Episode 1
-Clang!
“What did you say?”
“Exactly what you heard, Autumn.”
The letter she had read over and over while coming here got soaked in the tea.
Unlike Autumn, who turned pale, Rosaline’s face was calm, as if nothing had happened.
“Become the famous ‘Rosaline Kiss’.”
Thump, thump, thump.
Autumn’s heart beat fast.
Instead of the frozen Autumn, Rosaline pulled the bell cord to call the maid outside.
“I’ll bring it again soon,” she said.
After the maid left, Rosaline spoke again.
“It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”
Rosaline gracefully put down her teacup, and the sound echoed through the room.
“She really is my sister.”
Actually, not everyone had always spoken badly about Rosaline—
Once called the most beautiful woman in the empire, she lost everything when her noble family fell.
“The Rosewood family disappeared from the noble class ten years ago.”
Everyone believed that the family died in a mansion fire.
But years later, a woman claiming to be Rosaline from the fallen family appeared.
People gave her the name “Kiss,” which sounded both mysterious and scandalous.
Some pitied her. Others said she was like a blooming rose.
“Were you surprised?”
Back then, many men tried to get close to Rosaline.
But she always answered the same way:
“If you want me, show your sincerity. The man who wins me will be known as the best man in the empire.”
“……”
Autumn held back her feelings and looked into Rosaline’s eyes, which looked like her own.
“That’s not what matters right now! You want me to pretend to be Rosaline Kiss?”
The proud Rosaline had even become the lover of an old marquis, shocking everyone.
But a year later, she kicked out the legal wife and became the official Marchioness of Beches.
Rosaline became the enemy of every noble lady in the capital.
“As you can see, we look almost identical.”
The maid standing far away looked confused.
Rosaline’s signature faded rose-pink hair…
And those golden-marigold eyes—just like Autumn’s.
“Lucy, bring tea for our guest.”
“Y-Yes, madam!”
But this was the Beches mansion.
A place where even if a maid disappeared quietly, no one would care.
“Do you need anything else?”
“Call Mrs. Hertel. And… you know what to do.”
“Yes, madam. I didn’t see anything.”
The maid left, shaking. Autumn looked back at Rosaline, who sat with her legs crossed.
Still, suddenly like this…
“One year.”
The light from outside faded, and the secret conversation between the two women continued.
Rosaline’s calm but firm voice filled the room.
“Just one year. After that—”
Cough, cough!
“Rosie!”
Rosaline couldn’t finish her sentence and began coughing badly.
“It’s nothing… just a strong cold.”
Autumn knew her cousin was lying—her lips always trembled when she lied.
“That’s a lie.”
“Yes. You’re still quick-witted.”
Rosaline sighed weakly. Her forehead creased in pain.
“You should know the truth.”
She lifted her veil.
Her face, once beautiful, was pale and dry. Even makeup couldn’t hide her illness.
“Your face…!”
“Come here, Autumn.”
Autumn remembered a long time ago—
‘Autumn, I have something important to do in the capital. Stay here and listen to Mr. Page, okay?’
‘Sister, don’t go! Take me with you!’
It felt like she had disappeared on purpose.
Autumn only found her again after seeing her name in a gossip magazine.
“Autumn, I must leave.”
Rosaline’s voice was filled with guilt and sadness.
“That’s the only way to live.”
It was a rare disease caused by poison building up over time.
“How… how did this happen?”
“I’ll explain later.”
Suddenly, Rosaline looked annoyed and picked up a cigar.
“And this damn law says I must stay in the empire for at least one year to inherit the estate.”
Her hand trembled.
It was a law made to stop young widows from taking money and fleeing the country.
“But in my case, it’s different.”
“I need to leave the empire to find someone who can cure me. So while I’m gone—”
Cough!
“But sister! I’m not you! I don’t know anything!”
“No. The Autumn I know will accept this.”
Rosaline covered another cough with her soft handkerchief.
She handed Autumn a letter sealed with green wax.
[To Miss Rosaline Kiss,
I send this letter with the falling leaves of autumn, which resemble you.
I hope for a positive reply this time.]
– Randel Wintour Austen
“Austen? That Austen I know…?”
Autumn’s eyelashes trembled at the familiar name.
-Tap!
At that moment, someone knocked lightly on the door of the Austen mansion, not far from Beches.
“Sir Randel, please open the door.”
But no matter how hard they knocked, there was no reply.
“Ahem… Director?”
“Sigh. Is he hiding again?”
The man pressed his ear to the door.
Then he shouted loudly so his voice could reach inside.
“Lady Beches has accepted your offer! I brought her reply! Aren’t you coming out?”
-Thud, crash!
Finally, there were sounds from inside. Then silence again.
“Did he not hear me?”
But shortly after—
-Click.
“Come in.”
A man with emotionless hazel eyes opened the locked door .
