Chapter 20

Emperor Grain gazed at the flustered Adelina with a benevolent smile.  

‘Lexion. How dare you try to defy me.’  

Watching Lexion’s expression harden as he rose from his seat, he leisurely leaned back in his chair.  

“Your Majesty, the young lady of the Marquis is quite popular. Leophris will have to try harder.”

The Empress, sitting next to him, laughed softly and complimented Adelina, saying she found her quite charming.  

“Lady Adelina, marriage is not something to decide hastily. Take about three months to think it over carefully.”

The Empress spoke in a seemingly affectionate voice.  

“Lady Adelina, grant me the honor of spending time with you as well.”

Leophris, standing right next to Adelina, placed his right hand on his chest and nodded slightly with a confident face, as if he had already won the game.  

Adelina took a deep breath and looked around.  

‘Ah… really… I want to disappear… Should I just dig a hole and crawl into it?’  

Everyone was staring at her with faces full of curiosity and jealousy.  

‘The Empress’s nephew, Jaeyon, Lexion… they all just want to use me…’  

One knew where the mirror was, while the other two knew nothing.  

The answer was obvious.  

“Your Majesty, I am already in love with Duke Lexion Ernst. I will marry the Duke.”

Adelina mustered her strength and shouted loud enough for even the knights standing guard outside the banquet hall to hear.  

“I love you, Duke.”  

She pulled Lexion’s smiling face towards her and began a deep kiss.  

+++

The next day, Ruby Palace, assigned to the Florin family, was bustling from early morning.  

Adelina had expended so much energy at the banquet the previous day that she slept like the dead as soon as she hit the bed last night.  

“Miss, please wake up.”  

‘Huh? Why so early… Don’t nobles sleep late?’  

Adelina squinted her eyes open, glanced at the wall clock, and closed her eyes again. It was only 8 AM.  

She had been held by Emperor Grain until past 1 AM yesterday, and now she was supposed to be up already?  

“I want to sleep more.”  

Adelina pulled the covers over her head.  

“Ah!”  

Suddenly, feeling a sharp pain in her arm, she threw off the covers and sat up abruptly.  

Looking at her arm, she saw it was red from being pinched so hard.  

Adelina glared at the maid standing elegantly beside her bed and gritted her teeth.  

“A letter has arrived for you, Miss.”  

The maid, as if nothing had happened, extended a white envelope from the letter tray the maid was holding.  

‘Ha. Do they think they’re Princesses just because they serve the Imperial Family?’  

She got the hint. Since they only served the noble Imperial Family, they probably thought someone known to be of commoner origin like her was insignificant and easy to look down on.

She couldn’t even trust the maids at the Marquis’s residence, so she had decided to be attended by the palace maids and servants, but it seemed it was the same here.

‘That maid was said to be the daughter of a Viscount…’

Adelina glanced at the letter. It looked thick, not just containing a single sheet of paper.  

“You open it.”  

She told the maid and leaned against the wall, far enough that she wouldn’t be touched even if the contents fell out.  

“What? How could I open a letter addressed to the Marquis’s daughter first…”  

“Open it. And read it aloud.”  

At Adelina’s command, the maid pursed her lips into a straight line.  

“Open it, I said.”  

At Adelina’s repeated command, the maid’s jaw clenched tightly, but her hands slowly tore open the envelope.  

“Ah!”  

“Maid!”  

As soon as the envelope was opened, blades cut into various sizes spilled out along with the letter paper.  

Adelina approached safely and picked up the letter paper with the tip of her fingernail.  

The white luxury letter paper, bordered with gold leaf, had words cut from a newspaper pasted on it. Despite everything, it smelled nice, as if expensive perfume had been sprayed on it.  

‘What is this? Such an outdated method… Shouldn’t monsters pop out, or poison gas be released or something?’  

She had been slightly hopeful because there were dragons, but she was very disappointed.  

“Pick it up.”  

Adelina commanded the maid and the maidservant, who were either genuinely surprised or pretending to be.  

“Yes… Miss…”  

As they began picking up the blades, Adelina stepped on the hand of the maid picking up the blades.  

“Ouch!”  

The maid glared at Adelina, clutching her cut hand. Perhaps she might even slap her.  

“Marquis’s daughter! How could you!”  

Fortunately, she didn’t slap her. She just trembled with anger, holding her bleeding hand.  

Indeed, rising in status was nice. In her past life, she would have been slapped twice…  

“How can a palace maid not know something so basic? When delivering a letter to a superior, shouldn’t you first check its safety? What was the meaning of handing a suspicious-looking letter to me, who just woke up?”  

Adelina gestured to the maidservant to finish cleaning up and held the letter paper in front of the maid’s face.  

Seeing the maid flinch, the answer was clear.  

“Did you write this letter?”  

Adelina tilted her head and made a mocking mouth shape, and the maid prostrated herself on the floor.  

“No! I did not!”  

Right. This maid wouldn’t have done it. But it was the work of someone she knew.  

“Find the culprit. If not, this letter will be considered your doing, and I will report it to the Imperial Guard.”  

“Miss! It wasn’t me!”  

While the maid cried tears, the servant diligently picked up the blades, put them back in the envelope, and placed it on the letter tray.

