Chapter 02
At Theo’s words, Liriope, who had been looking at him with a somewhat flustered expression, tilted her head once more and said,
“Oh, then was it at the Hunting Festival?”
“Didn’t the duke forbid you from going, saying it was dangerous? As far as I know, you’ve never attended the Hunting Festival.”
“Ah, then maybe at the New Year’s Festival…”
“I haven’t left the Grand Duke’s castle for the New Year’s Festival in the last four years.”
“T-then maybe it was four years ago.”
“Weren’t you still at the Academy until four years ago?”
Ha, this guy. Why does he have such disgustingly good memory?
When Liriope, out of words, rolled her eyes in panic, Theo slowly swept her with a snake-like gaze.
“So, you really do like me?”
And with a voice just as slow as his gaze, he asked.
Liriope nodded immediately and said,
“Of course. I like you so much that you even appear in my dreams. And why would I lie about liking you if I didn’t?”
“…”
“Of course, I understand that since I’ve always chased after His Highness the Crown Prince, it must be hard for you to believe me. I get that, but still, it would be too sad if you ignored my sincere affection, don’t you think?”
Placing a hand over her chest, Liriope lowered her gaze with a mournful expression.
Since things had come this far, she decided she might as well make the engagement with the Northern Grand Duke a fait accompli and wipe away her entanglement with the Crown Prince.
That way, at least the “death ending” wouldn’t happen.
Though it felt a bit wrong to drag the male lead—the Northern Grand Duke—into this, she figured it wouldn’t be too much of a problem if she just borrowed him for a short while and handed him over to the heroine afterward.
Sacrificing the villainess’s life wouldn’t really derail the original story anyway.
Theo, frowning briefly at her excessive acting, soon stood up.
In his hand was their engagement contract.
“Well, let’s go with that for now.”
At his words, Liriope also rose to her feet.
At that moment, an elegant, pleasant fragrance drifted from her toward him, making Theo’s expression subtly change.
His gaze lingered on Liriope.
“But.”
Drawing closer with a deep baritone, Theo tilted his head slightly and stared into her eyes.
Startled by his sudden closeness, Liriope looked up at him, only to find his face inches away. He leaned down slowly, his eyes piercing into her.
As Liriope fidgeted nervously, Theo bent lower still, his lips near her ear.
“The moment I walk out of here with this, there’s no taking it back.”
His breath brushed the back of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine.
The ticklish yet chilling sensation spread through her whole body, and a sigh close to a moan slipped from her lips.
Startled by her own sound, she instinctively stepped back, her face flushed red under Theo’s gaze.
Her hands clutched her skirt tightly, wishing something—anything—would cover her burning face.
Theo, watching her intently, let out a soft, amused chuckle before straightening his back.
His gaze, however, still throbbed against her heartbeat.
“Even if you cry and beg, there’ll be no undoing it.”
He waved the engagement contract playfully, his eyes glinting with amusement.
Horrified, Liriope lunged toward him, reaching for the contract.
“Then at least let’s reconsider…”
But before she could finish, Theo stretched his arm high above her reach. In the process, Liriope lost her balance and stumbled, bumping face-first into his chest.
Instinctively, Theo’s hand caught her by the waist.
Flustered, Liriope pushed him away and stepped back quickly. Theo too retreated a step, clearing his throat awkwardly, lowering the hand that held the contract.
Then, pretending nothing had happened, he said casually,
“Of course, I already have no intention of breaking it.”
Liriope frowned.
Didn’t he just say I couldn’t undo it if he left with it, and now he’s saying he has no plans of breaking it anyway?
Her heart was already pounding from the accidental contact, and now his confusing words only tangled her mind further.
Forcing a polite smile, she replied,
“Actually, I’ve had a little crush on you for a while, but I wasn’t expecting to suddenly be engaged like this. My father acted without consulting me, so I’m honestly quite flustered, and I imagine you must feel the same way, right?”
So wouldn’t it make sense to end this engagement here?
Her eyes locked on the contract, desperate to rip it apart.
“That’s why… you don’t really have to be dragged into this mess because of me and my father—”
But Theo let out a breathy laugh, cutting her off.
It wasn’t mocking or unpleasant—just strangely curious.
“You’re the type who worries about unnecessary things.”
Liriope blinked at him in confusion as he added, with a faint smile,
“Even if you later cry and beg to marry the Crown Prince, it’ll be useless. From the moment you tried to use me, you’ve bound yourself to pay the price.”
With that, Theo turned his back on her, leaving the reception room without another glance.
Liriope stood frozen, blinking as he disappeared.
“…What the heck…”
When he was finally gone, she sighed deeply and lifted her gaze to the ceiling.
I think I just ruined everything trying to twist the original story…?!
Using the teleportation portal, Theo returned to the North and sat in his office, staring at the golden-glowing engagement contract.
When Duke Ricaze Stela himself had approached him with talk of engagement, Theo had thought it was utter nonsense.
After all, Liriope Stela was notorious throughout the Empire as “the foolish young lady who clung desperately to the Crown Prince.”
Even though the Crown Prince tried time and again to push her away, she stubbornly clung to his ankles, offering relentless affection that only drew disgust.
And yet suddenly, that same woman claimed to like him? Impossible.
Surely it was some foolish scheme, and since she planned to use him in it, he would naturally make her pay the price.
…So why did he feel so strangely unsettled?
And that pleasant scent—what was that?
Theo recalled the fragrance that had enveloped him when he drew close to her.
Could a person’s body really smell that good? It was baffling.
Perhaps my nose is messed up because of the Razerian.
He tried to brush off the memory, but the urge to run back and check again gnawed at him, furrowing his brow.
“Are you truly going to go through with this engagement?”
His aide, Adil, asked carefully.
Theo’s expression hardened briefly before he gave no real answer, only letting out a short laugh.
“Well. What do you think?”
In truth, even without everything else, the engagement contract was welcome because of the living phoenix, Rinix, that Liriope had created as her Academy graduation project.
As the only fire mage capable of creating an everlasting flame, Liriope would be a great asset to the frozen North—and Rinix especially was something they needed desperately.
Adil’s worried gaze lingered on him, but Theo was lost in thoughts of what had happened at the duke’s mansion.
The scent when he approached her, the way her face flushed at his touch, the defiance in her gaze as she tried to act unbothered…
It all unraveled his composure.
Especially when she spoke of why she had fallen for him…
―Honestly, I’m weak to handsome men, but that’s not why I fell for you, Lord Theo. It wasn’t your chiseled looks but your abilities, your steadfast character—those are what stole my heart. Speaking of which, you truly are the most capable among the Empire’s nobles…
He’d silenced her mid-sentence with a raised hand, unable to bear listening further, but still—he had never experienced such a brazen confession right before his eyes.
And when he coughed, she had, without hesitation, ordered the servants to remove the Razerian flowers.
Only his personal physician and the staff of the Grand Duke’s castle knew of his allergy to Razerian.
Not even the imperial family, with whom he had grown up, knew.
Yet Liriope had not only recognized it, but also had the flowers removed without fuss, even opening the windows herself to ventilate the room.
For an imperial noblewoman—most of whom treated flowers as if they were extensions of their very selves, something to flaunt and decorate with—such an action was downright startling.
But she had done it so casually.
It had left a stronger impression than he realized.
And that impression kept tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Though Theo himself hadn’t yet realized he was smiling.
