Every dress the maids presented looked old-fashioned. Most were black, and even the few light-colored dresses looked dull. Even bright pink and sky-blue dresses gave the impression of storm clouds hanging over them.

She could not tell if the people in this world simply had terrible taste or if Annette’s preferences were unusual.

Seeing that there was not even a simple white dress, she thought the latter was more likely. With no other choice, she wore the most ordinary black dress and went shopping.

She stopped the maids from trying to braid her hair into pigtails. Her blond hair was already muted in tone. If she let them style it as they wished, she thought she would look like a gloomy woman.

She felt dark energy would practically pour off her. Since she did not need to follow the real Annette’s taste, she simply asked for a half-up hairstyle.

This should be enough for today, right?

That was what she thought, but when she encountered noble ladies in the square, they seemed to cautiously avoid Annette.

Was even her current style too gloomy? Even so, was avoiding her not too much? Did she even have friends?

The feeling was strange, so Annette asked the maid beside her.

“Which young lady am I close to?”

“Well….”

The maid could not answer easily. A brief silence passed before she checked Annette’s reaction and replied.

“No one.”

“No one?”

Not a single close friend? What kind of life did Annette lead? Since it was such an unusual case, Annette felt unsettled.

She possessed Annette’s body and did not know what the former Annette’s life was like, so her behavior must be completely different. Yet no one found it strange.

Come to think of it, Count Bathurst and his wife were the same. Even if she claimed to have lost her memories, they should have found their daughter’s changed behavior strange, yet they did not seem to.

The situation was similar during the meal. Thinking back, she lacked the bearing of a noble lady, so it was strange that they showed no particular reaction then either.

Why did no one care?

Annette tilted her head as she looked down at the dress she wore.

“Really no one? Is that all right?”

“It is all right even if there is no one. Your memories can return slowly. Also, I hope you will not dwell on memories of the past and will think only about the life ahead of you.”

What was this?

Was noble society not a society bound together by connections? She knew that holding banquets and building one’s position and reputation through them was most important.

Yet it was all right not to have friends?

Their answer telling her not to think about the past felt even more suspicious. Their lack of surprise over her having no memories left her uneasy.

What is this? What are they hiding?

She used the excuse that her body had not fully recovered yet, but Annette could tell. Not a single invitation arrived for her.

When she checked the drawer briefly before leaving, there was only a letter sent by the countess. When she glanced through it, it said the countess hoped Annette would socialize with more people.

From that, it seemed Annette was a reclusive loner who never attended banquets. That explained why she had no noble friends. Still, it was not like she never left the estate.

There were many dresses in her wardrobe, so she seemed to enjoy shopping….

The more she thought about it, the less Annette could know or understand what kind of thoughts the former Annette lived with.

Still, no matter how much she worried, nothing would change. She was Annette now.

She did not know where the real Annette’s soul disappeared to, but she could not keep dwelling on it. As Annette, she needed to live her own life too.

Just as she resolved not to be bound by the past and instead think about the present and future…

Huh?

A man with a familiar appearance stood some distance away. Her heart suddenly began pounding.

He was probably just someone who looked alike, but he resembled a man she knew so closely that she kept staring at him. Then, with a flicker of hope, Annette asked the maid beside her.

“Who is that man over there?”

“That is Lord Howard.”

Lord Howard? The name sounded familiar, so Annette asked with expectant eyes.

“Could he be Lord Kynel Howard?”

“Have your memories returned?”

The maid’s face suddenly darkened like storm clouds gathered over it. The expression bothered Annette, but Lord Kynel Howard interested her far more right now.

Was that not the name of a male character from the novel she loved? His face looked exactly like the illustration, and even his name was the same. Could it be a coincidence?

The character illustration she looked at until it was worn into her mind seemed to come alive before her eyes, making her heart swell. Still, she could not be certain yet, so Annette tried to stay calm as she confirmed the male lead’s name.

“Is Crown Prince Leon Kent of the neighboring empire famous for his handsome appearance?”

“Yes, that is right.”

He really existed?

“What about Princess Rachel? Is she his lover?”

Princess Rachel was the heroine of the novel. If the male lead existed, the female lead should exist too, so Annette needed to confirm it.

“His lover? No. Princess Rachel was only recently acknowledged as a princess, so I understand that she does not have a fiancé yet.”

As Annette seemed to be remembering things little by little, the maid did not look pleased. Instead, she seemed troubled. Still, this was not the time to worry about her expression.

Oh my god!

Only then did Annette realize she possessed a body in the world of the novel she read.

This was the setting of a novel called “Even When Misfortune Comes, You Won’t Be Lonely!”, a story about Princess Rachel, an illegitimate daughter of the emperor of the Delta Empire who was born and raised in hardship, finding true love.

As she searched for love, she met several men, and three men secretly loved her. One of them was Kynel, the commander of the Imperial Knights.

He was diligent and responsible, and above all, remarkably handsome, making him a character who captured the hearts of many women.

He was also a faithful man devoted to one love, so Annette hoped he would end up happily with the heroine. Yet the princess did not choose him. Rachel chose Crown Prince Leon, and the story ended with Kynel protecting the heroine by her side for the rest of his life.

She could see him in person like this!

Even from afar, his jet-black hair, black eyes gleaming like jeweled gems, and flawless features made him seem like a perfect creation of God.

It felt like all the light in the world shone only upon Kynel. Her heart trembled just from watching him from afar.

She read the parts featuring him so many times that she memorized his lines, and did she not buy several pieces of merchandise too? Yet she could see him in real life like this!

A wave of emotion surged through her heart. Annette could not take her eyes off Kynel.

At the same time, sorrow she could not suppress welled up inside her. How pitiful was he, living his whole life with only one woman in his heart?

Simply watching him from this distance brought scenes from the novel vividly to her mind.

She wanted to approach him immediately and speak to him, but it was not easy. He seemed to be searching for something with the knights.

She could not interfere with his mission, so she would have to watch him from afar today. Still, her heart pounded at the thought that she would have another chance.

How could she speak to him in the future?

She did not want to miss this wonderful opportunity to openly indulge in her fandom. The only issue was whether she could get close to him.