Chapter 21
My clever little scheme made the light blue eyes curve into a sly grin.
“I really like you, sister.”
I see. That’s possible.
“Then let’s go to sleep now.”
“Yeah! We’re sleeping together with Riri tonight, right?”
“I want to, but I think it’ll be hard tonight.”
“Huh? Why?!”
Davina’s face, which had been full of expectation, turned serious in an instant. I glanced at the black lump occupying my bed.
I couldn’t have Davina here when I didn’t know when that thing would turn back into a person. Now, how to make up an excuse…
“Headache, muscle pain, period cramps. I’m not feeling well.”
“Oh, uh… then it can’t be helped.”
“Sorry, Davina. Let’s sleep together next time.”
“Hmm…”
Davina drooped her shoulders and trudged out of the room.
I checked that the cat lying there had shifted position slightly, then poked it with my finger.
It slid away smoothly without resistance, so it seemed to be asleep now.
“Hmph. I’ll just sleep. I’m dead tired.”
As soon as my head touched the pillow, I passed out. It was the aftereffect of staying up all night yesterday.
When I woke again, it was deep in the night—so quiet that even the birds were silent. My face felt ticklish, making it impossible to sleep.
It was like someone was rubbing foxtail grass all over my face, until I finally sneezed. I rubbed my face with the back of my hand and opened my eyes.
“…Oh my.”
Black hair swayed right in front of my nose. A round back of the head was lying straight on my pillow beside me.
Rubbing my eyes, I sat up abruptly. But as I reached out to touch the hair, the boy had already turned into a cat.
“Did I see wrong?”
With a long sigh, I calmly petted the cat’s back. As I endlessly stroked its soft fur, sleep washed over me again like a wave.
When I opened my eyes again, the bright morning sun was shining in. I woke up feeling short of breath—someone was pressing on my diaphragm.
Unfortunately, or perhaps luckily, the culprit was Davina.
“Oh dear.”
When did she get in here again?
My little sister was fast asleep, hugging my waist tightly. When I gently pushed away her silver hair, a string of yellow snot dangled down.
…Gross.
I gritted my teeth and wiped the snot off on the bedsheet. Thanks to this snot attack, I was wide awake now. I was so “grateful” I could cry.
Like an office worker on a weekday morning, I sluggishly crawled out of bed and finished getting ready in a half-dazed state.
“Good morning, Milady.”
Unlike me, who was dead tired, the AI butler entered with a neat expression and a fresh greeting. His arms were full of documents and envelopes.
I dragged my weary feet to change clothes and headed to the small sitting room attached to my bedroom. My small, precious sitting room—originally for tea time—had now naturally become a study.
“Milady, shall we begin with the letter from the First Princess today?”
“The First Princess would be Roxanne Eldrian. Eleven years old this year. Same age as Jeremiah, right?”
“Correct. Well remembered.”
The simple praise from Mihail made the corners of my lips twitch upward. Effort should always be rewarded with praise.
Humming, I opened the First Princess’s letter. Elegant handwriting like a picture caught my eye—just looking at it was pleasing.
The content, however, was predictable: half flowery phrases about the weather, flowers, and the people; half expressing happiness that I’d recovered my health.
The real point was only in the very last line:
“Before the roses in full bloom fade away, I wish to strengthen our friendship. My companions also look forward to meeting the eldest daughter of Vallienor.”
“Just look at this sentence. She’s not eleven, she’s actually twenty-one, isn’t she? Are all royals like this?”
“All adult royals and nobles write their letters by hand. But since the princess is still young, I believe she uses a scribe.”
“Mhm, so that’s why the handwriting is so pretty.”
“Milady’s handwriting is more beautiful.”
My hand paused for a moment at Mihail’s unexpected compliment.
The simple, matter-of-fact tone carried real sincerity.
“Hmph. True, my handwriting is rather beautiful.”
“It resembles the handwriting of the late Madam.”
From memory, Ariel had learned to write from her mother. After giving birth to Davina, her mother’s health worsened rapidly, and writing together was one of their few shared activities.
Even after her mother passed away, Ariel often copied her mother’s letters, until their handwriting became almost indistinguishable.
It felt strange.
She was Ariel’s mother, but it felt like I was reminiscing about my own.
