Chapter 5.2

As they walked away with their backs to Rozelia, Ellie glanced back at her.

Rozelia was clenching her fists, glaring at Ellie until the very end.

“Ellie, don’t pay her any attention.”

“Ah, yes.”

At Feroza’s words, Ellie snapped back to herself and turned her head forward again.

As she walked along, led by him, she spoke up.

“By the way, Feroza, how did you come here?”

“Actually… I saw you going into the café.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Uh, but I don’t follow you to every appointment, you know.”

Perhaps worried that Ellie might misunderstand, Feroza added more explanation.

“Since you and Lady Azenne aren’t close enough to meet alone, it felt strange to me. That’s why I came.”

“Feroza, you have good instincts.”

“That’s only when it comes to you, Ellie.”

“If it weren’t for you, I would’ve been hit by that carriage for sure.”

Ellie let out a deep sigh of relief.

“I was really… so scared.”

“I should have just gone inside instead of waiting for you to come out.”

Feroza watched her expression with a worried face.

“It’d be best if you went home and got some rest today.”

“But we were supposed to go on a date today.”

“Your condition is more important than a date. You were really startled.”

Honestly, Ellie also wanted to just lie down and rest, though she hadn’t realized it until now.

She hadn’t noticed, but Feroza was leading her straight to the carriage depot.

They should have gone in the opposite direction, but it seemed they’d taken a detour because of Rozelia.

“Contact me with the communication stone when you arrive at the mansion.”

“Alright.”

Ellie nodded.

The worry in Feroza’s eyes never faded as he looked at her.

“But Feroza.”

“Yes?”

“Um… Is it really okay to give up on that business? If the loss is big, maybe you should just go ahead with it?”

Regardless of what Rozelia had done, Ellie didn’t want Feroza to suffer any damage.

He looked surprised that she would say such a thing, but soon smiled gently.

“It’s fine, Ellie. I hadn’t even really started anything yet. So there’s no damage to me at all.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Feroza answered.

“So don’t worry about me and just go rest first.”

“Alright.”

At his words, Ellie felt at ease and got into the carriage.

“Go safely!”

As the carriage departed, she could hear Feroza’s voice calling out.

Ellie opened the window a little, stuck her head out, and waved her hand.

Once the carriage had completely left the shopping district, she leaned back against the seat with a deep breath.

“So exhausting…….”

So much had happened in just a short time.

She had found out Rozelia was a fellow possessor, and had almost died at her hands.

One thing she couldn’t understand was Rozelia’s obsession with the original story.

‘Why? Why is she so desperate to follow the original story?’

Of course, since Rozelia was the heroine, if she just followed the plot, a rosy future would surely await her.

But since Ellie was now engaged to the male lead, Feroza, Rozelia should have realized the story had already gone off track.

Shouldn’t she just find her own happiness now? As a noble lady, she could do whatever she wanted and live in abundance.

And yet, she was desperately trying to push Ellie out.

She remembered the look in Rozelia’s eyes just before she was pushed—her arms broke out in goosebumps.

At the tea party, those eyes had sparkled, but now they were dark and sunken.

Her blue eyes had seemed as deep as the ocean.

Ellie shook her head and rubbed her arms with both hands.

‘Enough, let’s stop thinking about it today.’

Because Rozelia had pushed her onto the road, Rozelia had suffered a huge loss.

So she probably wouldn’t contact Ellie for a while, and things would quiet down.

Ellie hoped Rozelia would just lose interest in her, but she had a strong feeling that wouldn’t happen.

Letting out a soft sigh, she leaned against the window and closed her eyes.

* * *

“No… This can’t be.”

Rozelia paced around her room, biting her lips hard.

She hadn’t expected Feroza to show up there, so she was deeply flustered.

She couldn’t understand why he looked at Ellie with such affectionate eyes.

“I’m the heroine. Why?”

The male lead and the heroine ending up together and living happily ever after was the natural ending to every story.

So when she first entered the heroine’s body, she thought it would be a given.

She thought the story hadn’t really started yet since she and Feroza weren’t lovers, but it turned out it had been a long time since their first meeting at the founding festival.

In the midst of her confusion, she heard the news of Feroza’s engagement.

To Ellie Archenna, who was nothing more than an extra.

Rozelia couldn’t accept that the story had gone wrong.

“I thought for sure I could be happy here…….”

