Episode 9
When I woke up in the morning, bright sunlight was pouring into the room through the wide windows.
I stared at the peaceful scene in a daze… and then suddenly, tears started pouring from my eyes. I had realized that no matter how big this mansion was, Raymond wasn’t anywhere in it.
That emptiness quickly swallowed my whole soul.
If I at least had a video or even a photo of him, it might’ve helped lessen the pain. But in this world, there was nothing. The only way to remember the Grand Duke was to close my eyes and picture him.
So I kept closing my eyes whenever I could.
I started getting weaker and eventually developed a fever.
Worried, my parents called a doctor to the mansion.
“There’s nothing wrong with her body,” the doctor said after examining me.
“Oh dear, Eileen…” my mother said with a sigh.
The doctor shook his head. Of course there was nothing physically wrong. I knew my own body.
This was that sickness—lovesickness.
I missed the Grand Duke. I missed him so much.
My mind was filled only with that thought, and tears wouldn’t stop flowing. After seeing him just once, my affection for him had grown even deeper.
Ah… maybe the original Eileen also suffered from this lovesickness. Maybe that’s why she always stayed locked up in the mansion. Without realizing it, I convinced myself that must’ve been the case.
Breathing heavily with fever, my thoughts slowly faded, and I fell into a hazy dream.
In the dream, I was with the Grand Duke, running around a sunny, blooming flower field. We laughed, chased each other, and when we got tired, we walked hand-in-hand. It was a dream that showed my deepest wish.
Then I suddenly opened my eyes.
A whole day had passed, and my body felt much lighter.
My body, which had felt like it would fall apart from missing the Grand Duke, was now completely fine.
After a good night’s sleep, both my body and mind felt back to normal. I guessed that all the stress from being reincarnated into this world had just hit me all at once.
Thanks to that, my parents had a mountain of work waiting for them.
Because of my kidnapping and illness, they had wasted so much time—and now they had to make up for it. They said I probably wouldn’t see them for a while.
That worked out perfectly for me. I could use “recovery” as an excuse to have time alone.
And that was a very good thing. With only a few pieces of information from the novel Taming the Mad Emperor, saving the Grand Duke felt incredibly risky. I needed to gather more information about this world.
Luckily, Eileen had been a bookworm. Her room was filled with books. I walked to the bookshelf and skimmed the titles.
The History of the Prares Empire, The Emperors of the Empire, The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Trading Guilds… all books that looked boring and sleep-inducing.
Ugh. Not my kind of reading.
I shook my head. As someone who only read web novels, I couldn’t understand her taste.
But then, one book with a fancy cover caught my eye. The title was Tasty Restaurants of the Capital of Ferment. It was totally my style.
“Ooh! This looks fun!”
I quickly pulled it from the shelf and sat in a chair to flip through it.
Since there were no photos in this world, it was filled with beautifully drawn illustrations of food. They were so well drawn that just looking at them made me drool.
Churp. I had just eaten, but I was hungry again.
The rule of “a meal stomach and a snack stomach are different” still applied in this world.
I licked my lips as I memorized each dish. I read the descriptions carefully, word by word. I promised myself I would someday go on a restaurant tour and eat all of it.
But just as I was enjoying my peaceful reading time, some unwanted news arrived.
“Young Lady. A messenger from His Majesty the Emperor is here.”
“His Majesty sent someone?”
I blinked in confusion as the butler gave me the message.
And before I could even fully react, a bunch of maids rushed into my room. They began grooming me—brushing and braiding my hair, and changing my dress and shoes to something very fancy.
I was surprised by how fast everything happened. And I was even more surprised when I looked in the mirror. I had transformed into a beautiful lady who could walk into a ballroom right now.
Wow. What’s going on if even the Emperor’s involved?
Hopefully they’re not planning to give me a whole new face or something.
This made me realize that being a noble lady wasn’t as easy as it looked. Still thinking about that, I followed the butler to the parlor.
