Chapter 10
There were very few people who could throw pebbles at Grace’s bedroom window. She carefully approached the window, sticking out only her head without opening it.
“……!”
Benjamin, somehow managing to spot her even in the dark, beamed broadly and waved his hand.
*What should I do?*
After hesitating, Grace decided it would be strange not to open the window now that their eyes had already met, so she opened it. Seeing how insistently Benjamin was making his presence known, she figured he must have something to say.
Grace unlatched the window. Realizing that she was willing to talk to him, Benjamin hurriedly fixed his bangs.
“You’re still awake, my lady.”
“Then were you knocking on the window of someone who was asleep, Your Grace?”
Grace shot back sharply. Both she and Benjamin immediately realized their mistake.
“Ah, n-no. It was a very small stone—just loud enough to be heard if you were awake, but quiet enough that you could keep sleeping if you weren’t……”
“…….”
After fumbling through excuses, Benjamin groaned softly, bowed his head, and rubbed the back of his neck.
“No. This is my fault.”
“Is it?”
“Yes. You haven’t seemed to come out for walks lately, my lady, so I grew a bit anxious.”
“…I think I responded a bit sharply too. I’m sorry.”
When Grace apologized, Benjamin’s expression brightened.
Grace looked down at his face in puzzlement and asked,
“Still, why didn’t you just call for me from below through the butler, or come into the annex?”
“I’m not allowed to enter the annex.”
“…?”
At Grace’s bewildered expression, Benjamin was about to answer as if it were obvious, then added with an “Ah.”
“The annex is off-limits to outsiders. Unless you give permission, my lady, I can’t enter.”
“Then……”
Grace thought for a moment. Since the ducal estate belonged to the Duke of Felton—the head of the household, Benjamin Felton—could he really be treated as an outsider? As she pondered that, another question followed.
“Huh?”
“Does that mean I once barred Your Grace from entering?”
“That’s right.”
*Has she lost her mind?*
That was the first thought that crossed Grace’s mind at Benjamin’s reply.
Just a few hours ago, she had been mulling over the tragic wounds of the past Grace who had been heartbroken by Benjamin—but that same Grace, who had harbored a crush on him, had gone so far as to ban her crush from the annex.
*I mean, I don’t exactly want to grant him entry now either, but…*
Grace turned deathly pale, unable to say anything.
What on earth had the Grace of these hazy memories done?
As she stammered in silence, Benjamin hurriedly defended her past—more precisely, her actions before possession.
“I did wrong by you, my lady, so it’s only natural.”
“I see……”
Grace didn’t even have the courage to ask what exactly he had done to her.
Just recalling this much already felt overwhelming.
For now, she decided to ask why he had called for her through the window.
“So, what is the reason you called for me like this, Your Grace?”
“Ah.”
At her question, Benjamin smiled bashfully.
“I was so happy that you answered my call that I forgot to ask.”
“…….”
“There will soon be a masquerade festival. If you don’t mind, would you like to go with me?”
“A masquerade festival.”
Grace froze at Benjamin’s proposal.
“My lady?”
Her face turned ghostly white, then purple, then blue.
Though it was dark, Benjamin could instantly tell that Grace looked unwell.
“Y-your physician—!!”
“No!!”
Grace shouted urgently, cutting Benjamin off.
Neither Benjamin nor Grace ever raised their voices. So when their loud voices suddenly rang out late at night, lights flared on simultaneously in the servants’ quarters.
Grace sensed that things would soon grow noisy. They needed to finish this quickly.
“Let’s go!”
“…Pardon?”
Benjamin stared up at her with a blank expression, not expecting her to agree so readily.
Grace thought he hadn’t heard her, so she shouted louder.
“I said let’s go! The festival!! The masquerade festival!!”
With that, she hurriedly locked the window latch and yanked the curtains shut.
Even though Grace was no longer visible, Benjamin continued staring blankly at where she had been, then smiled like a fool.
“…Your Grace?”
Only then did the aide, who had been watching everything from afar, approach.
Benjamin wiped the foolish smile from his face and reclaimed his social dignity.
“Let’s go.”
“…….”
