The attitude he had shown to other male protagonists and the level of hostility were completely different. Both Verheigen and Dietrich felt this way toward each other.

Although a person’s heart can’t be decided cleanly like cutting a radish, from what she observed, Verheigen seemed to suffer from a lack of affection and feared losing her “again” to Dietrich.

Dietrich seemed to have initially felt a sense of loss from affection that disappeared in an instant, and beyond that, he might have overlapped her with the broken music box on the day she collapsed from poison.

‘I’m not sure beyond that.’

For now, among the things she had heard from Verheigen today, there was something worth considering regarding the system, so Lysith decided to think about it.

‘After getting some sleep……’

Lying on the warm body pressed against hers, her tired body demanded sleep.

As she fell asleep feeling his hand stroking her back, Lysith suddenly felt embarrassed by a vague thought that crossed her mind.

‘But did neither of them attend the banquet……?’

Since all three of them had amicably skipped the banquet, she was already terrified of what rumors might be circulating.

* * *

Two days had passed since the hunting festival ended safely.

Lysith remained at the imperial palace — somehow feeling that things had gone according to Verheigen’s wishes — following the imperial physician’s advice to stay briefly and monitor her condition.

During this time, with a clear mind, she calmly organized the confusing information and reached a conclusion.

Logically, was it possible for a character in a game to see the system window? Unless they were some kind of bug character, it was impossible. Or, as she had suspected, this world might not be inside a game at all.

‘It seems this isn’t a game after all.’

After reaching this conclusion, she thought about it seriously until her head felt like it would split, but still nothing changed.

The main quest had set her success condition as returning to the world she originally came from. Even if this place wasn’t a game but a different world from where she lived, she had no choice but to pursue the reward offered by the system.

On one hand, she wondered if she was being too blindly faithful for something that wasn’t a game, but reconsidering Verheigen’s story, the identity of the system was clear.

‘It’s… a god.’

He, who had received God’s blessing and recovered past life memories, had seen the system window before.

What this implied was clear. The entity that could display the system window was God. And simultaneously, it was also the entity that could return her to her original state upon completing the quests.

If the system was God, there was no reason to hesitate in fulfilling the quests.

Since it had managed to bring her here, it would certainly be able to send her back!

The level 10 quest hadn’t appeared yet, and the only person left was Dietrich. All that remained was to seize the opportunity when she visited the Grand Duke’s residence.

In fact, she had considered trying to catch an opportunity if Dietrich hadn’t left yet, but she abandoned that thought in about 10 seconds. Within the imperial palace, there was someone who had their senses keenly attuned to her every move, someone who could know which person did what, where, and at what hour and minute……

‘I’d be crazy to do such a thing.’

So it seemed best to just leave the imperial palace. Initially, there wasn’t anything particularly wrong with her, and since she had collapsed merely from excessive stress, there didn’t seem to be any need to stay longer at the imperial palace.

While contemplating how to convey her intention to leave, Lysith soon decided to relay it through a maid.

This was because she had an ominous feeling that if she delivered the message in person, she might be detained again.

After asking the maid to convey her message, as she walked down the wide and splendid corridor to leave the imperial palace, she couldn’t help but gape at the man who blocked her path.

“……Brother?”

Why on earth… why was Sylvian Gronevelt here?

“It’s been a while, Lysith.”

Why, how did she suddenly encounter here a man she hadn’t met even once since possessing this body? Momentarily unable to hide her surprise, Lysith was looked at with a contemptuous expression by Sylvian, who soon returned to his usual expressionless face.

It was a cold face that was hard to believe belonged to someone looking at his own sister.

“Quite impressive.”

And on top of that, words whose meaning she couldn’t comprehend.

Lysith felt like her head was about to explode. How long had he been in the capital? After a brief consideration, she concluded it was likely not long. If it had been a while, she probably would have known.

“What do you mean?”

Responding in a small voice, trying her best to imitate the Lysith from her memories, Sylvian imperceptibly sighed at her appearance.

