Liselotte’s mouth fell open in disbelief.
‘What do you mean, I gained weight?!’
Sure, Diana’s frail and sickly appearance made her own slenderness stand out more, but in terms of body shape, there wasn’t even that big of a difference between them.
No— even if it were true, was this really the kind of thing one needed to say out loud in a situation like this?
Yet Diana, completely oblivious, just continued to speak innocently.
“I’m jealous. I’ve been in poor health, so… cough cough… no matter how much I eat, I can’t seem to gain weight.”
“Ah, yes…”
“I actually need to visit the dress shop myself. Would you like to come with me? I’ve always wanted to be close with you, but things just never worked out.”
“I see…”
“Should we invite Prince Valen too? It would be wonderful if the three of us went together. It’s been my dream.”
Valen Perida — Liselotte’s older brother, Diana’s fiancé, and the Male Lead of the original story.
And currently, the person with whom Liselotte had the worst relationship.
Even before, their constant friction over Diana had caused tension, but when Liselotte was sent North in a political marriage, things had fallen apart beyond repair.
It was exactly the kind of gossip Central nobles loved to whisper about at social gatherings.
There was no way Diana didn’t know that.
Listening quietly, Liselotte smiled brightly and replied,
“That’s a great idea. You should definitely invite my brother.”
“Right? I’ll contact him right away!”
Watching Diana clasp her delicate hands together excitedly, Liselotte replied with a cheerful smile,
“You two should go together. It would be perfect. As for me, I’m here today to negotiate cooperation between the North and East for the subjugation efforts, so I don’t have time.”
“…Negotiation?”
As if she’d just heard something completely unexpected, Diana’s eyes widened.
Standing a step behind her, Duke Anix Gloria didn’t show much reaction outwardly, but his eyes were fixed intently on Liselotte.
Diana’s large, gentle eyes — those pale green pupils — blinked with curiosity.
“So the letter saying you would be visiting the East was…”
“That’s right.”
Liselotte smiled faintly and lifted her head.
She looked directly at Duke Gloria and answered,
“The North wishes to reopen negotiations regarding the cooperation terms.”
Surprised, his eyes widened slightly.
With his soft light-brown hair and green eyes, he shared almost no resemblance to Diana — if not for their matching eye color, one might not even believe they were related.
Perhaps if you examined them closely, you might find some similarities, but at a glance, their impressions were completely different.
‘She must take after her mother.’
Duchess Gloria was known to have passed away early.
In the original story, Duke Gloria cherished Diana deeply because she resembled his late wife.
With a kindly expression befitting his generally good-natured appearance, the Duke replied politely,
“So that’s what it was about. Very well, let us go inside.”
Unlike the firm tone of the letter he had sent, he made no further comments.
Turning slightly, the Duke quietly instructed the butler who stood beside him,
“Not the reception room — to the conference room. Prepare it as quickly as possible. What about Hedmilton?”
“He is currently out on business, sir.”
“Tsk… I see.”
He clicked his tongue softly, as if troubled.
Catching part of their conversation, Liselotte cheered inwardly.
‘Perfect timing!’
Duke Gloria had three highly competent aides.
Maybe it was because of the heroine’s luck or something, but their fortune was disgustingly good.
Among them, Hedmilton was known for his sharp suspicion and remarkable skill — he was even said to have managed to establish a mana-stone contract with the Tower Master, something no one else had ever done.
Naturally, he was an excellent negotiator.
The Duke trusted him enough to entrust major dealings entirely to his hands.
His absence, therefore, was a huge advantage for the North.
Apparently unable to believe it, Diana turned her gaze upward toward Eren, who stood beside her.
But he seemed not to notice, and instead spoke quietly to Liselotte, explaining,
“Ail will be joining us soon. It would be best if we go on ahead.”
“Alright.”
Liselotte answered simply and began to walk forward.
Of course, she didn’t forget to bid farewell to Diana either.
“Then I’ll be going now. Have a nice time with my brother.”
Diana, whose eyebrows drooped visibly in disappointment, lowered her gaze to the floor and replied weakly,
“Mm… I suppose it can’t be helped. Work comes first. But let’s definitely go together next time, okay? I’m free anytime.”
Already delicate-looking as she was, her regretful expression only made her appear even more pitiful.
Liselotte could finally understand why the other characters always worried that a gust of wind might blow her away or that the sky might collapse on her head.
