Chapter 13
“Elizabetttttttthhhhh!!!”
“…???”
What was that voice? It was far too cheerful. Did anyone really have a voice like that?
Before I could finish that thought, the person who had come running finally stopped in front of me, gasping for breath as he looked straight at me. His expression was unexpectedly serious. As I stared back at him, I noticed that his neatly combed hair was silver. In the novel, Elizabeth’s hair had a faint reddish tint, but the man standing before me had a clean, pure silver color.
Once he caught his breath, the man struck his chest firmly and greeted me with perfect formality.
“Captain of the 1st Division of the Guardian Knights, Ain Vishnu, greets Miss Elizabeth!!!”
His voice rang out loudly, perfectly matching his tall, well-built frame as he introduced himself as Ain Vishnu.
‘Ain Vishnu… Ain…?’
It was only a fleeting moment, but the name was far too distinctive to forget.
Ain Vishnu was a supporting character whose name stood out because it sounded similar to the Korean word for “lover.” The author had even used wordplay with his name in the past. Ain played an important role in protecting Elizabeth. When Elizabeth’s execution was confirmed, he had drawn his sword and rushed toward the execution grounds, declaring that his lady would never be placed in such danger.
A supporting character with the presence and impact of a main character.
And now, the man standing in front of me was undoubtedly Ain Vishnu himself.
“Ah… hello.”
“Are you going to wield a sword again?!”
“…Huh? No, I’m not.”
The owner of this body might be a swordsmanship prodigy, but I wasn’t. I had no desire to do anything dangerous and die early for no reason. Dying as the villainess later was more than enough for me.
“That’s a shame. If you wielded a sword again, you’d truly become the Empire’s greatest swordswoman!”
“Before that, I think Grandpa would stop me.”
“Ah…! Right! Please keep this a secret from the Captain…!!”
Seeing Ain shake his head vigorously, his face pale with panic—clearly terrified of Anais—I couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.
“Ah, Miss, you smiled.”
The moment I smiled, Ain smiled along with me.
The novel hadn’t mentioned much about the relationship between Ain and Elizabeth. The author had left countless plot threads unresolved before going on hiatus, which led many readers to criticize the story. Elizabeth’s death had come too early to resolve everything, causing many to doubt whether she was truly dead at all.
Yes.
I had been transported into the novel Saint, Osborne, a story filled with unresolved threads.
“By the way, why is no one here?”
“Oh, today’s a rare holiday, so everyone is resting in their quarters. Of course, those were the Captain’s orders.”
“…Orders?”
“Yes. He said, ‘Since Elizabeth is here, everyone should remain in their quarters.’”
“What does my being here have to do with training?”
“Well, perhaps the Captain was worried you wouldn’t be able to rest properly with the noise from training.”
No way.
But then again, if it was Anais, that level of concern wouldn’t be surprising.
Ugh, Grandpa, you fool. What am I supposed to do?
I placed one hand on my head and shook it lightly. Startled, Ain immediately grabbed both of my shoulders, his voice filled with worry.
“You’re not feeling unwell, are you?! I saw the newspaper. How heartbroken you must be…”
“……”
Damn it. I had completely forgotten about that.
“Haha, I’m fine. It happens all the time.”
“It happens all the time?! Seriously, our lady is far too kind—that’s exactly the problem.”
If a dog heard that, it would probably laugh.
“Please don’t overdo it, and if you’re in pain at all, tell us immediately!!”
“…Alright, I understand.”
“Oh, by the way, the Captain ordered that I escort you today. Where are you heading?”
“Uh… huh? Grandpa said that?”
“Yes. He gave the order before leaving, saying he thought you might go out today.”
How does he know everything? Does he have eyes everywhere? Is there CCTV in this world?
“Hm. I was thinking of eating first, then going out for a bit.”
“Then while you’re eating, I’ll prepare for your outing. I’ll see you later!”
After giving a polite farewell, Ain left. Not long after, a maid came to inform me that the meal was ready, and I followed her to the dining room.
We walked through a neatly arranged hallway and arrived at a spacious dining room. In the center stood a long table completely covered with food.
“…Is all of this for me?”
It couldn’t be.
Even though my grandfather was a fool for his granddaughter, and even though we were nobility, this looked like one of those massive banquet tables from the Harry Potter feasts.
As I stood there in a daze, one of the maids guided me to my seat. When I saw that there was only a single place setting, I realized the entire spread really was for one person.
Elizabeth might be a big eater, but isn’t this a bit excessive?
I picked up my spoon and tasted the soup placed at the front of the table. The moment it touched my lips, I understood why food manga often depicted goddesses dancing above people’s heads.
My eyes widened as I stared at the soup.
