princess’s lady-in-waiting. Because of that, there were rumors that the princess’s incurable illness was caused by Jeanne’s curse.’

The princess… was someone I honestly didn’t want to get close to. But since I was royalty, I had to at least offer a polite greeting, so I bowed my head.

“It is an honor to meet you, Princess. I am Jeanne van Efilia of the House of Efilia.”

“There’s no need for such formalities. After all, we’ll be family one day. But there’s something I’d like to ask you.”

The princess looked around before gesturing for me to lower my body.

I hesitantly bent down and met her gaze. With a solemn expression, the princess whispered.

“How much do you know about Cedrick?”

The unexpected cute question left me momentarily speechless. Just as I had been desperately searching for Archbishop Revulin, it seemed the princess had been equally determined to find me to ask about Cedrick. My mind began to race.

In the original story, Jeanne not only fell victim to the accusation of cursing the princess, but I was also accused of poisoning her teacup.

But if I could win the princess’s favor before Luke made his move, the story could change.

‘Let’s help the princess with her romantic troubles. Well, it seems Cedrick has someone else he likes… but I need to survive first.’

As soon as I made up my mind, I quickly put on a businesslike smile.

“Your Highness, there is no one in the empire who knows more about Cedrick than I do. What would you like to know?”

My proactive response made the princess smile with satisfaction.

“Good, I like how quick you are to understand. I’d like to invite you to my tea party.”

The princess’s tea party—it was an opportunity to meet some valuable connections. Hiding my dark intentions, I smiled brightly.

“It would be an honor. I’ll definitely attend.”

“Haha, good. Then I’ll be off.”

After bidding farewell to the princess, who coolly walked away, I glanced around. It seemed the ball was about to begin.

Having failed to deliver the pocket watch to Archbishop Revulin, there was no reason to stay here any longer.

I thought about returning home as I approached Twitty.

“Twitty, where’s Lily?”

“Huh? Some man said you were looking for her and took her away… didn’t you meet her?”

I narrowed my eyes and asked back.

“What are you talking about? I never…”

“Ahhh!”

A scream that could shatter eardrums filled the hall.

Before I could grasp the situation, I quickly pushed Twitty behind me. The nobles’ gazes were all fixed on one spot.

“L-Lady.”

The sight of Lily drenched in blood made my breath stop.

Lily, who had suddenly started coughing up blood, trembled as I cried.

“I’m sorry.”

Her eyes wavered with unease. I stared at her melting face in stunned disbelief. My heart pounded as the story deviated from the original.

‘No, you must not turn into a heretic.’

Lily looked at me with a sorrowful expression.

“I’m sorry…”

* * *