“Because I believe that common practice is wrong.”

“Hmm…… So you mean you believe it’s wrong not to support someone you dislike?”

“Yes. Personal feelings shouldn’t be brought into politics. Of course, it’s true that the Clonair grand duchy has traditionally been a strong ally of the emperor. But I wouldn’t have acted this way if the emperor had completely failed to perform his duties as emperor.”

“……”

“His Majesty, to speak honestly, can be considered the most ideal emperor within realistic boundaries. He skillfully manages the nobles as if the previous emperor’s death never happened.”

Naturally, Lysith didn’t know much about politics. After all, the memories she had received were those of an ordinary noble lady. If she had been an only child, it might have been different, but with her perfect-for-a-duke older brother above her, very little political news reached her.

Of course, she certainly knew the general hearsay.

So the story she was hearing from him now felt quite new. It wasn’t rumor but the account of someone who had experienced it firsthand.

“How should I put it, umm……”

“What? Is it different from what you expected?”

“It’s not that.”

It felt strange because it seemed like a belief only someone extremely upright could hold. She wondered if the previous Lysith had liked this aspect of him. Such thoughts crossed her mind.

“It’s unexpected… I should say?”

“Unexpected?”

“To be honest, I’ve spent more time with you meeting for embroidery than during the year we were married. So it can’t be helped.”

Although there was no malice in Lysith’s tone or manner, sometimes words containing only pure truth without malice could deliver a mental blow.

“That’s……”

“How well could I know Your Highness? All I knew was the side profile and back view I saw every day.”

Her increasingly scathing remarks gradually made Dietrich bow his head. They say rice plants bow their heads as they ripen, but it was funny because he didn’t seem particularly ripened.

Staring blankly at the top of Dietrich’s head, Lysith waved one hand gently as if to say enough.

“Well, our first meeting was certainly a bit special, I suppose.”

It was the memory of the terrace at sunset that she had recalled once before. The memory of when he had rescued her like magic, as a gentleman, from feeling like she would suffocate under the oppressive weight of her father.

In reality, what he had done wasn’t magic or anything particularly remarkable, but in her memory, it was.

For her, his actions that day, the results that followed from those actions, and finally herself falling in love because of him—that was the most magical thing.

But why had it turned out like this now?

“……At the wedding? Of course it had to be that way.”

“The wedding? I’m talking about the grand banquet hall.”

This person now can’t even remember our first meeting? As Lysith frowned, Dietrich, who would normally have quickly recalled and admitted his memory was wrong, somehow shook his head slightly.

“No, it was at the wedding. Before the wedding… I didn’t even know the proper face of the person who was to become my wife.”

“Then……”

That would mean she was the one misremembering.

Or more precisely, “Lysith’s” memory was.

‘What? What exactly is going on?’

But no matter how much she tried to recall, that memory contained not a hint of falsehood. The emotion Lysith felt in that moment was something that couldn’t possibly be fabricated or mistaken—it was an emotion only someone who had truly experienced the situation could feel.

Dietrich might be misremembering, but… unlike her who had received someone else’s memories, this man’s memories were genuinely his own. Wouldn’t anyone looking from the outside think the received memories were more likely to be incorrect?

Quickly noticing Lysith, who had fallen into a sea of confusion, Dietrich put down the embroidery he was holding and carefully grasped her forearm.

“I think it might be better to rest today.”

“……Yes. I’m sorry, but… I’ll head back early today.”

“There’s no need to apologize. See you next week, lady.”

She couldn’t even remember clearly how she had returned to her mansion. When she came to her senses, she had changed clothes and was lying on a soft bed.

What exactly was going on? Was there an error in her memories? But until now, while there might have been parts she couldn’t remember, there hadn’t been a single incorrect part.

If two people remember their first meeting in different places, usually the one who remembers meeting earlier would be correct, but recalling Dietrich’s words, it seemed unlikely that he would be confused about this.

