TBKBS 04

TBKBS

Posted by Elsa, Released on September 8, 2025

Chapter : 04

Finally, the woman rejected Leon and even asked him to dance with her.

‘The daughter of the Duke of Brockburke is rejecting Leon’s dance request right in front of me and asking me to dance?’

What kind of man was the Duke of Brockburke?

The duke was renowned throughout the Everetian Empire for his skill, character, and influence. That was why him aligning with the Empress was a painful loss for the Crown Prince himself.

It was already widely known that the reason the duke sided with the Empress was because of his daughter. Officially, it hadn’t been announced, but it was said she was engaged to Leon.

And yet, that very woman had rejected Leon and asked to dance with me—a situation that was utterly incomprehensible.

Even after that, her gaze remained fixed on me.

Just as I was reaching my limit in tolerating her persistent stare, Crown Prince Eden Dacus arrived.

The woman seemed startled by something, making a strange, dazed expression.

As all eyes, including hers, turned to Eden, Calix quietly began to leave the banquet hall.

This was enough to fulfill his duties and etiquette as the Crown Prince.

Although he had failed at one thing.

On the surface, Eden Dacus had visited Everetia to negotiate an iron ore trade. But Calix suspected there might be another reason behind Eden’s frequent travels and long stays in the empire.

That was why he had attended this banquet—to try and discern Eden’s true intentions.

However, the unexpected obstacle—the burdensome gaze of the woman beside him—made it impossible to endure any longer.

If the woman’s goal was to force Calix to leave, she had succeeded perfectly.

Even though she had treated Leon completely differently at the palace banquet, it seemed the ten years of love Leon and Kaelin had nurtured were incredibly strong.

A few days after the banquet, a letter from Leon arrived at home, asking when it would be best to announce their engagement.

Or perhaps Leon, surprised by my attitude, had hurriedly sent the letter.

Either way, my heart sank when I read it, and I rushed to my father.

“Father, I’m not going to marry Duke Leon.”

He blinked as if he’d misheard, then after a long pause, asked:

“Lin, what do you mean? Your marriage to Duke Leon is already a done deal, isn’t it?”

A done deal? We haven’t even married yet! I’m going to change that plot!

“My feelings have changed. I don’t love Duke Leon, and I don’t want him to become emperor.”

This time, my father’s eyes widened properly.

He examined my face carefully.

“Lin… Are you unwell? I don’t understand what you’re saying. Suddenly, you don’t love the duke? This… isn’t serious, is it? Is there something going on with him?”

Sure, it was reasonable for him to be suspicious. After all, I had claimed to love Leon until now.

But there was no helping it.

“Calix likes me. And I… I like him too.”

“Lin!”

As soon as I spoke, my father called my name in a loud, agitated voice, turning pale.

It made sense—just moments ago, I had said I loved Leon, and now suddenly I liked Calix.

Yet, I said it calmly and firmly, without changing my expression.

“Crown Prince Calix likes me. I also want to support him as emperor.”

My father, however, looked like he had just heard nonsense.

Well, of course. Calix had never publicly shown his affection or obsession for Kaelin. He had only suffered privately from his one-sided love, gradually growing more obsessive.

I, as the author, knew this—but no one else did. Even Kaelin herself wouldn’t fully know his feelings until right before his near-deadly actions.

Naturally, my father, Duke Brockburke, who didn’t know Calix’s heart at all, found my words sudden and strange.

“Lin… you’re really not unwell?”

Kaelin had been so frail that she needed to recuperate in the countryside. My father seemed worried that his already weak daughter had also lost her mind.

“No! Father, it’s nothing like that.”

“Lin!”

I ignored his attempt to interrupt and continued.

“I support Calix! Father, you chose to support Duke Leon because of me, didn’t you? So now, support Calix. I believe he… will become emperor.”

I knew he wouldn’t believe me immediately, and might even worry about my mental state, so this was all I could say.

My firm tone made my father shut his mouth, as if he had something to say.

Finally, he spoke, but his words were far from what I had expected:

“Lin, the agreement with Duke Leon has already begun. It cannot be undone. The cart moves because the wheels are interlocked. All the wheels have already started turning.”

!!!!!

All the wheels? What wheels? This is supposed to happen two years from now—why can’t it be undone?

There’s still time to change the plan.

The events between Kaelin and Calix had been written mainly to create trauma for the male lead. I had roughly outlined them but not in detail.

