“……”

“Well then, what do you think, miss? Do you believe that our town’s esteemed Ivan Ivanovich truly came to my party and said ‘the vodka bottle is empty’ as a veiled insult, alluding to my excessive fondness for gambling?”

The baroness spoke without pausing for breath. Both cheeks were flushed with agitation. The elder Ivan Ivanovich had apparently done a thorough job of infuriating this woman.

This whole business about the vodka bottle was not part of the novel’s contents. Without knowing the details, I had no way of telling whether Ivanov had actually insulted the baroness or not.

But the details of the matter were entirely beside the point for me. The baroness, having nursed a grudge over this vodka bottle incident, would go on to use her influence to cause the Ivanov father and son considerable trouble. So it was obvious whose side I needed to take.

“I don’t know much about metaphor…… but the remark Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov made does seem rather lacking in courtesy.”

Color returned to the baroness’s face.

“I knew it, didn’t I?”

“Even if the vodka bottle truly was empty, it’s hardly something one ought to say to the hostess of a party, is it?”

I paused there and let out an exaggerated sigh, drooping the corners of my eyes as though her humiliation had touched my own heart.

“If he truly needed more vodka, he might have found a servant to ask…… Oh my, that was a bit coarse of me. I do apologize, baroness.”

I let my cheeks color and smiled with a touch of embarrassment. This was a skill I had picked up around the fourth loop. I could make myself blush whenever I wanted. Summoning tears on demand was still a work in progress, but I was getting close.

And fortunately, my answer seemed to please the baroness.

“Exactly! Ah, a pure-hearted young lady truly does see straight to the heart of the matter!”

The baroness took my hand warmly and led me along.

“Come inside, quickly. I’ll have them prepare tea and jam. Rodion Nikolayevich, if you’re not too busy, won’t you join us for tea?”

I glanced over without thinking and met Rodion’s eyes.

I assumed he would decline and walk away. He had been desperate to leave this place since before I arrived.

But he gave a completely unexpected answer.

“How could I refuse such an invitation.”

And as he said it, his grey eyes were fixed unmistakably on me.

* * *

“You lie quite shamelessly.”

That was what Rodion said to me the moment the baroness stepped out of the drawing room.

I frowned before I could stop myself.

“……Did I hear you correctly?”

“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. I had no intention of insulting you. I was, in fact, rather impressed.”

Rodion’s tone was courteous. But his eyes…… were something else. He was looking at me as though he had found something interesting.

“Correct me if I’m wrong. You said Captain Morozov, didn’t you?”

“My name is sufficient.”

“Then, Rodion Nikolayevich, may I ask what exactly impressed you?”

At my question, a barely perceptible smile crossed Rodion’s face.

“Rodion Nikolayevich?”

Rodion gave a slight shake of his head.

“Forgive me. At the moment I cannot think of a way to explain it without being rude. I’m not particularly gifted with words.”

“……”

Rodion spoke as though genuinely regretful, but his expression said otherwise. A strange smile played at the corner of his composed mouth.

“If it wouldn’t be an imposition, Katerina Vladimirovna, I was hoping to ask a small……”

The baroness flung open the drawing room door just then, and Rodion turned his gaze away from me as if nothing had passed between us.

“Honestly, I ought to replace every last one of these servants. How difficult can it be to bring out a simple pot of tea? I always have to go and prod them myself!”

The baroness bustled in and took her seat with great fuss.

The servants set the teapot, cups, sugar, and jam on the tea table one by one.

“A thought came to me on my way back, actually. Ivan Ivanovich has a son around the same age as you, doesn’t he?”

I quickly set down my teacup and nodded.

He does, he does. The baroness wouldn’t know it, but that son’s fiancée was sitting right here.

If things followed the original story, the baroness would now begin using every connection she had to make Ivan’s life miserable. But with me here, a few well-placed words would be enough to take hold of her and steer things in a different direction……

“I was thinking it might be nice to send that young man to study in Moscow.”

“……Pardon?”

The baroness smiled at my speechless expression.

“I intend to forgive Ivan Ivanovich for his rudeness. And I plan to show the world that I, unlike him, am a person who covers others’ faults with generosity.”

“Wait a moment, baroness.”

