Chapter 17
He faintly furrowed one eyebrow and let out a quiet laugh.
It was a laugh carrying the expression of a man who seemed to believe there could never be such a thing as “regret” in his life.
‘Ah, that expression is insane.’
Handsome guys always look good no matter what, but Theo, who rarely showed much expression, made that kind of sly smile feel even rarer and more precious.
‘Still, he really will regret it, though.’
Liriope sighed shortly, already picturing Theo regretting their engagement.
“See, when people live their lives—”
“There isn’t.”
“No, don’t be so absolute—”
“There absolutely isn’t.”
“This isn’t something you can say so firmly…”
“It is, so don’t worry.”
Because Theo kept cutting her off before she could even finish a sentence, Liriope’s chest felt tight with frustration.
“No, really, you’ll regret it later?!”
“I won’t.”
“What if you actually do regret it! This isn’t something you can just—”
“Then I’ll grant you a wish.”
“—say… Huh? A wish?”
At the word wish, Liriope’s ears perked up.
“If, someday, I truly end up regretting.”
“So if you regret it, you’ll grant me a wish?”
He nodded.
Theo’s annoyingly perfect head moved once up and down.
‘My goodness, what a windfall!’
Liriope’s wide eyes sparkled.
A wish—surely, that was useful in more ways than one.
Even if she ended up facing an unavoidable “bad end” where she was doomed to die horribly, that wish could guarantee her the protection of the Grand Duke of the North.
As for money, she was already born with a diamond spoon in her mouth, rich enough to idle away her life without ever lifting a finger. As long as she survived, she could live freely, eating, drinking, and buying anything she wanted.
Sure, inheriting the family headship might mean a mountain of study, but she could just hire clever people with money to handle that.
So, for the sake of her future life of ease, Liriope resolved to use Theo’s promise of a wish wisely.
“Alright. Since you might take back your word, please make sure to put this verbal promise into a contract later.”
Seeing Liriope speak with such serious sincerity, Theo looked a little dumbfounded at first, but soon curved his lips into a beautiful smile and held out a spoonful of ice cream to her.
“Alright.”
At his smile, Liriope’s heart thumped wildly again. She struggled to focus only on the taste of the ice cream he gave her instead.
Meanwhile, Theo, watching her with a face flushed red as she nibbled on the ice cream like a baby bird, wore a gentle smile throughout.
A smile he himself didn’t even realize he was making.
* * *
After returning home from her outing, Liriope’s ears were nearly splitting from Gemma’s overly excited voice as the maid brushed her hair from behind.
How on earth the rumors had spread so fast, and how Gemma knew today’s events in such detail despite staying in the mansion, Liriope couldn’t understand.
One thing was clear: in this world, gossip spread as quickly as LTE signals back in her old world.
“They say His Grace even fed you during the meal?! Since when did you two get so close?”
Gemma, brushing down Liriope’s hair with a big round comb, bombarded her with questions without even waiting for answers.
“And how did the Crown Prince even show up there? Everyone says this is the messiest love triangle ever!”
Claiming it would be strange if tomorrow’s papers didn’t feature it on the front page, Gemma fussed endlessly. Liriope frowned, unsure if the girl was trying to brush her hair or pry into gossip.
If it was information she wanted, she could let go of her hair first and ask—but Gemma kept chattering as she tugged mercilessly.
“When you told me you were getting engaged to the Grand Duke, I thought maybe you were upset with His Highness again.”
“Gemma, you can stop brushing now…”
“So do you really like His Grace? Since when? Where did you even meet and change your mind?”
“My hair.”
“The Grand Duke didn’t even attend the Academy. The only time you might have met was at the palace! He’s famous for never going to festivals or parties.”
“Gemma! Stop brushing my hair already!”
“Oh, sorry!”
Only after Liriope raised her voice did the combing finally stop.
She sighed and stood up from the vanity chair.
As she headed toward her bed, Gemma trotted after her.
“So when exactly did you start liking the Grand Duke?”
It seemed Gemma wouldn’t stop until she got an answer. Liriope let out a short sigh and gave a vague reply.
“Dunno, it’s been a while, I guess.”
