“Haaah….”
I let out a long, languid yawn.
Even though I had slept in late today, my eyes were closing on their own. They say that if you sleep too long, your body actually grows more fatigued. Was Charlize just inherently weak?
No. If I looked back at the havoc she used to wreak, it felt more like she was a drunkard with monstrous stamina. She held her liquor better than most and rarely suffered a hangover. The problem was that even though her tolerance was double everyone else’s, she drank far beyond her limit and turned into a violent drunkard.
But what was the point of that?
‘I’m an alcohol lightweight. I’m ruined. Seriously ruined….’
A sense of injustice welled up within me. If they were going to make me act as Charlize, they should have at least given me her physical constitution. What was this? I muttered to myself and lifted my head.
“…….”
I was currently sitting haphazardly on a quiet chair in front of the carriage the tyrant brother had arrived in. Loxidian had told me to stay inside, but the weather was far too nice to remain cooped up. It was simply too stuffy.
Standing in silence before me was Zett, one of my personal escort knights.
“Zett.”
“Yes.”
I tilted my head.
“Why did you follow me?”
“……Because I am the Duchess-To-Be’s escort knight.”
The other knights were still stationed rigidly in front of my door. My question was why only he had chosen to follow me.
“If you trail after me like this, Grandfather might summon only you to give you a piece of his mind, you know?”
“My master is the Duchess-To-Be.”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I rested my chin on my palm and stared blankly at Zett. He was undeniably handsome. It was just that I had grown so accustomed to the faces of my fiancé and my tyrant brother that he didn’t particularly stand out. If I had opened my eyes in this world and met Zett first, however, his looks would have been enough to make me marvel.
He had a large build and a blunt expression, giving off the vibe of a massive beast—like a wolf. His dark green eyes, in particular, were striking.
“Anyway, you’re a knight Grandfather assigned to me, aren’t you?”
“…….”
When I muttered that, Zett looked a little surprised. He wore a subtle, gloomy expression before opening his mouth cautiously.
“Did you, by any chance, forget….”
“What is it, why are you here?”
I turned my head. The tyrant brother was strolling toward us.
‘Hmm, so he won the war of nerves with Grandfather, did he?’
He looked extremely satisfied. To be honest, I had been hoping the side I disliked less would win if the two of them were going to clash anyway. While he was away, I had planned to brainstorm ways to prevent my engagement from being broken off, but those thoughts had vanished, lost to strange distractions and conversations.
“Why are you sitting in such a dirty place?”
“It’s not dirty.”
I gestured toward Zett.
“My knight cleaned it for me.”
“No, everything here is dirty.”
“Why didn’t you just say you hate it because it’s Alzbeit property?”
I grumbled and stood up. I followed the tyrant toward the carriage, and I was surprised when he unexpectedly reached out to help me climb in, showing a rare shred of manners.
The funny thing was that after holding my hand, he pretended to gag as if he’d touched something repulsive. My mood was ruined right along with his.
“Ugh, to think I held your hand.”
“……Do you think I enjoyed it? Don’t offer to help me next time.”
His behavior was exactly like Yoon Ji-Hoon’s. Exactly the same.
“I don’t want to? Are you planning to keep chasing after that guy’s coattails at the Imperial Banquet, begging him to hold your hand? Do you think I’ll just stand by and let that happen?”
“Ah, yes, yes. Please, mind your own business regarding my engagement, Brother.”
I have no idea what it is about my fiancé that irritates him so much.
Whether my fiancé had somehow incurred the tyrant’s displeasure or not, we spent the entire carriage ride bickering until we reached the Imperial Palace.
I couldn’t take it anymore and glared at him, begging him to stay out of my affairs, but my reaction only seemed to amuse him further. Deciding it was a lost cause, I shut my mouth and chose to ignore him.
‘I can’t tell if that man is a protagonist or a brat.’
I clicked my tongue, keeping the thought to myself.
Soon, we arrived at the Imperial Palace. As the carriage door swung open, Noah’s face came into view.
He bowed respectfully.
I was immediately ushered toward the dress shop within the palace that I had visited previously. Upon entering, I found the designer, her assistants, and the maids lined up, waiting as if their lives depended on it.
Perhaps because of what had occurred here before, the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense.
“You have arrived, Your Imperial Majesty.”
The terror on the maids’ faces was particularly palpable.
“I greet the Duchess-To-Be.”
I gave a curt nod.
The windows were left open today, and the curtains fluttered in the draft. Greeting the faint, refreshing breeze, I turned my head.
“The dress is nearly complete. I would like to proceed with the final fitting, if the Duchess-To-Be is ready.”
I glanced toward the partition and narrowed my eyes.
