Chapter 119
<Epilogue 1>
Huff, huff.
I opened my eyes at the suffocating feeling of struggling to breathe. I had opened them, yet it was no different from having them closed—I still couldn’t see anything.
Something was covering my face.
When I tried to remove it with my hands, I found my wrists were tied behind my back. At this point, an odd feeling crept over me.
What is this? Why do I have such a strong sense of déjà vu?
I wanted to check immediately, but there was no way. Then suddenly, one fact came to mind.
Right. I’m strong.
To make sure, I put strength into my arms. Sure enough, I felt the rope snap with a soft pop and slacken limply. As soon as my wrists were freed, I pulled off the mask covering my face. What came into view was a room that felt truly familiar.
This is Raymond’s countryside estate mansion, right? Why am I here?
Don’t tell me I regressed inside the novel?
My heart pounded even harder than when I had first possessed this body.
Surely all the hardships I’ve gone through haven’t turned to nothing, right? They can’t have.
I was trying to calm myself with deep breaths when I heard the sound of approaching footsteps. If my memory was correct, that would be Raymond coming.
Half nervous, half expectant, I waited. Soon the door opened, and Raymond entered with a dignified bearing.
“Oh? Lady Cowet. How did you remove the mask?”
He examined my condition and quickly grasped the situation.
“The bindings are undone. It seems the rope was tied loosely.”
Even as he said that, he tilted his head while looking at the loosened rope. Of course. I snapped it with my strength. But he would never imagine that a delicate noble lady could do such a thing, so he wouldn’t be able to solve that mystery.
However, what truly surprised Raymond was something else—my utterly composed attitude. I was sitting comfortably on the bed as if this were my own house, legs stretched out leisurely.
“Um… Lady Cowet?”
“Yes?”
“I abducted you. Are you not surprised?”
“Oh.”
Was I acting too much like this was my own room?
Come to think of it, I was completely trampling over the scenario. Well, I’d always done that to some extent.
“Then would you like to steal my lips?”
For the sake of progressing the story, I reclined halfway and struck a seductive pose. Raymond’s body instantly went rigid.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
My innocent favorite—so startled that instead of doing anything, he turned as if to leave.
In that instant, I sprang forward like an arrow and grabbed his arm. Then I threw him against the wall beside the door with a loud thud, pinning him there. Raymond’s blue eyes wavered in shock, his pupils trembling.
He’s cute when he’s innocent like this.
“L… Lady Cowet. Why are you doing this to me?”
“Your Highness, you’re the one who captured me and brought me here. Wasn’t this what you intended to do to me?”
I raised one eyebrow and slowly leaned my face closer. There was a height difference, so I had to look up at him, but standing on my tiptoes was enough to close the gap.
After hesitating for a moment, Raymond clenched his fist tightly and squeezed his eyes shut.
Huh? What’s this? I was about to kiss him, and he’s this compliant?
Could it be that Raymond liked Eileen from the beginning?
That reasonable suspicion bubbled up, leaving me with a strange feeling.
Just as I was about to cover his lips with mine, I stopped and simply stared at him. Raymond, who had been keeping his eyes shut, opened them again and met my gaze. Seeing that I wasn’t kissing him but instead glaring with narrowed eyes, he flinched in surprise. Then his face flushed red, and he ended up looking disappointed.
“So you were teasing me, my lady.”
“I’m hungry, so give me food. Let’s eat together.”
“V… very well.”
When I released the arm I had pinned, Raymond hurried out with stiff steps.
Even more than before, my proactive behavior left Raymond utterly flustered. If before I had squealed from a distance as a fan, now I treated him as my man from the very beginning, and he didn’t know what to do. Yet because my actions were so natural, he seemed to be drawn along without realizing it.
It was after he had finished group training. During training, a minor accident occurred and left a cut on his cheek. Judging it insignificant, he had left it untreated without even applying medicine. When I noticed it at mealtime, I called him over, intending to treat it myself as usual.
“Come closer. I’ll make it better.”
“Medicine is unnecessary. I’m fine.”
“No. Your handsome face mustn’t get infected.”
No matter what I said, Raymond kept refusing, so I decided I’d just go to him instead. I strode over to the seat across the table and firmly cupped both his cheeks in my palms. Seeing the frightened blue eyes looking at me, I wanted to shower him with kisses immediately, but I held back in case he thought I was insane. Instead, I brought my lips close to the wound and lightly licked it with my tongue.
“Ah!”
He wasn’t a dog—being suddenly licked by a person made Raymond flinch. But he neither avoided me nor pushed me away; he quietly received the treatment.
