Chapter 04
“Now what is it again?”
“No! I— I mean, you said you were going shopping earlier!”
“I never said shopping was the answer, did I? I just said it was similar to the answer.”
“That’s not similar at all!”
“Hm? Not similar? Dia. Have you already forgotten what happened five years ago? I went shopping with Amy back then, but because of that incident, we couldn’t finish our shopping that day. So I need to go finish it today—with Amy.”
Iblrea spoke as if nothing were unusual, but Dia could have sworn she saw a flash of killing intent in her eyes for a moment. That made things even worse.
If she goes like that and sees it…!
No—just imagining it was horrifying. Dia became even more desperate to stop her.
“W-then… how about you ask the Duke for permission first?”
Iblrea looked at her as if she had just said something absurd.
“Didn’t my father tell me to stay in my room today?”
“Ah—right… no, wait! That makes it even worse! What if the Duke finds out about this?!”
“Since when have I ever listened to my father?”
“…No?”
“Good, you know me well. So as long as you keep your mouth shut, there won’t be any problem. Go eat your candy or something.”
Iblrea patted Dia’s shoulder lightly. But Dia felt like she was dying inside. If only staying silent really solved everything.
That’s not the problem at all!
If it were any other place in the ducal estate, Dia would have happily told her to go ahead and enjoy herself while she ate candy. But not the underground prison.
Dia forced herself to speak again.
“P-Princess, even if you go, the knights will definitely be swarming the dungeon, right?”
“So?”
“‘So?’ Do you know how much the knights of the ducal house admire you? If you go there and do something to Amy, your entire image will collapse in an instant!”
“Ah~ that? Don’t worry about it.”
Iblrea declared confidently.
“If I meet Amy alone without the knights, everything’s solved. I’ll just get rid of them. Don’t worry, Dia.”
“E-excuse me? How…?”
“How? Obviously with my beauty. Men are weak against pretty faces, aren’t they? A beautiful woman always gets a third option. If I say I need to speak with Amy alone, they’ll let me in.”
In her world, beauty was always an unfair advantage. As she said this, there was not even a hint of failure on her face.
“Anyway, I’m going.”
She waved her hand casually and left the room. Soon, Dia was left alone.
“…I’m doomed.”
Dia muttered, as if she had lost her country.
“The princess is heading to the dungeon… and if she sees that, there’s definitely going to be chaos.”
Given her personality, there was no way she would stay calm. Dia’s face twisted in despair.
“What do I do… what do I do…”
She stomped her feet, but nothing changed. It was an inevitable disaster. The only relief was that she had been left behind.
Thank goodness…
If she had been dragged along, she would have been the one taking all the blame.
Dia finally calmed her breathing.
But she still couldn’t relax. Soon, Iblrea would reach the dungeon, see it, and return in rage. She couldn’t afford to be the sole target of that anger.
“Still… I should report this to the Duke and stay close to him.”
Whenever this happened, the princess always called her a snitch or a spy—but that was a misunderstanding. She wasn’t a snitch or a spy. She was simply very good at survival.
Dia hurried out, then stopped and returned. She stuffed the expensive candy Iblrea had told her she could eat into her pocket.
“Guess I can eat these, right?”
The princess had allowed it, so it should be fine. Dia hummed happily. Wow, this was really expensive candy.
Then she froze.
“Wait… I can’t go to the Duke right now.”
There were guests at the ducal estate. The Duke was probably in the middle of a conversation with them.
“So I’ll just hide in the servants’ quarters…”
She changed her plan and stuffed the candy into her pocket again.
But another thought suddenly struck her.
“…What if the princess sees the dungeon, gets furious, and storms straight to the Duke?”
A deep unease crept up her spine. Recently, the princess had become even less restrained. She just said whatever she wanted first and thought later.
“Nah… it won’t be that bad.”
Dia shook her head and continued packing the candy away.
“Our princess isn’t that reckless. She was once called a fairy, after all.”
Still… what if?
At that same time—
“Dia is acting strange.”
Iblrea tilted her head.
“I thought she’d cling to me like a leech and interfere every step of the way.”
Or maybe she would run straight to the Duke and report everything: that Iblrea insulted Amy, grabbed her hair, and caused a scene.
But instead, she had backed off so easily. Iblrea hummed cheerfully.
“Wait.”
That little snitch…
“Did she go to the Duke to report that I’m meeting Amy?”
It was very possible. But even if she did, it would be pointless. The Duke was probably busy with guests. The entire estate was.
That was exactly why I came out now—everything was calculated.
“Hehe. That little snitch… she didn’t see this coming.”
Honestly, staying close to me would have benefited her more.
Iblrea felt quite pleased with herself.
By the time she reached the entrance to the underground dungeon, she tilted her head.
“…What? Where is everyone?”
There was no one guarding the entrance.
She quickly assessed the situation. The knights must be slacking off. She would report them to the captain later.
But as she descended the stairs, she soon realized—
This wasn’t laziness.
There simply wasn’t any need for guards.
“…What is this… where is everyone?”
All the prison cells were empty.
The Freya Count family had collapsed.
Her fiancé had also fallen.
The boutique people had been ruined by her father.
Then that left only Amy.
Which meant Iblrea could direct all her personal resentment toward her.
But Amy wasn’t in her cell.
Iblrea grabbed the bars tightly and searched the empty cell.
Nothing changed no matter how carefully she looked.
Her expression twisted.
So I was the only fool left out of the loop!
Her father who said Amy was in the dungeon, Dia who pretended not to know, the servants who avoided her altogether—
They were all in on it.
Amy had never been here from the start.
They had all deceived her.
Iblrea’s anger surged.
Especially toward her father.
She spun around and stormed out.
Her destination: the Duke’s office.
The door opened without warning.
“Father! Where is that damned traitor who sold me out—”
Iblrea froze mid-sentence.
Then she remembered something she had forgotten in her rage.
Right… there were guests today.
“Iblrea.”
The Duke called her name, his voice tight, almost gritted.
“What are you doing here? And without knocking?”
I’m screwed.
She quickly bowed her head to apologize—but then the man sitting with his back turned slowly turned toward her.
And their eyes met.
Blue eyes, deep as a frozen sea.
Jet-black hair.
A face so strikingly handsome it felt unreal.
Kalipso Aedus.
The male lead of this story
