Chapter 15……………………………………………………………
The more I thought about it, the stronger that hypothesis became.
There hadn’t been any particular incident between Riena and me—nothing significant enough to justify confidence in mutual affection. Which meant there was only one possible answer.
Ever since regressing, Riena had lived surrounded by people who loved her.
To varying degrees, every normal character eventually fell for Riena, sooner or later.
The only ones who disliked her to the very end were the villains.
The orphanage director who bullied her, Cassius’s former head maid who looked down on her for being an orphan, and the collateral relatives who tried to drive her out of the family.
Every single one of them—without exception.
In fact, perhaps even the author thought it was a bit much, because later on it was explained as the result of the Goddess’s blessing.
Supposedly, the blessing Riena possessed unconsciously drew affection from others.
I had never once considered this from Riena’s perspective.
‘…This girl never even considers the possibility that someone who isn’t evil might dislike her.’
Because her world had always worked that way—and everyone around her had been like that.
Except for me, the transmigrator.
“Big sister-in-law, what are you thinking about so deeply?”
“…It’s nothing.”
My head throbbed.
Between checking herbal recipes using the original novel’s mental imagery and talking with Riena, I’d exhausted what little mental strength I had left.
And yet, Riena was whining, asking me to accept her gift.
“Please, just close your eyes and take even one thing. I bought it especially thinking of you.”
I hesitated.
Was there really a need to act on my emotions and stir up trouble?
If I became Riena’s enemy, the number of problems I’d face would increase exponentially.
“Big sister-in-law~ Please don’t just ignore me—answer me~”
Now she was grabbing my arm and shaking it.
Ah, seriously, how annoying.
As I said, I was completely exhausted.
And when people are tired, their patience disappears; things they’d normally brush off suddenly become unbearable.
Slap!
I coldly shook Riena’s hand away.
“Riena, I’ll be honest.”
The thoughts I’d never voiced burst out like a dam breaking.
“I don’t like you. If I had to choose, I’d say I dislike you. So please disappear from in front of me, and never come looking for me like this again. Understood?”
At that moment—
“……”
All expression vanished from Riena’s face.
One second. Two seconds.
Even as time passed, her expression didn’t return.
It was a shock severe enough that even a regressor who’d always stood above others couldn’t compose herself.
“……”
“……”
Tara and Matis’s reactions weren’t much different.
‘Ah. That feels refreshing.’
I alone stood up calmly.
“I won’t see you out, so please find your own way back. Goodbye.”
Of the three frozen people, Matis reacted first.
“How—how dare you!”
He growled, glaring at me as if he wanted to kill me.
“You spew such nonsense at the young lady!”
He reached out to grab my arm—
“Ugh!”
Matis sprawled spectacularly across the floor without even brushing a hair on me.
“Oh dear, my apologies. I didn’t realize you were standing there.”
A polite voice, yet somehow infuriatingly smug.
Terence stood in front of me, looking down at Matis.
“My legs are rather long. An unfortunate accident.”
“Who the hell are you?!”
Matis shouted as he scrambled up, his face red with humiliation.
“Hmm. A hotel guest passing by?”
Terence smiled faintly.
I alternated my gaze between Terence and the spot where he’d been sitting.
‘Since when was he here?!’
From my angle, his seat had been hidden behind decorative plants.
Had he heard everything Riena and I said?
I’d thought he followed the man who looked like a servant from the marquis’s estate, standing outside the hotel.
“What’s with that look?!”
“Is there a problem with my eyes?”
“A mere mercenary dares look at me like that?!”
Already furious because of me, Matis lost control and reached for his sword.
Terence’s hand moved toward the sword at his waist as well.
Then—
“Stop it!”
Riena, who had been silent until now, suddenly jumped to her feet.
“Stop! Are you trying to disgrace the Cassius name?!”
“N-no, miss.”
“We’re leaving! Follow me!”
With her face stiff, Riena headed for the exit, not sparing a glance at me, Terence, or even her own attendants.
Matis followed, fuming, while Tara shot me a subtle look before going after her mistress.
The commotion subsided.
“Are you all right?” Terence asked.
“We only talked. That’s all.”
“You look very tired.”
“I’ll rest upstairs.”
I bit my lip, feeling inexplicably embarrassed.
“I showed you something rather unpleasant—family matters.”
“Oh, compared to my family, that was nothing.”
True. His family dealt with assassins for entertainment.
“I didn’t realize your husband’s family was the Ducal House of Cassius.”
“…I wasn’t trying to hide it.”
“There’s no reason you should tell me such things. Though…”
His serious gaze brushed against my profile.
