<Episode 13>

“The important thing is what you received. People are saying, why does she get special treatment just for making some tool? She’s pretty, sure, but some are even wondering if she’s actually skilled or not. It’s all kinds of talk.”

Out of everything she heard, only one thing caught Melody’s attention.

“I’m… pretty?”

“You didn’t know?”

“I wasn’t sure. I keep seeing the Duke, and it made me doubt my sense of beauty.”

“That’s fair.”

After thinking hard, Melody decided to go with her last resort.

“Well, there’s no other choice. I’ll just sneak it in.”

Melody’s plan was simple. She would secretly place the magic tool in the Duchess’s room without the chief attendant knowing.

The hallway was completely empty. No one walked there after dark because staff weren’t allowed in the main building at night. Apparently, that rule was from Deonis—he didn’t want to hear even the slightest noise.

“If someone finds it, they’ll just take it away. Do you really have to do this?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve thought it through.”

“If you get on the chief attendant’s bad side, life here will get really hard. I heard all the palace maids once got replaced overnight.”

“I’ll take responsibility. Anna, you don’t know anything about this.”

“Alright. But don’t complain later.”

Anna kept grumbling as she helped carry the magic tool.

—

Inside the Duchess’s room, the first thing that caught their eyes was the furniture pieces covered in white cloth. Old decorations and broken porcelain dolls placed here and there gave the place an eerie feeling.

Melody moved around the wide, empty room, searching for the best place to install the magic tool.

“It has to be within the proper range… this spot should work.”

She pointed to the far end of a small dressing room connected to the inner chamber.

“They’ll probably find it tomorrow.”

“I don’t think so.”

Melody firmly secured the tool next to a wardrobe and then whispered a spell.

• Let no one notice!

As she spoke with deep sincerity, the magic core glowed and slowly blended into its surroundings.

“Oh wow, it’s completely hidden! What is that?!”

Anna asked in awe.

“It’s an illusion created using rune formulas for reflection, refraction, and shape-shifting. Plus twelve more formulas. Want me to explain?”

“I’ll pass.”

“It’s actually pretty fun if you hear it.”

“I’d rather guess curtain fabrics.”

There were some flaws—like a shimmer or blurriness when standing too close—but from the right distance, it was perfect. Unless someone was very observant, they wouldn’t notice a thing had changed.

“Magic tools are even more amazing than I thought.”

Melody’s lips twitched into a smile at Anna’s praise. As she turned to leave, her eyes stopped on a painting above the fireplace.

“A portrait in an empty room? Is it the previous Duchess?”

The woman in the painting had long, silvery hair and looked as beautiful as an angel from a sacred painting. She wore gold-trimmed clothes with a white fur shawl and had a soft expression as she looked down at her belly.

The lower part of the painting was smudged black with ink, hiding what she was looking at—but somehow, Melody could guess.

“That’s the former Empress.”

Anna said. That meant she was talking about Deonis’s mother, Empress Fiona.

“She looks like her.”

Looking again, the eyes and lips were especially similar. It was hard to imagine Deonis ever looking at someone with such affection, but his finely sculpted appearance definitely ran in the family.

“They say this was painted while she was pregnant.”

“Ah…”

For some reason, Melody’s chest felt heavy. Fiona died before she could even hold her child once.

If she had known her child would be born with magical power… would her warm gaze have turned into hatred?

It seemed Deonis believed so. After all, she had tried to erase him while he was still in the womb. Melody gently brushed the blacked-out part of the painting.

“It would’ve been better if it were left untouched. It’s still a family portrait.”

“Well… I heard something. They say it was the Crown Prince who ruined the painting.”

“What?!”

“Shh, quiet—”

Anna quickly brought a finger to her lips, then realized no one was around and awkwardly lowered her hand.

“They said it was an accident. But since it was a portrait of the former Empress, they couldn’t throw it away.”

Melody felt a surge of mixed emotions—anger and pity all at once. It couldn’t have been a mistake to only black out Deonis.

‘That trash…!’

Then she thought of the trash she’d thrown in the garbage and apologized—for comparing it to him.

As Melody grabbed her hammer with a determined expression, Anna asked nervously,

“You’re not leaving?”

“You go ahead. I just remembered something I need to do.”

“How can I go ahead again?”

Anna pulled out a rag and naturally started cleaning. Meanwhile, Melody began making another magic tool.

They didn’t know how much time had passed. But then, they suddenly heard a woman’s laughter from somewhere.

“Did you hear that?”

“I did. Could it be… a ghost?”

“No way. Probably just a maid sneaking around.”

But the maids’ quarters were far away in the annex. Anna looked terrified.

“There’s a rumor that when the lights go out, empty suits of armor start moving…”

“Could it be a magic tool?”

“Honestly, I’d rather it be a tool than a ghost. Please let it be just a strange magic tool…”

“To move armor, you’d need a complex spell structure. Each part would have to move together smoothly. Just using a teleportation formula wouldn’t be enough…”

“You’re thinking about spell formulas at a time like this?!”

Anna mumbled, completely shaken.

The sound moved from outside the window into the hallway. They opened the door quietly—and through the messy shuffle of footsteps, they heard voices.

“No one lives here… so I’ll hold you all night…”

“… Can we really do this here…? I’m so excited…”

“Just a little longer… I’ll give you everything…”

Melody stared out through the narrow crack in the door. The moonlight spilling through the window showed two figures.

A man and a woman. One was fairly large; the other was about Melody’s size. Were they thieves? Melody stayed on high alert.

Haaa…

Then came the sound—wet and messy, echoing through the quiet space.

‘Did they just kiss?!’

Suddenly, a scene from the novel flashed in Melody’s mind.

It was when Ryan had an affair with Riheline inside Deonis’s mansion—and Deonis caught them. From that day on, Deonis began plotting rebellion.

And they had done it… in the room with his mother’s portrait? Even Melody, just watching, felt like her blood was boiling.

‘Not only are you stealing someone else’s partner, you’re defiling the Duchess’s room too?!’

Of course, Riheline hadn’t appeared in the story yet, so this had to be someone else. But still, Melody was disgusted by his perverted behavior.

“I think I know who it is.”

“Who?”

“…A drunken idiot.”

At this rate, Melody might end up rooting for rebellion. Before her mind could spiral further, she raised the hammer again. Anna clutched her rag tightly and whispered,

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to protect this house.”

Ryan Hartsfield Valkaras.

Born the eldest son of the Hartsfield Duke’s family— He became a crown prince overnight after the former emperor’s sudden death. A lucky man.

But in Ryan’s eyes, the real lucky one wasn’t himself—it was his father, who became emperor.

All that changed was their bedroom— From the Duke’s estate to the palace. His father was still a nobody.

Because the child born right before the previous emperor died—his own nephew— was the one meant to inherit the throne.