Trying to shake off the sinking feeling, I quickly changed the subject.
“Oh, right. Mihail, could you kidnap Jeremiah around lunchtime?”
“…Pardon?”
The “malfunctioning” AI rolled his crimson eyes, trying to guess my intentions. I was so pleased at catching him off guard that I happily revealed my plan.
“I’m going on a picnic with my siblings.”
His gaze rolled the other way.
“Yes, I understand.”
“What exactly did you understand?”
“That the most efficient way to get Young Master Jeremiah to attend the picnic, without Lord Pavel’s interference, is to abduct him.”
“Exactly.”
As expected, Mihail caught on instantly. I must never doubt the AI’s abilities again.
“Where should I bring him?”
“You know the rose garden on the way toward the oak tree path? We can enjoy the flowers there.”
“An excellent idea.”
“Ugh, the roses are unnecessarily in full bloom. Thanks to that, it seems I’ll have to meet Princess Roxanne.”
I pressed my fingertips to my head while rereading the letter, trying to remember what Roxanne was like in the original story.
…I didn’t know much.
Half-sister of the male lead, Richard. Youngest daughter of the beloved First Empress. The Empire’s number one bride candidate.
Only the usual titles came to mind. I thought she might have died unfairly in Richard’s rebellion, but I wasn’t even sure of that.
Meeting someone with no prior information already felt burdensome…
“Mihail, do you have any good ideas?”
“Broadly speaking, there are two ways—visit the Imperial Palace, or invite her to Vallienor.”
“I don’t like either.”
“Then inviting her would be better.”
“Why?”
“Because your chances of winning are higher that way.”
…Ah, so this was a challenge letter disguised as a pretty note. I was the only one who didn’t realize.
“Ugh, so tiring. Is it some kind of law that those born in Vallienor must be at odds with the Imperial Family?”
Mihail’s eyes went round at my question. I could almost hear the phantom whisper: “What nonsense is she saying? Fascinating.”
“Shall I arrange ideological education for you…?”
Sure enough, his worried mutter tickled my ears like a spring breeze. “Ideological education” was such a dreadful choice of words.
“Milady, Vallienor and the Imperial Family are in an eternal relationship of opposition and coexistence. Eldrian is light, Vallienor is darkness. It’s an unchanging law from the founding myth itself.”
…Author, your setting is trash.
It seemed fine when I was just reading, but now that I was living it, it was awful.
I looked at Mihail, who was reciting such chuunibyou-sounding lines with a serious face, with pity.
It felt like I should rescue him from a cult rather than be “educated” myself.
“Fine, fine. Would a tea party be enough for the meeting with the princess? I can select about five young ladies who haven’t debuted yet and send out invitations.”
“A fine idea. Shall we pick the candidates together?”
I opened the noble directory that made my eyes hurt just looking at it, then immediately shut it.
Only five guests, and I was already tired. To be a proper hostess, I still had a long, long way to go.
“If we choose from ducal and high marquis families, girls aged nine to fourteen, we should get about five.”
“A wise choice. Invite the princess, two young ladies from ducal families, and the daughters of the Marquis of Clydeon and the Marquis of Mardelloa for proper balance.”
“Mardelloa…?”
Sansa Mardelloa. The female lead of the original story.
Hearing the familiar name made my skin crawl. The female lead was appearing—reminding me again that I was a stranger dropped into a novel.
“Is something wrong?”
Plenty. She’s the female lead, and my younger brother is the villain who imprisoned her.
Should I try to keep them apart?
No. The original events are nine years away. It’ll be impossible to keep Jeremiah and the heroine separated for that long.
Any problem that could happen at a small tea party could happen anywhere.
“No problem. Go ahead.”
The image of a woman with golden hair and blue eyes lingered in my mind. If the descriptions in the novel were true, Sansa would be more beautiful and intelligent than anyone.
The precious youngest daughter of the distinguished Mardelloa family. The future beloved empress.
“…Lucky her.”
Even though I hadn’t met her, I couldn’t help but feel envious.
In a dark room where sunlight was blocked by heavy curtains, a pair of red eyes sharply scanned the surroundings.
The intruder moved without a sound, striding quickly toward their target. Soon, their gaze met the emerald eyes of the target.
“Young Master, pardon my intrusion.”