So I couldn’t be sure when Kaelin’s father and the Empress had secretly begun their scheme against Calix. It was only mentioned around the engagement talks.

And yet, it had already begun? Already irreversible?

Impossible!

“No! Whether the cart breaks or not, we must not become its wheels! You have to change the plan—absolutely!”

I shouted in agitation. We must support Calix, or I’d die!

But my father remained silent.

I said one last thing:

“I support Calix. So you must break ties with the Empress’s faction. Believe me.”

“…….”

Why was there no answer?

The plan could still be changed…

My father stayed silent.

That silence terrified me.

I had adapted quickly to being possessed in my novel and had been getting used to my father being the duke. But now, facing his stubborn opposition, the familiarity I had felt was fading.

After the exhausting conversation with my father, my head felt even more cluttered.

I had thought I had enough time to execute my survival plan, but I had been possessed at a point when Calix had already begun steps leading to a knife.

And I hadn’t anticipated my father’s stubborn insistence on the original plan.

What should I do…?

How could I survive without dying?

Even if Calix loved me and I pretended to love him, if my father started a rebellion against him…

Would love save the daughter of a traitor?

As I pondered,

knock knock

Someone knocked on the door.

Assuming it was a maid, I called for them to enter, and the door opened immediately.

A pretty, cute girl with striking red hair entered, her face flushed.

Who is this?

Before I could even assess the situation, the red-haired girl spoke.

“Lin!! It’s been so long!!!!”

Then she rushed toward me and hugged me tightly.

“Lin, I’ve really missed you. I just got back to Everlen yesterday. You missed me too, right?”

I was momentarily stunned by her energetic and noisy behavior, forgetting my worries.

I had to respond quickly. She seemed to know me, so I couldn’t pretend otherwise.

Red hair…

“Abby?”

Finally, I remembered the name I had jotted down next to my brother Luke in the character chart. There was only one redhead.

“Lin, I missed you so much! My father unnecessarily took me on a trip, and it’s been ages since I’ve been back!”

She accepted being called Abby, so I had guessed correctly. She was my brother Luke’s fiancée, Abby Dalton—a character I had only set for background purposes, though in the story, she might not even appear. She was also set as Kaelin’s friend.

But to be this close?

A spontaneously developing situation?

Having finally identified her, I spoke cautiously.

“Abby. It’s been a long time. I missed you too.”

“Right? Did you make any progress with Duke Leon while I was gone?”

Ah… she also assumes I’m Leon’s lover. Since it had spread as a supposed fact that Kaelin and Leon were a couple, my sudden change of heart wouldn’t be easily believed.

“Ah… well…”

Progress… yes, I had distanced myself. But I mumbled vaguely. I was too tired to explicitly say, “It’s not Duke Leon.”

However, Abby didn’t seem particularly interested in my answer and switched topics.

“This Friday!”

“Huh?”

Friday? What is she talking about?

Seeing my confused reaction, Abby frowned.

“The night market. Friday is the full moon. Did you forget? We agreed to go together, remember? I had to rush my father just to make it back so we could keep that promise!”

Night market? I had never heard of this before.

I had to get used to these new setups and spontaneous events.

“Ah… I see.”

I played along for now.

“We should leave early. We can’t buy everything, so we need to see as much as possible.”

“Yeah, exactly. We need to see a lot.”

I responded vaguely.

“Two books is the maximum you can hide under your skirt. Oh, I wonder if my favorite author released a new work?”

Hide under my skirt? New release?

Wait, what?

Could it be… that kind of book?

I looked at Abby and asked cautiously:

“Why hide it under your skirt? You can just carry it openly.”

Her eyes went wide, and she slapped me, saying:

“Lin, are you crazy? Your father and brother think of you as baby Lin. If they saw you reading a book full of skin-colored pages, they’d go ‘Whoa, adult Lin…!’ Get a grip!”

Ah! Right! 18+!

So this world also has “those” books, filled with… illustrations?

“Should I buy picture books then?”

I asked cautiously. I liked the pictures.

“Do whatever you want. I already own all the literary works… Now it’s time to focus on practice rather than theory.”

Huh? Practice, not theory?

What does she mean? Theory is books, practice is… oh no!

I stared at Abby in shock.

She calmly explained:

“Lin, you’ve read enough books, right? Now you need to move on to the practical stage with Duke Leon… You’ve studied, now apply it in real life.”

Oh… she’s relentless.

No choice. I realized I had to explicitly tell her I was no longer in love with Duke Leon.