Chapter 3
“Nice to meet you. I’m Flora Diatri. May I call you Sir Anderson?”
“…Ah, yes.”
Dante Anderson nodded blankly at my greeting.
Felix gave him a small signal with his eyes.
“I’ll take the lady for a short walk. You can go inside and speak with the marquis.”
Dante flinched slightly but nodded in a hurry.
“Alright. Should I talk to him about what we discussed earlier?”
Felix just nodded without saying anything.
To be honest, Felix was only kind when it came to the female lead.
He was naturally blunt and cold, but in front of Cecil, he acted as warm and gentle as a spring breeze.
That’s what made readers go crazy for him.
So, it felt a little strange that he was being so nice to me right now…
“Then, I’ll see you later, Lady Diatri.”
“Sure.”
I smiled and waved lightly. Dante blushed and turned away quickly.
Even though Flora Diatri was known for her terrible personality, her beauty was undeniable—so reactions like his weren’t surprising.
‘I think I’ll get along with Dante too.’
That thought made me smile, and I also felt a bit relieved.
Dante Anderson, as Felix’s closest aide, played an important role in supporting the romance between the male and female leads in the original story.
Which meant… that in the original story, Dante and Flora hated each other—very much.
Dante was usually calm and playful, but he always had a sharp edge when dealing with Flora.
‘Well, if I saw some crazy woman clinging to my lord, I wouldn’t like it either.’
Besides, the original Flora wasn’t just a little crazy—she was completely out of her mind.
She spent the Duke of Pechedor’s fortune like it was nothing, tore down their family estate just because she didn’t like it…
And that wasn’t all.
She treated the servants terribly, barged into family meetings to throw tantrums, and tried to control the whole household.
One time, she even racked up a massive gambling debt under the Duchess’s name.
‘…She really was insane.’
In that sense, it was a huge relief that I ended up in her body before she got married.
If I had possessed her after marriage… just the thought was horrifying.
Probably the best option would have been to just stick my head in a bowl and end it.
There’s no way I could clean up all that mess.
And Felix would’ve hated me completely, so we wouldn’t even be able to have a proper conversation like now.
I was feeling grateful for my current situation when—
“Lady Diatri?”
A voice called me back to reality.
I quickly looked up and saw Felix’s sculpted face, filled with concern.
I had already noticed—Felix was being unusually kind to me.
Of course, I loved it. He was my favorite character, after all.
But in the original story, Felix was cold to everyone except the heroine.
‘Is he being nice just because I’m his fiancée?’
That seemed like the most reasonable explanation.
“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about something.”
“No problem. I was just worried you might not be feeling well…”
Felix trailed off and gave a small, awkward smile.
His face usually looked cold, but even a faint smile made him unbelievably handsome.
That slight smile… it hit me hard.
Ah… Maybe my life hasn’t been so bad after all.
Even if someone woke me up at 1 a.m., I’d still be happy if I saw that smile.
“…Ahem. Well, I’ll show you the rest of the house now.”
I quickly pulled myself together and turned around, trying to keep my face from smiling too much.
Our footsteps echoed—mine clicking with my heels, his quiet and steady. Soon, our pace matched.
After I finished showing him around the first and second floors, I suddenly remembered something I had forgotten.
Well, actually, I had thought of it earlier but forgot once we stepped out of the parlor.
“Um, I know it’s a little late to say this…”
Felix turned to me when I spoke slowly.
“Sorry for dragging you outside with me. I was worried you’d feel uncomfortable since my father and brother can be a bit… strict. But now that I think about it, I might not be much better.”
To Felix, I might be even more uncomfortable to be around than those two.
Because, as far as I knew, Felix didn’t like women.
Before he met the heroine, he hated being touched by women and didn’t even like being alone in the same room with them.
‘But the reason for that was never explained.’
Oddly enough, the original story never revealed why Felix was like that. If it had, readers would’ve probably cried their hearts out.
<The Emperor’s Gentleman> was a charming novel, but there were a lot of unclear points.
