“Call.”

“Call? What’s that?”

“Okay!”

Aaron exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear at my response.

“See you tonight before dinner!”

As Aaron bounced around, making a fuss, Theron, who was in the kitchen, shouted at him in a voice that could boil a kettle.

“Aaron! Why are you dawdling there!”

“Ah, yes. I’m coming!”

With that, Aaron went back to the kitchen with a pout, and I seriously pondered how to uncover Aaron’s true identity.

I did have a sudden idea…

But why do the heroines in transgression novels always manage to navigate crises so effortlessly, and why am I in such a state? Is it because I’m not the heroine? My head throbbed.

And at the same time, the diary flickered in my mind.

Yes.

So far, the diary has always provided help when I needed it most.

On the first day, it was about Rose’s identity and the situation Rose was in.

The second was about disrupting the poisoning attempt at the third Prince’s party with the venzent leaf, and the third was my pouch that appeared out of nowhere.

“Phew, see you later, Milla! I’ll go ahead!”

“Sure!”

I hurried to my room.

If, indeed, the diary was giving me what I needed most in this situation, I needed a way to figure out Aaron’s identity right away.

I flung open the door, stood in front of the diary, and looked at its ordinary cover.

Magic exists in this world.

I remembered the light that burst out the moment I first opened the diary.

Surely, the diary was a product of magic.

I was skeptical, but there was no reason not to use the diary yet.

I placed my hand on the diary’s cover and closed my eyes tightly, saying,

“I need to find out Aaron’s identity.”

And slowly, I opened the diary.

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

Today, I met Mr. Mellory again.

‘What are you selling today?’

Mr. Mellory handed me a small bag of powder.

It was made from the sap of the rare Elgan tree from the northern Hamel Mountains, dried and ground. It was said that consuming Elgan sap makes the consumer speak only the truth.

However, Mr. Mellory left with a warning never to use it on a lover.

I carefully hid the bag in the first drawer under my desk.

I was astounded.

***

“Rose, this is your salary for the month.”

The Maid extended a purse that seemed twice as heavy as those given to others, her face deeply wrinkled with displeasure.

It was understandable from her perspective; I must have seemed extremely disagreeable to her.

This was because I hadn’t died at the hands of the male lead but rather clung to him, thereby ruining the plans she and the duke had made.

And it made it very difficult to kill me.

“Thank you.”

I received the purse with a deliberately bright smile.

Upon opening it, I saw shimmering gold coins.

My mouth fell open in astonishment.

How much was this?

The male lead was more flexible than I thought.

The salary in my hand was significantly higher than what others received, which said it all.

It seemed like time to seriously reconsider the image of the male lead I had in my mind.

“Rose, the Crown Prince must have taken a liking to you after all!”

I spoke to Milla with a shiver.

“Ew! Don’t say such scary things, Milla!”

Ugh, I got goosebumps.

Being favored was clearly going to bring its own set of troubles.

No matter how generously he pays, the male lead is the protagonist of a tragic romance novel.

And not just any protagonist, but one from the early 2000s, completely devoid of morality or mercy!

“Huh?”

“Ah, forget what I just said.”

I sighed deeply, clutching my beloved purse of money close.

It was all I could rely on in case I couldn’t return home.

Of course, there was also a diary, but I didn’t fully trust it yet.

To be honest, it felt a bit unsettling.

‘What on earth could its true nature be?’

Could finding out the identity of the diary allow me to return home?

I had to stick by the male lead’s side until he ascended to the throne as the Crown Prince.

Duke Tianel is not yet on the side of the male lead. If he abandons me, my life, which went against the duke’s orders, will be in great danger.

Then what about after the male lead ascends to the throne? Can I go home just by trusting the diary?

I chuckled.

If the diary really had the answer to what I needed, I would have already found a way to go home.

But the diary never talked about a way for me to return.

It was almost like offering selective answers.

That’s why, even though I figured out the use of the diary, I couldn’t fully trust it.

I felt a strange aversion.

It couldn’t be helped.

I woke up in a new body, and as if it were all arranged, there was the diary right before my eyes.

It felt too prepared.

“Then, Rose, have fun! Next time, you must go with me!”

“Sure! Work hard, Milla!”

After parting with Milla, I casually dressed in everyday clothes and waited for Aaron at the front door with dignity.

