Chapter 12

“I’ve wanted to see you… for so long.”

With a face filled with excitement and joy, he whispered as if confessing.

He extended a bouquet toward her, admitting that he had waited for the day they would meet again.

She stood there, staring blankly at the extravagant bouquet.

She was tired of it.

The flowers she had seen endlessly over the past few days had now turned into resentment toward him.

“Get rid of it.”

She slapped Gusto’s hand, which was holding the bouquet.

Perhaps she had used more force than she thought, as the bouquet fell helplessly to the ground. The petals scattered at her feet.

“…”

That wasn’t her intention…

“I’m sorry. I forgot that you dislikes flowers, Lady Shaterian.”

His face looked so forlorn as he picked up the ruined bouquet.

‘Why are you apologizing for that…? You’re making me feel like even more of a piece of trash.’

Her faint conscience pricked at her.

Still, she had no intention of smoothing over the situation.

“I heard that the Avidita Viscount Family proposed a marriage alliance to the Melis Ducal Family.”

She spoke coldly, as if it had been an utterly useless move.

“…It felt like my last chance to stand by your side, Lady Shaterian, so I didn’t want to let it slip away.”

Though his pride should have been hurt, he smiled faintly and said everything he wanted to say.

Seeing the changed Gusto, who had once stammered nervously in front of her, she realized that seven years had indeed passed.

‘If you were going to change, you should’ve also let go of your feelings for me.’

She thought to herself, annoyed.

“Do you remember what I said when we parted back then? I said I never wanted to see your face again.”

“Yes. But I couldn’t forget you, Lady Shaterian. I haven’t forgotten.”

“Well, that’s your problem. I don’t want to have anything to do with you.”

‘If I get involved with you, I’ll never escape from the original storyline.’

She was already too closely tied to the main characters of the original story. Adding Gusto, the villain, to the mix was the last thing she wanted.

So…

“Go back. And don’t come looking for me again. Just live your life, as you’ve done for the past seven years.”

“…I’ve heard the rumors. About you and Eched Astrea… Do you know how much it hurt me to hear them?”

Frankly, she couldn’t care less.

“So what?”

“I shut myself away in the remote estate, thinking only of you every day because you said you didn’t want to see me, Lady Shaterian.”

‘Then you should’ve just stayed there forever.’

She mocked him in her mind.

“Still, I thought… Maybe I should visit. If I went to the capital, perhaps I could see you just once. But then I worried—what if you hated me even more? I spent sleepless nights agonizing over it.”

“…”

“But then, hearing those rumors about Eched Astrea… And now you’re meeting just any man. Doesn’t that mean someone like me might be acceptable too?”

Gusto asked her to accept him.

The tattered bouquet on the ground looked just like Gusto himself.

“Gusto, I have no intention of marrying anyone. Not you, not Eched, not anyone else. So cancel the marriage proposal and go back.”

“Am I really of no use to you anymore?”

“Yes. Forever.”

“Truly, I…”

Gusto’s unfocused eyes wandered aimlessly.

The sudden shift in atmosphere made her shoulders tremble.

“Gusto?”

He didn’t respond to her call.

Instead, she felt an eerie chill that made her hair stand on end.

“Gusto!”

“Yes? Why are you calling me, Lady Shaterian?”

Gusto smiled faintly.

Without realizing it, she took a step back.

The air around Gusto had undeniably changed.

It was an inexplicable, strange sensation.

“Gusto, you…”

Her mouth opened, but she quickly shut it again.

She was about to ask what he had been doing since leaving the academy but stopped herself.

More than that, she felt an urgent need to distance herself from him immediately.

However, Gusto was the first to leave.

“I have some matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave.”

Gusto bowed abruptly and stepped back without resistance.

At the same time, the chilling aura that had surrounded him dissipated as if it had never existed.

It was so cleanly gone, it felt like it had been her imagination.

The next day.

Gusto canceled the marriage proposal and engagement talks and disappeared without a trace.

***

The Kentri Public Academy was divided into two main faculties: the Magic Department and the General Department.

The Magic Department was for those with magical power aspiring to become mages, while the General Department was for everyone else.

The “everyone else” included those without any magical power, those with too little magical power to cast spells, and those with divine power who didn’t wish to become priests.

Before admission, the aptitude test had determined that she had neither magical power nor divine power.

It was an inability rarely found among high-ranking nobles.

However, her parentage couldn’t be doubted—her appearance was the spitting image of her father, the Third Prince, and her pink hair and green eyes were identical to her mother’s, a Lady of the Melis Ducal Family.

Moreover, she was the only one to achieve a perfect score on the written entrance exam.

Eched had entered through a special recruitment process.

‘Shaterian always had a sharp mind.’

Of course, that was her.

She smiled in satisfaction before snapping herself out of her thoughts.

She had gotten sidetracked. Anyway…

Gusto Avidita, who had only a small amount of magical power, belonged to the General Department. He couldn’t cast any significant spells.

