When the Duke was said to be eating, she asked Cleo to bring Royan there, and when the Duke was taking a walk, she dragged Royan along to that place.

When Royan finished his lessons and was returning, she would bring the Duke out and pretend it was a coincidence for them to meet.

She was so obvious that Royan couldn’t help but notice.

“I know why you’re doing this, but stop it.”

“Don’t you want to talk with the Duke?”

“……I have nothing to say.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

For someone who claims that, you seem to care quite a bit.

At first, when she arranged for the two to have a meal together, Royan seemed to find his father terrible.

He avoided sitting at the same table as if he hated it, and fled so hastily that they had barely spent a minute in the same space.

Watching him shout angrily that there was no reason for them to be together except for sword training, she wondered if this wasn’t going to work.

But from a certain day, Royan began to change slightly. Perhaps his pride was hurt by running away, so he began to hold his ground with glaring eyes. Of course, after leaving, Reibella was the one who got cursed at, but this was still a significant change.

After repeating this several times, Royan developed a small habit.

As he walked around the mansion, he would unconsciously scan his surroundings. Like he’s checking whether the Duke was nearby.

He didn’t seem to realize it himself, but Reibella, who observed him closely, could tell. Little by little, his door was opening.

Sometimes he looked like a lost child searching for his parent’s shadow.

The Duke of Vicheravali was no different.

At first, he barely even looked at Royan properly, but recently he had been observed checking what Royan was doing. Sometimes he would come to where Reibella and Royan were on his own, without Henan’s guidance.

Though they didn’t specifically speak to each other, just frequently encountering one another, a third party could see it. They were gradually seeping into each other’s lives.

Not wanting to miss this good atmosphere, Reibella even proposed a ‘deal’ to the Duke of Vicheravali.

‘I’d like to tell you about a good investment opportunity.’

‘Investment opportunity?’

‘When you hear it, you’ll want to give me 1000 gold coins. It’s information that will earn you thousands of times that amount!’

‘Con artist.’

……At first she was treated like a swindler. But, well, anyway.

When she mentioned that the information was about a magic stone mine, he immediately began verification procedures, and she received some advance payment, which meant she had essentially gathered the money needed to go to the Kingdom of Baribe.

Reibella was in a good mood because her escape preparations were steadily progressing, and the atmosphere between Royan and the Duke of Vicheravali was also improving.

It felt like things had never gone this well before.

So now, with the escape time drawing near, she decided to implement a more daring strategy.

“It’s been a long time since I went outside.”

“So what.”

Royan answered indifferently while cutting with his knife, not even looking at her. Reibella smiled brightly and asked him.

“Won’t you go on a picnic with me?”

Royan frowned. He must have realized from the past few days that when she said ‘please do this,’ it meant ‘I will definitely do this.’

“I want to go. On a picnic.”

In fact, this was an event that had failed once before. It had been ruined before they could properly try it because Royan got angry for some strange reason.

But no matter how she thought about it, nothing was better than a picnic. For the quality of conversation to improve, the right atmosphere was essential.

Two people sitting on a small boat on the lake at sunset. They wouldn’t be able to bear it without spilling the words inside them.

Royan couldn’t help but know what she was plotting. He flatly refused.

“Don’t do useless things.”

“But I want to.”

“When I say don’t do it, don’t do it.”

“But wouldn’t it be nice?”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“Every time you open your mouth, you tell me not to do something.”

As she smiled at him while grumbling, Royan laughed in disbelief. This was also one of the changes she had directly observed while following him around. It seemed to be an unconscious smile that he probably wasn’t aware of.

So Reibella didn’t acknowledge the smile. Until someday, when he himself would feel, ‘Oh, I was smiling.’ Until the day came when he would remember how enjoyable this life had been. She decided to keep it quietly to herself.

Just then, Reibella paused as she was about to pierce meat with her fork. When she put down her fork, Royan heard the sound and looked at her. His brow furrowed slightly.

“Why are you……”

“Anyway, I’m going tomorrow afternoon. I’ve already cleared the time. I’ve replaced tomorrow’s lesson with homework.”

“Hey!”

“So I’ll come when you have sword training in the afternoon, so wait for me.”

“You……!”

“I’m going! I’m busy during the day today, so even if you’re lonely, hang in there and wait, okay?”

“Don’t come!”

“Aw, I know you’ll wait. Big sister is leaving!”

“You’re three years younger than me!”

Reibella giggled as she looked at Royan, who was so frustrated he didn’t know what to do, and left the dining room, leaving him behind.

Royan’s irritated voice followed her. Asking if she was leaving alone after inviting him to eat together.

After spending a few days together, she could vividly picture his face just from his grumbling voice. He would surely be pouting with his eyes downcast, looking disappointed.

‘I think I’ve turned the sexy cold male lead into a puppy.’

What if that change isn’t to the princess’s taste? Our Royan, I’d feel sorry if he ended up with unrequited love because of me.

She resolved to secretly write down the points from the novel where the princess fell for Royan and pass them to him before leaving for the Kingdom of Baribe.

With that thought, Reibella turned a corner and entered a small room. It was the bathroom she often visited when she came to the main building.

Looking at Charlotte who followed her, she replied with a smile as she had always done.

“I’ll wait here, Miss.”

Reibella smiled at her and entered the bathroom alone. As soon as she entered, she saw the sink.

Standing in front of it, Reibella quietly parted her lips. At the same time, the blood that had pooled in her mouth trickled out.

‘My precious blood……’

Physical strength was essential for going to the Kingdom of Baribe.

Watching the blood continue to flow made her feel anemic.

‘I hope Royan didn’t notice.’

How much she had held back the rising blood in front of Royan.

Having heard that he was by his mother’s side when she collapsed after being poisoned, she didn’t want to show him such a sight.

So she had held it in with all her might, with all her strength, until she reached this place.

‘But why is this blood coming out?’

It wasn’t because of the poison given by the Emperor. He had given her alleviants that would last a month or two before she came here, and Reibella had been taking them consistently.

So what remained was…….

Reibella recalled the food that had been on her plate during the meal just now. The green grass at the edge.

Todoria.

It was a plant Reibella knew very well. She had made a strong impression on the princess because of that plant.

‘I thought it just caused stomach upset.’

Could it be acting as a booster for the poison given by the Emperor?

If that was the case, the reason todoria appeared on her plate was clear.

I am watching you.

It was a warning from the Emperor.

‘Who could it be?’

Who could so freely put grass only in Reibella’s food at the young master’s dining table?

Since the Emperor had said he would attach a spy, she had been constantly looking to identify them.

The servants of the Vicheravali mansion liked to talk about themselves, so it wasn’t too difficult to gather information.

From what she heard, most had been staying at the Duke’s mansion for a very long time. Those who had been hired recently were all fired not long ago by the Duke of Vicheravali’s orders.

‘Who could be the Emperor’s puppet?’

Since all those who were openly suspicious had been cut off, what remained were the ‘variables.’

The most suspicious were ‘Royan’s collaborators’ who appeared in Part 2.

Although they weren’t described in detail, the common point was that they harbored grudges against the Duke of Vicheravali and were as friendly to the imperial family as they hated the Duke.

Thinking that way, there was only one person she could suspect.