Lloyd was a Crown Prince who kept his promises quite well.
He was certainly going to be a wise ruler when he grew up. This wasn’t just because he was the male lead of the original story, but because his basic nature was upright and honest.
He had kept my first wish precisely, and because of that, Periose agreed to have matching hunting outfits made with Lloyd.
Periose had called me to the Ducal residence first to coordinate our dresses for my upcoming tea party. As we picked out the red flower ornaments—the dress code we had discussed earlier—she told me with an excited face that Lloyd had contacted her first, asking her to go to the hunting festival with him. Seeing Periose’s happy face made me feel good, too, and I couldn’t help but keep smiling.
“I’ll make sure you get a call from the Grand Duke soon too, so just wait, Ellie.”
My eyes widened at the unexpected words from Periose.
“Since I’ll be wearing a matching hunting outfit with His Highness at the festival, I intend to make sure you, my dearest friend, wear one with the Grand Duke.”
Periose said that since Lloyd and Theor were the best of friends, it was only natural for me to be Theor’s partner. I didn’t know why everyone was so determined to pair Lloyd and me up, but if that was what Periose had decided, I figured I might as well go along with it.
Since it was customary for close groups to move together throughout the hunting festival, the friendship between the men leading the hunt was quite important. After all, there wouldn’t be any reckless young noble in this empire who would dare to linger around someone as important as the Crown Prince, Lloyd, without having a close relationship with him.
Of course, I didn’t have anyone else in mind to be my partner either, so I was inwardly grateful for Periose’s decision to pair me with Theor. It was uncertain whether Theor would willingly accept this, but I had to become his partner at this hunting festival, no matter what it took.
“This one would suit both of us best.”
Periose, who had been earnestly checking if the various flower ornaments suited us by holding them up to me for quite a while, said with a smile. The flower was a red one, resembling a peony; it wasn’t overly gaudy, nor was it too plain, but rather a suitably glamorous flower that served as a perfect focal point.
“As expected, Lady Periose has an incredible eye. Even in my eyes, Endiewon’s, this flower suits you both best.”
Endiewon, the exclusive designer for the Ducal residence, said while looking at Periose with a smile. Madame Endiewon was supporting her with flattery that was neither excessive nor lacking, just like the flower Periose had picked. I liked that she didn’t offer the kind of fawning that would make one cringe, even while she seemed eager to please Periose.
Should I try learning how to do that, too?
“Then, I will prepare red-toned dresses decorated with these flowers. I will design a typically elegant one for Lady Periose, and for Lady Ellinea, a lively and cute design that matches your image.”
“Please make them beautiful.”
“Of course. Since every dress Lady Periose wears bears this Endiewon’s name, I will do my absolute best to make them beautiful.”
As soon as Endiewon left with the flower ornaments, a servant brought in tea and desserts as if they had been waiting. It was an iced latte, salt bread, and chocolate cake—all from the cafe Periose liked.
“I prepared these because I know you like the coffee and cake from here.”
It wasn’t actually me, but Periose who liked them, and I had just pretended to like them too; but the iced latte and cake here were indeed delicious enough that other cafes couldn’t dare imitate them.
That was when it happened.
I suddenly felt an unfamiliar presence from the hallway. I turned my head reflexively. Through the slightly ajar door, I saw two people in the white robes of the Great Temple whispering to each other at the end of the hall.
*Is there a reason for someone from the Great Temple to be at the Ducal residence…?*
One of them looked up and glanced this way. I quickly averted my gaze.
*’What is this…?’*
My heart pounded. The ominous flock of crows I had felt before, the gaze I felt inside the carriage, and now these suspicious people from the Great Temple.
*’Something is happening.’*
“Ellie?”
At Periose’s call, I looked back at her and tried to put on a calm expression.
“Oh, I thought I saw someone passing by in the hallway.”
“Is that so? Probably just the servants.”
Periose picked up her iced latte as if it were nothing. “I’ve come to drink this often because it’s the coffee you like, and I’ve grown quite fond of it.”
At Periose’s words, I smiled brightly and replied, “Right?”
The scene I had just witnessed kept swirling in my mind. Even though I was drinking tea with Periose and talking about the hunting festival and the dresses, I couldn’t help but feel a heaviness of anxiety in the corner of my heart.
