Chapter 1
‘I knew it. I’ve felt feverish since this morning.’
Reina pressed a hand to her forehead.
By noon, the fever had fully set in. Her skin burned as if it were on fire.
She wanted nothing more than to lie down on the sofa, but she held herself back.
‘He’ll be back soon anyway.’
Just as she expected, the person she had been waiting for returned to the drawing room not long after.
It was Lucius Ingersoll, the Grand Duke of the Ingersoll family.
He was currently traveling all over the Empire in search of his missing younger brother.
To make matters worse, his brother had been diagnosed as terminally ill. His body was already weak. It was a heartbreaking situation.
Reina was helping him in his search.
Of course, it wasn’t simple sympathy that had entangled her with a man she had no prior connection to.
“What happened?”
At her question, Lucius shook his head.
It meant that he had once again failed to find his brother.
As if he had expected that result, Lucius approached her with a calm expression.
“You look exhausted.”
He studied her pale face as he continued.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect you to come this far with me.”
They were currently at an orphanage in a remote countryside at the eastern edge of the Empire.
The road there had been rough, but Reina had followed Lucius without hesitation.
She was just as desperate as he was.
Though her reason was a little—no, very—different.
“I’m fine. Let’s head back now.”
Reina forced a small smile and turned around.
Suddenly, dizziness washed over her, and her body swayed.
She tried to grab the table to steady herself, but Lucius was faster.
He caught her by the arm and supported her.
“Ah, thank—”
Her words trailed off as her eyes widened.
She had ended up in Lucius’s arms.
Startled, she tried to pull away, but he didn’t let go.
“As I thought, you’re not well. I can feel the heat even through your clothes.”
Without another word, Lucius guided her to the sofa in the drawing room.
When she obediently sat down, he asked one of the orphanage staff to bring her some water.
While they waited, Reina leaned her elbow on the armrest and pressed her hand to her forehead.
Throb, throb. Even a headache had started.
Lucius watched her for a moment before walking to the window.
There was no leisure in his gaze as he looked out at the garden.
His eyes were dark, filled with tangled emotions.
It was clear he was barely holding something back, as if it might burst at any moment.
Soon, a staff member returned with a glass of water.
“I’ve brought the water.”
“Thank you.”
Just as Reina reached to take the glass, her hand slipped.
Crash!
The glass shattered loudly at her feet.
At that same moment, Lucius’s patience shattered as well.
“Don’t touch it.”
At his firm voice, Reina froze, her hand hovering over the broken shards.
Because of her feverish haze, she had almost grabbed the broken glass with her bare hand.
Flustered, the staff member hurried off to fetch cleaning tools.
Lucius pushed the glass pieces aside with his shoe, then knelt in front of Reina.
Under the hem of her dress, a thin cut marked the top of her foot where a shard had grazed her skin. His brows furrowed deeply.
“Let me check the wound.”
Before she could protest, Lucius removed her shoe.
He carefully examined her pale foot with gentle hands.
Heavy silence filled the room. Reina began to feel uncomfortable and embarrassed.
“Why…”
Lucius spoke while holding her ankle.
“Why are you going this far?”
“…What?”
“You can’t even hold a glass properly because you’re this sick. Why did you insist on following me?”
“Why? I just wanted to help you, Your Grace, even a little—”
“That’s exactly why I don’t understand.”
Lucius cut her off and lifted his head.
Reina flinched without realizing it.
His golden eyes shone intensely.
They were beautiful like jewels, yet carried an unexplainable chill.
“Reina. Tell me.”
His grip around her ankle tightened.
“Why are you hiding my brother, Calix, and lying to me like this?”
“….”
“Why are you pretending to help me while deceiving me?”
Reina’s lips parted slightly.
Her heart pounded violently, pumping blood through her body, yet her face was pale.
‘Please.’
Only one thought filled her mind.
‘Please let me faint.’
Lucius’s interrogation was so terrifying that she wished she would simply lose consciousness.
Whether God answered her desperate wish, or her feverish body had reached its limit—
Her vision went black, and her upper body collapsed forward.
“Reina!”
Lucius cried out and caught her in his arms.
As her consciousness faded, Reina had one final thought.
‘Poor Calix.’
I tried my best, but in the end, it looks like both you and I will die like this.
Behind her tightly shut eyelids, her past flashed by like a lantern show.
It went back in time—to the day she first met Calix.
***
“Reina! My lovely little sister!”
A man with sun-tanned skin tightly hugged Reina.
He was her one and only older brother, Jonathan Crollot.
A cadet at the Naval Academy, he had returned home on a short break.
However, the only one waiting for him at the estate was his younger sister, Reina.
The Count and Countess Crollot had gone to visit relatives, unaware that he would arrive earlier than expected.
Even Reina, his only family member present, did not greet him enthusiastically.
She simply stood stiffly in his embrace, but he didn’t mind at all.
“You must be so overwhelmed with happiness that you’re speechless.”
He firmly believed that although his sister didn’t show it, she loved her older brother dearly.
“Do you remember the day I entered the academy? Even now, my heart aches when I think about it.”
Jonathan released her and looked at her with tender eyes.
“You were so heartbroken that you temporarily lost your ability to speak.”
No, actually.
I was staying silent because I didn’t know what book I had transmigrated into.
Reina answered inwardly.
‘The day Jonathan left was the day I realized I had transmigrated.’
Her decision to keep her mouth shut until she understood the situation had been wise.
Her new family was a little unusual, and she needed time to adjust.
Reina glanced past Jonathan.
She was more interested in the person standing behind him.
Noticing her sidelong glance, Jonathan grinned.
“You noticed, huh?”
He stepped aside, revealing the person behind him.
“I prepared a gift for my sister so she wouldn’t fall into despair after I return to the academy.”
The “gift” Jonathan had prepared was, of all things, a boy.
Was he even ten years old?
The frail-looking boy had a pale complexion.
Instead of the chubby cheeks typical of children his age, he was thin and gaunt, with dark shadows under his eyes.
His ruby-colored eyes were fixed on the floor, so gloomy that they could make anyone who saw them feel depressed.
‘A person isn’t an object to be given as a gift.’
And such a child, who looked as though he might collapse at any moment.
Reina was horrified but kept her expression calm as she asked,
“So… you kidnapped this child for me?”
She forced a neutral face because, as mentioned before, the Crollot family was somewhat unusual.
The Count and Countess, who governed the Crollot territory, were known among the nobility for their generous nature and good reputation.
Their son and daughter had inherited their parents’ striking looks and carried themselves with elegance.
On the surface, they appeared to be an ordinary, harmonious family.
The problem was—
“Yes. Look at him. Doesn’t he resemble that stray cat you used to adore when you were little?”
—their morality was seriously flawed somewhere.
