2. White Snake

Liana woke up late every morning, ate the food Kelly brought, then sat on the sofa drinking tea while reading books she had brought from the library.

After lunch, she dozed off in front of the warm fireplace, catching up on insufficient sleep. Since she couldn’t sleep properly at night from having s*x with Dain, she was constantly sleepy during the day. Then after finishing dinner, she would wash her body and prepare to spend the night with Dain.

It was a repetition of the same daily routine.

“I’ll prepare by myself now. I can do it alone.”

“It would be difficult for you to do it alone.”

“No, I used to do everything by myself before coming here. Don’t worry.”

“Yes, my lady.”

She told the maids who bathed her that they didn’t need to help her anymore. Since she had never lived as a noble young lady, the maids’ service made her uncomfortable. She wanted to do things she could do by herself.

Fortunately, the maids obediently listened to her words. She put on the blindfold and tied her own hands before Dain came. After repeating it several times, she could now simply tie her hands without looking.

She skillfully finished all preparations and waited for the duke to come. On days when he didn’t come no matter how long she waited, she untied her hands, took off the blindfold, and went to sleep. It was quite a monotonous repetition of daily life.

‘I’m bored, should I look around the ducal castle? He didn’t tell me not to wander around!’

Since the head butler had only told her not to go to the back of the main castle, looking around the ducal castle seemed fine.

Her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

The next day, Liana decided to look around the ducal castle just like she had thought the day before.

“Kelly, I’m going to take a walk.”

She told Kelly who had brought lunch.

“Yes, shall I come with you?”

“No. I’ll be back soon, so I’ll be fine by myself.”

She smiled reassuringly at Kelly who was looking at her with worried eyes.

“Yes, I understand.”

After finishing lunch, she dressed neatly and went outside the annex.

First, she looked around the grand garden. She could always see the grand garden when looking outside from the annex.

In the grand garden was a large snake sculpture. It was a huge white snake model.

The white body with vertically slit red pupils somehow resembled the snake she had seen in her dreams. She stood in front of the giant snake sculpture and stared at it for a long time.

“Magnificent.”

Clear water spouted from the large fountain beside the sculpture, and beautiful garden trees stretched toward the sky throughout the garden. Flowering trees whose names she didn’t know were also planted. The temperature was still low so they hadn’t bloomed fully, but they would bloom pretty flowers when it got warmer.

She was busy looking around various places in the ducal castle and didn’t notice the gaze following her around.

Liana, who had looked around even the small garden, also toured other annexes, examined the training ground where knights were training, then went to the back of the main castle. She had forgotten the head butler’s words telling her not to go to the back of the main castle.

Behind the main castle, dozens of meters tall trees stretching straight to the sky were densely packed, forming a forest. Even though it was broad daylight, the dark forest still had snow that had fallen in winter piled up without melting.

But the color of the trees was unusual. The bark was white mixed with silver. From a glance, it seemed to resemble birch trees.

On the path leading to the forest, smooth and flat large stones were laid. She arrived at the forest entrance and thought about going in, but turned away because she felt gloomy and ominous.

‘Huh? There’s a greenhouse.’

A large greenhouse stood between the main castle and the forest. Liana walked along the path leading to it.

When she reached the entrance, the door was slightly ajar. She hesitated for a moment, then gathered her courage and quietly stepped inside.

The air inside wasn’t cold enough to be chilly, but it wasn’t warm either.

‘Why is it so cold in here?’

Greenhouses were usually kept warm to grow flowers, trees, or vegetables…

She wandered slowly through the space. The greenhouse was as large as the training ground.

Expecting to see many flowers and plants, she looked around, but to her surprise, there were no flowers at all. Only a few large trees with thick, horizontal branches were planted.

“What a shame. I thought there would be so many pretty flowers…”

Murmuring with a disappointed expression, she turned to leave.

“Gasp.”

Liana’s body, who had turned around, stopped right there.

Right in front of her was a large snake. It was the white snake she had seen in her dreams.

“Sn…… sn, snake!”

She pointed at the snake with her index finger and froze in place. Having grown up in the city when she lived in the real world before possessing this body, this was her first time actually seeing a snake.

The white snake didn’t run away and stared piercingly at her face with its red eyes.

