TSMA 02

Chapter 02

“We’ll See Each Other Again.”

Miruet’s complexion turned as pale as his blue eyes. His trembling hand moved toward the hilt of the defensive sword at his waist.

It was obvious what the problem was.

A man had my finger in his mouth.

“Miruet, wait a moment. This gentleman helped me. I was injured, so…”

Trying to calm him like one would soothe an excited beast, I approached Miruet.

At that moment, the man’s voice sounded behind me.

“Grand Duke Miruet?”

The man knew him.

“Your Grace, look. It’s me. Renar.”

“……”

“Your Grace?”

“Sir… Renar?”

The clouded look in Miruet’s eyes cleared slightly.

But I was the one who became even more shocked.

Renar? That man’s name?

Renar was the second male lead in the novel I had transmigrated into, “A Secret Only You and the Moon Know.”

The original novel’s cover only showed the male and female leads, so I had never known what Renar looked like.

But black hair and reddish-brown eyes…

Those were exactly the traits used to describe Renar in the novel.

Even the strikingly handsome face that once made the heroine herself fall in love with him.

Quietly, I hid behind Miruet.

I couldn’t judge yet whether getting involved with an important character from the original story would be a blessing or a disaster.

Renar’s reddish-brown eyes sharply followed my movement.

His gaze was like that of a predator watching prey it had already marked.

Then Miruet’s slightly sharp voice pierced the air.

“Why are you with my sister?”

For a moment Renar’s expression changed. Genuine confusion filled his clear reddish-brown eyes.

Thinking about it, the change happened when Miruet said the word “sister.”

But after blinking once, Renar quickly recovered his relaxed smile.

He seemed very accustomed to wearing a mask.

“I didn’t know the lady was Your Grace’s sister. I was helping her. She was being dragged away by force.”

When Miruet showed confusion, Renar gestured toward the ground.

Miruet’s gaze fell upon a man who was crawling away in an attempt to escape amidst the chaos.

“…The second son of Count Swen?”

Miruet recognized him.

“I’ve heard about you. They say you lose your mind whenever you see a pretty woman.”

Miruet’s gaze moved from my face down to my wrist.

Even though I tried to hide it behind my back, he must have already seen the red marks left by the man’s rough grip.

“Sir Renar, could you take our Rose home? It seems I have a very important matter to handle.”

The sound of a sword sliding out of its sheath came from Miruet’s side, his eyes suddenly cold.

But I could no longer see him clearly.

Renar had stepped in front of me.

“A lady should only see pleasant things.”

His tone was half-serious, half-playful.

Then suddenly his hand slipped under my knees.

He lifted me effortlessly into a princess carry.

“…!”

Startled, I looked toward Miruet, but fortunately—or unfortunately—he was too focused on the other man to notice.

“We should hurry. It looks like he’s about to swing his sword.”

Seeing Miruet raise his blade, Renar quickened his pace, and soon both Miruet and the man disappeared from sight.

Still dazed, I turned my head.

The corner of Renar’s lips was curved upward.

He looked thoroughly amused.

“…Please put me down.”

After we had left the noble shopping district of Bodent far behind, I spoke.

But Renar showed no intention of letting me go.

In the original story, he detested physical contact with women, so he should have felt uncomfortable holding me like this.

“This place… it’s been a while.”

Renar’s eyes fixed on something in the distance.

Following his gaze, I saw the Marquis Carwein’s residence.

It was a place one had to pass on the way from the noble shopping street to the Cowell Grand Duke’s mansion.

“So, where should I go now?”

Renar asked with a bright smile.

As expected…

Renar really was the boy I met when I ran away at eleven.

If he only knows the road up to here…

Back then, when he escorted me home, I had wanted to hide my identity and told him to stop here.

But the boy from my memory and the man before me were completely different.

That boy was small and thin… but this man is tall, broad-shouldered, and solid.

Like a caterpillar compared to a butterfly.

Yet thinking back, the boy had also been unusually good-looking.

Our first meeting had been when he charmed a noblewoman with a bright smile and stole her necklace.

My thoughts were interrupted by Renar urging me.

“Aren’t you going to tell me where to go? You’re quite heavy.”

“Then put me down.”

“I’m joking.”

He grinned.

“And didn’t you hear? The Grand Duke asked me to escort you safely home.”

“I don’t think he meant you should carry me.”

Renar chuckled lightly and raised his eyebrows, as if asking again.

Maybe it was because he had once saved my life when we were children.

Or perhaps it was because he was Renar, the character I had always pitied while reading the novel.

Renar.

His mother had been a princess of the neighboring Plutona Empire, whose family was destroyed by the schemes of his father—the Emperor of the Graciana Empire.

After that, Renar grew up like an ordinary commoner.

