02

Even after Marie left the room, Elsia’s worries continued.  

‘Should I find out about my compatibility with Lord Mars as soon as possible? What if it doesn’t match? Should I break off the engagement?’  

Elsia considered cancelling the engagement in case their physical compatibility didn’t match, but realistically, breaking off the engagement was not easy.  

First of all, Mars was the son of her father’s friend, and it would be an insult to the Earl of Welsley to claim she disliked him too much, since Mars had no particular flaws.  

Moreover, he had never behaved rudely toward her, so breaking off the engagement merely because there was no spark, instead of directly saying their compatibility didn’t match, made no sense.  

Above all, the biggest reason it was hard to break the engagement was that the two families were bound by a contractual relationship.  

So Elsia didn’t have the courage to recklessly break the engagement. Rather, if Elsia and Mars were compatible and affection grew into love, that would solve all her problems.  

“But even after meeting him several times, no feelings have developed, so it feels like our compatibility isn’t likely to match….”  

The chances of their compatibility not matching felt higher than matching, so her anxiety grew.  

Elsia could only sigh. She didn’t want to keep worrying alone. She wanted to consult someone.  

After agonizing for a while, Elsia decided to ask her mother.  

She hoped her mother might share some wisdom.  

“Didn’t I tell you over and over that marriage isn’t about feelings?”  

Countess Portman made a baffled expression when she heard Elsia’s question.  

“What if our compatibility doesn’t match?”  

“There’s no such thing as matching or not matching. You just work it out together. Marital life isn’t only about that. There are many other important things, so you don’t need to worry about such trivial matters.”  

It wasn’t even worth asking her mother. Elsia considered it an important part of married life, but her mother dismissed it as trivial.  

Disappointed by her mother’s answers, which always went in a different direction than expected, Elsia returned to her room.  

As soon as she entered, Elsia flopped onto her bed and buried her face in the pillow.  

Suddenly, she felt resentful toward Richel. Why did Richel leave her with such worries…  

Elsia kept agonizing alone and feeling anxious, probably because she had a bad premonition that she and Mars wouldn’t be compatible.  

It felt as if she would know even before trying.  

If their bodies matched, she thought there would be at least some physical attraction, but Elsia had never felt such a thing toward Mars, so she was anxious.  

While Elsia was worrying, her much younger brother, Elliot, came looking for her.  

That forgotten incident had changed many things. One of them was the existence of her younger brother.  

Her parents, shocked after seeing their only daughter at death’s door, worked hard to have a second child.  

“Why are you so worried? Are the nightmares still tormenting you, Sister?”  

Elsia looked at her eight-year-old brother Elliot, who jumped onto the bed and lay beside her.  

If Elliot were a little older, she might have been able to consult him, but he was too young.  

Elsia pulled herself together and looked at Elliot with a gentle face.  

Seeing his cute face made her want to touch him, so she stroked Elliot’s cheek and said,  

“Nothing’s wrong.”  

“Don’t be troubled. If anything’s bothering you, I’ll help you.”  

Elsia couldn’t help but smile at Elliot’s words.  

‘How did such a young brother end up worrying about me….’  

His bright gray eyes were filled with concern.  

Elsia hugged her brother. Seeing his pure heart, she felt ashamed of herself for being filled with impure thoughts ever since receiving the necklace.  

‘Why am I so swayed by Richel’s words….’  

She stroked her brother’s hair, trying to rid herself of those impure thoughts.  

But just doing that didn’t make the thoughts disappear.  

Elsia had gotten into the habit of looking at the magic necklace every night before bed, agonizing over it, and falling asleep holding it. Of course, she would wake up from nightmares in between.  

A few weeks passed, and once again, it was the day her fiancé visited.  

Elsia finished dressing up in advance and sat on the sofa in her room, staring at the necklace and waiting for her fiancé to arrive.  

She was still debating whether to show Mars the necklace or not.  

“Lord Mars has arrived.”  

Upon hearing that her fiancé had arrived, Elsia, unable to bring herself to show him the necklace, put the necklace she was fiddling with on the table and hurriedly slipped on the bracelet next to it before rushing out to greet him.  

Mars, who always greeted Elsia with a polite smile, looked surprised as soon as he saw her, and then started laughing loudly.  

“Ahahaha.”  

Elsia checked her face, wondering if something was on it, due to his unusual reaction. She touched her cheeks several times but found nothing.  

Yet Mars kept laughing. Elsia lowered her head to check her dress.  

Finally, Mars approached her while laughing, picked up something hanging from her dress, and handed it to her.  

“You must have been busy preparing today. You came out with your necklace hanging on your dress instead of around your neck.”  

Feeling puzzled by her fiancé’s words, Elsia took the necklace he handed her. At that moment, her heart dropped.  

What he handed her was the necklace Richel had gifted her.  

She thought she’d left it on the table, but in her hurry to grab the bracelet, the necklace must have hooked onto her skirt.  

Elsia examined the necklace as she took it, but it remained blue.  