‘A venomous snake?’

Venomous snakes don’t run away even when they see people. It must be a venomous snake. Her whole body trembled.

Liana, who had turned pale, fainted right there.

Before she could fall to the ground, a white-haired man caught her in his arms. Dain, who supported Liana’s neck with one arm, looked down at her while raising one eyebrow, then smiled with a snicker.

That appearance was just like a venomous snake that had found its prey.

Head Butler Philip, who had been checking the condition of paintings hanging in the eastern annex corridor, ran forward with a surprised expression.

“Isn’t that the lady?”

The duke was striding up the annex stairs carrying Liana in his arms.

“Shall I call the physician?”

“No, it’s fine. She’ll wake up soon. Ah! Have flowers planted in the greenhouse.”

Dain said while passing by Philip.

“Flowers? Then we’ll need to make the greenhouse warm.”

Philip said with a dumbfounded face.

“Do that.”

“But that place is where Your Grace……”

Philip looked around and mumbled his words.

Snake clan members usually had to shed their skin in snake form every six months. This was called molting. The greenhouse was where the duke sunbathed and molted in snake form.

This was confidential content, not something to discuss in the corridor.

“It’s fine. Plant flowers and trees throughout the greenhouse.”

However, Dain seemed to be in a good mood for some reason.

“Yes, I understand.”

The head butler looked at the duke entering the bedroom with a puzzled expression, tilting his head.

“Oh my, my lady.”

Kelly, who discovered Liana being carried by the duke, came running over making a fuss. Kelly arrived in front of Dain and immediately bowed her head.

“Y-Your Grace.”

“Take good care of the lady.”

“Yes, I understand, Your Grace.”

Dain, who laid Liana on the bed, looked down at her once and went outside.

“Mmm, my head.”

Liana woke up in the evening. When she opened her eyes, she was lying on her bed in the annex.

“Gasp, the snake?”

She sat up abruptly and looked around. The white snake she had seen in the greenhouse came to mind vividly.

Fortunately, there was no one in the bedroom except her.

“Hah……”

Liana let out a sigh of relief. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead.

Did they tell me not to go to the back of the main castle because there was a snake?

To think there was such a large python in the world. Liana was confused about whether what she had seen was real or an illusion.

“My lady, are you awake?”

Kelly opened the door and came in. She set down dinner and tea on the table and spoke in a bright voice.

“Yeah. But who brought me here?”

She was very curious about who had brought her after she fainted in the greenhouse. When she was walking around, there was definitely no one inside.

“The duke carried you here. I was really shocked.”

Kelly answered while lowering her voice.

“The duke did?”

Liana’s pale blue eyes widened.

“But what happened?”

Kelly said she was extremely shocked to witness the duke carrying her after she had gone out for a walk.

“No, I just felt dizzy for a moment and lost consciousness. I didn’t know the duke brought me.”

“Yes, then that’s fortunate.”

If the duke had brought her, it meant the duke also knew she had entered the greenhouse. He had told her not to go to the back of the main castle, but the duke had caught her.

Did the duke also see that snake? Or did I see something that wasn’t there?

Did the duke recognize me right away?

Various questions arose simultaneously. Until now, the two had never seen each other’s faces. The duke had only seen her wearing a blindfold.

Liana was curious whether the duke had recognized her right away. Seeing that he had carried her all the way to the annex, he must have recognized her.

She wasn’t confident she could recognize the duke right away if she met him. She would know if she heard his voice, but since she didn’t know his face, she wouldn’t be able to recognize who he was if he didn’t speak.

“Then, please have your meal, my lady.”

“Alright.”

After Kelly left, Liana had dinner with a confused face, then bathed and prepared to receive the duke.

She combed her platinum blonde hair that reached her waist like usual, and lay on the bed with nothing on her body. She didn’t apply lotion because she didn’t like putting anything on her body.

She skillfully covered herself with thin cloth that showed her skin and put a black blindfold over her eyes. Then she loosely tied her hands with cloth prepared on the nightstand beside the bed so she could untie them herself anytime.

Dong—, dong—.

The wall clock announced midnight. It was time for the duke to come.

“……”

Why isn’t he coming?

Liana tilted her head. Even though the time he usually came had long passed, the duke hadn’t come.