‘…I’ve been anxious ever since I heard that Meldorf is right below the Grand Duchy!’

I bit my lips nervously at this completely unwanted situation.

“But still, even from afar, he’s incredibly handsome.”

Mila chattered on, oblivious to my distress.

“No wonder the people of Norhart can’t stop praising him. His dignity and aura are just overwhelming, just like… oh.”

Mid-sentence, Mila suddenly stiffened, her gaze fixed on something.

‘No way.’

Following her line of sight… I saw a man stepping through the main gate.

Tall, broad-shouldered, and built like a fortress… Even from a distance, he radiated an oppressive presence.

Clad in pitch-black armor, with dark hair and piercing golden eyes that defied perspective… He was unmistakable.

‘The Grand Duke of Norhart…!’

The moment he stepped into the garden, the once-tranquil space instantly became as tense as a scene from a rural thriller film.

Forcing myself to calm down, I studied him with the mindset that knowing one’s opponent leads to victory.

Though there wasn’t much information to gather just from appearance alone—

As he took a step closer… and then another… I found myself frozen, eyes wide in shock.

He was, he was…

I mean…

‘Holy crap, he’s insanely good-looking!’

There was never a description like this in the original story!

His prominent brow ridge, sleek nose bridge, strong jawline that made his features even more striking, and sensual lips.

Beneath thick eyebrows, his golden eyes shimmered with an intelligent light, as if they were filled with pure gold.

His beauty was on a level only seen in the masterpieces of art history.

‘A face like that could get away with war crimes. Actually, on the battlefield, killing isn’t even a crime, right? That face could get away with literally anything. But if he looks this good, why did all the noble ladies fawn over Michael instead? Just how handsome is Michael supposed to be?’

I couldn’t contain the flood of chaotic thoughts.

Mathias was certainly a handsome young man in his own right, but the Grand Duke of Norhart was in an entirely different league.

It was the same shock I had when I first saw Odelia’s face. No, actually, this was even worse because I hadn’t expected it at all.

Still frozen in awe, I failed to notice when the Grand Duke reached the balcony just in front of me.

I was too preoccupied with the thought that seeing his handsome face up close was even better.

“Your Grace, it is an honor to meet the glory of the Snow-White Mountains. Sir Mathias welcomes you to Lure!”

At some point, Mathias had approached and was now offering the formal knight’s greeting.

‘Ah, right. To knights, he’s considered a legendary hero—Black Knight of the Ice Wall, Guardian of the Snow-White Mountains, and all that.’

Mathias looked absolutely moved to be standing before the Grand Duke, whom knights idolized.

But the Grand Duke barely spared him a glance, his expression one of sheer boredom, before shifting his gaze back to me.

Even for a Grand Duke, such a lack of decorum was quite rude, yet his breathtaking looks and overwhelming aura made it somehow acceptable.

As his golden eyes locked onto me, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

“Oh my, he looks even more stunning up close. He might be the most handsome person I’ve ever seen in my life,” Mila whispered, voicing my exact thoughts.

Mathias, though completely ignored, still looked honored just to have received a glance from the Grand Duke.

Then, the Grand Duke’s finely shaped lips parted ever so slightly.

“This is the Lure Marquisate’s villa… correct?”

Wow, even his voice was handsome…

‘No, this isn’t the time to be thinking that.’

Snapping out of it, I handed the baby to Mila and rose from my seat.

Standing on the balcony, I found myself at eye level with the Grand Duke despite the height difference. Odelia wasn’t short, yet he still towered over me.

“You are…?”

Quickly smoothing out my expression, I lifted the hem of my dress and greeted him.

“It is an honor to make your acquaintance for the first time.”

“…It has been a while.”

Huh? Our voices overlapped, yet the meaning of our words was completely different.

I looked up at him in confusion, only to see an unmistakable flicker of displeasure cross his face.

“…A first meeting, you say?”

“Yes, well, almost…?”

I quickly ran through the original story in my head, searching for any scene where Odelia and the Grand Duke had met.

‘There really isn’t one. Maybe at the Founding Festival Ball? All nobles attended that event, so they might have exchanged greetings? Even though Princess Flora Is Lovely mostly follows Flora’s perspective, if these two major antagonists had crossed paths, the novel would have mentioned it.’

As I tilted my head in thought, the Grand Duke stared at me, his gaze unwavering, as if trying to gauge the truth of my words.

His sharp golden eyes bore into me, making me increasingly uncomfortable.

“…I suppose that is possible.”

“…Pardon?”

“In that case, allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Cedrion of Norhart.”

He deliberately enunciated each syllable of his name, as if ensuring it would be etched into my memory.

What’s this? Does Odelia have some tragic past with him that I don’t remember?

Tilting my head again in puzzlement, I recited my greeting in return.

“I am Odelia, daughter of the Marquis of Lure. It is an honor to meet the Glory of the Snow-White Mountain.”

