Chapter 60. White Lie

Countless thoughts flashed through her mind in a short time.

Should she tell Nix the truth about this world? Should she tell him that this place is inside a novel? But wouldn’t there be a reason why Vanessa, who had known him longer, hadn’t said anything? Come to think of it, he was the mastermind in the novel.

The ceaseless flow of thoughts stopped at that point.

The mastermind in the novel.

‘I won’t tell him.’

Iella’s mind hardened instantly.

Unlike her, he was a character appearing in the novel. Although his importance was far less than the main characters, he nevertheless had a role that was mentioned.

But what would happen if she told such a person that this place was inside a novel? Whether he was the mastermind here or not wasn’t the important issue. Iella felt a similar concern to what she had felt for Allen.

If he learned that what was reality to him had been constructed by someone else, it would feel like his entire life was being denied.

But once she made her decision, another obstacle awaited her. How exactly should she deny it? What excuse would work?

Iella glanced sideways at Vanessa. She seemed half out of her mind, perhaps from the shock of encountering a setting she hadn’t created. It didn’t seem like she could get any help from her.

After taking a moment to gather her breath and choose her words, Iella opened her lips.

“Vanessa has been by Ailexia’s side as her maid all this time. I think she’s blaming herself.”

“Blaming herself?”

“Yes. If she had known about it beforehand, I wouldn’t have had to suffer. Of course, that suffering turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it led us to Ailexia’s whereabouts.”

Iella drew a smile on her face. They say you can’t spit on a smiling face.

“That doesn’t seem to explain why she mentioned ‘setting,’ Miss?”

“Before the Emperor’s tea party, when we were alone, I said something like that in passing. Actually, I wondered if Ailexia had any food allergies and if the Emperor was calling her to feed her that.”

She had never said such a thing. She had only talked about changing it to a non-scary donut so that every time she spoke, she would see cream bursting out.

“Sometimes since I was young, I used to add one fun thing that came to mind to things that actually existed. I think that’s what she’s referring to. Seeing that she said she didn’t know, it seems like she’s just rambling out of shock from her sense of guilt.”

But she couldn’t say things like that. Iella made up something that sounded as plausible as possible.

In fact, when Kang Seon was writing novels in her previous life, she often took various materials from her surroundings to flesh out the story, so it wasn’t a complete fabrication. And lies become more convincing when cleverly mixed with a bit of truth.

However, in making up the lie, she overlooked one fact.

“Since you were young? When?”

The fact that Nix had also stayed at the Shua viscounty until she was seven years old.

Belatedly realizing this, Iella discovered the flaw in her lie and inwardly thought ‘oops.’ However, without showing it too much, she quickly squeezed out an excuse.

“Since I remember it, it must have been after I was eight. From then on, Vanessa was my secret friend.”

“Hmm.”

As if chewing over her words, Nix made a sound of being lost in thought. It felt like an excruciatingly long time. Cold sweat trickled down her back and her mouth became parched. Iella desperately hoped he would just let it go.

“Well, after you turned eight, I only visited the viscounty very occasionally. I guess that’s why I didn’t see it.”

Eventually, as if he had accepted it in his own way, Nix nodded. Relieved that the situation seemed to have been resolved somehow, Iella inwardly let out a sigh of relief.

“I’ll be going now.”

Nix, who had glanced at Vanessa who still hadn’t regained her senses, stood up from his seat. He seemed to have judged that it was no longer a situation for conversation.

Iella, who was holding Vanessa, could only follow him with her gaze. As she watched him adjusting his maid uniform front and back to fix his appearance, she suddenly wanted to confirm something and called out to him.

“Nix, did you first learn about my identity from Father and Vanessa? Or did you already suspect it when you heard from them?”

“Hm? Why do you ask?”

“Just something I wanted to confirm.”

At Iella’s question, Nix crossed his arms and pondered for a moment. Iella quietly observed him.

‘I’ve never explicitly revealed my name to Nix. Nix also heard about my identity from Father and Vanessa. So does that mean it’s possible to reveal one’s identity through a third party?’

This was a question that had been bothering her since she returned to Ailexia’s body.

If it was possible for her to reveal her identity because the old woman and Vanessa were sorcerers, then how did Nix know? While her father still had the fairy’s blessing remaining, Nix was neither a sorcerer nor anything else.

She had wondered if what he had shown on his palm before was sorcery, but it wasn’t. He had said it was because he had permanently cast a spell on his body that could only perform minor tricks.

Eventually, as if he had finished thinking, Nix answered.

“I figured it out first. I was keeping an eye on you because of the request. I detected something strange and was in the process of realizing it wasn’t Ailexia when I heard related news from Vanessa and the Viscount.”

At those words, Iella thought about the common point among those who had recognized her identity. There was only one conclusion: they had all recognized her identity first.

If this was true, then perhaps it was possible to reveal her identity even to those who weren’t sorcerers.

‘Like Nix, it might be possible for them to hear about it if they’ve already suspected to some extent.’

Aster appeared in Iella’s mind.

