Episode 10
“This! This is Your Highness’s room.”
After making my vow to survive well alongside Libede, I stepped into the Grand Duke’s mansion.
It was so large and imposing that it reminded me of a royal palace.
However, perhaps reflecting the personality of its master, the mansion was mostly dark.
Dark-colored furniture was placed throughout, and even the chandelier lighting leaned toward the subtle rather than the lavish.
The maid, who looked about my age and was kindly explaining the room to me, introduced herself as Mary.
She added that she would be assisting me together with Madam Haley from now on.
“There’s a bell rope here, so if you ever need anything, please pull it anytime!”
Mary continued her explanation with a beaming smile, clearly very excited.
“The Grand Duke’s office and bedroom are located right next to Your Highness’s bedroom!”
Wow… that’s some truly unwelcome news.
I almost let my true feelings slip, but I barely managed to close my mouth, wearing a self-deprecating smile as I listened to her chatter.
“Sorry! I must seem really excited, huh?”
“Huh?”
“Well, of course! It’s been ages since someone new—apart from His Highness the Crown Prince—came to live in the Grand Duke’s residence! His Grace has never been interested in women, so we were all so worried he’d remain alone forever! You can’t imagine how grateful we all are to you for coming here!”
It seemed Mary had a lot bottled up; even though I hadn’t replied once, she kept talking nonstop.
“Mary!”
Just then, someone called for her from downstairs.
“Oh! Excuse me! I think the head maid, Madam Maida, is calling me. May I go down for a moment?”
“Of course. I think I’ve learned enough about the mansion, so I don’t need any further explanation.”
I seized the opportunity to escape her.
“Then I’ll go see Madam Maida for a bit. Please rest in your room!”
“…Mm, sure. Take your time.”
Mary bowed at a perfect right angle and darted downstairs.
Even though it was only for a moment, the now-empty second floor felt oddly hollow, making me realize just how strong of a presence she had.
I silently hoped she understood my heartfelt “take your time.”
“It doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to live quietly in the Grand Duke’s household…”
It felt like the first button had already been done up wrong.
I muttered while looking blankly around my room, and Libede and Madam Haley, who were standing behind me, gave slight nods of silent agreement.
“Let’s go in.”
Libede stepped forward, opened the door for me, and I took my first step into what would be my temporary room.
“Wow.”
The sight before me drew a soft gasp.
The furniture in the Grand Duchess’s room was all made of high-quality wood, the ivory wallpaper had elegant patterns, the marble floor gleamed, and a red carpet was perfectly placed to harmonize with it all.
“It’s been a long journey. You should rest first.”
Libede, unmoved by my admiration, simply nodded toward the bed.
“I’ll return to my room now. If you need anything, ask Madam Haley. She will always be by your side.”
“Of course. You must be tired too, Libede, so please go rest.”
Satisfied with my compliant answer, Libede left without another word, and I was finally able to relax.
Perhaps because I knew he held my life in his hands, my body automatically tensed whenever he was near.
“Shall I bring you something to drink?”
“No, I’m fine.”
I had been drinking the jasmine tea given to me by Rankeia in the carriage earlier, so I wasn’t thirsty.
More than that, a strange sense of incongruity about this room had been nagging at me.
What is it?
I had never been here before—not even in a dream—yet something felt off.
“Is something wrong?”
“Oh… no, nothing.”
Madam Haley seemed to notice my restless glances. She asked, but I didn’t want to say anything that might cause a misunderstanding, so I shook my head.
“It’s nothing.”
But my body didn’t seem to agree with my answer—it moved on its own.
For some reason, I had the strong feeling that if I opened the wardrobe beside the bed, I would find an old, grimy toy suitable for a child.
Seriously, what is this?
I couldn’t figure it out. It was just a hunch.
Still, I went ahead and opened the wardrobe, and my intuition proved correct: inside the otherwise empty wardrobe sat a dirty white teddy bear, partially torn.
“Oh my, what’s this?”
Madam Haley seemed startled by the rather unsightly bear.
But while she was reacting, another thought flashed into my mind:
The Grand Duke and his wife had a daughter who died.
I wanted to think about that sentence more deeply, but—
Knock, knock, knock.
The sound of someone knocking on the door pulled me from my thoughts.
“Who is it?”
Madam Haley’s bright voice rang out.
<Special Feature: The Perfect Grand Duke Couple’s Dazzling Wedding — A Look Inside the Event!>
On a ship bound for Levia Island, a bit of a distance from the Baeterinum Kingdom.
Because the island was far from the kingdom, Eos had to change ships several times.
This vessel was the final leg—within a few days, it would bring her to the loving arms of her family. She believed this without a shadow of a doubt.
“You’re doing well as a stand-in, aren’t you?”
Eos was reading a newspaper she’d bought earlier in Sanders Village before boarding the ship.
Her initial plan had been simple: find someone who resembled her closely enough that, with a little grooming, a hair dye, and magic to change eye color, they could pass for her.
But she had never expected to find such a perfect double.
Their outward appearance was so similar that it was hard to find any differences.
And because she had found her in one of the kingdom’s most remote and nameless slums, no one knew who the double really was.
It had been an unexpected gem—she’d only ended up in that area by wandering aimlessly.
After I found her, everything became easier.
Remembering that, Eos smirked and let out a soft laugh.
Perhaps it was the nostalgia or the anticipation of seeing her family again, but she suddenly felt like having a drink.
So, with her robe pulled deep over her face, Eos headed to the ship’s bar as soon as she boarded.
But as she walked, she dropped the newspaper she had been holding.
“Ah!”
“Ah!”
Bending down quickly to pick it up, she didn’t notice someone approaching—and collided with him, causing both to fall.
The man landed hard, groaning in pain, and Eos’s robe slipped off in the fall.
“I-I’m sorry.”
The commotion drew everyone’s attention.
Eos quickly apologized to the man she had bumped into, then pulled her robe back on tightly and left before she attracted any more interest—completely unaware that the man’s sharp, narrow eyes were still following her.
The one who interrupted my peaceful alone time by knocking was none other than Mary, the cheerful maid who had earlier waved and hurried downstairs.
You broke my mood, so you’d better take responsibility… Just kidding.
“What is it?”
I forced my lips into a weary smile, already predicting another round of noisy chatter.
“The Grand Duchess is holding a banquet to welcome you.”
“A banquet?”
“A banquet?”
Both Madam Haley and I widened our eyes in surprise.
“Could you explain exactly what you mean?”
Before I could react, Madam Haley recovered first and asked for a more detailed explanation.
Sure, even a veteran like her, who had been both a lady’s maid and a princess’s nanny, might not know the customs of wedding and territory banquets…
Or not.
This was clearly one of those inevitable events that exist simply because the world we’re in is a romance-fantasy novel.
Of course… You can’t expect logical consistency in a rofan.
Even though I wasn’t the protagonist, since Rankeia was either the heroine or an important supporting character, such things were bound to happen. Not predicting it had been my mistake.
“It’s a party hosted by the Marquess of Elenium.”
“The Marquess of Elenium?”
I had heard nothing about this from Libede, so I just nodded and waited for her to elaborate.
Sure enough, our chatterbox Mary swallowed and stepped closer to me, lowering her voice.
“To be precise, it’s the Marchioness of Elenium’s welcome reception for you… She’s been in love with His Grace since childhood and pursued him, but failed miserably. Rumor has it she married the Marquess of Elenium because His Grace never returned her feelings!”
— Ding, ding, ding.
A bell rang in my head.
Of course, this bell was not a happy chime, but a gloomy toast to the uncertain and precarious future ahead of me.
