THMLM Chapter 02

Chapter 2

—

“Bessie!”
“Huh?”

I was lost in thoughts — replaying the shocking appearance of the male lead — but Bella’s voice snapped me back to reality.
She was staring right at me.

How did things even end up like this?
I stirred the drink in front of me with a straw, trying to remember.

While I was running away from Kahen, I ran into Bella.
Before I knew it, she had dragged me to a café terrace and sat me down at a round table.

“So? What happened?”
“Huh?”

Bella’s blue eyes sparkled with curiosity.
She rested her chin in her hands, smiling brightly — looking so eager that I didn’t want to disappoint her.
But I had no idea where to start.

Weren’t you two supposed to like each other?
You had feelings for each other from your very first meeting, even if you didn’t realize it then.
That long, fated love…
At the debutante ball…

I sighed inwardly.
I’d have to act like I didn’t know anything about the original story.

After a pause, I carefully opened my mouth.
“How did you meet him?”

Bella’s sparkling eyes dimmed slightly — clearly not the answer she wanted to give.
“Through business,” she said flatly.

“What…?”

Her tone was calm — indifferent, even.
As if she were talking about some random business partner, not the man I knew she loved in the novel.

At the disastrous blind date, the male lead had broken my mind first.
Now, the female lead was shattering what little was left.
No — not just shattering. Pulverizing it completely.

Bella was eighteen now — already past her coming-of-age ceremony.
So where was that scene?
The one at the debutante ball — where Bella and Kahen realized their love and danced together, confirming their feelings through their growing bond!

Not business! It was true love!

If someone accused me of changing the story, I’d deny it to the end.
Yes, I became close to Bella when we were children, but I swore to stay faithful to the original plot.
I didn’t even try to meet Kahen — not once!

Sometimes I’d just sneak in a casual question, like asking Bella if she’d ever thought about marriage — since in the original, by this time, she and Kahen were already married.
And every time, she’d just blink and say, “Huh? Why so suddenly?”
Then I’d wave it off awkwardly.

But now…
My favorite couple…

I was too shocked to speak.
They’re just business partners?

Weren’t they supposed to fall in love by sharing pain and understanding each other?
Not because of business!

Excuse me, male and female leads — you can’t do this here!

Maybe my face showed just how desperate I was, because Bella, who was about to lift her teacup, stopped mid-motion.
I took that as a sign.

Maybe… maybe there was still hope.
I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, but I needed something to hold onto.

I glanced at her — elegant, graceful, sipping her tea like a perfect noblewoman.
Then I mimicked her, taking a sip myself, before setting the cup down again.

After a moment, I cleared my throat and spoke as casually as I could.
Please, please take the bait!

“Lord Cherta is really handsome, isn’t he?”

I started in a small murmur that gradually grew louder.
It sounded a little forced, like I was acting, but oh well.

Bella met my gaze and smiled brightly.
Ah, she was beautiful.

Her beauty couldn’t even be captured in the illustrations I remembered.
Kahen might be impossibly good-looking, but Bella was growing more stunning by the day.

As she tilted her head, her silver hair shimmered, catching the sunlight like it had wings.
Tucking a loose strand behind her ear, she replied cheerfully,

“He is, isn’t he?”

Hearing the excitement in her voice, my forced smile turned genuine.
Good. I was right.

If she really didn’t care about him, she wouldn’t have reacted like that.
So the story wasn’t broken after all!

Maybe my presence hadn’t ruined their relationship — maybe they’d just had a fight.
That made sense.

Encouraged by her reaction, I added naturally,
“He’s totally husband material, don’t you think?”

Was that too much?
My heart pounded wildly.
I’d already had too many shocks today — even a small jolt was enough to set me off.

Bella didn’t hesitate.
“Exactly! Everyone in society says he’s the perfect husband. You think so too?”

“Of course!”

Objectively, subjectively — no matter how you looked at him, he was perfect.
Looks, wealth, power — all in one man.