At that moment, the door suddenly burst open.

Startled, Rozelia flinched and turned around.

“Rozel!”

The person who entered was Rozelia’s father, Menion.

“What on earth did you do for the Grand Duke to say he’s quitting the business he promised with me!”

“Ah…….”

Apparently, it had been said that Rozelia was the reason the business was canceled.

She hung her head and twisted her innocent dress.

“You know how much effort I put into this business! He even returned the Peridot Mine. How are you going to fix this!”

“…I’m sorry.”

She knew she’d acted rashly.

She should have been more careful.

For a moment, she’d been blinded by the thought that everything would be fine if only Ellie was gone, and acted with no plan at all.

Rozelia bit her lips, then suddenly lifted her head to look at Menion.

“Father, don’t be too upset. I’ll personally make sure the Grand Duke resumes the business.”

“You? The Grand Duke said himself in his letter that you were the reason he ended the business. How are you going to persuade him?”

“I’m going to marry the Grand Duke.”

“…What?”

Menion looked dumbfounded.

Rozelia continued confidently.

“Right now, the Grand Duke just has his attention elsewhere for a moment. He’ll soon start showing interest in me.”

“Haven’t you heard the rumors in society? How well he treats his fiancée?”

“That’s all just tricks.”

She clenched her fists tightly.

Yes, it had to be tricks.

She didn’t know what kind of schemes were at play, but if Ellie disappeared, Feroza would come to his senses and come to her.

That’s how the story was designed.

Menion felt a strange sense of uncertainty at Rozelia’s confident attitude.

‘Does Rozel have something up her sleeve?’

Whatever it was, if Rozelia married the Grand Duke and restarted the business, it would be a huge gain.

Menion cleared his throat and spoke.

“Rozel, can you really marry the Grand Duke?”

“Of course, Father. Trust me.”

Rozelia smiled sweetly.

But for some reason, that smile sent a chill down Menion’s spine.

He quickly averted his gaze and hurried out of the room, telling her to let him know if she met the Grand Duke later.

Left alone, Rozelia sat in a chair, thinking hard about what to do with Ellie, and began to write a letter to someone.

After quickly finishing the letter, she called a maid.

“Send this as quickly as you can.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Rozelia smiled confidently, certain that everything would go her way.

* * *

Several weeks passed since Ellie had met Rozelia.

Despite her anxiety about what Rozelia might do, Rozelia did nothing at all.

There was no news, no contact, and she didn’t approach Feroza either.

But rather than feeling relieved, Ellie felt even more uneasy.

“Sigh…….”

She let out a deep sigh.

Immediately, Feroza’s voice sounded in her ear.

“Ellie, you’re going to make a hole in the ground with all that sighing.”

“Ah… Sorry. I’ve just been lost in thought.”

She was meeting Feroza, but her mind was filled with nothing but thoughts of Rozelia, which made her feel awkward.

He stared at her quietly, then spoke.

“Ellie, do you want to go on a trip?”

“A trip?”

“Yes. There’s a villa on the southern coast, and it’s really quiet around there. I thought it would be nice if we could spend some time there together.”

Feroza added, pressing a kiss to Ellie’s forehead.

“You haven’t been sleeping well since that day, have you?”

“Ah…….”

Every morning, Roni fussed about the dark circles under Ellie’s eyes.

Even though she tried to cover them up with makeup when meeting Feroza, it clearly wasn’t enough to fool him.

“Was it that obvious?”

“Yes. Come with me for a few days. Let’s clear your mind, do some sightseeing.”

The southern coast, huh.

Now that she thought about it, it had been quite some time since she’d seen the sea.

Her hesitation lasted only a moment.

Ellie wouldn’t be contacting Rozelia first anyway, so maybe, just as Feroza said, she should take a break and clear her head.

“Let’s do that.”

“When should we leave? Tomorrow?”

“Uh, that’s a bit sudden… How about three days from now?”

“Alright.”

Feroza nodded.

After making brief travel plans, he reached out and touched her hair.

“The hairpin looks good on you.”

“Really? It was delivered to the mansion, and it was so pretty.”

The hairpin she’d ordered with Feroza had arrived at the mansion, regardless of her worries.

It was even prettier and more luxurious than she’d imagined, and it surprised her.

“Thank you, Feroza.”

“I’ll buy you something else next time.”