Even after the story ended, there were so many unanswered questions that fans kept begging for more side stories.
‘Ugh, Flora, you idiot.’
I sighed at myself for only now remembering such an important detail.
He was probably just being polite because I’m his fiancée, and instead of being considerate, I was probably just making him uncomfortable.
Worst fan ever.
“That’s not it. I’m not uncomfortable.”
Felix denied it in a quiet voice.
He looked a little embarrassed, maybe even awkward, and continued.
“It’s not you, Lady Diatri. Maybe you felt that way because I’m not good with words…”
It wasn’t that he couldn’t speak well—he just wasn’t very social.
Sure, Felix wasn’t much of a talker, but I actually liked people who were quiet and serious.
I also preferred people who showed kindness through actions rather than just words.
“Hmm…”
Felix looked like he wanted to say something but wasn’t sure how to express it without offending me.
That’s when a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
‘Oh right, this is five years before the original story starts.’
Then it made sense why Felix seemed a bit softer than I remembered.
People’s personalities change over time, after all.
“So, what you’re saying is—I’m not making you uncomfortable, right?”
“…Yes.”
He slowly looked up and met my eyes.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but his flawless white face looked a little pink.
It almost made me believe he was feeling shy.
From that expression, I could tell—he really wasn’t uncomfortable around me.
‘…Wait. If the story hasn’t started yet, and he’s being this nice to me instead of the heroine…’
A weird and unwelcome thought started to creep into my head.
I quickly pushed it aside and turned my body with a bright smile.
“I feel better hearing that from you, Duke. Then shall we head back?”
Honestly, I wanted to talk to Felix more, but I knew the others in the parlor were probably waiting anxiously for us.
They’d act all serious on the outside, but once Felix left, they’d overreact like crazy.
“Ah.”
Felix blinked and then nodded.
“Thank you for showing me around.”
He even thanked me politely. As a duke, he didn’t have to be so respectful to a mere marquis’s daughter like me.
…Yep, Felix was the definition of a gentleman who used polite speech.
“No problem. Next time, I’ll show you the garden too. Today wasn’t really our day, so I didn’t want to take up too much of your time.”
I shrugged, naturally suggesting we meet again.
This marriage was going to happen anyway, and I wanted to get along with Felix.
Even though I planned to divorce him later so I wouldn’t interfere with his love story, the law said I had to stay married for at least a year.
I couldn’t let our marriage leave a stain on his record, so no matter what, we had to be married for at least a year.
“Then… may I write you a letter next time?”
Felix asked politely, seeming to understand what I meant.
What a perfect man. Why even ask something so obvious?
“Of course. I’m always free, so I’d be happy to hear from you anytime.”
I joked lightly, and Felix smiled—just barely enough to notice.
“…Anyway, let’s really go now.”
“Yes.”
Feeling strangely nervous, I quickened my pace. But our footsteps still stayed in sync.
* * *
When Felix and I returned to the parlor, my father, Kyle, and Dante were just about to start talking about the wedding.
“We’re back.”
As we entered, my father and brother stood up immediately.
“Flora!”
“Why did it take so long to show him around this tiny house?”
…Tiny house?
My eye twitched at what my father just said.
Even Dante looked confused, like, “What is this guy talking about?”
“Um, I only showed him the first and second floors.”
The Diatri family, also known as the Golden Diatris, always ranked #1 in wealth in gossip magazines.
I had lived as Flora for three years now, and I knew well that those rumors were mostly true.
In fact, we probably had way more money than people guessed.
So of course this mansion was one of the biggest in the capital.
‘I bet they only stopped at this size because they didn’t want to outdo the Imperial Palace.’
The current Diatri mansion was built by the first marquis himself, and it took several minutes to ride a carriage from the entrance to the main building.
“Hmph. Compared to our estate in the countryside, this is nothing!”
But my father just wanted to show off in front of Felix, so he kept saying ridiculous things.
“…Ugh. Please, have a seat, Duke.”
I sighed and pulled Felix by the arm away from my babbling father.
