‘Did Kayla meet him like this too? I don’t remember.’
Thinking back carefully, the original story depicted Ricardo and Kayla’s first meeting quite differently. Kayla was never the type to wander around alone at dawn.
‘The story’s already changed.’
It dawned on me once again that the moment I became Stella, the original plot had begun to shift.
Seeing him in real life made one thing certain—he was far more impressive than the Ricardo Gen Kishis I had imagined or dreamed of. Of course, even the illustrations in the novel cover didn’t do him justice.
Now I understood why Kayla, who had thrown a fit about marrying a bloodthirsty demon, fell hopelessly in love the moment she met him.
While I was lost in thought, he looked at me and asked dryly,
“Who are you?”
That snapped me out of it. From the way he looked, he really didn’t know who I was. His bored gaze made it clear he probably thought I was just a maid working in the estate.
‘What should I say? Should I tell him I came here to marry him?’
Unable to open my mouth, my dry lips only moved slightly.
“I asked who you are. Why are you wandering around at this hour dressed like that?”
His voice held a trace of annoyance as he looked away and moved to sheath his sword.
I quickly tightened the robe, which was slipping off my shoulders, over my nightgown and replied,
“Greetings, Duke. I am Stella Enrio. I got lost while taking a walk.”
Hearing my response, he paused mid-sheathing and looked at me.
“Enrio?”
He folded his arms and slowly approached me.
Perhaps he’d just finished some early morning sword training, because up close, I could see sweat glistening on his forehead and neck. His firm chest was visible beneath the clinging shirt. His navy-blue eyes were like a calm winter lake—mysterious and almost magnetic.
“Now that I think about it, I did hear that the young lady sent by the Empress had arrived. Since you came so late at night, I wasn’t able to formally greet you.”
Despite the words, his tone and gaze lacked any sincerity.
“I didn’t expect you to be so diligent as to start scouting the mansion on your first night.”
He sneered as if I were some stray cat.
Of course, I didn’t expect him to harbor any goodwill toward me. But that didn’t mean I had to accept any misunderstandings either.
“I don’t know what you mean. I simply got lost while walking and was looking for someone to ask for help.”
Apparently, he sensed the bite in my reply. He gave a crooked smile and coldly asked again,
“This is our first meeting, yet how did you know my identity? You couldn’t have known I was even in the mansion. Was this encounter intentional?”
He sounded as though he’d already decided in his mind that I was a spy sent by the Empress.
“It’s rare for someone to speak so arrogantly to a stranger. Unless you’re the highest-ranking person here, that kind of behavior would reflect poorly on the duchy’s standards.”
My response seemed to provoke him. His eyes grew cold, and the smirk vanished from his lips.
A tense silence fell between us.
For a moment, I feared the sword in his hand would suddenly be pointed at me.
“Wandering around a strange mansion alone without a maid—are you fearless? Or maybe just reckless? I suppose a lady bold enough to marry a man she’s never met wouldn’t be ordinary. You must’ve heard all kinds of nasty rumors about me, and yet you came.”
He let out a soft, knowing laugh.
Just then, we heard someone approaching. A servant, stretching as he emerged from his quarters, spotted us in the garden and ran over in a panic.
“D-Duke?!”
Ricardo, who had just been glaring at me coldly, turned away and addressed the servant in a frigid tone.
“This young lady says she got lost.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
The servant turned to me and respectfully joined his hands.
“Please, follow me this way.”
“Thank you.”
I slowly followed the servant.
When I looked back, he was still standing there, staring at me. His gaze held no warmth, as if he were looking not at his future bride but at some insignificant creature that had snuck into his home.
I hadn’t expected a warm reception, but his icy stare weighed heavily on me with each step I took.
‘Should I run away now?’
Ha. My resolve to discard him before I was discarded wavered like a reed before I’d even started.
Maybe the whole premise was wrong. You can’t throw something away if you never had it to begin with. And seeing Ricardo Gen Kishis up close, it really did seem impossible.
‘Should I revise my plan entirely? Right. Instead of a bride, I’ll become his vassal. I’ll use my knowledge of the future to help him and gain his trust. As long as I don’t die in the end, I’ll be fine!’
It was ridiculous how weak-willed I became just from seeing him.
‘And I’m supposed to change the original story like this?’
I was so disappointed in myself I almost laughed. But it was too late to make a new plan now. I had already met the Empress and would soon be married—officially becoming the bride hated by her own husband.
If I were going to run away, I should have escaped from the baron’s castle back then.
“Sigh…”
I stopped and held my head. The servant ahead looked back, concerned.
“Are you alright, my lady? Are you feeling unwell…?”
“No, I’m fine.”
I walked again as if nothing were wrong.
One thing comforted me: I knew the original story.
I straightened my slumped shoulders and stood tall once more.
‘Right. I have the most powerful weapon in this world—knowledge. Don’t be afraid.’
Repeating it like a mantra made me feel a bit better.
Ricardo lifted his muscled arm and yanked off his damp shirt in one go.
His broad shoulders, firm chest, and lean waist revealed perfectly sculpted abs. His long, strong legs looked like they might burst through his pants—truly a warrior’s body, worthy of being called a creation of the gods.
After taking off his shirt, he accepted a towel from a servant and wiped the sweat from his face and neck.
Having returned victorious from war, he had arrived at the mansion late at night.
Despite needing to report to the imperial palace at dawn, he couldn’t sleep.
The idea that the Empress had sent someone to be his bride deeply unsettled him.
Just knowing her cunning fingers had reached into the heart of his private estate made a fire rage inside him.
He stayed awake until dawn and finally went to the training grounds to clear his head. Only after swinging his sword and sweating profusely did the fire inside him start to die down.
He had just left the training grounds to prepare for his morning visit to the palace when he encountered a woman in the garden.
‘Greetings, Duke. I am Stella Enrio. I got lost while taking a walk.’
Though she was supposedly a distant relative of the Empress, he had never even heard of the Enrio family. All he knew was that she came from a minor territory on the outskirts of the empire.
The Empress had handpicked this woman and sent her? He didn’t even need to see her to guess what she’d be like. Either cunning and extravagant like the Empress herself, or a fool sent just to mock him.
So when he saw her in the garden, he genuinely didn’t know. That she was the woman sent by the Empress.
Contrary to his expectations, the woman wasn’t flashy, nor was she a dimwitted fool.
Her violet eyes had sparkled like a harmless small animal’s, yet they had met his directly. Even though she barely reached his shoulder, she’d boldly talked back to him without flinching.
The thought that he’d even briefly recalled her made him scoff to himself.
It was only a formality, after all. Their marriage.
He recalled the final words of the Empress Dowager, spoken as she grasped his hand on her deathbed.
“Ricardo. This is my final wish. Swear before me and everyone here that you will always obey and submit to your mother, no matter what.”
To bring her grandson—who had lived as a slave—into the royal family, the dying dowager had used her last resort.
As she wished, he had been acknowledged as the emperor’s son, and he honored the promise he made to her. He served the Emperor and Empress not as parents, but as loyal subjects.
He fought in the most dangerous battles, brushing death many times, bringing glory to the empire. Though he was now accepted as the Emperor’s son, he never once coveted the position of crown prince.
But the late dowager had overlooked one thing—
The Empress never gave him even the tiniest space to remain as her obedient son.
