Liriope looked at the engagement contract Kaiden held out, then looked at his face. After glancing back and forth between the contract and Kaiden once more, a ridiculous comment spilled from his mouth.

“Yes, I understand. It’s hard to believe. But don’t worry. This isn’t a dream.”

“……”

“It is indeed the engagement contract you so desired with me, so rest assured.”

Even at those words, Liriope stared blankly at the contract and Kaiden in turn. When she showed no sign of taking the contract he offered, Kaiden eventually set it down on the table.

Strangely enough, the contract perfectly covered the newspaper’s front page photo of Theo’s face.

“You may rejoice as much as you’d like, Lady Liriope.”

The crown prince spread his arms dramatically like an overacting Hollywood actor and smiled.

‘What on earth is this…?’

Kaiden was staring at Liriope with that same haughty gaze that seemed to look down on everyone, but when she shifted her eyes around, scanning his every expression intently, he seemed a bit uncomfortable and looked away.

Liriope had no idea why this stunning man had suddenly shown up unannounced and was now throwing an engagement contract at her like some kind of bomb. She furrowed her brow in deep thought.

She had done everything she could to avoid the engagement with the crown prince—so why was she now in the very situation she’d tried to prevent, the one from the original novel? 

The thought that, no matter how much she tried to deviate from the plot, she might still be fated to die at the crown prince’s hands made her heart sink.

‘Don’t tell me… no matter what I do, I’m doomed to get killed in the end by this cursed fate?’

That terrifying thought instantly sobered her up.

‘No. No way. This is my hard-earned second life. I’m going to live it out peacefully as a noble lady with a diamond spoon in my mouth and die of old age, long and slow.’

Liriope steeled herself once again. If fate kept trying to drive her toward death, she would just keep twisting the story even harder. If she stayed out of the Crown Prince’s way and didn’t provoke or torment the original female lead he liked, there would be no reason for her to die.

‘Instead, I should become best friends with the original heroine.’

Liriope nodded to herself without realizing and resolved once more to become close with Rosearin.

Just then, her eyes met Kaiden’s.

Thinking that retrieving the bomb in front of her should come first, Liriope spoke firmly to Kaiden.

“I’m already engaged.”

At those words, the crown prince’s handsome face twisted in an instant. Even while frowning, his face was still striking enough to make her marvel—until he opened his mouth and ruined it with an utterly absurd comment, causing her brow to furrow again.

“So you can stop the act now.”

‘An act…?’

“You’ve caught my attention enough. I even brought the engagement contract myself.”

“Sorry, but I didn’t get engaged to His Grace, the Grand Duke just to get your attention.”

At that, a flicker of menace passed over the crown prince’s beautiful face. It seemed he had fully expected Liriope to gleefully stamp her seal on the contract as soon as he handed it to her.

“Since when did you start calling that bastard by name?”

However, it seemed that what bothered Kaiden was something completely unexpected.

“Uh… since a while ago? Maybe since I started liking him?”

Liriope’s softly muttered words made Kaiden’s eyes narrow sharply.

“Don’t tell me you actually expect me to believe that nonsense about really liking that bastard.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not nonsense. It’s the truth.”

“Enough with the lies, Lady.”

The crown prince spoke with his eyebrows twitching in anger.

“Why do you keep insisting it’s a lie?”

“Why do you think? Because you—”

‘Because you’ve always liked me.’

Even though he didn’t finish his sentence, Liriope could practically hear the unspoken words.

With a short sigh, she replied to Kaiden, 

“Your Highness, feelings aren’t something that can last forever.”

At her words, Kaiden’s face briefly turned to stone.

“Love is no exception. And I’m not foolish enough to cling endlessly to a love that could never be returned.”

“For someone saying that, weren’t you the lady who hung onto me for over a dozen years?”

A smug look crossed Kaiden’s face as he scoffed.

He clearly still believed—without a shadow of a doubt—that Liriope would love only him for the rest of her life.

Even though it wasn’t all depicted in the original novel, there had been glimpses of the crown prince’s cruel and cold behavior toward Liriope—through short passages or the gossip among noble ladies. There had been more than enough reasons for her to grow disillusioned.

And yet Liriope had continued to love Kaiden stubbornly, so she could at least understand why he’d believe such a thing.

“You’re right. Now that I think about it, it really has been a long time.”

Liriope nodded in response to his comment about her pining after him for years.

But her expression—now carrying a frosty smile—was filled with a coldness Kaiden had never seen before.

