Chapter 4
Lumi, standing in front of me, spoke coldly as if she couldn’t believe it.
“Don’t talk nonsense. I’m going to be happy here no matter what. Haven’t you read villainess transmigration stories? I’m planning to twist the original and become the protagonist of this world.”
“So what you’re saying is, if you become the protagonist, you’ll be happy?”
“Of course. Romance fantasies always have happy endings!”
It sounded wrong, but at the same time, not entirely wrong either.
As if she had truly become Elfride, Lumi gracefully pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at the corners of her eyes.
“Haah. Anyway, Jin.”
“…?”
When I looked at her in confusion, Lumi said something unexpected.
“Since you transmigrated too, will you help me?”
“Help you?”
“Yeah. Of course, I’m confident I can twist the original on my own, but it’ll be easier if you help.”
I was dumbfounded, but decided to go along with her for now.
“So what do you want me to do?”
Lumi, wearing Elfride’s face, came right up close to me. Then—
“Hey! What are you doing?!”
“Hmm, so you really are a woman.”
I jumped in shock when she suddenly placed her hand on my chest. But Lumi looked completely calm.
“Muzel was definitely a male supporting character. But since you, a woman, transmigrated into him, he became a crossdressing woman instead?”
Honestly, I felt like dying. I had no confidence in living like this forever.
But Lumi just smiled as if she had no worries at all.
“That actually works out better. I’m the only one in this world who knows you’re a woman, so just keep pretending to be a man.”
“Ha, Lumi. You know I’m bad at lying.”
“I told you not to call me Lumi.”
Even now, she sharply corrected me.
But I wasn’t going to back down either.
“When it’s just the two of us, I’ll use your real name. ‘Elfride’ just doesn’t feel right in my mouth.”
“…Tch.”
In the end, Lumi stepped back.
“Fine. Anyway, you need to keep your position as the male lead’s second. And you must keep a close hold on the heroine.”
“The heroine? Oh, you mean Evangeline.”
“Good. At least you remember.”
Lumi narrowed her cat-like eyes.
“If possible, don’t let the original heroine get anywhere near the Crown Prince. It’d be even better if you seduced her yourself.”
“What? You want me to seduce a woman?”
The more I listened, the more ridiculous it sounded.
Even seeing my expression sour, Lumi didn’t care.
“Exactly! A woman understands another woman’s heart best. You should pinpoint Evangeline’s loneliness and win her over. Make sure she doesn’t even glance at the Crown Prince. Got it?”
I shook my head.
“Is that really necessary? You already stole the heroine’s event anyway—the wine spill on the Crown Prince’s clothes.”
“Oh my, you knew? Still, it’s better to have insurance. Even if I do my best to twist the story, variables can always appear.”
Lumi said firmly:
“No matter what, I will definitely be happy in this world.”
“……”
I stared at her silently. If she could seize happiness by any means necessary, why hadn’t she done so in reality?
But another thought came to mind. As Lumi said, if she could escape her depressing reality and be happy in this novel, was it really right to drag her back?
Yeah… honestly, I had been somewhat persuaded by her logic.
My voice softened without me realizing.
“So what’s the heroine’s situation right now?”
Lumi answered immediately.
“She couldn’t even enter yesterday’s party. I stepped on her dress at the entrance with my heel—pretended it was an accident—and tore it.”
“…What?”
My mouth fell open. Had she always been this scheming? This was completely the villainess Elfride.
Lumi spoke without the slightest hesitation.
“If I’ve decided to get a happy ending with the Crown Prince, I need to crush my rival properly.”
“Wow, that’s too—”
Too evil.
When I trailed off, Lumi chuckled.
“If you’re going to twist the original, you have to do it properly from the start. And these days, the charm of a villainess heroine is that she actively seizes love without sticking only to ‘good’ methods.”
“……”
I said nothing. I was thinking of the poor real heroine who must have left the party entrance in disappointment.
