Chapter 4

“That lunatic…”

A word full of hatred slipped from Sabina’s lips.

“I thought he’d have at least some sense. I never imagined he’d spread rumors about a woman who’s changed men countless times over two years and four months.”

Her head throbbed.

Sabina couldn’t understand why Reyes was so obsessed with her.

In her first life, he approached her to raise rebel funds.

In her second, she didn’t give him a single coin, and yet he stabbed her in the heart out of nowhere.

She was completely baffled by how his mind worked.

‘Of all things, I ended up in the body of a woman whose biggest obstacle is a lunatic who could go any direction.’

It was a twisted fate.

Sabina barely restrained herself from becoming hysterical.

“I really do need a man.”

Seeing Sabina’s aggressive reaction, Mitchel finally understood—her master hated Reyes Brinita for some reason, and was looking for a man just to avoid any romantic entanglement with him.

‘I don’t know why she hates him so much…’

Not knowing the whole bitter story between Sabina and Reyes, it was only natural for Mitchel to be puzzled.

Mitchel stared at Sabina for a moment, then pointed out,

“But Lady Sabina, if you keep doing things this way, your next man won’t last either. And do you think His Highness will give up then?”

Sabina’s lips trembled.

“No…”

“He’ll probably see your short-lived romance as another opportunity. Isn’t that so?”

Mitchel had a point. Sabina couldn’t argue and just turned her head away.

Mitchel sighed long and began a lecture.

“…The kind of relationship you want isn’t a romance, but more like a contract. An exchange of compensation and service. Yes, it’s closer to a service contract. But you call it something else entirely, and that causes problems…”

Sabina interrupted Mitchel at that point.

“A service contract.”

She pronounced the phrase slowly, as if learning it for the first time.

“Contract…”

Suddenly, Sabina turned her head sharply toward Mitchel. In that moment, her eyes sparkled brightly—a look she hadn’t shown since she was ten years old. Mitchel was taken aback, and for the first time in her forty-five-year career as a seasoned head maid, she wrinkled her nose in surprise.

Sabina spoke in an oddly excited tone.

“If there are no men left in the capital thanks to Reyes Brinita’s scheming, I’ll just look outside the capital.”

“How? Are you planning to go out and pick a man from the countryside? But the rumors have already spread…”

“I don’t have to.”

Sabina moved so swiftly her hair traced a clear arc in the air. She pulled out paper from a drawer, wrote something quickly, sealed it with her stamp, and handed it to Mitchel.

“Take this to the newspaper.”

“The newspaper?”

“Yes. Priority goes to the daily, then the weekly, and don’t forget the monthly.”

“My lady, surely…”

Mitchel was so shocked she used the old title for Sabina. She doubted the thought that popped into her head.

Surely, Sabina…

She probed, hoping her mistress would deny it.

“Are you planning to find a man through a newspaper ad?”

While magically copying four more letters, Sabina blinked and answered as if it were obvious.

“Yes. Mitchel, you said what I want from a man is basically a contract.”

“That’s true.”

“So I’ll pay a man to sign a contract as my lover. That solves everything, doesn’t it? I get what I want, the man gets what he wants. And if I write the service period in the contract, I won’t have to worry about finding a new man every few weeks.”

Mitchel received the four letters from Sabina with trembling hands.

“My lady… Just what… How did you interpret everything I said this way?”

Regardless, Sabina just stared calmly at her loyal head maid, as if to order the lower maids to deliver the letters right away.

Of course, there were limits to the transportation business in this era.

So, while weeklies and monthlies might circulate elsewhere, dailies only circulated within the capital.

One might doubt the point of advertising in print when Reyes Brinita already had a hold on all the men in the capital.

But that wasn’t entirely true.

Not everyone living in the capital was a native.

It’s not surprising, but there were more newcomers than natives in the capital.

Men who were disconnected from the capital’s community, who hadn’t heard what Reyes Brinita said at the billiard hall.

Sabina intended to spread her own message in print before Reyes’s words could gain more influence.

* * *

“Reyes gave the men a warning. As you said, Mitchel, how many men would dare approach a woman desired by royalty?”

It was already eleven o’clock. Wearing her pajamas, Sabina rubbed her eyes and yawned. Mitchel brought her a cup of warm milk. Sabina held the warm cup in both hands and drank slowly.

“But all Prince Reyes did was hint. He can’t directly punish a man who ‘didn’t get the hint and approached you, Lady Sabina.”

After finishing her milk, Sabina swept her long hair to one side.

“If he tried something that shallow, His Majesty King Kenneth would give Reyes a warning.”

“Let’s hope His Highness is as sensible as you wish, Lady Sabina.”

Mitchel put extra emphasis on ‘His Highness,’ meaning he was unpredictable enough to remain a prince in the palace. Sabina chuckled and handed Mitchel the cup.

“His declaration to stay a prince was so shocking that everyone started calling him a black sheep. But since then, he’s been acting very quietly and sensibly. He’ll keep it up for another eight months.”

Mitchel pushed up her glasses and wrinkled her nose.

“Eight months? That’s oddly specific. Is it a hunch? Or is it some special power you were born with?”

“…Anyway, eight months. At least.”

When Sabina said ‘eight months,’ her cheeks paled slightly.

She unconsciously rubbed her chest. It was ‘the original Sabina’ who was stabbed to death by Reyes’s dagger, and she herself had never experienced that death. Yet the memory of the pain felt vivid.

‘Why did he stab me? Was it just ambition…?’

Sabina’s pale cheek turned toward the window. From her room in the D’Vialis mansion, she could see the distant palace.

If it was for rebellion, it might have been better to accept a title and leave the capital to plot in secret.

‘Because he stayed in the capital, paradoxically, Kenneth found it easier to keep an eye on him.’

But Reyes made the reckless choice to remain a prince, drawing attention to himself.

Behind that was Kenneth, who rushed to bestow a title on Reyes as soon as he ascended the throne after the late king’s death, trying to send his brother away from the capital.

‘Kenneth was worried Reyes would build his own power base. Reyes got angry at being pushed aside like garbage and refused to go to the provinces.’

Sabina sighed.

‘I wish they wouldn’t drag me into their royal sibling rivalry.’

Thinking about it, it was ridiculous that she was wracking her brain between two brothers fighting for the throne.

At first, she considered disappearing to the countryside or abroad. But she soon gave up. There’d been a case where a certain Marquis, who had vanished over unpaid debts, was found as a gruesome corpse on a hillside. After hearing about that, leaving for somewhere out of sight seemed even more dangerous.

If Reyes wanted, he could find Sabina wherever she went.

Maybe it was safer to stay in the crowd and put everything on public display.

If only she had someone to protect her, she wouldn’t have to be so on edge…

Sabina lay down, burying herself in her blanket. Mitchel turned off the lamp. She gently asked Sabina, who had closed her eyes,

“What if no one comes, even after you put out the ad?”

Sabina mumbled sleepily as she drifted off,

“At the very least, I can let that man know—even if I have to put out a notice to find a man, Reyes Brinita is the last one I want…”

And she fell asleep.