It was a simple, thin, creamy soup that slid smoothly down my throat—nothing like the instant soups I’d had before. It wasn’t too salty or sweet, just perfectly savory, with tiny pieces of something—maybe potatoes or corn—that were so soft they didn’t disrupt the soup’s smooth texture at all.
“It’s delicious…”
Starting with the soup, I sampled the other dishes one by one. Even though I only tasted small portions, I quickly felt full and put down my spoon.
“I’m full…”
“Did you finish everything?”
“Hm…? Oh, yes.”
When I nodded, the maids who had been waiting immediately cleared the table. Soon after, they returned with a slice of cake and freshly brewed tea.
“This cake was specially prepared by the Marquis.”
“Specially?”
“Yes. It’s made with fruits that don’t exist in the Empire.”
What kind of grandfather goes out of his way to obtain rare fruits just because his granddaughter came to visit?
I poked the cake with my fork. The sponge felt soft—almost like chiffon cake. The faint sound the cream made, something usually only heard in ASMR videos, rang strangely clear.
Elizabeth was sensitive to citrus scents and had good hearing… but still, why could I hear it so clearly?
“The cream is really smooth… I’ll just believe that’s why.”
Deciding not to think any further, I took a bite.
The cream tasted strongly of milk, rich yet not overly sweet or greasy. The fruit had been layered between the cream, balancing the sweetness with a gentle tartness. The red fruit tasted almost exactly like raspberries.
“…Raspberries.”
It even looked like raspberries.
Since I personally loved berries, I was genuinely pleased. Even in the novel, berries were rarely mentioned, and I had never seen cakes with berries at famous dessert shops.
‘I don’t think there was ever a description of a strawberry cake in the novel…’
Since these fruits didn’t exist in the Empire, berries probably didn’t grow here at all.
After finishing dessert, I realized quite a bit of time had passed. I turned to the maid.
“…Alright, I’ll be going out, so get ready.”
“Yes. What kind of dress would you like?”
“Hm… something simple.”
I wasn’t sure what Elizabeth’s version of “simple” meant, but I figured something not too flashy would be fine.
“Understood. I’ll prepare it.”
“Oh, and Jerome.”
“Yes, Miss.”
“Send a letter to the Arahan family letting them know I’ll be visiting today.”
“…Yes? You mean the Duke of Arahan?”
“Of course. Is there another Arahan?”
“…No. I understand.”
As Jerome hurried out, I wiped my lips with a napkin and headed back to my room.
Waiting inside was a light blue dress—simple, with few accessories and no flashy patterns. Of course, the cuffs and hem were trimmed with white lace, and the gold buttons sparkled slightly, but it was still the least ornate outfit I’d worn so far.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Miss, the carriage is ready.”
“Okay, got it.”
The letter should have been sent days earlier, but it couldn’t be helped. The situation was urgent, and the ones eagerly awaiting the upcoming ball more than I was were either the Emperor or Arahan.
‘They’ll understand… I hope.’
After leaving the mansion, I boarded the carriage. Ain climbed in as well, accompanying me as my guard.
As the carriage began to move, Ain glanced at me and smiled slyly.
“I heard you’re heading to the Duke of Arahan’s residence.”
“Ah, yeah. I have something to discuss.”
“You do know that a few days ago, because of the newspaper article, the Captain stormed into the Duke of Arahan’s estate, right?”
“…Yeah, I heard.”
“Be careful.”
“I know~ I won’t cause any trouble this time.”
Although this was clearly setting up trouble. No need to say that out loud.
“Trouble?”
Ain tilted his head, blinking in confusion. Surely the word “trouble” existed in this world, right? Wasn’t there a phrase like don’t cause trouble?
“I think you misunderstood. When I said be careful, I didn’t mean your actions—I meant the Duke himself.”
“…Oh? Is that what you meant?”
“Yes! How dare he try to seduce our lady!”
Um, excuse me. According to the newspaper, I was the one who supposedly seduced Arahan and danced the first dance with him. So why did everyone think Arahan was the one at fault? Had I misread the article?
“And the Arahan family is threatening you too! Miss, if you’re ever threatened again, you must call me immediately, okay?”
“……”
“You understand, right?”
“Yeah, I understand. Hahaha…”
At this point, it felt like I could go without any worries at all. Still, I couldn’t exactly ask about the proposal I had accidentally accepted during dessert.
More than that, how had the roles in the newspaper article been completely reversed?
It wasn’t just ‘Elizabeth wouldn’t do that, so this must be wrong.’
They had rewritten the entire story.
Now, I finally understood what Arahan had meant.
‘Is it you? The one who touched my granddaughter?’
Understanding his words at last, I nodded cautiously.
