13. there are no right answers at crossroads

Lysith, who returned to the mansion with the emperor’s send-off, pushed past the mansion staff who welcomed her and collapsed on the sofa.

Now that she was back, she decided to satisfy her curiosity first.

“Serena.”

“Yes, Miss.”

She clearly remembered telling them that there was no need to show her the letters Dietrich sent, so why did it appear there? Well, considering the quest, she would have checked it eventually…… At that moment, she couldn’t express it in any other way except “of all times.”

Thanks to that, Lysith spent the entire day in bed, and after trying to cool her naturally reddening face with a hand fan, she asked.

“I received a letter from His Highness the Grand Duke. I was wondering why it wasn’t thrown away.”

At Lysith’s words, Serena paused as if measuring something before calmly answering.

“As you know, Miss, ordinary letters usually use plain cream-colored envelopes. But that letter……”

“Ah.”

Now she roughly understood the situation. It seemed the maid had judged it couldn’t be carelessly discarded. Indeed, from her memory, it had eye-catching silver embossing with elaborate patterns.

‘Wait, if it’s silver embossing……’

That was a pattern only those with the title of “Highness” could normally use. And from Lysith’s memory, it wasn’t something that man often used.

No wonder Serena couldn’t throw it away casually. No one could have predicted things would unfold that way because of it, and who could have imagined the emperor would be nearby?

Sigh. After letting out a small sigh, Lysith dismissed Serena and collapsed back onto the sofa.

Quite some time had passed since her transmigration, and she’d made decent progress with her conquests, so it seemed like the right time to finally organize the dressing room she’d been putting off.

‘Yes, those problematic black clothes.’

Although she’d need to buy new dresses after sorting them out, it was something she had to do eventually, so Lysith steeled her resolve. And truthfully, she wouldn’t be the one physically doing the work anyway.

Perhaps this was one of the benefits of possessing a noble’s body.

Though her middle-class mindset occasionally made her feel guilty. But if she tried to do it herself, everyone would be shocked at the sight of their miss doing such work, so it was better to stay put.

After finishing the organization, keeping only the minimum number of black clothes in the dressing room, she walked through the garden with Eve.

It was already mid-August, the height of summer.

Soon autumn would arrive, and when autumn ripened, the hunting festival would be held. Until then, there were no special events scheduled.

Heroines of romantic fantasy novels were usually busy with businesses and such, but she had absolutely no talent in that area. Above all, there was no need to go that far.

She didn’t know what she had been doing in her previous life, but she was certain it wasn’t anything like running a business.

“By the way, has my brother still not come to the capital?”

“No. I haven’t heard anything yet.”

“I see……”

While she had no memories of herself, even the memories of the real “Lysith Gronevelt” had gaps. The biggest gap was the two months before her transmigration, and she was convinced that Sylvian Gronevelt was at the center of those memories.

But she couldn’t just go down to the Gronevelt territory to meet him. What if he noticed she was someone else?

Considering how extremely indifferent the typical noble family was, there was a high chance he wouldn’t notice, but still.

As she gazed at the garden full of green and seasonal flowers in various colors due to summer, Lysith looked up. The blazing sun stung her eyes.

Though less hot than Earth’s summer, summer was still summer.

In the increasingly muggy weather, Lysith ended her garden stroll and headed back to the cool mansion.

* * *

Two days had passed since her return from the imperial palace to the mansion, and Lysith was facing an unexpected challenge.

“Um……”

“……”

Where in the world would you find a miss who watches her butler’s reactions?

……Right here.

‘Was it that day? ……It seems so.’

Usually, her only time alone with Penchev was during tea time, which was naturally now. But what was markedly different from usual was that the butler was silently embracing her.

The sofa where she normally sat wasn’t a single-seater but an elongated one, and Penchev was sitting beside her, holding her.

Of course, with her permission.

Staring at the teacup that had been empty for a long time, Lysith suddenly remembered the tea she drank at the imperial palace and spoke to the man.

“That’s right, every time I drank tea at the palace, I missed the tea you brew for me.”

“……Is that true?”