And just like that, we fell into an easy rhythm, exchanging compliments about Kahen.
I pointed out his good traits, and Bella nodded and agreed with a smile.

That’s when it hit me.

They definitely fought!

Yup. Both of them were clearly trying to make each other jealous.
That had to be it!

I leaned back in relief, feeling my body finally relax.
Then, suddenly, I remembered something.

There was something Kahen said that bothered me.
Feeling lighter, I asked Bella about it.

Bella looked cheerful too, smiling as she replied.

“Oh, by the way — Lord Cherta said he’d heard a lot about me. Was that from you?”

“Yeah. Sorry if that made you uncomfortable. I was talking about you — since I’m always with you, your name just came up naturally.”

“No, no! It’s totally fine!”

I wasn’t after the male lead anyway!

The original Bessie — the real owner of this body — had fallen for Kahen at first sight and tried hard to come between him and Bella.
That’s why she became a villainess.

But I’m not her.

I didn’t fall for him, and I had zero intention of interfering with their relationship.
If anything, I’d gladly play matchmaker for them!

Although, judging by the way Bella was acting, she didn’t need any help from me — she was clearly running a jealousy strategy already.
It was a bit frustrating, sure, but also kind of cute.
Even in the original, they’d had their share of misunderstandings.

So yes — it was finally my turn to play the supportive friend.
If I could help bring them back together, I was all for it!

“Did he say anything else?”

I rolled my eyes, thinking hard.
But no — nothing in our conversation stood out.

That idiot Kahen hadn’t mentioned Bella at all!
He should’ve shown at least a hint of regret!

I thought about making something up, but that would only cause worse misunderstandings later.
So I said vaguely,
“Um… he told me to call him by his name?”

It was about as casual as a boss saying, “Relax, this is a company dinner.”

I used to scream, Kahen, you idiot! at that exact scene while reading the novel.
But I couldn’t say that to his face.

“I see.”

Fortunately, Bella didn’t seem suspicious.

—

“Already close enough to call each other by name…”

After I left, Bella stood from her seat, whispering to herself with a faint smile.
The Kahen she knew never allowed anyone to address him by his first name so easily.
For him to do that on their first meeting…

To Bessie, she had called it a “business relationship.”
But in truth, things were a little more complicated.

Yes, the overall connection between Bella and Kahen began as business —
but it was Bessie who kept that relationship alive.

As Bella tied the ribbon on her bonnet, her fingers were calm, but her face was glowing with excitement.
“Operation Bridge — total success! Don’t you think, Sir Libellius?”

“Yes, my lady,” the knight standing behind her replied quietly.

Smiling, Bella took his hand gracefully.
She had no idea that Bessie had completely misunderstood everything.

—

The next morning, as I was about to leave the mansion, I stopped dead in my tracks.

A grand carriage was parked right outside the door.
Our family hadn’t suddenly struck gold by discovering a gemstone mine — and even if we had, they wouldn’t have sent a carriage for me.
Not unless I had nerves of steel.

The carriage bore a noble crest — though I couldn’t recognize which one.
The only one I’d memorized over the years was the Havelion family’s:
a white lily flanked by two swords.

And, of course, the mansion I was staying in belonged to that very same Havelion family.
When Bella heard I’d run away from home, she lent it to me immediately.

Before I could think too long about it, the mystery was solved.

“Good morning, my lady. Lord Cherta has sent me. If you’re free this afternoon, he would like to invite you for tea.”

The attendant bowed politely.

I was already dressed, planning to visit Bella — so the timing worked out.
It didn’t matter which of the two I met; helping them both was the same goal anyway.

So, I decided to change my plan.
After all, the duke’s son had sent his own servant personally — I wasn’t bold enough to refuse.

Even though I’d already turned down that same duke’s son three times.

But that was different — I’d panicked back then!
Now that I understood what was really going on, I could stay calm.

“Oh, I see. Perfect timing! I actually had something I wanted to tell him too. I’ll cancel my other plans.”

I smiled brightly — my best “business smile.”