He had given me the day off, so I was free to go out as I pleased.

This was technically my first night out, and it was a shame that I had to share it with that suspicious fellow.

“Roooose!”

From afar, a man as conspicuous as me, fluttering an orange bowl cut, was running towards me.

I scowled and took a quick step back.

“Would you mind not running up to me like that, shouting my name all over the neighborhood?”

“Eh? If I didn’t call you, you wouldn’t know it’s me! I ran all the way from there!”

Aaron said, pointing in the direction he’d come from, and I decided not to say anything.

It seemed he was not the type to listen just because I spoke.

“But Rose, what’s with all that stuff you’re carrying?”

Aaron pointed at the trash from the male lead I had brought with me.

“Selling it!”

“Huh?”

“Don’t you want to hurry up and show me around? I don’t have much time.”

I pushed Aaron’s back, who was prying too much.

And soon I will know if he was a spy or whatever, but first and foremost, he was a super social butterfly.

“Aaron! Hi!”

“It’s Austin! Hi, Austin! Rose, do you want a cherry?”

The village was indeed in the midst of a festival atmosphere, just as Aaron had said.

And he was already holding a bunch of things he had gotten from here and there, as if he had been to a tasting corner. His mouth was full, mumbling something.

He was quite a character in many ways.

“Aren’t you eating?”

“Of course, I am! I know a place with delicious food! Let’s go!”

* * *

The place he took me to was none other than a small inn.

“It’s a secret gem only I know about. It’s really delicious!”

As expected, it was a restaurant run by someone Aaron knew. He was busy chatting with the lady owner.

It was fortunate.

The work became easier.

Honestly, I felt a bit sorry for Aaron, but I didn’t hesitate and sprinkled some powder into the beer that he ordered while he was busy talking with the lady.

“Are you sure you didn’t order too much?”

I quickly hid the bag inside my bag and asked, and he responded with a surprised tone.

“Huh? Isn’t this just the standard?”

It was clearly a teasing tone.

I didn’t hold back and kicked him in the shins.

“Are you challenging me to a duel?”

“Ouch! Rose, that’s too much!”

To be honest, if I said I wasn’t nervous, it would be a lie.

My hands were sweating profusely, but I tried to act calm.

The food came out, and finally Aaron lifted the beer next to him to his mouth.

My heart pounded wildly.

Various emotions went back and forth.

What if it doesn’t work?

What if it tastes weird?

It’ll be fine, right?

While slicing the duck br*ast, I casually asked.

“But Aaron.”

“Yeah?”

“That day, how did you know I had to go near the blue roof by the temple?”

Asking the question felt like my heart was going to jump out of my throat.

But Aaron, unlike me, casually blurted out.

“Oh, that? Didn’t you know there was a spy from the third prince attached to the crown prince’s side? I just overheard him blabbering. By chance.”

“…What?”

“He’s kind of dumb too. Why would a spy go around leaking that stuff?”

Did I hear that wrong?

I looked at him with a surprised face, and Aaron, with a mouthful of duck, continued speaking in a mumble.

“Before Rose came, the maid before was also a spy for the third prince. A double agent between the first and third prince!”

“Can you tell me more?”

At my question, Aaron sighed deeply and said.

“His Highness is pitiable. Anyway, since slave auctions are illegal, the third prince’s side must have been preparing for quite a while, and since His Highness already knew, he must have arranged the knights under his command in advance. And it’s quite well-known that the headmaid supports the duke who is a close associate of the first prince, right?”

“So, are you saying that the former maid, who was a double agent, leaked the crown prince’s party infiltration plan to both the first and third prince?”

At my words, Aaron shook his head.

“No. The former maid leaked everything to the first prince’s side, and the one who leaked to the third prince’s side was the servant who died by His Highness’s hand on your first day as a chambermaid.”

If what he said was true, then the invitation I secured, and this incident are unrelated.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

It was such a relief that it wasn’t my fault.

Even if I hated the male lead, it would have been quite painful if he were in danger of death because of me.

No, it was painful.

Hearing that one sentence felt like a lump I had been suppressing was dissolving away.

However, separate from that, I had a duty to find out the identity of this suspicious person.

“But how do you know that?”

I stopped what I was doing and looked straight at Aaron and asked.

Without hesitation, Aaron opened his mouth.

“Well, because I’m the grandson of Mr. Crimson?”