“Give it to me. I’ll keep the evidence safe. It seems like they used quite expensive stationery, very hard to come by.”

Adelina placed them neatly in the bedside drawer.

“Find the culprit by tomorrow. If not, I will personally accuse you of being the culprit and report it to the Imperial Guard.”

“Young Lady, It’s really not me!”

“Get out.”  

Adelina folded her arms and glared sharply until the maidservant supported the maid out of the room.  

Click. As soon as the door closed, she flopped onto the bed.  

‘These scammers! Just wait until I meet them!’

I must marry quickly, receive the mirror, and disappear into it.  

+++

“The tea from Ernst has a deep aroma.”  

“Duke, please add some milk as well.”  

Lexion and Stephan elegantly lifted their teacups as they sat around the tea table on Adelina’s terrace.  

Next to them, this morning’s newspaper featured a picture of Adelina and Lexion kissing on page two. Page one was entirely occupied with news related to Isabelle’s coming-of-age ceremony.  

‘Eat and suddenly spike your sugar level to death!’  

Adelina quickly added a spoonful of honey to their cups when they set them down.  

“Hahaha. Adelina cares for us greatly.”  

Lexion’s cheerful laughter was even more irritating to see.  

Despite not being tired, Lexion’s face shone even more brightly in the early morning sunlight.  

“The Imperial Palace is safe, isn’t it?”  

Adelina crossed her arms and looked at the garden, turning her gaze away from Lexion’s face.  

“It is safe for Stephan and me. If we were to die in the Imperial Palace, a rebellion would arise in Ernst.”  

“Then why do I receive blades as gifts?”  

Why? I’m also a noble lady of Ernst, aren’t I? Am I different from you?  

Seeing Adelina’s round eyes, Lexion stirred a little milk and honey into her teacup.  

“You are… different from us.”  

“How so?”  

“You can be explained away as a lady who was killed out of jealousy for admiring me. Drink up.”  

Lexion removed the spoon from the teacup and offered the milk tea to Adelina with a bright smile and saying, “It’s Ernst-style tea.” 

‘You scoundrel!’  

“Ah. Don’t worry. Still, since it’s the Imperial Palace, there won’t be assassins or poison.”  

Adelina glared at Lexion with dagger eyes and drank the tea in one go.  

‘Won’t I ever kill him with my own hands someday?’ 

She thought.

“Hahaha. Don’t worry, I won’t let you die. You’re my wife.”  

“Not yet. I’m not your wife yet.”  

While someone was troubled by receiving a knife, Lexion was laughing brightly by himself, which was annoying to watch.  

+++

Around 11 AM, Jaeyon arrived with Hailyn, carrying a canvas and an easel.  

“I haven’t put on makeup yet.”  

Adelina intentionally hadn’t put on makeup. In a place where everyone was her enemy, everything from one to ten had to be cautious, even cosmetics…  

“Well done. Hailyn will help with your makeup.”  

While Jaeyon set up the easel and prepared to paint, Hailyn assisted Adelina with her makeup.  

The dress had already been taken by Hailyn the previous night, saying she would manage it personally since it was delicate fabric. It would be handed over when leaving the palace after the banquet.  

“May I look?”  

After about two hours, Adelina felt restless and approached Jaeyon, even though he hadn’t said she could move.  

“It’s still in the sketch phase.”

On the canvas was an image of Adelina drawn in charcoal.  

“It’s fascinating… I’ve always envied people who are good at drawing.”  

Even with just the rough outline, it was clear, as Jaeyon said, that his skill was excellent.  

“Would you like to try drawing?”  

“Me?”  

“I’ll assist you.”  

Jaeyon placed a piece of charcoal in Adelina’s right hand. Standing behind her, he guided her hand to draw a line down the canvas.  

“Wow. Charcoal feels different from pencils or pastels.”  

“Haha. I don’t know what a pencil is, but it’s different from pastels. You can create a softer expression by rubbing it with your fingertip like this.”  

Jaeyon gently pressed Adelina’s fingertip, spreading the line outward.  

“It’s fun to draw.”

Adelina suddenly clenched her hand.  

Drawing was something she truly wanted to do in her past life.  

She couldn’t even dream of expensive oil paints, and she secretly collected discarded watercolor paints, submitting them to competitions a few times in secret.  

“Miss, come with me to the Tiola Empire. There, you can draw as much as you want. You can live freely and safely.”  

Jaeyon held Adelina’s right hand tightly and whispered sweetly like a devil in her ear.  

He could tell how much Adelina wanted to draw just from her gestures and voice.  

‘To draw freely…’  

When Jaeyon opened Adelina’s hand and made her fingertip touch the canvas again, a longing emotion for drawing arose in her.  

“Jaeyon…”  

Adelina turned her head to look at Jaeyon.  

She wanted to draw. If she could draw to her heart’s content, she felt it wouldn’t matter if she didn’t enter the mirror. For the first time in her life, she wanted to be greedy.  

“Jaeyon…”  

As Adelina called Jaeyon’s name as if entranced, the door suddenly burst open.  

“Looks like you’re having fun, Adelina.”

Lexion stood at the door, arms crossed, glaring at Jaeyon and Adelina.