That meant….  

The necklace was telling her that she and Mars were not physically compatible.  

She was curious yet didn’t want to know, and although she had a vague sense, she didn’t want to accept the reality that was now confronting her.  

At that moment, Elsia was overwhelmed by a shock she couldn’t describe and felt dizzy.  

To think that the man she’d live with for the rest of her life didn’t match her body! Just the thought was terrifying.  

She had hoped that even if conversation didn’t flow, if their bodies communicated, a future with Mars wouldn’t be bad. But that hope was now dashed.  

“Are you alright?”  

Mars, not knowing why Elsia was so shaken that she could barely stand, approached to support her. He seemed startled to see her suddenly staggering.  

As Mars supported her, Elsia’s body began to tremble.  

At the same time, she didn’t feel up to facing her fiancé directly.  

“I feel a bit dizzy. I’m sorry, but it’d be best if you went back today.”  

It was harsh to ask him to leave as soon as he arrived, but Elsia didn’t want to be with Mars right now.  

So she hurried him out, using her dizziness as an excuse.  

Elsia continued to feign staggering in Marie’s arms until Mars was out of sight.  

“Please take care of yourself.”  

Mars worried about her until he left the mansion.  

‘He’s so kind to me, but how can a single gemstone make me not want to see his face….’  

Elsia couldn’t understand her own fickle heart.  

The necklace Richel had given her was like a stone thrown into a gently rippling riverbank.  

It seemed to bring about some change in Elsia’s comfortable yet boring life.  

No, it had already changed her heart. Her bland feelings toward her fiancé were turning into discomfort.  

‘What does it mean for compatibility to match? Why did it stir up trouble in my heart? Did Richel firmly warn me not to resent her because she knew this would happen?’  

Elsia couldn’t confide her frustration to her family or Marie.  

In the end, she had no choice but to seek out Richel, who knew all about this.  

* * *

“What? The color didn’t change?”  

Richel, who was calmly drinking tea on the sofa, suddenly lifted her head and leaned forward in excitement.  

Her curly pink hair, twisted and hanging in front, flew up into the air, and her violet eyes, reminiscent of violets, sparkled clearly at Elsia.  

Seeing Richel’s reaction, her eyes seemed filled more with curiosity than surprise.  

Elsia, lost in her worries, saw Richel’s amused look and wondered if her friend was teasing her. At that moment, Elsia wanted to believe that.  

“All you said to me was a joke, right? That it could know compatibility in advance? Where in the world is such a thing? Richel, you were teasing me, weren’t you?”  

Elsia wanted to deny reality. So she asked Richel, hoping for confirmation, expecting her friend to say it was just a prank.  

But Richel’s expression, which should have been laughing as usual, hardened at Elsia’s words.  

Seeing her expression, Elsia felt anxiety welling up inside.  

“No, right? Right? Please tell me it’s not true!”  

Elsia asked again.  

She hoped Richel would relax her expression and say it was all a joke.  

Given Richel’s usual playful nature, Elsia wanted to believe it was possible.  

“I’m sorry… it’s real.”  

Perhaps sensing Elsia’s wish to deny, Richel answered in a crawling voice, watching Elsia’s reaction, and patted her friend’s back as Elsia slumped in disappointment.  

“That’s impossible…. I can’t believe it. I think I’ll only believe it if I see it change with my own eyes.”  

Even with Richel’s answer, Elsia couldn’t believe it. Or rather, she couldn’t accept it.  

Richel sighed deeply.  

“Did you bring the necklace I gave you?”  

Elsia reached for her neck at Richel’s words. There was nothing there.  

Then she remembered, in her rush, she had left the necklace with Marie and slowly shook her head.  

“In that case, I’ll show you with mine.”  

Richel took out a necklace hidden inside her dress, which reached up to her neck.  

Her necklace was different from Elsia’s; it had a transparent gemstone.  

“Go call Amy.”  

Richel instructed the maid beside her to bring Amy.  

While the maid went to fetch Amy, Richel whispered quietly to Elsia.  

“It’s a secret from everyone else, so you have to watch the color change secretly. Watch closely!”  

“Of course. I haven’t told anyone about the necklace’s function you gave me.”  

Elsia nodded vigorously in response to Richel’s words.  

Soon, Amy arrived in Richel’s room, and Richel pointed to the necklace on the table.  

“The necklace looks dirty. Could you take a look at it?”  

Amy approached, picked up the necklace, and inspected it closely.  

“To my eyes, it looks clean. But since you said it’s dirty, I’ll wipe it with a cloth to make it even cleaner.”  

Amy looked the shiny gemstone over, tilting her head as if puzzled.  

“Is that so? Maybe I was mistaken. You don’t have to wipe it. Go back to your work. I shouldn’t have called a busy person for nothing. Ah! On your way out, please bring Olive.”  

Richel smiled and sent Amy out, and this time, a servant named Olive entered the room.  

“You called for me?”  

The moment Olive approached them, the color of the gemstone turned a deep red.