However, the problem was that this action, which the previous Lysith wouldn’t have noticed, was completely visible to the current Lysith. Suppressing her rising irritation, Lysith imagined smacking the back of Sylvian’s head while waiting for his answer.

“I wonder if you know why I left the capital.”

Are you the kind of person who would tell me such things?

Inwardly mocking him, Lysith outwardly lowered her eyes and blinked with a melancholic expression.

“No……”

“There were several issues that arose because you divorced the Grand Duke. I had quite a headache dealing with them.”

“……”

What do you want me to do about it? Lysith maintained a timid appearance, pretending to listen attentively to his words while suppressing her violent urges.

“But recently, you’ve done something quite beneficial for the family.”

“Beneficial……”

“I mean turning the Grand Duke’s heart and your relationship with His Majesty.”

Upon hearing his words, Lysith barely managed to hold back a sigh that was about to burst out like a lamentation.

Sylvian Gronevelt. Although this was the first time she, who had possessed Lysith’s body, was meeting him directly, from this first encounter alone, she could firmly assert one thing.

He was a character who made frighteningly rational judgments, dividing even his own sister based on whether she would be helpful to the family or not. And simultaneously, he was an obsessively perfectionist character as a duke.

“If I had to choose, His Majesty the Emperor would be preferable to the Grand Duke.”

“That’s……”

“Rumors have spread that you no longer love the Grand Duke. I find it hard to believe, but if it’s true, there’s no need to act like before.”

“……”

“If you won’t choose, there are ways for me or our parents to force it, but His Majesty says your will is most important.”

Having said that much, Sylvian clicked his tongue softly as if regretful.

“When we met before, you asked what would happen if you turned the Grand Duke’s heart. Were you confident?”

“……?”

What he asked wasn’t in her memories. After a moment’s consideration, the answer quickly became clear. It must have been from the two months after the divorce, before she moved into her current mansion, a period for which she had no memories.

To avoid unnecessarily complicating things by showing she didn’t know, Lysith maintained her usual expression. Seeing her timid and blank face, Sylvian shook his head as if that was enough, then passed by, leaving with words to do well, and disappeared beyond the corridor.

And the moment he completely vanished from the corridor,

“Ugh……”

Without even a simple notification from the system, memories suddenly flooded in, causing Lysith to grasp her forehead with one hand.

What flashed before her was a conversation between Lysith and Sylvian after the divorce, when she headed to the Gronevelt Duke’s residence.

“Lysith Gronevelt.”

She didn’t respond to her brother’s call.

She just sat on the sofa like a stone statue, docilely listening to Sylvian’s cold words. About why things had turned out this way, about whether this wasn’t the marriage she had so desperately wanted……

But none of these words reached Lysith’s ears.

With an unreadable expression, she silently listened to what the other person was saying, then suddenly posed a question to Sylvian.

“What if I turn His Highness the Grand Duke’s heart?”

Hearing her question, Sylvian snorted with the same cold face.

“Talk sense, Lysith Gronevelt. Is that all you heard during your one year of marriage?”

“……”

At his words, her previously calm expression shattered with a clang.

Lysith quietly bit her lip. Although his words were painful, her brother wasn’t wrong. She and Dietrich were simply incompatible from the beginning.

No matter what she did……

Lysith’s gaze briefly turned to the empty air, then fixed on Sylvian, who sat with his legs crossed in front of her.

“It’s fortunate that things ended well.”

“……”

“Father and Mother were so shocked that they said they’re coming up to the capital.”

“……”

It’s alright. When the suitable person comes……

Then, her brother’s troubles would quickly disappear.

The woman smiled faintly.

* * *

A splendidly decorated carriage, adorned in white and gold, stopped in front of the mansion. The woman, with a tired face, opened the carriage door and descended on her own, refusing even the coachman’s help.

As this was noticed, the interior of the mansion briefly became noisy, and then a maid quickly ran out.

“Oh my, Miss!”

“Eve.”

As the carriage provided generously by the imperial palace departed, Lysith sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time, then smiled slightly as she looked at Eve, who didn’t know what to do.