“Oh my, a while! Then does that mean you don’t like the Crown Prince at all anymore?”
“Yeah.”
“Heavens! What a relief. Honestly, with the way His Highness has treated you all this time, my poor heart was shredded to bits—”
“Well, I do understand him.”
“—so sad… What?!”
Gemma’s eyes nearly popped out.
Hearing Liriope say she understood Carden was shocking, especially since Liriope was never the type to sympathize with anyone.
“Think about it. If some girl I didn’t like kept throwing herself at me for over ten years, I’d be exhausted too.”
Gemma stared at her like she’d just heard something impossible.
Reclining comfortably on the bed, Liriope glanced up at her.
“What?”
“…No, it’s just… Miss Liri, you’re not sick or anything, right?”
“No sickness, no madness. Don’t worry. I’m just tired now, Gemma.”
“Ah, yes, of course… But you really are serious about His Grace? About this engagement?”
At that, Liriope looked at her, puzzled. Gemma hesitated, then spoke cautiously.
“About marriage. I mean… you’re truly and seriously considering this engagement, right?”
Liriope understood her worry.
After all, Gemma had been by her side the longest, and her sudden change of heart must seem concerning.
In truth, she could easily live without marrying at all, unless someday she genuinely fell in love.
But telling the truth would only add to Gemma’s worries and cut into her own sleep. So Liriope merely nodded.
At that, Gemma nodded too, carefully tucked the blanket around her, and said:
“Then, sweet dreams, Miss Liri.”
“You too, Gemma.”
Once Gemma left, turning off the light, Liriope let out a long sigh as complex emotions washed over her.
“Piii—”
At that moment, through the slightly open window, Lynix swooped in and settled beside her pillow.
“Where have you been flying around all this time?”
Liriope poked the phoenix-like creature’s belly with her finger.
Lynix, of course, gave no answer. It only pecked lightly at her finger with its beak, then returned to preening its fiery feathers.
Feathers that were nothing but living flames.
Liriope stared at it.
‘There’s no campfire like this one.’
Watching Lynix’s body flicker with fire brought a strange calm to her heart.
She reached out to stroke it.
Lynix glanced at her hand for a moment, then continued grooming itself.
Carefully, Liriope stroked its body.
“Warm.”
Surprisingly, there was no burning heat—only warmth, softness, and comfort.
Seeing her graduation-project creature again made her think that Liriope, the original girl of this body, must have felt lonely without a mother growing up.
Even with a loving father, and loyal attendants like Gray and Gemma willing to risk their lives for her, a mother’s absence was a heavy void.
And thinking further, she wondered if the tragic end the original Liriope met wasn’t too harsh a punishment.
Yes, she committed misdeeds deserving blame, but being killed by the man she loved—the Crown Prince—seemed a far greater sentence than her sins merited.
Maybe because she now lived in Liriope’s body, she could understand her a little better. Regardless, she wished that wherever the original girl had gone—whether reincarnated or reborn without memories—she might this time live a loved, happy life.
“You’d want your master to be happy too, wouldn’t you?”
When she whispered while stroking Lynix, it looked back at her.
Its very eyes burned like fire, mesmerizing her.
Then it let out a mystical cry.
“Piiiii—”
The sound wasn’t loud or soft, but like something echoing from far away.
It felt like a response, and Liriope smiled faintly.
Relaxed again, she closed her eyes to sleep—but Lynix suddenly hopped onto her stomach.
Startled, she instinctively tensed her belly—but felt no weight at all. Her eyes widened.
‘Ah, right, it’s a magical creature.’
Looking again at Lynix’s flickering body, she marveled anew at how it could wander about without burning anything.
‘Well, if it burned everything, I couldn’t pet it or keep it in my room. Guess that’s a good thing.’
With that thought, she gently stroked its head and drifted off.
That night, she dreamed.
In the dream, Lynix grew to an enormous size, its flames thawing the frozen northern fortress.
The Grand Duke’s castle, sealed in ice by someone’s plot, slowly regained its true form thanks to Lynix’s fire.
The northerners praised both Lynix and Liriope, who had created it. In the dream, she became the goddess of the North.
And when she awoke, the dream had stirred up vivid memories of incidents and accidents from the original story.