‘Then what was that back then?’

She recalled the unsettling feeling Gusto had given her that day.

The chilling energy had been so extraordinary that even someone like her, without magical power, could sense it.

As she twirled her pen, she asked Pell, who was processing documents.

“Pell, is it possible for someone’s magical power to increase as they age?”

“I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Right? Then are there any items that can increase magical power?”

“I don’t know about increasing it, but there are potions that restore magical power, though they’re sold at exorbitant prices.”

Those potions were ultra-luxury items, priced at 1,000 gold.

“Not that potion… Could it be that a potion that increases magical power has been developed?”

If such a thing existed, the Mage Tower would have been abuzz with news.

The declining Mage Tower had been eerily silent.

‘Should I consult a mage about this?’

After some idle thought, she grabbed her coat.

“Pell, are you busy?”

“No. Once I finish this, you can leave first, Chief.”

“Alright. Then I’ll head out first.”

After bidding Pell farewell, she left the office.

Outside, the weather had warmed, signaling the arrival of spring.

The buds on the nearby cherry trees had begun to bloom.

It seemed they would be in full bloom just in time for the Founding Festival in a few days.

‘A festival, the full moon, and cherry blossoms.’

It was the perfect setting for something to happen. It also matched the atmosphere of the original story’s beginning.

As she walked along the path and arrived at the annex, the servants greeted her.

“Lady, you’ve returned. What would you like for dinner?”

“Could I take a bath first?”

“Yes, I will have the bathwater prepared in the bathroom.”

The head maid, who oversaw the management of the annex, disappeared inside.

Shaterian passed through the hall and arrived at her room on the second floor.

She didn’t like keeping too many belongings, so her room was relatively empty. However, as soon as she stepped inside, she noticed a bouquet on the table by the window—a bouquet that hadn’t been there in the morning.

“Ha…”

It was the same type of bouquet Gusto had sent to her office.

Inside the bouquet was a card, just like the one that had arrived at the counseling office. But this time, the card was blank.

In this world, a blank card had only one meaning:

A warning.

“Lady, the bath is ready.”

At that moment, a maid appeared.

“Could you throw this away?”

She pointed to the bouquet.

The maid, wiping her wet hands on her apron, approached and widened her eyes.

“Oh my! It’s lisianthus, isn’t it?”

“Lisi… what?”

“Lisianthus. Its flower language means ‘unchanging love.’ Who gave it to you? It’s so beautiful.”

Even the flower language was ridiculous.

She had thought Gusto had gone back to his remote viscounty after canceling the marriage talks the day before.

“Throw it away. And make sure no one ever puts a bouquet like that in my room again.”

“Yes.”

Although the maid seemed puzzled, she didn’t object.

Shaterian watched the maid leave with the bouquet and then entered the bathroom.

But the bouquets didn’t stop.

The next day, after finishing work, she returned to her room.

There, in the exact same spot, was another bouquet.

Irritated, she called for the head maid.

“Who put that there?”

She pointed at the bouquet. The head maid glanced at the flowers and then bowed her head.

“I’m sorry, my lady. I will gather the maids and find out immediately.”

“Forget it. Just get rid of it. And make sure it doesn’t happen again. If it does, it won’t end with a simple scolding.”

“Yes, I will ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

The head maid quickly left the room, carrying the bouquet.

And yet, the following day…

Seeing the same bouquet once more, Shaterian could no longer hold back her anger.

“Who is doing this?”

She stormed downstairs to the hall, clutching the bouquet, and threw it onto the floor.

The startled maids rushed over, their faces pale as they exchanged nervous glances.

“I told you not to bring these into my room. Head maid, didn’t you deliver my message properly?”

“I did, my lady. Yesterday, I clearly informed everyone. However, no one among the maids brought a bouquet to your room.”

“Then are you saying this bouquet walked into my room on its own?”

“I don’t know how it got there, but none of us placed it in your room.”

“…”

The head maid’s expression was firm and sincere. Slowly, Shaterian’s anger began to subside.

“Then are you saying no one here brought the bouquet today either?”

“It wasn’t me.”

“Nor me.”

“Not me either.”

“Me neither…”

Frightened that the blame might fall on them, the maids quickly shook their heads in denial.

Seeing the young maids trembling in fear, Shaterian felt a pang of guilt.

“Sigh… I must have scared you with my outburst. I’m sorry. Please clean up the hall. I need to rest.”

“Would you like me to bring you some herbal tea, my lady? It might help you calm down.”

“Thank you.”

Her steps felt heavy as she climbed the stairs back to her room.

But when she finally returned to her room, her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor.

“My lady?”

The head maid, who had followed her with a tray of tea, rushed over in alarm. Then, she too saw what Shaterian had witnessed.

“The flowers…”

The bouquet she had just thrown into the hall was back on the table.

The lisianthus, symbolizing unchanging love, had returned.