But soon she erased the thought. She wondered what the point would be in telling the truth when she would be returning soon anyway. It might be better not to let him know that she was the one he had been hostile toward.

‘Yes. He might just feel awkward about it.’

Anyway, she was satisfied with having discovered the approximate conditions.

At that moment, Nix added, as if something had occurred to him, “Oh, right.”

“I almost forgot the most important thing.”

When Iella looked at him with a puzzled expression, he took out a small letter about the size of a note from inside his bosom, specifically from the inside of the chest area of the maid uniform.

With a somewhat strange feeling, Iella took it and opened it. It was from her father.

“The Viscount wants to see you. He must be worried sick. So I was thinking of bringing you to Aether’s secret house in the imperial city. What do you think?”

“Father?”

Whether the words were true or not, the letter was filled with worry and a request to see her face, even if briefly. Iella felt a lump in her throat. But soon she put down the invitation with a regretful hand.

“I appreciate the offer, but I can’t go.”

“Why? Don’t you want to see him?”

“Of course not. I want to see him so much. But……”

In her heart, she wanted to go meet him right away. No, she wanted to go home. But she couldn’t.

“I don’t think it would be good for me to get entangled with my family while I’m Ailexia. Even if we move secretly, if it reaches someone’s eyes or ears, the harm would fall entirely on my parents and the family.”

“Hmm……”

“Besides, it’s difficult to leave the imperial palace in this form, isn’t it? I’ve tried so many times. I think it would be even more difficult now with the Emperor in the palace. Even if I somehow managed to escape, there’s a high chance someone would follow me.”

Understanding her concerns, Nix said nothing more. Instead, he seemed to be pondering something else deeply, crossing his arms in thought.

Looking at him, Iella suddenly thought that it was absurd for someone so willing to help to be the mastermind.

“Hmm, I can’t secretly bring him to the imperial palace either. He hates the palace to the point of disgust.”

Nix’s thinking didn’t end, as if he couldn’t come up with a good solution. Iella was about to tell him it was okay and to just convey her message well to her father.

“Or maybe going out with the Grand Duke……”

“Absolutely not!”

Nix had said something ridiculous. Iella hastily cut off his words in alarm. Come to think of it, despite all his talk about the contract, he had never once summoned her.

‘Though I haven’t gone there either.’

She had thought he would call her directly if she didn’t come for too long, but he hadn’t. Was it because she had collapsed recently? She couldn’t tell.

“Hmm, then regretfully, I’ll convey that to him.”

In the end, Nix declared his surrender with a reluctant look. Iella felt sorry for him, but it couldn’t be helped. She didn’t want to put her family at even the slightest risk.

After preparing to leave again, Nix adjusted his wig and approached the door. However, before grabbing the handle, he stopped and stared intently at the door.

As Iella was about to ask what was wrong, he extended his hand to stop her and brought his finger to his lips.

“Shh.”

After staying like that with his ear pressed against the door for a while, he suddenly moved hastily and grabbed the still-shocked Vanessa by the scruff of her neck.

Surprised by the sudden situation, Vanessa struggled and tried to raise her voice, but he held her body tightly, covered her mouth, and headed not toward the door but toward the terrace.

“This isn’t my doing, Miss. It’s just a situation that appeared when I mentioned him.”

Then, leaving those incomprehensible words, he opened the terrace door, closed it carefully, and jumped down. Confused by the events that had unfolded in the blink of an eye, Iella belatedly moved toward the terrace.

“Ailexia.”

At that moment, a dull sound of knocking on the door was heard, followed by a familiar voice calling her.

“I’m coming in.”

It was Chase’s voice.

“Ah, no!”

It was an unconscious rejection. Iella felt all sounds from outside the door disappear and hurriedly went out to the terrace. By then, the two had already disappeared.

‘How could they leave me alone in this situation!’

Complaints erupted inside her that they should have taken her with them instead. If Vanessa had stayed, she could have at least made an excuse that Ailexia wasn’t there, but then she remembered the dazed state Vanessa had been in and realized that would have been impossible too.

“Haah……”

In the end, after closing the terrace door, Iella turned and glared at the bedroom door.

How should she navigate this obstacle?

‘I have no idea….’

Nothing came to mind, as if her head had been bleached white. Iella felt like crying. Now she realized she shouldn’t have been bored with the peaceful life of doing embroidery. That had been a very honorable and luxurious situation. If she could go back, she would do embroidery even if her eyes fell out.

“Ailexia.”

Chase’s voice rang out from outside the door once more, as if urging her. There was nowhere else to retreat.

Iella made a solemn decision and approached the door. She placed her hand on the handle and took several deep breaths. As she did so, she hoped,

‘Please let nothing happen.’

Finally, having composed herself, she opened the door wide. Chase was right in front of her. His face looked somehow sharper yet more tired, as if he had lost some weight in the past few days.

As Iella just stood there looking at him, something was suddenly thrust in front of her.

It was a bouquet of roses the same deep pink color as Ailexia’s eyes.