At Lysith’s words, Penchev lifted his face from where it had been resting on her shoulder, looking somewhat melancholic. This wasn’t his usual expression, and while finding it strange, she nodded.

“Yes. You always brew it exactly to my taste.”

Lysith preferred sweet things over bitter ones and liked drinks that went down smoothly. And so far, only Penchev had matched her taste perfectly.

At her words, he seemed to feel a bit better, as the hand embracing her waist loosened slightly.

What should she do? After pondering briefly, Lysith decided to ask directly.

“Can I ask why you’re acting this way? Did something happen while I was gone……”

“No, that’s not it. There were no problems at the mansion. Just…”

“Just?”

“……You weren’t here.”

And I can’t forget seeing you at the imperial palace.

Swallowing only those words, the man widened his eyes at the small warmth that wrapped around his back.

“I won’t be away for that long in the future.”

“Yes.”

“Even if I am, it won’t be as sudden. Ah, right. Everyone must have been shocked when they heard I was suddenly poisoned. I couldn’t ask properly last time because things were so hectic……”

The gentle voice reaching his ears felt like the chirping of a lark. Asking about his well-being, worrying, comforting him with kindness.

And yet, he couldn’t help but think:

……Those men must have fallen for this kind voice too.

But it was fine. This was what he had expected from the beginning.

He thought he was satisfied just being by her side, as she was someone too high for him to reach, regardless of his true feelings.

For now, she seemed to plan on staying at this mansion with him, so he couldn’t ask for more.

……But just as he thought that, the next day, the most detestable man in the world barged in.

Moreover, a man who clearly intended to take her away from this mansion.

“Noona, why didn’t you contact me? You said you’d call for me.”

“I haven’t been back for long…… I was going to contact you after resting a bit.”

Penchev, who was glaring sharply behind Lysith, seemed invisible to Ashites — Lysith found Ashites’s consistency remarkable in this regard — as his heterochromatic eyes were busy examining Lysith’s face.

“Ah, then that might be difficult.”

“What?”

“I was going to ask you to come to the Magic Tower with me. ……Are you very tired?”

The Magic Tower was naturally something she was curious about.

As a Korean, she was curious, and Lysith’s memories contained almost nothing about the Magic Tower. She wondered what it looked like and what kind of people were there.

But hadn’t she made an unspoken promise with her butler just yesterday?

Leaving for a long time like this was a bit……

Ashites, who uncannily sensed her hesitation, began making passive demands again to take her with him, just like before.

“There’s a magical device under development right now, and it would be good if someone came to see it.”

“……”

“I’ll make sure you’re completely comfortable. I’m the top person at the Magic Tower……”

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t tempted. Rolling her eyes back and forth, Lysith inwardly sighed briefly.

Ashites in front, Penchev behind.

It was truly a dilemma. It was a three-way confrontation, but…… since Ashites was completely ignoring Penchev, it was a bit ambiguous to call it that. She couldn’t tell if he was ignoring him because he recognized him as a rival or because he didn’t recognize him at all.

‘Personally, I’d prefer the latter, but……’

Since Ashites was quite perceptive, she didn’t have high hopes.

“Hmm……”

“Are you really not coming? Are you very tired?”

In truth, among the things she did at the imperial palace, the only thing that could be considered tiring and exhausting was lounging in bed. As Lysith continued to show an ambiguous expression, Penchev, who had been standing quietly like a statue behind her, spoke up.

“Miss.”

“Uh, yes?”

You’re suddenly calling me here? As she turned around with a startled jerk of her shoulders, she saw the man with his eyes lowered speaking.

“You don’t need to try so hard to keep your promise.”

“But……”

His tone was calm as usual, but Lysith couldn’t help but feel concerned. Why is the situation turning out like this? It was enough to make her feel sad for no reason.

And as soon as Lysith’s gaze turned to Penchev, Ashites, who had hardened his face, clenched his fist.

That bastard I don’t like.

It was obvious he had been by Noona’s side, acting cunningly and unpleasantly, pretending to be vulnerable.

“Noona.”

If he stayed quiet here, she might decide to stay at the mansion because of that bastard. Suddenly feeling a sense of crisis, Ashites grabbed one of Lysith’s hands.