“If it’s the Cassius family, divorce won’t be easy.”
Maybe because I was tired—
I felt like complaining.
“Honestly, the divorce papers I submitted probably weren’t even processed properly. They’re likely sleeping in some clerk’s drawer. Sigh… Getting divorced is hard.”
Tsk. Why was I venting to an innocent bystander?
This was something I’d eventually have to resolve calmly, through negotiation.
I switched topics so abruptly it was obvious.
“Did you have a good talk with the colleague I saw earlier?”
“Yes, more or less.”
“It looked urgent. May I ask what it was about?”
“It was nothing. Someone came to my house and is waiting for me.”
“Shouldn’t you hurry back?”
It had already been over an hour since Terence’s attendant came looking for him.
“It’s fine if I’m a bit late. I see them often anyway.”
He answered casually, but a question formed in my mind.
‘Who would come looking for Terence? And often, at that?’
According to the novel, he didn’t have many close acquaintances.
He had a few connections from the streets, but none who’d visit a marquis’s estate.
And if Terence disliked it, yet an attendant still urgently came for him, the visitor must be of high status.
Wait—someone who visits Terence often and wouldn’t tolerate being kept waiting?
…Don’t tell me it’s the Emperor?
I wanted to believe otherwise, but no matter how I thought about it, only the Emperor came to mind.
“Tei, you should go quickly.”
“No, I’ll stay a little longer—”
“I’m really fine, so please go. Quickly!”
“Ah—yes. Understood.”
Pushed by my insistence, Terence finally left the hotel.
Watching his retreating back, I gently bit my lip.
‘It might be a bit early, but…’
If the Emperor truly came at this time, there was a high chance he’d bring up that topic with Terence.
Formal recognition as an imperial prince.
The Emperor was likely planning to bring the son who’d lived in the shadows into the light.
The smile on Terence’s face as he left the hotel gradually faded, and by the time he reached the marquis’s estate, it had turned completely blank.
The Marquisate of Freihaiden.
A mansion renovated to be more luxurious and refined than the former Mollo Marquisate.
The outer walls and roads gleamed from daily cleaning by servants, and the gardens were filled year-round with carefully tended flowers.
And yet—
Why did it look worse than a cheap hotel on the outskirts of the capital?
“My lord!”
A man named Jack ran toward him from the front gate.
A servant and aide who had served him for nearly ten years.
“You said you’d be right back!”
Terence passed the visibly aged-with-worry Jack and entered through the gate.
“Where is His Majesty?”
“He’s still in the reception room.”
“You should’ve told him not to wait and to return.”
“I did! But he insisted on seeing you before leaving.”
Terence let out an obvious sigh and strode toward the main building.
“Uh—your clothes…?”
“No time to change.”
Soon, the door to the reception room on the first floor opened.
“Your Majesty.”
A middle-aged man lounging in an antique armchair stood up when he saw Terence.
“I thought my neck would snap from waiting.”
His tone held warmth rather than reproach.
“My apologies. I was staying quite far away. If you’d sent word before arriving—”
As Terence knelt on one knee, a hand rested on his shoulder.
“That’s enough. You rascal. No need for excessive formality between us.”
Dominic, the 23rd Emperor of the Asteroth Empire, wore the expression of a benevolent father.
After seating Terence before him, the Emperor examined him from head to toe.
“Enjoying your youthful freedom is fine, but how long do you plan to wander outside? And that attire…”
His gaze lingered unconsciously on Terence’s clothes.
They were clothes she had bought for him.
—
“Don’t hold back—pick freely. A servant’s appearance reflects their employer. It’s all money spent for my sake anyway.”
—
His first employer had poured money on him without hesitation.
Not just clothes, but shoes and daily necessities as well.
Whenever he tried to refuse, he’d receive an unbearably warm gaze instead.
—
“You’re far too modest. How do you expect to survive such a harsh world? At times like this, you just accept it.”
—
In the end, Terence spent an entire day shopping for himself, led along by her.
Wasn’t her generosity excessive?
He’d felt it from the moment she accepted a complete stranger as her guard.
‘I can’t just leave her alone.’
She trusted people too easily—someone like her could easily lose everything.
Hadn’t her marriage already failed once?
Before he realized it, the faint wariness he’d felt toward Idel at their first meeting had completely vanished.
Thinking of her soft pink hair and slender wrists, Terence spoke words utterly unrelated.
“Even an idle noble needs some pleasure in seeing the world, doesn’t he?”
A self-deprecating jab at his fate—forever confined to the shadows.
He often spoke this way when facing the Emperor.
It usually softened the Emperor’s attitude with guilt toward his son.
But this time—
It was different.
