Chapter 34
“I did feel like the atmosphere between the two of them was… a bit strange.”
“Really? In what way?”
“I can’t point out anything specific, but… the way they looked at each other… the mood… it just felt different from usual. Almost like they were hiding something.”
“Hm… was it really like that?”
Lyndon folded his arms and slowly rubbed his chin, trying to recall yesterday’s events.
But even then—and even now—nothing resembling the “subtle tension” his wife spoke of came to mind.
After pondering for a while, Lyndon eventually gave up.
“So what do we do now?”
“What do you mean ‘what do we do’? All we can do is keep an eye on them, right?”
“But… the other party is Grand Duke Klitzman. He’s too much of a presence.”
“Tell me about it.”
Hoo… The count and countess sighed at the same time.
“Ruby will end up drawing a lot of attention because of him. But it can’t be helped. Maybe she considered all that before deciding to meet him.”
Virginia shrugged lightly, but Lyndon still looked deeply worried.
“Her Majesty the Empress doesn’t look favorably upon the Grand Duke.”
“That may be true, but what does that matter? It’s just a romance between a young man and woman.”
“Aren’t you being a bit too indifferent?”
“What did I do?”
Lyndon sounded agitated, as if he simply couldn’t understand his wife’s nonchalance.
“The Grand Duke of Klitzman has never had even a single scandal with any young lady.”
“That’s probably because he spent the last five years moving from one battlefield to the next.”
“Regardless, for someone with not a single scandal to have Ruby as his first lover… it could very well lead to marriage, couldn’t it?”
“…That is possible. You’re right.”
Good heavens—! She hadn’t thought that far at all!
Rubyana… getting married? She was already old enough for that?
Virginia rolled her eyes thoughtfully.
But soon her expression returned to disinterest. She shrugged again and spoke casually.
“Or maybe not.”
“My dear… honestly…”
Lyndon was at a loss for words at his wife’s apathy.
But Virginia smiled sweetly and slipped her arms around her husband’s waist.
With the affectionate embrace, the tension melted right off Lyndon’s face.
In a soft whisper, Virginia spoke gently.
“It’s Ruby’s first romance. Let’s just congratulate her and be happy for her for now. There’s plenty of time to worry later.”
“…I suppose you’re right.”
Lyndon’s furrowed forehead finally relaxed.
Still hugging him tightly, Virginia tilted her head upward to look at him.
A mischievous smile lit up her face.
“Right?”
“Mm.”
Lyndon gave her a brief kiss on the forehead.
Virginia let out a delighted laugh.
Rubyana’s confinement order continued into the following day.
“At least I can come out to the garden today. Yesterday, they didn’t even let me take a single step outside my bedroom!”
“Oh no… that must’ve been suffocating.”
“Tell me about it.”
Chad had come to visit her today.
It was his off-duty day from the knight order.
If things had gone according to the original story, the two would’ve been training side by side as knights of the Imperial Guard by now—but reality was different.
So the fact that Chad had taken time out of his day to visit her made Rubyana truly grateful.
The story hadn’t yet shifted into its original trajectory, but having the male lead looking after the heroine was still a good sign.
“I feel much better today. I can get some fresh air in the garden… and you came to visit me too.”
“I felt bad for coming late, but I’m glad you’re happy to see me.”
Chad smiled, and his green-tinted eyes curved beautifully.
His blond hair fluttered slightly in the breeze, and his fair face glowed under the sunlight.
‘Ah… dazzling!’
A male lead was indeed a male lead.
If she kept staring at him like this, she felt like she might go blind.
For the sake of preserving her eyesight, she needed to look away—yet it wasn’t easy.
The two strolled slowly through the wide garden.
As they passed a large willow tree, Chad spoke excitedly.
“Remember? We were playing with a ball here once, and I stepped on it and tripped.”
“Of course I remember. You got hurt really badly.”
“Yeah. I broke my arm and couldn’t even go near a ball for a while.”
Rubyana remembered every detail of the childhood she shared with Chad, likely because those memories were important to the original Rubyana.
They surfaced naturally without any effort—still a wonder to her.
They were sitting on a bench, admiring the wisteria blossoms in full bloom, when Chad broke the silence.
“Rubyana?”
“Mm?”
“Are you going to the party at the Duke of Burnett’s estate this weekend?”
“Uh… yeah.”
He was asking about the party… Was this his lead-in to ask her to be his partner?
Thump, thump. Her heart fluttered pleasantly.
But only for a moment.
She suddenly remembered she had already promised to go with Elion.
‘Ah… that excitement didn’t last long.’
Her soaring mood plummeted instantly.
“Then, by any chance—”
“I’m going with His Highness, the Grand Duke Klitzman.”
“Ah…”
Before Chad could even finish, Rubyana cut in first.
She didn’t want him to feel awkward.
‘Ugh… sorry, Chad. Please understand.’
This might’ve been an important event meant to deepen her relationship with the male lead in the revised storyline. She worried she might be throwing away a good opportunity.
Watching Chad’s smile fade made her tense.
Chad finally spoke again.
“Can I ask… what kind of relationship you and the Grand Duke have? I mean… I saw an article in one of the gossip papers. The two of you—”
“Ah, no! It’s nothing like that!”
Rubyana cut him off again, waving her hands.
It was an automatic reflex.
She couldn’t just sit and listen to him mention the “hotel scandal.”
But at that exact moment, Rubyana realized her mistake.
‘Ah… right. I’m supposed to be pretending to date Elion starting yesterday…! Stupid!’
Distracted by Chad, her memory and judgment had gone fuzzy.
Rubyana bit her lower lip in frustration.
Oh heavens above! Why burden her with such trials?
She prayed that the hardships sent to her were at least ones she could handle.
Carefully, she spoke again.
“No, I mean… that’s not it. Actually, yes.”
“Huh? What’s not it and what is?”
Chad’s sunlit face began filling with confusion instead.
“I’m… dating His Highness the Grand Duke. Since yesterday.”
“…Ah?”
Chad’s mouth fell open weakly in shock.
“I was embarrassed, so I denied it without thinking. Sorry—I didn’t mean to lie.”
“…It’s okay. I understand.”
Kind-hearted Chad nodded, saying it was fine.
But Rubyana didn’t feel fine at all.
She wanted to tell him everything right then.
That she had no choice.
That she needed Elion to replenish her lacking mana.
That she hoped he could wait just a little.
That once she recovered, her rightful place would be beside him.
But right now, she couldn’t say anything.
Rubyana turned her gaze away from him.
Late that night, Florencia sat across from Omar and removed the deep hood she’d been wearing.
“Welcome, customer.”
“Yes, it’s been a while.”
After a brief greeting, Florencia took out a small bottle from her pocket and handed it to Omar.
Inside the transparent bottle were about ten yellow pills.
“What is this?”
Omar immediately realized it—this was unlike any medicine he had ever seen.
Florencia explained what she knew about the pills and stated her request.
“I heard that taking this disrupts mana stability. I want you to check if that’s true, and whether there are any other side effects.”
“A drug that destabilizes mana…”
A fascinating substance.
Omar swallowed dryly, intrigued by the request.
“Where did you obtain such a dangerous drug, ma’am?”
“Do you really need to know that?”
“Oh—of course, no. Not at all.”
He backed off immediately.
Omar never forgot that keeping his customers satisfied was more important than satisfying his own curiosity.