With both hands, I lightly lifted the hem of my dress and bowed my head in accordance with noble etiquette.

‘This is my first time making a proper greeting like this since I was exiled right after possessing this body.’

It was fortunate that Princess Flora Is Lovely had an episode where Flora was humiliated for failing to follow proper etiquette. At the same time, given that etiquette was ingrained in this body, I must have appeared naturally elegant.

I kept my head lowered for the required duration before lifting it again.

The Grand Duke of Norhart stared at me as if he had never taken his eyes off me.

‘…Well, Odelia is beautiful, after all…?’

Even as I thought that, his gaze remained fixed on me.

As the silence dragged on unexpectedly, and the expressions of everyone except him began to fill with question marks—

“Is this how Lure treats its guests?”

“Oh! Right. Mila.”

“Yes, yes!”

Mila quickly handed me the baby and dashed off toward the entrance.

As soon as I held the baby, which had been whimpering in its sleep, it settled back into a steady rhythm of soft breathing.

‘There, there, little one. A scary man has arrived, but everything is fine.’

I gently patted the baby’s back, but… feeling an intense gaze from somewhere, I looked up. The Grand Duke was still staring this way.

No, my maid just ran off to open the door for you. Shouldn’t you be heading toward the entrance…?

Suppressing my unspoken frustration, I pretended not to notice him and focused on soothing the baby.

But his unwavering gaze made my temples throb with heat.

‘Wait… don’t tell me he’s suddenly fallen for Odelia?’

If this were our first meeting, I could understand the intense look. But he himself claimed that this wasn’t our first time meeting.

As I grumbled internally, Mila’s cheerful voice rang out to greet him.

“Your Grace, welcome to the Lure estate’s villa!”

The Grand Duke entered the mansion as if he hadn’t heard her at all. Based on my past life’s experience, I felt secondhand embarrassment for Mila.

‘Poor thing. That must be awkward…’

Leaving the Grand Duke’s reception in the hands of the nanny, I swiftly retreated to my room.

I needed time to process the situation, using the excuse of dressing appropriately for receiving a guest.

‘So I ended up facing the villain of the original story after all. Where did my peaceful exile life go…?’

With Mila’s help, I picked the most comfortable dress among Odelia’s selection of outdoor attire and called out to Mathias, who was waiting behind the partition.

“Why do you think the Grand Duke of Norhart came here? Did anything happen when you went to Norhart’s territory?”

“Well, uh… actually…”

Mathias fidgeted before confessing,

“There was a bit of a scuffle with some Norhart merchants while we were posting up the notices…”

“Oh dear.”

“They told us not to put things on their walls, but it was such a prime location…”

It seemed he had been itching to tell me about this incident.

“So it got a little noisy, and just then, His Grace arrived and asked what was going on. The moment he spoke, the merchants all fell silent!”

Mathias even attempted an impression of the Grand Duke as he grew more animated.

“Get to the point.”

“Oh, right! His Grace mediated between the merchants and me. He said we shouldn’t post notices on private buildings but could put them on the market’s official notice board.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

That explanation didn’t seem to justify why the Grand Duke had come all the way to our estate.

“Nothing else happened afterward?”

“Nope! In fact, since we were outsiders, he even assigned his aide to look after us until we finished!”

“His aide…?”

He went that far to help?

‘Did he come to make us feel indebted to him?’

Still puzzled, I made my way to the drawing room where the Grand Duke was waiting.

Our estate’s modest drawing room seemed even smaller, as if it were being crushed under the sheer weight of his presence.

“Ah, my lady, you’re here?”

Even the nanny, who was much older than the Grand Duke, seemed extremely tense from serving him.

At least the tea and refreshments looked decently arranged. It’s a good thing I asked the nanny to handle it instead of Mila.

After all, the man before me wasn’t just any noble—he was the head of a royal cadet branch. I wanted to ensure I gave him no reason to find fault with me.

With refined poise, I took my seat. While holding the baby.

The Grand Duke, naturally seated in the place of honor, watched me with piercing eyes as if scrutinizing every detail.

“This… This child isn’t mine. But she cries if I’m not holding her…”

He has a sensor for that, you see…

Worried that holding a baby might be inappropriate, I tried to explain, but the Grand Duke remained silent, tacitly acknowledging the situation.

‘Wow, he’s really the quiet type.’

Not that he had much dialogue in the original story, either.

I adjusted the baby in my arms so he wouldn’t be able to see the Grand Duke.

There, little one. Let’s not look at anything scary.

His silence was probably a sign that he wouldn’t engage in small talk. So, I got straight to the point.

“What brings Your Grace to our humble home?”

“I saw the notice posted in my territory, inquiring about the baby’s parents.”

So, it was about the baby. His jaw shifted slightly toward the child.

“Do you know anything about the parents?”

“I do.”

“…Pardon?”

“The child’s father… is me.”

With a completely impassive expression, he delivered that statement.