TLVGAJ 115

~Chapter 115~

And so began my sudden “seclusion” life.

From that day on, I didn’t think about leaving the estate for a while.
Whether eating, drinking, or reading, I did everything inside the mansion—under a guard detail several times stronger than usual.

It would be a lie to say it wasn’t suffocating. I normally went about with minimal escort except for Deon, so it felt even more confining.

But this time, I genuinely wanted to follow Albert’s advice without protest.
Because even if the male leads hadn’t come to see me since that day… I knew they were working hard for my sake.

I also had a lot on my mind.

Scritch, scritch.
I sat at the table, writing something large across a white sheet with a pen.

Since seclusion gave me some free time, I decided to write down as much of the original story as I could remember.

It felt like organizing it this way would help.
Maybe more would come back to me as I wrote.

Main characters: Irene (me), Emily (heroine), Albert, Fabian, Eric, Harry (+Finn).
Supporting: 1st Prince, 2nd Prince (mastermind), 3rd Prince, Princess Alicia, the Hartmann couple, etc.
Unknown: the grandmother we met on the train, High Priest of the Harmen Temple (connection to Princess Alicia?)

[What are you writing so much of? You can use that language too?]

“…”

The divine beast peered curiously, but I focused on what I was doing without answering.
The scratch of the quill filled my room over and over.

Questions:

It’s time, yet Emily hasn’t awakened as the Saint.
→ When will Emily awaken? If not, why?
The Korean note.
→ Beware of Princess Alicia. There’s another transmigrator besides me.
→ The note came from the Count’s house. Emily’s tteokbokki. Could it be… Emily?
There’s a secret to Irene’s illness.
→ Why give a “villainess” such a hidden setup at all?

Looking at it after I wrote it out, there really were so many question marks.
I tried to find links between them, but even that wasn’t easy.

‘There’s definitely something I don’t know…’

Tap, tap. I drummed the quill.

‘Even if I transmigrated, it doesn’t make sense for brand-new content to appear that wasn’t in the novel at all.’

Of course, if there’s another transmigrator besides me, changes could happen because of them.
Even so, it felt like the original setting had changed far too much.

Tap, tap.
The nib kept tapping the table. Then—

Thwack.
I froze.

‘What if…’

What if this is a twist?
What if there’s a continuation I never read?

‘…I only read up to the part where Irene dies.’

What if there’s a story after Irene’s death?

Come to think of it, I had simply assumed the villainess’s death was the end of the novel.
Albert had already been revealed as the true male lead, and his love was nearly complete.
So I thought I knew everything about the story, but…

‘When you think about it, there was never any guarantee of that.’

A chill ran down my neck.

If what I’d found were foreshadowings for the story after Irene’s death—
then this unfamiliar sense of wrongness might be partly explained…

“Milady.”

“Eek.”

I yelped in surprise. Turning around, I saw the escort knight Deon standing there.
Haah… I was too deep in thought. I patted my chest.

“Deon? What is it?”

“…Forgive me for startling you. I have something to report.”

“Alright. Go ahead.”

I moved to cover the pages I had filled, and he bowed his head.

“I looked into that painting’s artist you mentioned.”

Two days later, I received a young woman in the drawing room.

“Thank you for coming such a long way. I’m Irene Hartmann.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Hartmann. My name is… Lia.”

When I offered my hand, she bowed and placed her hands politely in mine.

I looked at the long brown hair that fell forward across her shoulder.

‘Yes, she’s definitely the woman I saw from afar that day.’

She was the very commoner woman who lived in the house the 2nd Prince, Freddy, had visited.

“Normally, the person with business should visit in person, but I’m in a situation where I can’t easily leave the estate. Thank you for agreeing to come.”

“Yes… But may I ask why you wished to see me…?”

Following my gesture, she sat on the sofa, her face puzzled.

I smiled at her, then turned and signaled.

The attendants brought in something large.

When they set it before her, her eyes widened exactly as expected.

“You recognize this painting, don’t you?”

“…This is…”

Her eyes filled with sorrow. I recalled what Deon had told me the other day.

[We investigated the artist… She passed away less than six months ago. The piece you bought was her final work, painted just before she died.]
[And the woman you saw that day is the painter’s daughter.]

‘I did think the woman and the painting would be connected.’

But to think the artist was her mother.

It made me sure there was a reason Freddy wanted to buy back this painting for 100,000 gold—
a reason connected to this woman.

So I had to ask what her relationship was with the 2nd Prince.
Freddy is the mastermind in the novel.
And right now, I couldn’t be certain of anything about the story.

‘Maybe I can’t even be sure Freddy is really the mastermind…’

Freddy wasn’t going to explain himself, so I had to ask the woman.
He might hear about this meeting, but even so.

That was why I, a noble, was being so courteous as I met her.

“This painting… was done by my mother. So you’re the one who bought it for a large sum, my Lady.”

“That’s right. Actually… His Highness the 2nd Prince came to me, saying he wanted to buy it.”

“…Ah.”

“Lia, you have a personal connection with His Highness the 2nd Prince, don’t you?”

Caught off guard, Lia blushed.
It seemed she hadn’t expected the question; she faltered, unable to answer right away.

“Lia. Please listen.”

I looked into her eyes and spoke.

“I’m perfectly willing to sell this painting. But I must know the reason.”

“…”