After a moment, when even the faint pain vanished along with the mark of the wound, Raymond looked utterly astonished.
“See? I told you I’d make it better.”
“How is something like this possible?”
“My saliva has healing power.”
“Healing power… in saliva…”
Muttering that, Raymond seemed to imagine something, because his face flushed red.
Excuse me, what are you thinking about? Is it the same thing I’m thinking?
He shook his head a few times, cleared his throat, and then expressed his gratitude.
“Thank you for treating me. Lady Cowet, you are a saint.”
“If you’re grateful, speak casually to me.”
“Casually? I cannot do that to a saint.”
“If you do, I’ll become Your Highness’s exclusive physician from now on.”
Pointing my thumb at myself, I declared confidently.
“Fine.”
From Raymond, who had been refusing, casual speech immediately slipped out.
When night fell and I was alone, I had to seriously think about my current situation.
Did I truly regress? Or was I dreaming?
Until yesterday, reality had existed—yet by this morning, it had all evaporated. Who wouldn’t be dumbfounded?
First, I needed to verify whether it was real.
I asked Raymond to bring me a spinning top.
“A spinning top?”
“Yes. I’m bored.”
Making a soulless excuse, I spun the top on the table. Whirr. It spun and spun, as though it would never stop.
Oh ho. I see.
With that, I could be certain. This place was a dream.
With that certainty, my actions became completely uninhibited. Like a colt with the reins cut loose, I did whatever I wanted.
I even openly scolded Cargo, who was acting as a spy.
“You spy bastard. Get away from His Highness at once!”
There was a reason no one restrained me despite acting like this. It was because Raymond treated me like a saint after learning about my healing power. Even in a dream, there needs to be at least minimal plausibility, right? It seemed prophetic ability or healing power felt much the same to people.
By the way, this man—ever since learning about my healing ability, he kept sticking his face out and closing his eyes at any time? If he got even the slightest injury, he would come running to me. Whether in dreams or reality, that part was exactly the same, which made me laugh endlessly.
I ended my happy abducted life and returned to the ducal residence. Raymond tried to stop me from leaving, but I forcibly shook him off. Because there was something I wanted to do. Namely, to get revenge on the head butler and the investigator.
When news came that the Emperor had sent someone, the maids rushed to dress me up properly according to protocol. But I rejected all their hands and went to meet him with only the minimum courtesy observed.
As expected, the head butler frowned at my attire. Regardless, I didn’t even greet properly and plopped down in a chair with my arms crossed.
“You’ve come.”
“Pardon? Y-Yes, my lady.”
The head butler’s eyebrows arched in disbelief. Judging by his slightly trembling voice, the shock was considerable. But as the Emperor’s fiancée, I was not someone he could openly treat carelessly. That was exactly what I was aiming for.
“Have you been well?”
“I was abducted and only just returned. Do I look well? I don’t need flowers, so if you’re that concerned, tell His Majesty to come himself.”
I shouted brazenly.
Ha. How polite I had been in reality.
Being able to yell like this made my chest feel wide open.
This is it. This is a soda shower!
“Y… yes. I will relay that.”
Unable to offer any rebuttal, he answered meekly. Still, perhaps he couldn’t simply send away the investigator dispatched by the Emperor, because he eventually called him in. In fact, that was what I wanted.
As soon as the investigator entered, the head butler quickly left, apparently unwilling to remain in this awkward situation any longer. I remained buried in the chair, merely rolling my eyes to look at the investigator. He flinched at my insolent gaze before pulling out the chair opposite me and sitting down. His attitude was far more respectful than in reality.
“I have come to investigate the circumstances of the incident.”
“Aren’t you going to greet me?”
At my blunt remark, the investigator startled and hurriedly bowed his head.
“Greetings, Lady Cowet.”
“Very well. You say you’ve come to investigate. I was walking along a street in the city when someone grabbed me from behind. That’s all I remember.”
“Pardon?”
The investigator questioned my insincere answer, but when I shot him a fierce glare, he lowered his head again.
“As an investigator, shouldn’t you personally trace my movements and the kidnapper’s movements to find out? I was traumatized by being abducted—how can you expect me to recount every detail?”
“M-My apologies.”
There was a kidnapping, and you think you can just take the victim’s statement and call it done? Can that be called doing your job properly?
I vented all the pent-up resentment I had been holding inside at the investigator.
The more forceful I was, the more politely he behaved—like someone strong against the weak and weak against the strong—which only made my anger flare further. Even if only in a dream, venting like this made my chest feel clear, as if indigestion had been relieved.
