“I said that because the dress was pretty. Is that strange?”

Rebecca, with tears in her eyes, still didn’t understand what she had done wrong.

“Since you said that about the dress the young ladies were looking at, they probably took it as a declaration of war because you coveted their dress. Dresses are a sensitive matter for young ladies.”

“Declaration of war? No! I had no such intention. Not at all……”

These were things Rebecca needed to learn besides manners to adapt to the noble world.

“Nobles have their own social language. A single word spoken with good intentions can humiliate the other person. It would be good to hire a tutor before the reception to learn these things.”

“I see. Thank you for telling me. No wonder the young ladies were angry.”

Good, now I just need to naturally connect these two people, and my job is done.

“Edwin here knows a lot about these matters, so you could ask him—”

“Lady Ivy!”

Suddenly Rebecca grabbed my hand desperately, like someone clutching a rope while falling from a cliff.

“Oh, I’m sorry for being so abrupt. But I won’t have time to speak if not now. You said you’re Lady Ivy Rabbit? Would you be my friend?”

My boyfriend’s future love interest is asking to be my friend?

“As you said, Lady Ivy, I’m ignorant about social circles. I don’t know how to speak properly, so incidents like today will probably happen again.”

Rebecca’s eyes welled with tears.

“Of course, if I asked my mother, she would assign me a tutor, but no matter how excellent the tutor is, they wouldn’t know as well as a peer.”

She understands things so well?

“Um, I don’t actively attend many social events. If you ask Edwin here……”

“I’m sorry. I’m being inconsiderate again. Having grown up as a commoner, I know nothing and lack so much. I was leaning on Lady Ivy, who helped me.”

As the dejected Rebecca shed a tear, my heart ached for her.

“I worry about causing concern to my parents whom I’ve just reunited with. They already feel sorry for not finding me when I was young.”

“Come on, Ivy. Lady Rebecca is asking so sincerely, it would be unkind to refuse. I’ll help too.”

Why are you encouraging this, Edwin? Just moments ago you were asking why we should help a complete stranger.

The person who should be beside Rebecca and become her friend is you, not me!

“Oh, I shouldn’t cry. Finding my parents is already more happiness than I deserve. I was being greedy wanting a wonderful lady like you as my friend.”

Rebecca forced a smile while sniffling.

Her aqua-colored hair already gave her a mysterious aura, and now with her melancholy, she looked even more poignant.

‘Ah, is this the type of woman Kaien prefers?’

I felt conflicted—Kaien, who would love someone else, was not only refusing to break up but was obsessing over me and proposing marriage—and now his future woman was too kind.

‘Since I’ll be connecting Kaien with her anyway, should I take a more active role? I need to observe how the novel progresses too.’

With all the new dresses I had, I didn’t need to worry about whether to attend the ball.

“Alright, let’s be friends.”

“Thank you, Lady Ivy!”

“Thanks to you, I’ll get to see Ivy at balls more often.”

Rebecca shed tears of joy.

Watching her happiness made me feel guilty.

I wasn’t doing this for Rebecca; I was merely using her for my own and my family’s safety.

***

Rebecca wanted to talk more, but having achieved my goal of seeing the female protagonist’s face, I left the dress shop with Edwin.

“You seem unusually concerned about Lady Rebecca Hemington. She must be a stranger to you.”

“She’s been through a lot.”

In the novel, even before the female protagonist is introduced to society, bad rumors spread because of the dress shop incident.

The villainess who secretly loves the villain, along with the three young ladies from the dress shop, take the lead in tormenting the female protagonist.

The young ladies who harass the female protagonist end up having their families ruined or meeting with accidents by the villain’s hand, never to show their faces in society again.

So I wasn’t trying to save Rebecca, but the young ladies from the dress shop.

‘Now that I’ve calmed the situation a bit, hopefully the harassment will be less severe.’

“Life is like a novel. Since she’s suffered so much, I wanted to help her smile a little.”

“Like when you saved me?”

“Anyone would have helped you, not just me.”

“Is that so?”

His voice was cool, so I looked up at Edwin.

A handsome man smiling at me—it’s heartwarming just to look at him.

‘But to think this person is the villain’s helper.’

A man of pure love who betrays the woman he secretly loves by feeding her to the villain.

Why is he called a man of pure love despite his betrayal? Because Edwin is the one who saves Rebecca when she’s imprisoned by the villain.

And dies for it.

Thinking about Edwin’s future made me sigh.

“Are you worried about something? You keep sighing, Ivy.”

His hand came close as if to caress my cheek with genuine concern, but it merely brushed against me before withdrawing.

“I have a lot on my mind and haven’t been sleeping well.”

‘How could someone so kind be the villain’s helper?’