“My lady has given me her time, so I must reserve a full twenty-four hours solely for her.”
“The festival doesn’t last twenty-four hours.”
“What if my lady suddenly calls for me?”
The aide thought to himself:
There was absolutely no way the Duchess of Felton would suddenly summon Benjamin at dawn.
⋆★⋆
The reason Grace had gone pale at the mention of a masquerade festival was simple.
*Benjamin asked me to go with him?*
There had been a “masquerade festival” episode in the original story.
Grace recalled its contents.
But back then, Benjamin hadn’t gone with Grace. Though he claimed he wanted to go with his wife, he couldn’t, and instead he flirted shamelessly with Aria.
*In the novel, didn’t it say he even coaxed Aria with a puppy-dog face?*
He said he wanted to give a gift to his wife but didn’t understand women’s hearts, asking Aria if she could help him choose. Then he thanked her and bought her a gift as well.
In the process, he learned Aria’s tastes and continued buying her gifts regularly. Whenever Aria seemed burdened, he kept insisting that they were just friends.
It was the perfect groundwork for a “second male lead.”
Grace recalled the traits of people who commit affairs. The first trait of an adulterous man who seduces an innocent woman: he emphasizes how devoted he is to his family, lowering the other person’s guard.
Yes—exactly like bait cast by trash.
*Is it that masquerade festival?*
But this time, Grace had agreed to go with him.
Would that change the original plot? Grace wondered.
*Can the story really change?*
This was also why she had accepted his proposal, despite her complicated feelings about Benjamin.
*Then did he also ask Grace to go with him in the original story?*
Grace couldn’t understand Benjamin. So instead of thinking about Benjamin himself, she decided to reconsider the Duke of Felton.
*The House of Felton.*
Its emblem was a tree supporting the sun. The previous duchess was from the venerable House of Kremlin…
Grace rattled off the history of the House of Felton in her mind, then stopped.
*This is insane—forget all that.*
This body barely remembered anything about herself, yet it perfectly retained the history of the ducal house.
Grace recalled not the real history of the Duke of Felton, but the “setting” she knew.
If the emblem of the House of Felton was a tree supporting the sun, then naturally the sun symbolized the imperial family.
Since the founding of the empire, the House of Felton had stood alongside the imperial family, supporting it.
*But in “The Saintess’s Wish,” they later describe it as a tree that doesn’t support the sun, but devours it.*
The reason lay in the Felton Duchy, ruled by the Duke of Felton for generations. Though the empire’s climate was generally mild, there was one barren territory—naturally, the north.
*Aren’t northern dukes usually black-haired?*
Grace decided to stop thinking about Benjamin’s appearance here. It felt like a prejudice.
Leaving aside the empire’s fantasy-like legendary history: the north was infested with monsters, and to prevent them from invading the empire, the first Duke of Felton took up the sword as its shield.
The emperor granted him the title of duke and named the vast northern lands the Felton Duchy.
Two generations later, as the empire stabilized and grew powerful, the emperor bestowed two additional territories with mild climates upon the Duke of Felton.
*Of course. The northern lands were the hardest to live in.*
There were hardly any residents, and monsters kept appearing endlessly.
In name he was a duke, but in reality it was close to an honorary position. The book emphasized that the Dukes of Felton of that era were remarkably free of greed, as were their wives.
Then, suddenly, the status of the House of Felton changed.
With the rediscovery of magic, the profession of magitech engineers emerged, along with the concept of “mana stones.”
Mana stones were found in minerals across various regions, but the purest ones were made from the hearts and bones of monsters.
*And the north was crawling with monsters.*
The empire couldn’t confiscate the land or demand mana stone tributes in the name of national assets, because the Dukes of Felton had always covered military expenses with their own private funds.
Grace marveled at herself for recalling all of this.
No matter how much he later turned dark and became a problematic “gentle villain,” before that, he had once been her favorite character.
*I should’ve just finished it in paper form instead of getting curious and reading the next volume on my phone…*
Anyway, starting with the sale of top-grade mana stones, the House of Felton grew steadily more powerful, and the imperial family felt the need to suppress them.
*And the choice they made… was me.*