Regardless, I was glad that Periose, who couldn’t even drink the coffee she wanted in the original story because of her image, could finally drink as much as she wanted, even if it was under the guise of being “forced” by me. After all, the image of her only drinking espresso was all Caroline’s doing, so I wanted to strip that facade away even more.
Ever since Caroline first provoked Periose in front of everyone at that cafe, Periose had been seen as someone who never drank her favorite iced latte. Thinking about it now, I felt that Caroline had been bullying Periose with full intent. Periose might have come to dislike Caroline because it was obvious she was being bullied openly. While she appeared to be the one only suffering, if you dug deep, it could have been Caroline who was subtly and meticulously tormenting Periose bit by bit.
In the original story, there was no catharsis, and she had a reputation for being a pushover and a fool for being too kind, but thinking about it now, there was definitely an unnaturalness within that “too kind” appearance.
For example, like the sight of Caroline tearfully waiting for me in front of my house after I had finished my tea party and dress fitting at the Ducal residence. She was definitely tearful in a way that looked pitiful, but somewhere in there, I could feel that she was seething with anger.
Since normal people couldn’t sense this, everyone naturally became a follower of the “kind” Caroline. Caroline smiled softly at me.
“I was so upset that I came to talk to you, but they said you had gone to the Ducal residence. So I waited.”
I couldn’t understand why she would wait when if I had gone to the Ducal residence, I would have eventually returned home.
“Warm tea is fine, right? Becky.”
“I will prepare it, My Lady.”
I called Becky after asking Caroline, who was sitting on the sofa of my drawing room as if it were her own home. The quick-witted Becky replied immediately and went out to prepare the tea.
As I sat on the opposite sofa and took off my gloves, Caroline asked me.
“What did you go to the Ducal residence for?”
I briefly thought about whether I really needed to report every little thing to her, but since the Ellinea before the possession had told Caroline everything about her life, I changed my mind. I figured that since I had already shown too many changes and she had started to get suspicious, acting even more reserved would only backfire.
She might even have the absurd thought that I was being cold to her because I was being threatened by Periose.
“The Duchess’s exclusive designer decided to make me a dress.”
“…Ah, the one you said you’d wear tomorrow by matching the dress code with the Duchess?”
“Yes.”
“To be able to finish a dress in just one day, that’s amazing.”
“It’s a bit of an exaggeration to call it a day. To be exact, it will be a few hours.”
Since we had just chosen the ornaments that suited us and gotten measured, I added that the dress I would wear tomorrow would be completed in just a few hours.
Caroline’s face stiffened slightly at that, but I pretended not to see the change in her expression.
“But red, of all colors. Aren’t you recommending a color that only suits yourself, My Lady?”
“Hmm?”
“With your black hair and black eyes, colors that contrast with black, like white or gold, would suit you much better.”
My face involuntarily stiffened at Caroline’s words.
‘This is clearly the episode from the original work where Pere unni tried to make a fool out of me, a commoner-born aide to Caroline.’
Although it wasn’t written in law, it was implicitly understood that white and gold were colors used exclusively for the imperial family or meaningful ceremonies like weddings. Therefore, at a typical tea party, no one other than members of the imperial family, dukes, or young ladies of ducal houses wore dresses of those colors.
That was a fact known to any noble, but the previous owner of my body, who had been a commoner until recently, hadn’t known that. She had fallen for Pere unni’s trick and ended up being pointed at and made a laughingstock.
Because that episode existed, Caroline’s current behavior of recommending gold and white dresses to me felt chilling.
She must have said this because she wanted me to get scolded by Pere unni.
She likely thought that if she praised those two colors and recommended them, I would fall for the trap and change the dress code to white or gold.
Thinking that Caroline somehow wanted to create a rift between Pere unni and me, I asked her,
“Those colors can only be worn at weddings, can’t they? Are you really telling me to wear a color that even the daughter of a marquess wouldn’t dare to wear?”
At my words, Caroline’s face hardened for a moment.
‘What is this? Just how much of a fool does she take me for?’
She seemed surprised that I knew a fact that wasn’t exactly a secret—one that anyone should be able to know.