“Can’t you just confirm it looks fine and hand it over? Or I could try it on at home.”
Having already gone through a fitting, I knew the process was far more cumbersome than expected. The mere thought of stripping down and struggling into the garment again was exhausting.
“……Besides, I still don’t understand why the great Emperor himself had to make a direct visit for something this trivial. Don’t you find it a bit pathetic?”
I had intended to provoke Loxidian into letting me go home, but my tyrant brother simply chuckled, his expression mischievous even at my cynical remark.
“Is it not part of my duties as Emperor to prevent my delinquent younger sister from tarnishing the family name? It is a matter of great importance.”
“……That’s nonsense.”
“I said it’s important.”
Loxidian narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on me with a dangerous smile. He tapped his fingers together, forming a coin shape—a gesture that made it clear he had been waiting for this.
Until you pay me back, you are what?
My slave.
…Damn it. I cursed under my breath and marched straight toward the partition.
The designer and her assistants scrambled to follow.
“If there is anything uncomfortable, p-please feel free to tell us immediately, Duchess-To-Be!”
“…….”
A few moments later, I emerged, fully dressed with the help of the staff.
The maids had styled my hair and secured the necessary accessories in place.
“Oh? You’re out already?”
He must have been busy while I was playing dress-up; the tyrant brother was lounging in a chair, casually holding documents in a way that felt entirely out of character for him.
Noah stood beside him, also holding a stack of files, waiting like an aide. As our eyes met, an expression that was half-amusement and half-intrigue flickered across my brother’s face.
“Wow. The pumpkin turned into a watermelon after drawing a few lines on it?”
“You should get your facts straight. It was a watermelon to begin with.”
No, it’s a top-tier melon, you jerk.
I could say that much with confidence. Charlize’s beauty wasn’t lauded as the greatest in the empire for nothing.
She merely possessed a fierce, venomous edge—a striking, dangerous beauty that elevated anything she wore.
‘Right. That’s what I thought, but…….’
The red dress I was wearing seemed to highlight every one of Charlize’s strengths with alarming intensity.
It was doing far more than simply highlighting them; it was bringing them out with breathtaking grace.
An off-shoulder dress that laid my shoulders bare.
Beyond that, the way it subtly revealed my cleavage seemed to reflect Charlize’s tastes perfectly.
As I gazed at the enormous blue jewel resting at my throat, I initially mistook it for a sapphire, but…
Charlize’s memory corrected me.
It is not a sapphire.
It is a blue diamond.
According to the knowledge of Charlize, who was accustomed to being draped in every variety of finery, this was a massive blue diamond sourced only from a specific region in the north of the empire.
The Imperial Family held exclusive rights to this gem, didn’t they?
‘It seems Charlize had wanted this.’
Of course, she already possessed similar pieces, but she had craved something larger, something with more presence.
What hung around my neck now was precisely what she had desired.
I laughed to myself.
‘Don’t tell me—are you providing things like this so I can excel at playing the delinquent?’
* * *
The room fell silent.
Charlize remained oblivious to the tension, too busy admiring the necklace in the mirror, but those watching her could not mask their awe. When people are struck by overwhelming emotion, they often find themselves stripped of words.
A collective sense of shock and admiration hung in the air.
‘Good heavens, I knew she was a beauty, but…….’
‘She is truly stunning…….’
‘I’m envious. How can she have such a face…….’
Among the assistants and maids present, many had heard the sordid rumors about Charlize, leaving them excessively frightened or even loathsome toward her.
The maid who had been pinning Charlize’s hair was among those who believed the rumors to her very core.
Yet, Charlize’s appearance was enough to shatter the convictions of even her harshest detractors.
“Y-y-your Grace!”
The imperial designer suddenly knelt and prostrated himself before Charlize.
Charlize stared at the top of the designer’s head, puzzled.
‘……What is wrong with this person?’
She felt flustered internally, but her composure remained absolute, and no one was the wiser.
The imperial designer, known as Rona, had spent twenty years in his craft, and he had just been struck by a bolt of pure inspiration.
‘This—I absolutely cannot miss this……!’
He had lived his life as a designer for Loxidian.
Because of this, even when acting under the Emperor’s orders, he had felt no joy in designing for anyone other than his master.
Especially not for the notorious, dissolute Duchess-To-Be of Alzbeit.
She was indeed as incredibly beautiful as the rumors suggested, but that alone had not been enough to alter Rona’s perception.
She was merely a vassal of the Emperor, and he would simply do his duty.
But when Charlize stepped out wearing the dress he had crafted with that detached mindset, the story changed.
Rona felt the very foundations of his identity as a designer beginning to shift.