Episode 2
The Duke of Langerston shook his head upon hearing the report that his daughter had been jumping on the bed and nearly fell to the floor.
“What on earth is she doing? She shouted about how being healthy is great?”
At that, the butler let out an awkward laugh.
“Yes. I have no idea what’s gotten into her all of a sudden. She’s never even had a minor illness…”
“She may be my daughter, but how would you know what even I don’t? Well, at least it’s a relief she seems to be in a better mood.”
The duke chuckled lightly, then suddenly turned back to the butler as something came to mind.
“Oh, right. Did she apologize to Ray?”
“No. She said she would never apologize, even if it killed her…”
At the butler’s words, a long sigh escaped the Duke of Langerston.
—
“Silvia Langerston! Will you apologize right now or not?!”
“No! He’s the one who did something wrong! I hate him. Why did he come to our house without permission?!”
“Silvia! No matter what, you must never throw things at people! What if he had gotten hurt?!”
“But he didn’t get hit! He dodged it! So I don’t want to apologize! I won’t!”
—
Was it a mistake to raise his daughter with such indulgence, as if she were too precious to even be touched?
He had thought she was a bit willful, but he hadn’t expected it to be this bad. Throwing wooden blocks at someone and, instead of reflecting, getting angry—this incident had deeply shocked the duke.
He had scolded her harshly, demanding she apologize immediately, but it seemed she still hadn’t gone to see Ray today.
“Um… Your Grace.”
“Speak.”
“Ray says he’s fine. It seems receiving an apology from the young lady would actually make him more uncomfortable.”
At the butler’s cautious words, the duke’s expression darkened. In his mind flashed the image of Ray—Lorelei’s nephew—who lived quietly in the annex with a timid expression.
“No. That won’t do. For Silvia’s manners, she must apologize. I can’t allow someone who is to become the Crown Princess to behave so arrogantly.”
The duke shook his head. This incident had made him determined to correct his daughter’s self-centered nature.
—
At dinner time.
The duke had already informed his wife beforehand. At his insistence that Silvia must apologize to Ray, the duchess had agreed.
Unaware of her parents’ resolve, Silvia entered the dining room singing a self-composed song titled *“My Healthy Body.”*
“I love myself so much. Why? Why? Because I’m healthy. Healthy, healthy, health is important. My body is healthy. Being healthy is cool. I’m cool. My body is cool.”
At moments like this, she was nothing but a child—still immature.
The duke’s expression nearly softened at the sight of his eccentric daughter, but the duchess lightly nudged his foot and shook her head.
Thanks to his wife, the duke barely maintained a stern expression and spoke in a low voice.
“Silvia. Sit here.”
But instead of being intimidated, Silvia cheerfully raised her hand.
“Yes! Healthy Silvia will sit down now!”
As the butler had said, she seemed quite impressed by the idea of being healthy. Though he couldn’t understand why she was suddenly obsessed with it, that wasn’t the important issue.
The duke cleared his throat and got straight to the point.
“I hear you didn’t apologize to Ray again today.”
“That’s right! I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“You didn’t do anything wrong? You threw a block at him. If it had hit him, he could have been seriously hurt. And you still say you did nothing wrong?”
“But it didn’t hit him! He wasn’t hurt, so why should I apologize?”
It was the same argument as before. The duke shook his head in disapproval.
“Silvia! How many times must I tell you to behave properly as a future Crown Princess?!”
“But Father, if I become Crown Princess, I won’t need to apologize to anyone, right?”
Silvia blinked innocently as she argued point by point. Seeing no trace of remorse in his daughter, the duke was momentarily speechless.
The duchess spoke in his place.
“Silvia. It’s true you’ve been designated as a future Crown Princess, but that’s only provisional. If you behave recklessly, His Highness the Crown Prince may come to dislike you.”
“Hmm… But there’s no one with a higher title than Father. So if not me, who else would become Crown Princess?”