Avoiding her icy gaze, Kaiden said, 

“Exactly. So even if you say you like someone else now, in the end you’ll come back to—”

“You know, after all those years of loving you, you still only call me Lady, Your Highness.”

Cutting him off with a voice laced with bitter sarcasm, Liriope’s words made Kaiden freeze instantly.

She had struck a nerve—the issue of how he addressed her—something that had left Liriope feeling hurt in the original novel.

Back in the academy, Kaiden had always used nicknames for the noble girls he was close to.

Because of that, every girl who received a nickname from the crown prince ended up bullied by Liriope. Rosearin had been no exception.

But with Liriope, Kaiden had always stuck to calling her “Lady.”

“That’s because…”

Kaiden opened his mouth as if to explain, but quickly shut it.

“Why don’t you call me by a nickname too?!”

“Step aside, Lady.”

“Please call me Liri too, Your Highness!”

“Stop hanging around in front of me, Lady!”

The memories of how harshly he’d treated her all came rushing back.

Liriope stared directly at him.

Considering they had always kept that kind of distance between them, she couldn’t understand why he had come here now, creating a situation that hadn’t even existed in the original story.

She began to wonder if his feelings, once as insignificant as dirt under his shoe, had now evolved into something possessive—something like ‘I don’t want her, but I don’t want anyone else to have her either.’

But judging by the expression on Kaiden’s face, even that didn’t seem quite right, making his intentions all the more ambiguous.

“I’m curious, Your Highness—why you’ve suddenly come looking for a duke’s daughter you’ve never once sought out before. And even more curious why you’re handing me an engagement contract when I’ve already signed one with another man.”

“W-What reason… It’s because you pulled this ridiculous act and now I—”

“I’ve told you several times—it’s not an act. I’m truly engaged to the Grand Duke.”

“You know very well that this engagement can be annulled at any time.”

Kaiden frowned deeply as he spoke.

Certainly, in this world, an engagement contract was more like a verbal promise. Only after stamping the contract and holding an engagement ceremony would it be considered a true engagement— just like how a marriage only becomes official when the marriage registration is stamped and submitted to the district office.

“We’ll be setting the date for the engagement ceremony soon, too.”

“Lady!”

Flinch.

At that moment, the crown prince suddenly shouted at Liriope, and she involuntarily flinched.

‘Jeez, that scared me!’

“Why are you yelling?!”

Liriope wasn’t exactly a docile type herself, so she raised her voice right back, crown prince or not.

‘The louder voice always wins, after all.’

Kaiden blinked in disbelief. Liriope, who had never once raised her voice to him before, had just shouted back loudly.

But she wasn’t done. She looked straight at him and spoke firmly:

“I told you—I don’t need that stupid engagement contract. I’m already engaged to His Grace, the Grand Duke!”

“Don’t say that bastard’s name in front of me!”

Kaiden’s face was now flushed bright red, his eyes even glistening with emotion as he fumed.

He shouted again, as if trying to reject the very possibility of this being real:

“How can love just change like that?!”

…Oh wow, seriously?

Liriope shook her head and let out a short sigh.

“I think it’s best if you go back now.”

Kaiden didn’t look mentally stable, and she figured it would be better to just send him on his way.

But instead of leaving, Kaiden flared his nostrils like a charging rhino, growing angrier.

Then, his face gradually turned pale as he asked in a trembling voice:

“You’re not serious… right?”

“Oh my, would you mind pointing out which part of me doesn’t seem serious to you?”

As she adjusted the shawl draped over her shoulders, Liriope muttered sarcastically, “Maybe if I show you the right part, you’ll understand how serious I am.”

The crown prince stared at her with a shocked expression, his mouth opening and closing like a stunned goldfish. A very handsome goldfish.

Liriope addressed that pretty goldfish head-on with a resolute voice:

“I think you’re mistaken in thinking all of this is a show to get your attention, so let me clarify— I don’t like you anymore, Your Highness. I’ve liked His Grace, the Grand Duke for quite some time now, and also…”

“Ridiculous! You think I’d believe that?!”

“And if you don’t believe it, what exactly are you going to do about it?”

Liriope’s tone was so nonchalant that it made Kaiden’s face flush red with anger.

His face contorted as if he couldn’t contain his fury.

“When would you have even had a chance to meet that guy?!”

“Oh, here and there, in passing.”

“That makes no sense! You’re saying the lady who loved me for years just fell for that guy in passing? Do you think I’m an idiot—?!”

Just then.

“Well, I do have the kind of looks someone could fall for at first sight.”

A deep, pleasant baritone voice came from behind. Liriope’s eyes snapped toward the drawing room door.