Chapter 43
Eventually, the closet door opened, and under the bright moonlight, a pair of large turquoise eyes looked at me.
“…Come here, Lizette.”
Eloise opened her arms as if asking for a hug.
The winter air was so cold that it stung my nose, so I nestled into her embrace.
Her cool warmth wrapped around me gently.
She used her shawl to carefully cover my small body.
I couldn’t bring myself to look up at her face and spoke with a trembling voice.
“Are you really… okay?”
“Yes.”
“But you look so strange—not human, not even catlike.”
“Yes. But I’m still Lizette.”
My eyes stung.
It was a steady, unconditional affection—something even my parents from my previous life had never given me.
Eloise held my hand and led me to the bed.
As we lay down side by side, her awkward hand patted my shoulder, and my eyes slowly closed.
I had a dream.
“Mom doesn’t care if you’re not a genius, sweetie. As long as you get into Korea University.”
It was the scene from my past life—the day I held my mom’s hand and took the gifted child test.
I remember trembling with nervousness, maybe from excitement, or maybe because I was afraid I wouldn’t live up to her expectations.
When the results came out saying I wasn’t gifted, her disappointed face turned toward me.
That was when I woke up.
“What a crappy dream…”
As long as I got into the top university in Korea, huh?
Was that really something you should say to your five-year-old daughter before a gifted test?
Even though she’d said it was fine if I wasn’t gifted, my mom gradually turned all her attention to my gifted little brother.
And I was left forgotten.
Feeling a gaze on me, I turned my head. Eloise was staring at me.
“…Are you hurt anywhere?”
Even after the sun had risen, she hadn’t gotten out of bed and just quietly watched me.
Her turquoise eyes weren’t sharp, but my heart pounded from a vague worry.
Just to be sure, I raised my hand—and saw a white, fluffy paw.
I sighed in relief and barely managed to answer her question.
“Mm-hmm.”
She gently stroked my fur.
“Was that why you hid it last time too?”
“Yes. It’s a weird form.”
“It wasn’t weird. It was cute.”
“Liar.”
“Lizette, you don’t believe me?”
Her voice carried a hint of hurt, and I immediately sat up, flustered.
Eloise was different from my mom in that dream, but because of it, I had doubted her sincerity for a moment.
“No! I believe you!”
“Then, don’t run away or hide anymore, okay?”
Her ever-gentle tone soothed me.
As she hugged and patted me, the vivid nightmare faded like mist.
Eloise left for her crown princess lessons, and I launched into action.
Now that I’d realized how different reality was from the original story, I needed information.
Servants were always the best source of gossip about nobles.
Even back at the duke’s mansion, the maids’ chatter had been useful—so it should be the same here.
First, I had to listen to the maids of the Empress’s Palace.
Squeezing through the door Sophie had left ajar, I peeked out to see the maids cleaning the hall while chatting.
I slipped down the stairs and hid behind a large ornament to listen.
“The young lady isn’t as scary as the rumors said, right? I was so worried at first.”
“I never believed those rumors. She’s not picky or arrogant. Honestly, she’s way better than that woman.”
“Oh, Marianne.”
The maid frowned as she kept scrubbing.
Come on, keep talking!
“Yeah, that great Marianne. Seeing her flirt with Her Majesty when she’s not even an official lover… Ugh. She was a commoner, and now she struts around like she’s some noble.”
“Well, that’s because Her Majesty is too kind.”
“That’s why His Highness the Crown Prince—”
“Enough gossiping!”
The head maid’s scolding made them all shut their mouths.
I couldn’t catch the rest—apparently, that was all she had to say.
Tch. I wanted to know what the Crown Prince had done.
Then somehow, the head maid spotted me hiding under the stairs.
“Lady Lizette, what are you doing here?”
“Hide-and-seek…? How did you know I was hiding?”
The maids flinched at my voice and froze in place.
“I saw your shadow. Especially your tail.”
“Tch.”
I made a motion with my paw like zipping my lips shut, and the maids all sighed in relief.
“If you’re bored, how about a little walk?”
“Is there somewhere nice to go?”
After thinking for a moment, the head maid replied,
“It’s chilly out, so I’d recommend somewhere warm.”
“Other than the greenhouse?”
“There’s a lake between the Empress’s Palace and the Crown Prince’s Palace. Thanks to the magic stones planted around it, it doesn’t freeze even in winter—it’s quite a sight.”
“Oh! That sounds great! Thanks!”
The moment she described it, I knew exactly where she meant.
It was the place where the heroine and male lead often “trained” together—and fell in love.
“Just go right from the Empress’s Palace and follow the path straight ahead.”
“Got it. If Eloise comes looking for me, tell her I’m there!”
“I will, my lady.”
The head maid kindly gave me directions and even opened the door for me.
Unlike Sophie, she’d always seemed strict and scary—but she turned out to be quite nice.
Outside, the winter air bit sharply at my fur.
‘It was freezing and snowing back then too…’
It reminded me of the northern mountains, where it even snowed in summer.
I must’ve possessed this body sometime in summer—time sure flew by fast.
“Brr, it’s cold!”
Before my precious white fur froze solid, I started running along the path the head maid had described.
Maybe today, too, the Crown Prince and Marianne were training there.
‘But… could the head maid really not know that?’
That sudden thought made me stop.
Then, nearby, I heard voices talking.
I crouched low and hid among the fallen leaves.
“So, who are you betting on? The future Crown Princess?”
“Of course, Lady Monclair.”
“Then I’ll bet three months’ wages on Ronsbleu.”
Two young men—probably knights—were making some ridiculous wager.
They were watching the Crown Prince and Marianne, who were training some distance away.
“No matter how much His Highness favors her, she’s no match for Monclair.”
“Didn’t the lady just get declared unfit for awakening after her engagement?”
“Even so, she’s Monclair.”
“But doesn’t it seem odd? That Monclair choosing His Highness the Crown Prince? Especially since she used to be Prince Marcel’s playmate.”
“Yeah, that is strange.”
Thinking about it again, it was strange.
Even I, who knew the original story, had assumed the engagement was forced by imperial authority.
But the Monclair family had never seemed afraid of the Emperor or the Crown Prince.
“People are saying lately that the Monclairs knew she wouldn’t awaken even before the test.”
“Wouldn’t that be a deception against the Imperial Family?”
“You really don’t know how the world works, do you? That’s why I’m betting on Lady Monclair. Tsk.”
“What are you talking about?”
Now this was an interesting rumor.
Gossip was always the juiciest part.
Some of it was surely false, but truth and lies often blended perfectly together.
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
The knight looked around, then lowered his voice even more.
“It’s not deception. His Majesty just needs Monclair.”
“Ha! You look down on me just because I’m from the provinces? Isn’t His Majesty just trying to give His Highness more backing?”
“You only know half the story. If that were true, Lady Monclair would’ve been the Crown Prince’s playmate from the start.”
The more I listened, the more confusing it got.
If only they could just summarize it properly—it’d be easier to understand.
“I don’t get what you’re saying.”
My thoughts exactly.
I nodded in agreement with the shaggy-haired knight.
“To put it simply, imperial authority is weakening. It’s been ten years since the chieftain of the Wolf Beast Tribe left the capital. The truce still holds, but if the Beast Kingdom applies pressure, how long do you think the Empire’s army can last alone? That’s why they need Monclair—the family of grand magi. Just having them side with the Imperial Family stabilizes public confidence.”
Now I finally understood.
It was the same thing briefly mentioned in the original story—
the political agreement of four powers that led to the engagement between the Crown Prince and Eloise.