“Anyway, I’m counting on your help, Muzel.”
Lumi lifted her chin arrogantly like Elfride and left the greenhouse, her skirt swaying.
“Ha…”
I stared blankly at her retreating figure.
No matter what I said right now, it wouldn’t work. Lumi had basically turned her life around in one stroke.
So the only option was to wait until she gave up on this transmigration herself.
Because of talking with Lumi, I returned late. As soon as I got back to the office, I bowed deeply without making excuses.
“I apologize, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Klaus raised his handsome eyebrow slightly.
“That’s surprising. You left your post without permission. Was it such an urgent matter that you couldn’t even return on time?”
Instead of staying silent, I decided to tell a partial truth.
“I briefly met Lady Elfride.”
“Oh?”
I watched his reaction carefully. If he had any interest in Elfride, he might feel bothered that she met another man—me.
But unfortunately, his expression remained completely indifferent.
“If it was going to take this long, wouldn’t it have been better to schedule it separately?”
It seemed he still had no interest in Lumi.
I answered calmly.
“It wasn’t anything important enough for that. Just a casual greeting to one of Your Highness’s aides.”
“Well, you’re not that late, so I’ll let it pass this time. But make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Thankfully, Klaus didn’t press further.
“My apologies, Your Highness.”
Our handsome male lead is even generous at heart. How can he be so perfect?
“Hmm…”
Klaus returned to looking at his documents.
What will you do now, Lumi? You still have a very long way to go.
After a storm-like day, I dragged myself back to my room, completely exhausted.
“Ugh, I’m tired.”
I untied the cloth that had been binding my chest all day. Only then did my body finally feel at ease.
A sigh escaped naturally. I had to do this every single day from now on.
“…Should I just reveal everything?”
I muttered irritably, tossing the cloth aside.
Honestly, I half meant it. Lumi was already twisting the story—so what if I caused a little more chaos?
But I couldn’t act impulsively.
For one, Lumi had asked me to distract the heroine. And if I revealed I was a woman, I might get imprisoned for deceiving others.
It wasn’t even my fault I became a crossdressing woman.
I needed to understand the situation first. Otherwise, I might end up putting myself in danger.
Besides, I hadn’t even asked Lumi how to return to our original world.
There was no helping it. For now, I had to live as Muzel.
“…Hmm?”
As I thought that, a diary on the bookshelf caught my eye. I opened it—and let out a hollow laugh.
Only the first few pages had been written in, and the rest were completely blank.
“What is this?”
I thought he was a sharp, perfect gentleman, but he had this side too.
People really are all the same. Muzel was no different from me—buying a fancy diary and only writing in it enthusiastically for a short time.
I set the useless diary aside and looked for something else.
There were a couple of books borrowed from the library on the shelf: Tea Culture of High Nobility and Etiquette Guide of the Imperial Social Circle.
“……”
Just looking at the titles made my chest ache.
Muzel was a low-ranking noble from the countryside who had become the Crown Prince’s aide through his abilities. But he couldn’t adapt to the central aristocratic society and lived as an outsider.
The woman who captured his heart was the heroine, Evangeline. Despite being a count’s daughter, she respected him instead of looking down on him.
In the original, Muzel appeared indifferent to rigid social customs. But in truth, he had been trying in his own way to adapt.
That’s why he borrowed these books.
“You tried, but things didn’t go your way.”
I ran my hand over the etiquette book.
How much must he have struggled alone? How hard did he try not to be looked down on because of his poor manners?
A strange sense of responsibility filled me.
I was living a life that Muzel had built with his own effort.
So I couldn’t ruin it recklessly. I had to return it to him intact.
Until I go back home with Lumi, I have to do my best.
I reopened the diary that had only a few lines written.
Then I wrote today’s date, and underneath it, I wrote a short sentence.
<I’ll do my best.>
This was my message to the real Muzel.
My resolve.