But the baroness showed no sign of stopping. She was already thoroughly intoxicated by her own magnanimity.

“I’ve heard that Ivan Ivanovich’s late wife left quite a considerable fortune in that fine young man’s name. But left as things are, Ivan Ivanovich will drink every last ruble of his wife’s estate away!”

That was true. It had actually happened, and the incident had significantly worsened Ivan Ivanovich’s depression.

“But, baroness……”

“That fine young man…… oh, what was his name again?”

“Ivan Ivanovich……”

I answered reluctantly.

A brief look of bewilderment crossed the baroness’s face. Even by the standards of this novel, Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov was a remarkably unimaginative name.

“W, well, in any case, I shall send that fine young man Ivan Ivanovich to Moscow! Surely his father will naturally come to realize his own wrongdoing.”

This was a disaster.

My lips twitched. It seemed the baroness was not quite as bitter a person as I had assumed. To think that a few words of agreement from me had been enough to lift her mood entirely.

The goal of preventing her from tormenting Ivan had been achieved, but this way a far bigger problem arose.

The reason was simple: Moscow was more than twice the distance from Seoul to Busan. If Ivan actually went to Moscow, I would be left here with nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs.

And besides, would sending Ivan to a university in Moscow truly lead him to dream of a brighter, more hopeful future? Speaking as a graduate student who had transmigrated into her own field of study, the answer was an absolute no.

In desperation, I looked to Rodion.

For whatever reason, he seemed to think fairly well of me, so perhaps he would notice my troubled expression and change the subject.

Our eyes met. Rodion looked briefly puzzled, but he appeared to grasp my intention quickly enough. He gave me a small nod and opened his mouth.

“Speaking of which, Aunt.”

The baroness, still basking in her own benevolence, turned her gaze toward him.

“I hear that a doctor in the neighboring town was murdered last night.”

……What?

“Wh, what did you say?”

The baroness asked in a trembling voice.

The atmosphere in the drawing room plummeted, but Rodion didn’t so much as blink.

“The doctor was killed most brutally. Apparently the organs were torn apart with a weapon…… From the method, it appears to be the work of the serial killer who has been the talk of Saint Petersburg lately.”

He helpfully repeated what he had said, word for word, and even added a little more detail.

“No…… No, how could……”

“Ah. The news won’t have reached the public yet. The state of the body was quite gruesome, and the chief of police has been ordering his officers to keep quiet about it.”

The baroness’s face went white, but Rodion continued in the same composed tone.

“Even so, it’s a troubling matter. Either the killer has moved his activities to this town, or a copycat has appeared. Either way, it’s quite a headache.”

Yes, it was true that the serial killer had appeared around this time. The fact had had a considerable effect on Ivan Ivanovich’s state of mind.

But to bring this up as a way of changing the subject. What on earth was the second part’s protagonist made of?

I was staring at Rodion with a look of pure exhaustion when I met his sharp, blade-like gaze.

‘Ugh.’

He really is frightening. I quickly looked away.

Well, whatever. It didn’t matter to me whether the second part’s protagonist had the conversational skills of a modern person or not.

What mattered was seducing Ivan and making him fall in love with me in the end.

And continuing to discuss Ivan with the baroness in this situation seemed dangerous. Better to find a chance to run into Ivan, even by accident.

Having made up my mind, I rose from my seat and bowed politely.

“I shall take my leave now, baroness. I have already paid my respects, and I ought to get home before it grows any later.”

“I’ll see you home.”

“……Pardon?”

What had this man just said? That he would personally escort me? Was that even acceptable?

Rodion tilted his head as if the answer were obvious.

“Did I not mention it? There is a killer on the loose.”

Ah, right.

The baroness still seemed unable to recover from the shock. I couldn’t tell whether Rodion’s offer was genuine or simply a pretext to escape, but there was nothing to be gained by staying any longer. I followed him out without protest, said goodbye to the baroness, who was still reeling from the young people’s alarming conversation, and left the residence.

“Did you have something particular you wished to say to me?”

I asked as I climbed into the carriage Rodion had called.

“You noticed, then.”

Rodion said, and took my hand to help me up. He carried the scent of a winter forest about him.

“It would have been harder not to notice, honestly……”