“Yes, if I have time, that would be nice.”
Offering the proper polite platitude, Liselotte followed Duke Gloria’s butler as he led her onward.
Somehow, she felt as though she and Diana were fundamentally incompatible.
Diana had always been someone who lived confined to the mansion due to her illness.
Naturally, she hadn’t had many chances to interact with others — perhaps that was the source of the difference in their personalities.
‘Well, if they’re happy together, what can I do about it?’
The two were already engaged anyway, and Valen loved Diana enough to completely turn his back on Liselotte.
Their relationship was solid from the start, so there was nothing for her to worry about.
‘I’ll just stop getting involved with the main characters and live quietly tucked away in the North.’
She had no desire to play the role of the love rival.
She might not have the self-sacrifice to play the doormat, but if needed, she was willing to offer a little help.
After all, saying the wrong thing in front of them could easily trigger unnecessary chaos.
Clutching Eren’s arm with a solemn expression as he escorted her, Liselotte asked,
“The most livable place in the North is the border region near the East, right?”
“That’s correct. The temperature there isn’t as harsh as the other parts of the North.”
“I think the North isn’t as bad as I thought.”
She decided that once she saved up enough money, she would buy a villa somewhere around that area.
As she was mentally drafting her plan, Eren’s gaze fell on her profile.
Feeling the weight of that stare, she turned her head toward him.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
He only looked down at her in his usual blunt way.
Liselotte gave him a questioning look, but his firmly closed lips showed no sign of opening again.
***
The conference room of House Gloria was spacious, with a long rectangular table occupying the very center of the room.
Seated at the head of the table, Duke Gloria gestured toward the two chairs prepared at the opposite end.
“Please, have a seat.”
When Liselotte and Eren sat side by side, the Duke rested his elbows on the table and interlocked his fingers.
With his eyebrows lowered and a dimple deepening on one cheek, he looked all the more troubled.
“I believed we had already responded through the letter exchange, but I must admit this sudden request for additional negotiation is rather unexpected.”
“It was less of a response and more of a one-sided notice from the East.”
Eren’s low, firm voice cut clearly across the conference room.
So it was a battle of wills right from the start.
It seemed he wasn’t sitting in the position of Lord merely for appearances.
Liselotte added her support to his words.
“We thought it would be much easier to talk face-to-face than through written correspondence, so we came in person.”
Since this was an official setting, she deliberately maintained a formal tone.
The old Liselotte would have snapped back, accusing them of disrespect.
But if she behaved that way in a negotiation, she’d only lose credibility.
This composed approach actually felt more comfortable.
Momentarily taken aback by her changed demeanor, the Duke soon exhaled a long breath.
“I’m sorry if it came across as a notice. But we’ve suffered great damage because monsters have been crossing over from the North.”
Eren firmly cut him off.
“Do you have any clear evidence that the North is the source?”
“To begin with, the border regions in question are not areas where monsters typically appear in the East. For that reason, we initially debated whether we should request compensation from the North.”
At Eren’s question, Anix Gloria let out a faint, knowing smile, the corners of his eyes wrinkling slightly.
His soft, pleasant tone was maddeningly smooth.
“Instead of demanding compensation, we offered to cooperate. Yet now you’re asking for additional negotiations. How unfortunate.”
Listening to this, Liselotte’s lips twitched as she struggled to maintain a polite smile.
What was that supposed to mean?
‘So they’re saying they could have demanded damages from the North, but they generously decided not to?’
Monsters were a shared problem of the Perida Empire.
They didn’t belong to anyone, nor were they deliberately unleashed by any side.
Seeing Eren about to speak, she quickly reached under the table and grasped two of his fingers tightly.
Thankfully, he seemed to catch on — after briefly glancing at her profile, he closed his mouth again.
Taking that moment, Liselotte spoke up first.
“According to reports from the knights of House Keilos stationed near the border, it’s difficult to say the North was the direct source. Small groups of monsters were seen crossing back and forth between both territories.”
“Unfortunately, according to Eastern law, even if some of them did cross into your territory, it would not be considered a problem.”
“The border region is where the largest number of Northern citizens reside, so the North has already taken preventive measures. Wouldn’t that mean the East has been negligent in managing the border?”
“Even so, there is no clause in Eastern law that specifically requires us to do so.”
