‘Or could it be a memory from this body?’

That was the most likely possibility.

Otherwise, she couldn’t have dreamed something so vivid, like she’d experienced it herself.

“I was watching you quite attentively, you know. Sadly, it seems you had no interest in me whatsoever.”

She suddenly recalled what Dante had said at the library.

“He said he was watching me, and it was actually true…”

If what she saw in the dream really happened, then what he said must be true.

It had been quite an affectionate gesture to make toward someone you weren’t interested in.

“My lady.”

At Jin’s low call, Rayenne snapped out of her thoughts.

He seemed to have woken up after hearing the words Rayenne had carelessly muttered moments ago.

Blue eyes tinged with drowsiness appeared and disappeared beneath golden lashes, blinking repeatedly.

After several blinks, his now-clear eyes held a question.

“Did you say something to me just now?”

He didn’t seem to have properly heard her talking to herself.

“No. I was just talking to myself.”

When she smiled awkwardly, Jin’s eyes slowly closed again, then reopened—the soft light in his gaze was vivid.

Probably because he’d just woken up, his emotions seemed to show more clearly than usual.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. Did you sleep well too, Jin?”

“…Yes.”

It was warm.

The warmth beneath the blankets. The sunlight streaming through the window. Jin’s expression facing her.

Warm enough to make her think it might be okay to continue this married life just like this.

‘That can’t happen. I can’t keep getting swayed by that face.’

Rayenne sat up and wiped away her smile.

She happened to have something to say to Jin.

“You don’t have to carry me to the room every day.”

Though it was out of the blue, Jin seemed to understand.

“…Understood. However.”

Jin looked at her disheveled midnight-colored hair, then gazed at Rayenne again.

It was a rare, resolute look from him.

“I’m fine with it, so I think it would be better if you brought books to your room to read before it gets too late.”

“I’ll do that.”

Even in Rayenne’s opinion, doing what Jin suggested would be better than being carried while unconscious.

***

“It’s fine to go to the grand ducal residence first before heading there.”

‘Where did the person who said they had no choice but to go alone disappear to?’

Though flustered by Jin’s sudden suggestion, Rayenne boldly refused.

“No. I know perfectly well that’s not fine at all.”

As proof, Stark stood behind them with a rarely seen flustered expression.

But Jin remained resolute.

“Even if we’re a little late, it’s fine…”

“Jin.”

At Rayenne’s quiet call, Jin’s words stopped. His gaze, though not sharp, held both questioning and slight grievance.

“My appointment is at 11 o’clock, and the grand ducal residence is close, right? And Jin, you’ve always entered the palace by 10 o’clock.”

If Rayenne departed according to Jin’s schedule, it would be far too early for her appointment time, and if they matched Rayenne’s timing, Jin’s palace entry would be too late.

Rayenne drove the point home to Jin, who still stood with his mouth firmly shut.

“I’ll enjoy a stroll in the garden and then take my time going, so you go without being late too.”

Her bright smile was the finishing touch.

Just then, sunlight fell on her transparently white skin, and her black hair sparkled with blue.

Facing those beautifully curved violet eyes, Jin finally nodded.

“…I’ll be going then. Please be careful on your way as well, my lady.”

“Of course. Have a safe trip, Jin.”

Jin pressed his lips together and clenched his fists.

After releasing the tension from his body with a sigh and nodding once more, he finally boarded the carriage that had been waiting all along.

“Safe travels, Your Grace.”

With Stark’s respectful farewell as the last word, the carriage door closed.

As soon as Rayenne saw Jin off, she headed straight to the garden just like she’d told him.

Having felt tormented by Dante’s matter these past few days, lying down in the secret garden with no one around felt truly liberating.

“Wow… The sunlight is warm and the breeze is cool—perfect for a nap.”

The breakfast she’d eaten while bickering with Jin had long since digested.

In other words, it was the perfect time for drowsiness to hit.

Blinking her heavy eyelids, Rayenne recalled the career path she’d just decided on yesterday.

“To become a tutor, do I need to go somewhere and get introduced?”

But for that, Rayenne’s connections were infinitely thin.

“And it’s a bit awkward to talk to Jin about it.”

Starting with why she wanted to become a tutor, he might even recommend she try other work.

Regardless of the original story, at least the Jin that Rayenne had experienced was like that.

He didn’t talk much, but strangely his expressions of opinion were strong and persistent.

Swoooosh—

A suddenly strong gust of wind sent old leaves flying and rustled the new ones.

“Ah! Isn’t it time to go?”

She reflexively looked at her wrist, but there was no watch she’d never worn in the first place.

Rayenne quickly got up, roughly brushed off her clothes, and left the garden with hurried steps.

“My lady! It’s time for you to leave!”

“Yes. Should I depart right away?”

Velma, who seemed to have been looking for Rayenne with obvious urgency, circled around her once.

Only after brushing off the dust Rayenne hadn’t managed to remove did Velma smile brightly.

“You can depart right now.”