Then what exactly was that memory of the sunset terrace that had been the starting point of her one-sided love?

“Ah, really……”

Nothing was being resolved clearly. Lysith, who had been rubbing her forehead with both hands covering her face, sighed deeply enough to sink the ground.

Calmly recalling from the beginning again, that day’s memory was from when she was nineteen. And the memory from when she was nineteen ended there, with the next memories starting from when she was twenty. She still harbored feelings for Dietrich.

And she had married Dietrich at twenty-two, divorced after about a year of marriage, and now at twenty-three, she had transmigrated.

‘What exactly is going on?’

In her frustration, she tried calling the system, but just like with Sylvian before, there was no response. And when such worries overwhelmed her, the concerns she had been trying not to consciously think about also surged forward.

About whether this world was really a “game.”

But what if it wasn’t a game? Then what would happen? If that were really the case, then the concept of escaping the game wouldn’t even exist, so she defensively insisted that it must be a game.

If it wasn’t a game, why would such quest windows exist?

Gathering such flimsy evidence here and there…

In truth, she always felt as if she were floating alone on the vast ocean with occasional waves. She couldn’t dive into the dark sea, and there was no sign of the land she wanted to settle on—that kind of vast ocean.

Even when questions arose and frustrating things happened like this, there was nothing she could do. After all, she wasn’t the GM (*Game Manager) but simply a player in the game.

From the beginning until now, after falling into this world, there was only one thing she could do and know.

[Main Quest]

‘Form relationships with all four male protagonists and achieve 100 affection with each!’

Reward – Escape and return to the world you lived in

Failure – Death

* * *

A week later, when Lysith visited the Grand Duke’s residence again, her complexion was much better than when she had left looking pale the previous week. Seemingly relieved by her improved condition, Dietrich was sitting quietly, working on his embroidery.

And in this fourth meeting, just like during her first visit, Lysith sat in the most honored seat in the same reception room, moving her toes slightly as she worked on her embroidery.

She felt a slight chill down her spine as she suddenly recalled what had happened at her mansion before coming to the Grand Duke’s residence.

“Miss. Must you go?”

“Huh?”

“I… would prefer if you didn’t go.”

Penchev’s face as he said this looked so melancholy that Lysith momentarily thought he might have stolen her melancholy passive skill.

Eve had briefly gone into the mansion to bring a shawl just in case, and the two of them were standing alone in front of the carriage door. Penchev had taken her hand—which he would normally only briefly hold to help her into the carriage—much earlier than necessary, and was subtly rubbing the back of her hand with his slightly calloused thumb.

And as he raised her hand and reverently kissed the back of it, Lysith involuntarily flinched, her shoulders trembling when their eyes met.

Normally, if Lysith shrank back a little at times like this, he would loosen his grip, but perhaps because he had been holding back for so long, Penchev did not easily release her hand.

If the original Lysith had any dating experience, it might have been different, but since she didn’t, she was confused about what to do in this situation. Quickly thinking, Lysith concluded that in times like this, it might be better to reluctantly tell the truth.

“It’s not like I’m going there because I want to.”

“Then, why.”

“I need something, there’s something I really want to get……”

Affection points.

“And there are some things I need to find out……”

……conquest points.

She felt terribly guilty even as she spoke. This really didn’t suit her personality at all!

At least what she said wasn’t a lie, but her conscience was busy pricking her like a needle, saying this was as good as lying.

After her gently spoken words, he finally released her hand as if accepting there was no choice, but suddenly stepped closer, bent slightly at the waist, and pressed his lips near her ear.

“Then even if you go, I would prefer if you didn’t stay there long.”

At the same time, his other hand stealthily rose and lightly brushed her neckline, barely touching it before withdrawing, and just as he stepped back, Eve came running from the mansion with ghost-like timing.

Penchev, who had put on the mask of an expressionless butler as if nothing had happened, helped escort Lysith to her carriage as usual.

Looking at this, it might seem like nothing had happened, but Lysith had seen it.