Blessed with extraordinary looks from birth, he was once kidnapped by a brothel madam and afterward came to hate physical contact with women.

But as he grew up, he had no choice but to endure it.

To avenge his mother, he planned a rebellion.

And to build the support needed for that rebellion, he approached powerful noblewomen.

Pretending to fall in love with them, he had to allow some contact.

Even though he was both a Sword Master and a magician, he still needed political support after the rebellion.

But before the rebellion could even begin—

Renar was poisoned by the heroine, Castina, the fallen princess of the Plutona Empire.

The woman he loved.

Castina actually loved Renar too.

But seeing him surrounded by other women, she believed he didn’t love her.

Then she met Prince Olendo, the male lead, and fell in love at first sight.

Fearing Renar might take Olendo’s throne, she poisoned him.

“Is this the place?”

Renar asked as we arrived at the Cowell residence.

I quietly stepped out of his arms and thanked him.

Just as I was about to enter the mansion—

“Wait.”

Renar stopped me.

He stepped closer, took a handful of my hair, and pressed his lips against it as if inhaling its scent.

Then he asked,

“Will we see each other again?”

A question mark must have appeared on my face.

But Renar answered his own question with a smile.

“We probably will.”

A few days later.

“Sir… why are you here…?”

I was shocked to see Renar in the garden of the Cowell estate.

Earlier, I had been sitting on a swing-like bench reading a book with my youngest brother, Evan.

Well, technically I was the only one reading.

Evan had fallen asleep less than five minutes after opening his book.

He clearly had no interest in reading and only said he would so he could sit beside me.

As I found him adorable, a butterfly landed on his face.

Trying not to wake him, I shooed it away.

But the butterfly danced around my hand and flew off.

Then it returned, hovering before my eyes, repeating the strange behavior.

Almost as if it wanted me to follow it.

And when I did—

I found Renar.

“…Did you… hypnotize… me?”

I muttered.

Renar smiled.

“It might not be you who’s hypnotized. It might be the butterfly.”

The remark felt meaningful.

In the original novel, Renar’s magic was only said to flow into his sword.

But seeing the butterflies circling around him as if enchanted, I became certain his magic could influence them.

Still, that wasn’t what mattered.

What I wanted to know was why he used such an ability to call me here.

“Did you come to see me?”

“Half right, half wrong.”

“…You’ll have to explain that.”

“I came to the mansion to meet Grand Duke Miruet. He asked me to bring something. But in the corridor I saw you in the garden. I wanted to see you, so I slipped away from the butler guiding me.”

That was quite a creative way of saying he was wandering around freely.

“Why did you want to see me?”

Renar smiled.

“Because I wanted to.”

“…What?”

“I wanted to see you, Lady.”

He looked completely calm as he said it.

The teasing smile in his eyes was alluring.

Behind him, the grand Cowell mansion came into view.

And suddenly the original novel flashed in my mind.

[Renar knew.

Winning a man’s favor was far more difficult than seducing a woman.

It was only natural, given the face he had been born with.

Even so, he decided to begin with a man.

Miruet Cowell, who dominated high society with his looks equal to Renar’s.

Miruet Cowell had a younger sister—Elrose Cowell.

The only reason Renar did not reach out to her was because she was the fiancée of his half-brother, Prince Olendo.]*

But Elrose Cowell, the one I had transmigrated into, would later be falsely accused and executed.

Her fiancé Olendo, who wished to marry Castina, would frame her.

That incident would lead to the destruction of the Cowell family.

To avoid that ending, I had been searching for Castina.

My plan was to personally bring Olendo and Castina together and remove my death flag.

But if the Cowell family supports Renar and he becomes emperor… wouldn’t both I and my family survive? Even without uniting Olendo and Castina…?

The thought suddenly occurred to me.

And the reason it came to mind was clear.

Renar was trying to seduce me—something that never happened in the original story.

In the original, Renar never tried to charm Elrose…

Had the plot changed because we met when we were children?

Just then—

A sharp voice sounded behind me.

“Who are you? Why are you with our Rose?”

It was my youngest brother, Evan.

“Elrose, come here.”

He reached out his hand.

When I took it, he pulled me behind him protectively.

Renar observed us with interest.

“You must be the Grand Duke of the Cowell family. Golden curly hair… you must be Grand Duke Evan. I am Renar, a knight of the imperial palace. I came to deliver something to Grand Duke Miruet. I only happened to meet the young lady, so there’s no need to worry.”

Renar smiled with a gentle mask-like expression.

It was a face that easily gained people’s favor.

Yet Evan still spoke with clear suspicion.

“If you’re Miruet’s guest, then go see him. But remember this—next time you see Elrose, pretend you don’t. Understood? Let’s go, Rose.”

Evan led me back toward the mansion.

When I looked back, Renar was still watching me.

He smiled softly.