Because it wasn’t long after Emil proposed to me, that’s what I was most concerned about.
If someone proposed and then their wife passed away so soon after, it would surely hurt a lot for Emil as well.
‘As expected, it’s better to refuse the propos….’
Looking back at Emil with that thought, I froze like ice.
Emil, dressed in black mourning attire, wore a terrifyingly blank expression.
There wasn’t a trace of sadness or regret on his face. He simply stared down at my body as if it were nothing more than a sheet of paper. I was so shocked that my hands began to tremble.
‘Who is that? I don’t know a man with a face like that.’
Emil had always smiled so sweetly. He had never worn such a cold expression before.
‘Is that really Emil?’
As I stared at him—pale as a ghost, as if possessed—Emil’s face twisted, and he spoke to the lifeless body lying before him.
“You were always clinging to that knitting basket. Now I don’t have to see that sickening thing anymore.”
The words froze my heart.
‘Is that really… Emil?’
I had always been good at handicrafts. Sewing, embroidery—I was skilled at them all. But knitting was my best. Every winter sweater Emil wore had been made by me.
〈Oh my, Yvonne! You’ll make a wonderful wife.〉
Countess Kleene would say, praising my skills every chance she got. And Emil—he always smiled so sweetly whenever I handed him a finished scarf or sweater.
〈Thank you, as always, Yvonne. I’m happy.〉
‘But… were you thinking this all along?’
You were glad you wouldn’t have to see the thing that sickened you?
My thoughts were a mess—I couldn’t tell if what I was seeing was reality or a vision conjured by magic. A flash of red hair swept past me like a flame. A coy voice called out to Emil.
“Come here, Emil. You’ve seen your wife off enough. Honestly, isn’t this funeral a bit too much for Yvonne?”
She walked up to Emil and folded her arms around him affectionately. Emil, who had remained expressionless the whole time, actually smiled at her.
“That’s right.”
“Let’s go back and have a toast. I’ve prepared everything.”
“Yeah.”
Someone had just died, yet she was talking about a toast. I clenched my fists as I watched her.
‘Rossiane Bergamot!’
She had been my only friend.
* * *
My hands trembled—I had seen a future so shocking that I couldn’t move. Even after returning to the present, I sat there in a daze.
‘Why did the future show me something like that?’
I hugged my trembling arms tightly around myself. The magical vision had vanished, but I could still clearly remember Emil looking down at me… and me, lying in the coffin as a corpse.
‘There’s no way Emil would do that.’
I shook my head firmly. The Emil who always smiled so warmly, and the Emil with that cold, indifferent face—they overlapped in my mind, leaving me completely lost.
“This… this is all fake. Just an illusion. I must be overreacting because of the shock.”
I couldn’t believe I had seen such a dreadful future. I wanted to forget it—to pretend I hadn’t seen anything at all, to wipe it from my memory.
But the small, round knitting doll with its jade-colored eyes, staring silently up at me, kept me from escaping reality.
「Are you okay, Yvonne? If you need to cry, you can hold me. 」
“Pepe…”
Pepe consoled me awkwardly. My vision was blurred with tears, but even through them, I could see a hint of regret on his faint, stitched face—as if he realized he had shown me the magic too soon.
I held Pepe tightly against my chest. He was just a small, knitting doll, but in that moment, the simple fact that I wasn’t alone was enough to warm my heart.
Slowly, I opened my mouth to speak. The future I had glimpsed was so shocking, my voice trembled.
“Wha–what I saw… it was real, wasn’t it?”
「That’s…」
“I’m going to die soon.”
The moment I said it out loud, the vision I had seen earlier pressed in even more vividly. I tightened my grip around Pepe with trembling fingers.
“My fiancé, Emil, laughing with Rossiane—his arm affectionately linked with hers—as they stood over my dead body. What the hell is going on?”
「 Calm down, Yvonne.」
Even with Pepe’s gentle voice trying to soothe me, the tremor in my body wouldn’t stop. I shut my eyes tightly. All I could do was try to hold back the tears.