I had read about the villain’s helper in the novel, but Edwin Glee was my friend.

I had nudged him to help Rebecca because the story needed to progress, but now that events were unfolding, I worried about what would come next.

‘Maybe I could arrange for someone else to rescue Rebecca later.’

Since it involves saving a person, the guild would likely accept such a request.

As I pondered various strategies, something soft touched my lips.

I opened my mouth to receive the sweet smell, and chocolate melted on my tongue.

Edwin laughed softly, holding a bag of chocolates in his hand.

“They say sugar helps relieve fatigue.”

“Ah, thank you. Do I look very tired?”

“You’re always beautiful, Ivy.”

“Save such compliments for your lover.”

Could this witty and charming person really endanger the woman he loves out of loyalty?

I ate another chocolate.

“By the way, I heard your family became barons. Congratulations.”

Ah, right, he’s an information broker.

“I believe Baron Rabbit’s diligence deserves an even higher title.”

I waved my hands in alarm.

“No way! My father is timid and has been working overtime every day, saying he must repay His Majesty’s grace just for becoming a baron. If he receives a higher title, he might collapse from overwork.”

“Oh dear, that would be terrible. This is a problem.”

“Pardon?”

I looked at him, puzzled by his cryptic remark, but Edwin just smiled silently.

What’s going on? Is something else about to happen?

“By the way, what happened with the person you were dating? You said Viscount Scott returned to his territory and you needed to sort things out.”

Edwin was the one who informed me by letter that Viscount Scott had returned to his territory.

Come to think of it, Edwin must know I’m dating Kaien, so why did I find it suspicious that he didn’t mention in his letter what Kaien was doing, where he lived, or any personal details?

Was he testing whether I might harm Kaien because he’s the villain’s man?

‘Whoever you are, we’re friends, Edwin.’

“We broke up but met again… I think I need to reconsider our relationship.”

I’m a woman who knows her place and poses no threat to Rebecca at all.

I sent a message to the future Edwin.

“Rather than my affairs, what about Lady Hemington? The Countess seems busy with various matters—wouldn’t you like to help the young lady?”

“Me?”

“Yes, I don’t know much about social circles either. If Lady Hemington is introduced at the ball like this… I’m worried her position might become precarious.”

“Oh dear.”

Edwin looked at me with a troubled smile.

His narrowed eyes were full of affection as always. The incident of helping him on the street must have been a significant event for Edwin, as he was especially kind to my father and me.

“Ivy, how can you be so kind? You have many concerns of your own.”

“What? My concerns?”

As I looked at him with wide eyes, his fingertips touched my cheek.

“If you’re thinking of breaking up with that man… I’ll help you. Just as you dated another man to keep Viscount Scott in check, I can be your temporary lover too.”

A chill ran down my spine as I heard Edwin’s husky voice.

Startled by the momentary sense of danger, I stepped back, and Edwin’s face hardened.

“Um, I felt static electricity. Ah, how surprising.”

I laughed awkwardly and quickened my pace.

“He’s not that persistent, so it’s fine. I’ll tell you if I need help, Edwin.”

‘He’s my friend but also the villain’s helper, so I need to be careful. He’s a double agent.’

I could feel his gaze burning into the back of my head, but I smiled brightly as if to say, ‘I don’t know anything.’

“Anyway, please put in a good word with the Countess.”

“Hmm, then could I be your partner?”

“Partner?”

“Since we’re invited to the Hemington family’s reception, you’ll need a partner. You can’t go with that man. I need a partner too.”

“Ah.”

When I met Kaien at receptions, we would enter separately and meet on the balcony.

In the novel, the villain attends the reception with the Prince and Princess to congratulate the Hemington family.

There, he experiences some incident, meets the female protagonist, and falls in love.

‘It wouldn’t look good if Kaien attended with me.’

For the current girlfriend to watch him fall head over heels for another woman.

I needed to attend the reception to observe the situation, so I needed a partner too.

‘But I can’t go with Edwin, who’s close to the villain.’

Edwin studied my expression and gently guided me.

“You said you had a favor to ask. Let’s talk slowly at the café.”

Ah, the favor!

I planned to ask him to introduce me to a mage who could break the spell on the choker, but Edwin, being in league with the villain, wouldn’t grant such a request.

‘I need another reason.’

As soon as I entered the café, I went to the powder room to hastily come up with a different favor.

After fiddling with my dress hem several times while thinking, I came out to find all the young ladies in the café staring in one direction.

There sat Edwin and Kaien, facing each other.

‘Why is Kaien here?’

I overheard the conversation from the young ladies at the next table.

“Oh my, so Count Glee and Grand Duke Blemer are in that kind of relationship?”

‘That kind of relationship?’

What did these two do while I was briefly away?