About three years passed, and Adelia welcomed the spring of her twenty-first year.

Many things had happened during that time, but she was still the daughter of a count.

“It’s about time…”

Today, as well, Adelia sat at her desk since morning, flipping through documents and murmuring to herself.

Her eyes were busy reading the documents, but her gaze kept turning towards the door.

By the time her eyes grew tired from turning her gaze away, she felt a presence near the door.

“Miss, a letter has arrived from the townhouse.”

“Come in.”

The door opened, and the butler entered.

Adelia’s expression wasn’t as good as expected, considering it wasn’t the person she was waiting for.

The butler, who walked slowly, handed her an envelope.

“It’s from the Count.”

Adelia took the letter with a face as if she were touching garbage.

She opened the letter while trying to avoid touching it as much as possible. Inside was a short letter and an invitation.

First, she read the letter. It was clearly not the Count’s handwriting but that of his secretary.

The content was simple. As an invitation from the imperial palace had arrived, she was to come down to the townhouse. It also mentioned discussing the marriage proposal with Count Kalla and arranging her appearance from now on.

“How absurd.”

Adelia placed the letter on the desk with a thud.

It was regrettable that the beautiful letterhead had been sacrificed for such useless words.

She clicked her tongue twice and bid farewell to the letterhead. The long-awaited letter wasn’t this trash, but this invitation.

As expected of an invitation from the royal palace, it was adorned with a splendid gold frame and scattered tiny pearl dust.

Despite its magnificent appearance, its contents were simple.

“A ball to recruit a crown princess…”

Finally, it had arrived.

The eyes that looked at the invitation drew a graceful curve and sparkled.

There was no way to hide the joy of finally holding the joy of receiving the long-awaited invitation in her hands.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to the townhouse.”

The butler pretended to be polite and chuckled.

He thought that Adelia was happy at the thought of meeting her family after a long time.

The butler, who mistakenly thought she looked in a good mood, started babbling useless words.

“Since it’s an invitation personally sent by the Count, it must be an important event. Isn’t this your first ball? To have your first ball at the palace… Truly…”

“If you’ve finished your business, you can leave. The butler must be busy. I can’t take away your time.”

Adelia furrowed her eyebrows and tucked her hair behind her ear.

Her expression seemed like the worried appearance of a kind child, but it was clearly an order.

The butler, who listened without moving or speaking, finally opened his dry lips.

“Haha, I wonder when I can use the gold coins I received back then…”

As he awkwardly spoke, Adelia let out a deep sigh.

“I told you back then, it was for five years. I’ve said this more than ten times, you should borrow money equivalent to the value of the gold bar and sell the gold bar to repay it after five years.”

“But the place where I borrowed the money said the repayment period is a maximum of three years. Now it’s time to repay.”

“Oh dear. Just borrow money from somewhere else to repay it. Since you have the gold bar, there’s no way you can’t repay the money.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea! I understand. Then take a rest.”

The butler seemed satisfied with her answer and nodded vaguely before leaving.

When the door closed with a thud, Adelia raised the corners of her mouth and let out a chuckle.

“I wonder what face he would make if he knew that the precious gold bar he valued so much is just a piece of rock.”

Three years ago, the key figures in the mansion, including the butler, received gold bars under the pretext of compensation. It was not even part of the Count’s assets, and it was not recorded in the ledger.

The gold bar suddenly appeared as though it was magic, but in reality, it was just a piece of rock and had no value.

“That’s why I have to be clever. If only they had extended a helping hand, things wouldn’t have turned out like this.”

If they hadn’t tolerated the abuse.

If they had at least provided proper food and didn’t put ice in the water she uses to wash her face in the morning.

No, at least if they had felt remorse and apologized.

Then she wouldn’t have to go this far.

“Anyway, it has finally arrived. My invitation.”

Adelia raised the invitation in her hand towards the sky.

The paper shimmered as it caught the light, giving it a sacred appearance.

“It’s a good excuse. Instead of choosing a crown princess, they’re going to crush the nobles who are eyeing that position.”

The position of crown princess had been vacant until now. But as the crown prince approached the marriageable age, the nobles began to vie for it little by little.

This ball was an event where the crown prince, who had no intention of getting married, would tactfully point out disqualifications to the nobles who were crawling up without knowing their place.

“It’s good for me. This the best opportunity to get close.”

The invitation shook in her hand.

The crown prince had never had a beloved woman until the original story ended. But in the end, he accepted an arranged marriage proposal from a noblewoman in need of his power.

But between them, there was no love, affection, or friendship. It was a marriage in name only, they didn’t even have an heir.

‘The emperor is old, and the prince is too young. What if my divorce history becomes an obstacle when I get married in the future?’

The emperor who had only looked at empresses his whole life and the prince who would eventually fall in love with a commoner in the distant future.

Although she planned to divorce in two years, she felt uneasy about getting involved with someone in such a high position.

Adelia was lost in various thoughts when she was brought back to reality by a knock on the door.

“Miss, may I come in?”

“Oh Gina, it’s you. Come in.”

As though she was afraid that she would revoke her permission, the old wooden door opened gently.

The maid entered carrying a tray with refreshments and a vase of flowers. It was Gina, a maid Adelia hired separately.

“I was going to bring the letter myself, but the butler insisted on taking it.”

“I see. He seemed in a hurry.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Oh, nothing. By the way, what kind of flowers are those?”

Adelia deflected the question skillfully.

Adelia’s attention was drawn to the flower vase that Gina had brought.

On the table next to the bed, there were always fresh and vibrant flowers. Gina took care of them diligently, as she considered the room too bleak.

“They bloomed in the garden, so I brought a few. These are adonis flowers, and those are rudbeckias.”

“They’re beautiful.”

The brightly colored flowers brought a cheerful atmosphere to the room. The presence of just one hardworking maid had made a tremendous difference.

Fresh meals and snacks, clean clothes, and always-available bathwater. Adelia’s comfort had undoubtedly improved.

She was still dependent on cold rice for her meals, but…

“Gina, if you don’t have any plans, would you like to go to the capital with me?”

“If not you, who else would I follow?”

“It won’t be me, but it will be the money I give you.”

“That’s fine. As long as you give me money, I’ll go wherever you want.”

Gina said, clasping her hands together politely.

Despite the distasteful sight of someone openly revealing their greed for money, Adelia responded with a smile.

“I like that about you.”

“Because you prefer uncomfortable truths over kind lies.”

“That’s right. Let’s go together in two weeks. We might stay for a while, so be prepared.”

After finishing her words, Adelia waved her hand as if signaling for Gina to leave.

Although she had hired Gina to take care of her daily needs, she still felt more comfortable being alone.

Gina bowed her head and left the room, carrying the tray she had brought.

The sound of footsteps on the worn-out floor gradually faded away. Even that sound became inaudible, leaving the room in silence.

Adelia, who was staring at the empty doorway, whispered softly to herself.

“I should go out soon.”

Adelia tucked the invitation she held in her hand into her pocket.

With a flick of her finger, a dark robe covered her delicate nightgown.

“Today’s weather is nice. It’s a perfect day for sneaking out.”

Adelia said as she walked to the window.

The old window creaked and opened wide.

Compared to other rooms, the unusually large window was the attic’s advantage.

Thanks to the spacious window that could accommodate Adelia’s small figure, she could freely roam outside.

As Adelia’s body fell out of the window, she disappeared without a trace.

* * *