There, I saw a middle-aged man with a fancy mustache grooming it with pride.
From his expensive clothes, I could tell right away that he had been sent by the Emperor.
“Welcome, Young Lady,” he greeted.
“Hello,” I replied, bowing politely. I didn’t know who he was, but since the Emperor sent him, I had to be careful.
Even though he was of lower status than a duke, he raised his chin proudly. His words were polite, but the tone was not respectful at all.
It really showed that Eileen was only the Emperor’s fiancée in name.
“His Majesty was deeply worried when he heard about your kidnapping. He even ordered a search with the military across the region, but sadly couldn’t find you. Seeing you safe now, I’m very relieved. Haha.”
Did he really search that hard?
Was the Grand Duke just that good at hiding, or did the Emperor just pretend to look?
While I silently mocked the Emperor in my head, the man clapped his hands twice—clap clap.
“His Majesty is very pleased about your safe return. Though he couldn’t come in person due to his busy schedule, he has sent gifts in his place.”
Right after he said that, the door opened, and workers started carrying in bright, colorful flowers. These were the flowers the Emperor had ordered for Eileen. Soon, the whole room was filled with them.
Seriously? He was so worried but couldn’t come himself and only sent flowers?
I was silently cursing the two-faced Emperor, but on the outside, I smiled sweetly like a proper noble lady.
“Oh my, how kind of him. Please thank His Majesty for me.”
“Of course.”
The man smiled in satisfaction at my polite response. Then he clapped again. I wondered what was coming next.
A man walked in.
“Greetings, Young Lady.”
He gave a quick nod, then glanced around the room filled with flowers. He slightly frowned but soon returned to his blank expression.
The middle-aged man introduced him.
“This man is an investigator. He has been sent by His Majesty to look into the kidnapping case. Please tell him everything you experienced.”
Then the man left the room.
Once he was gone, the investigator dropped all pretense of politeness. He pulled out a chair, sat sloppily, leaned on the table, and started questioning me.
“I need to understand the situation. Tell me everything you know.”
He was technically speaking politely, but his tone made it sound rude—like he was spitting the words out.
I was speechless.
My parents hadn’t even brought up the incident out of concern for me, but this guy was doing the complete opposite—poking my wounds under the excuse of collecting evidence.
“Where should I start…” I muttered.
“From the beginning. How were you taken?”
If I had really been the victim, I would’ve had ten panic attacks by now from the trauma.
Thankfully, I had actually enjoyed my time with the Grand Duke, so I was okay. But even in this normal state, the investigator’s tone made me want to scream.
‘You bastard,’ I cursed silently.
Now I understood why the original Eileen had said nothing about her kidnapping.
She had simply said, “He wore a mask for all three days, so I don’t know who it was.” That showed how bold and strong she was.
I wasn’t as brave as the original Eileen, and I didn’t think I could endure this investigator’s aggressive attitude.
But at least I had something strong: loyalty. Because the person I was protecting was none other than my favorite, the Grand Duke.
So I decided to lie.
I’d give him vague, believable answers. If I said the right things, he’d stop asking questions.
“I was walking in our garden when someone put a mask over my head from behind. I fainted. When I woke up, I was in a shabby little house.”
“A shabby house? Like a poor person’s house?”
“Yes, I think so. It was dirty, messy, and smelled terrible. I’d never been in a place like that, and it was hard to stay there.”
I even pretended to tremble. It looked like my acting was working.
“Hmmm, I can imagine. What did the kidnapper look like?”
“He wore a mask, so I didn’t see his face. But his height and build were similar to yours. His hair was very short, and his voice was low and deep.”
The investigator quickly took out a notebook and scribbled my answers down. He asked a few more questions, and I answered all of them with made-up stories.
“Hmmm. Thank you for your cooperation. I’ll make sure to conduct a thorough investigation based on what you’ve told me.”
He seemed satisfied with how cooperative I was, and his face relaxed a bit. Though to be honest, his squashed-looking face didn’t really get any better.