“Thank you, Velma.”

“Not at all.”

Velma, who always conveyed pleasant energy whenever she saw her, beamed and led the way.

At the mansion entrance where Jin had boarded his carriage earlier, Rayenne also climbed into a carriage.

Stark and Velma politely saw her off from there.

The faces of the two seeing her off were not just polite but even affectionate.

“I’ll be back.”

“Safe travels, my lady.”

“Have a good trip, my lady!”

Leaving the ducal residence with their farewells felt strange.

“She never went anywhere originally, right?”

Since she’d only made minimal appearances even at official events the ducal couple had to attend, it was right to say the Rayenne from the original story never left the mansion at all.

She never went to meet anyone, nor did anyone come to meet Rayenne.

She didn’t even have anyone to converse with in the mansion.

Even the servants of House Daihan, whom she encountered daily, gossiped about the ducal couple who’d started using separate rooms from their first night as newlyweds.

Since many worked there for generations, their affection for the ducal house was exceptional, and that affection turned into complaints about their excellent master’s inadequate wife.

‘If they were going to have a political marriage anyway, it would have been better with a young lady from a better family.’

Whenever news of lively and lovely young ladies spread through high society, the servants compared them to their gloomy duchess.

If only those young ladies had become the duchess.

The rumors in the shadows deepened and grew with each passing day.

Even without trying to listen, Rayenne heard them; even wanting not to know, she learned of them.

Amid Jin’s indifference and coldness, the mansion people’s cold stares and contempt, Rayenne gradually sank.

“She might have died even without the poison the mistress used.”

Nothing in life held Rayenne in place.

So at the moment of death, Rayenne might have actually smiled.

Feeling so unburdened.

“Rayenne was never seen off like this even once. Why on earth…”

Only the thought ‘why?’ came to mind.

Really. Why?

Why did she have to live like that?

No matter how much she’d lived with becoming the duchess as her only life goal because of Gwenn, why on earth.

The large and splendid grand ducal residence entered her blurred violet eyes.

She’d finally arrived at the Penesa Grand Ducal Residence.

The carriage stopped in front of the mansion radiating grandeur, and the door opened.

As Rayenne grasped her dress to step down from the carriage, a hand suddenly extended toward her.

“Welcome, Duchess Daihan.”

She’d thought a maid or lady-in-waiting would help her down on the Grand Duchess’s orders, but it was unmistakably the Grand Duchess herself.

Holding the soft but firm hand, Rayenne bowed her head respectfully.

“Thank you for inviting me, Your Grace.”

The Grand Duchess, who had firmly grasped then released Rayenne’s hand, gracefully received the greeting.

“My name is Cali Penesa. Lady Rayenne Daihan.”

The Grand Duchess, Cali, already knew Rayenne’s name.

“Yes, Grand Duchess Cali.”

At the obedient answer, Cali shrugged her shoulders. It was hard to tell whether the quirk of one eyebrow meant she liked it or not.

“I’ve prepared tea in the greenhouse.”

Perhaps because she’d been born a Grand Duchess, there was an overbearing atmosphere in her tone and gaze.

She was someone whose status could be felt, literally—something Rayenne couldn’t sense from Duke Jin or Crown Prince Shuga.

Following behind Cali according to guidance that could absolutely not be called gentle, the scent of wood gradually grew stronger.

After walking silently for a while, a massive glass greenhouse appeared.

Through the translucent greenhouse, lush trees and all kinds of plants could be seen in abundance.

“It’s the pride of our Penesa Grand Ducal Residence. You can even see plants from across the sea.”

Cali’s words overflowed with pride, just as she’d said it was the grand ducal residence’s pride.

As they entered the greenhouse with Cali in the lead, humid and heavy but not stagnant air hit them first.

Next came a feast of all kinds of splendid plants.

“Wow…! It’s truly fascinating and beautiful.”

Flowers resembling spirits in skirts, trees with countless long branches hanging down and glowing transparently.

Vine plants with leaves blooming in all colors of the rainbow, and even unknown plants floating in midair.

She couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

“My lady.”

Cali sat first at a table placed in the very center of the greenhouse.

Rayenne sat down after Cali called her.

A maid who’d followed them filled the cups in front of both women with tea and withdrew to a distance.

“Why did you accept my invitation?”

It was before Rayenne had even lifted her teacup.

Though Cali asked so abruptly, Rayenne didn’t panic much and grasped the teacup handle.

However, she answered without drinking the tea.

“I’ve never refused any invitation.”

Cali’s eyes widened.

Light flashed in her brown eyes.

It was very different from the answer she’d expected.

“What do you mean by that?”

Cali, with brown eyes and brown hair, could have had an ordinary appearance, but thanks to her distinct features and firm impression, she didn’t look ordinary at all.

Especially the overbearing attitude in her actions and speech was far beyond the realm of ordinary.

Though it looked like she was interrogating on the surface, meeting Cali’s gaze, Rayenne knew that wasn’t it.

Cali was genuinely curious.