“They were the people I trusted…”
〈You must be Yvonne. Nice to meet you, I’m Rossiane.〉
Rossiane was the most beautiful girl in the Kleene estate. Her father, a viscount, worked under Count Kleene. Because she often accompanied her father to the House of Kleene, Rossiane naturally became a friend to both Emil and me.
As beautiful as her appearance was, Rossiane also had a confident, graceful personality.
〈Yvonne, hold your back straight.〉
〈Don’t mind those who laugh at you.〉
〈You have us.〉
She had always been a precious friend—someone who encouraged me whenever I felt small, especially when the three of us were together.
‘I can’t believe… that Rossiane would be smiling at my death.’
What struck me even more was how naturally Rossiane linked her arm with Emil’s—it wasn’t something casual. They looked like they had been lovers for a very long time.
‘Have they been in love this whole time?’
I tilted my head.
‘Then why did Emil propose to me? If he loved Rossiane, he could’ve proposed to her instead, not me.’
That was when someone came to mind—Emil’s mother, the Countess.
〈I’m so glad you two are getting married!〉
At Emil’s sudden proposal, the Countess had appeared almost immediately, as if she’d been waiting for that exact moment. And Emil hadn’t looked surprised at all.
There was only one thing that could explain such a strange proposal.
‘Emil already knew. The Countess wanted me as her daughter-in-law.’
Then it all made sense. He proposed not because he loved me, but because he didn’t want to disappoint his mother.
The real question was: how long was he planning to keep up this ridiculous act?
‘Until I die?’
Were the two of them planning to keep deceiving me… Even while in love?
My blood ran cold again as I recalled the sight of them laughing together over my dead body. I clenched my lips tightly, and Pepe gently patted the back of my hand.
「 Judging by your expression, you’re thinking way too negatively. Stop it. What we saw is just a small fragment of the future—nothing is certain.」
And then came the words that struck me like a bell:
「 The future is changeable.」
“What… what did you say?”
Can the future be changed?
I stared blankly at Pepe, still trying to grasp his words, when suddenly, a maid’s voice called from outside the door.
“Miss Yvonne, you need to come downstairs.”
“Wh–what?”
I jolted upright, startled like someone caught keeping a forbidden secret. Luckily, the maid hadn’t entered the room yet.
I looked at Pepe in a panic. Pepe quickly shook his head.
「I—I’ll pretend to be a doll!」
That’s right. A talking doll would be suspicious to anyone.
Pepe immediately went limp, relaxing like a lifeless toy. No matter who looked, he was just an ordinary doll. I pressed a trembling hand to my chest, trying to steady my breath.
‘Acting all flustered like this is even more suspicious. There’s nothing to worry about. No one else knows what Pepe really is.’
To be honest, until this morning, Pepe had been nothing more than a doll to me. I’m the only one who knows he’s actually a magical dragon.
‘Yeah… there’s nothing to worry about. I just need to act natural.’
I walked toward the door. I wasn’t sure if my mind was calming down with each step… or if it was turning even more upside down.
“Phew…”
As I awkwardly approached the door, it let out a soft squeak. I took a deep breath and opened it. The maid I saw every day blinked at me and asked,
“Are you all right, Miss? You’re sweating.”
“Oh, I was… working out.”
“In your room?”
“Uh… uh-huh.”
Even to my own ears, my voice sounded completely unnatural. I gave her a sheepish smile.
“I-I thought I should lose a little weight before the engagement.”
The maid tilted her head slightly, but eventually nodded.
“With such sudden marriage news, I understand you’re feeling nervous. But honestly, you’re perfect just the way you are. What’s important is not to gain or lose weight too quickly. You don’t need to overdo it.”
“Y–yeah…”
There was nothing wrong with what the maid said. Thanks to the Countess’s rush, all the wedding dresses had already been ordered. If anything, a change in my body shape now would only cause problems with the fittings.
The maid muttered under her breath, “You usually don’t like exercising…” Then she gently pulled at my skirt to straighten it and added,
“There’s a guest at the mansion. You need to go to the drawing room quickly.”
“A guest?”
Was someone supposed to visit today? I tilted my head in confusion, only to freeze like stone at the maid’s next words.
“Miss Rossiane.”
“…”
Rossiane had come to visit.