“Th-there are many. Everyone wants to become Crown Princess.”
“No matter who it is, they’ll be less pretty than me and from a lower-ranking family. Why would His Highness prefer someone else over me? Mom, don’t worry. That won’t happen!”
Her bright smile showed not a hint of doubt in her own words. She picked up her fork to eat.
At that moment, the duchess’s scolding reached her ears.
“That won’t happen? His Highness Eric has a gentle nature. If he learns you behave badly, there’s no way he would like you.”
The duke nodded vigorously and added,
“A Crown Princess who cannot even apologize after doing wrong? When will you realize you are to become a member of the Donovan imperial family? You may still be young, but if this continues, you won’t just disgrace the family—you’ll go down in imperial history in shame!”
The moment the duke finished shouting, the fork slipped from Silvia’s hand.
Clatter… roll…
The sound echoed loudly across the floor.
Seeing his daughter’s shocked expression, the duke flinched.
Did I go too far?
But Silvia wasn’t looking at him—she was staring at the duchess.
“M-Mom… what… what did you just say?”
“Hm? What do you mean…?”
Flustered, the duchess tried to recall what she had just said.
“Do you mean that His Highness Eric might come to dislike you?”
At those words, Silvia’s face turned even paler.
“Eric… So the Crown Prince’s name is Eric Donovan? Really? Is that true? No… it can’t be, right? That can’t be possible…”
“Silvia! You must not speak His Highness’s name so carelessly—!”
The duchess scolded her, startled, but Silvia didn’t hear a word.
Inside her head, a familiar song kept repeating:
*“Why are you here?”*
As the refrain echoed, Silvia staggered and barely grabbed onto the armrest.
*God… this can’t be happening.*
She clenched her teeth.
The name Eric Donovan was extremely familiar to her.
Not just because he was her future fiancé.
Eric Donovan—the exact same name as the male lead in a novel she loved in her past life as “the girl in Room 804.”
Goosebumps spread across Silvia’s arms.
*I’ve transmigrated into a novel…*
A novel?!
She had thought she was simply living a privileged life with lovely pink hair and sky-blue eyes like her father’s.
But the moment she heard her fiancé’s name was Eric Donovan, she realized the future she never wanted to know.
In the novel she loved, there was a wicked fiancée of the male lead.
And that name was…
Silvia squeezed her eyes shut. But in the darkness of her mind, a huge banner unfurled:
**[Silvia Langerston—10 years from now, after smoothly walking the path of a villainess, is destined to meet a horrific death!]**
“Hic… h-hic… waaah! Waaahhh!”
As if muttering to herself, Silvia’s face suddenly flushed red like an apple.
Her sorrowful wailing began without warning, instantly turning the Langerston family’s dinner into chaos.
“W-what is this? She’s trying to avoid punishment again!”
The duke tried to maintain his composure and continue disciplining her, but Silvia kept sobbing uncontrollably, to the point of near dehydration. Startled by the unexpected situation, the duke shouted for the butler to summon the physician immediately.
—
The Langerston household was thrown into emergency.
“This way! Over here! Hurry!”
Seeing the butler urging him anxiously, the physician grew tense and rushed over to examine Silvia.
“Hic… healthy… sob… heaalthy…”
By the time the physician arrived, Silvia was exhausted, still shedding tears.
As he examined her, he repeatedly tilted his head with a serious expression. The duke and duchess began to turn pale.
“Is it something serious? She’s never been like this before!”
The duke pressed anxiously. The physician hesitated, then sighed.
“No. There is nothing physically wrong with the young lady.”
Only then did the tension leave the duke and duchess.
“Then what on earth is wrong with her?”
“…Has anyone around her recently fallen ill or passed away?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
“It seems the young lady is suffering from… health anxiety.”
Health anxiety?
The duke and duchess looked at each other.
In the sudden silence, only Silvia’s weak voice echoed faintly.
“Health… heaaalthy… sob…”
