I had no idea.

If I had known, would I have dressed up so nicely and come here?

Though Casano and Mornie asked with eyes rounded in shock, Erika had nothing to say since she too had only learned about this moments ago.

With a face pale and almost delirious, Erika stared at Gerick and Evelyn, and found something strangely unsettling about the way they smiled radiantly at each other.

“The Crown Prince shall begin the banquet with the first dance with Saintess Evelyn.”

Following the Emperor’s command, Gerick and Evelyn joined hands and moved to the center of the banquet hall. As they faced each other and bowed, the orchestra began to play.

Gerick’s hand pulled Evelyn’s waist close, and Evelyn fondly caressed his shoulder as she placed her hand on it.

Throughout the dance, their bodies were pressed together so tightly that one could hardly find a gap between them, and honey practically dripped from their eyes.

It was exactly as described in the original novel, and Erika felt as though she’d been struck hard on the head with a hammer.

Erika clenched her fist.

‘They call that a political marriage?’

Since transmigrating into the villainess of the novel ⟨As God Wills⟩, Erika never had the slightest intention of changing the original story to claim the male lead for herself.

She was simply glad not to be shuttled between academies due to her mother’s competitiveness, and though she missed her beloved dad somewhat, since she couldn’t go back anyway, she just wanted to live well here while fangirling over her favorite characters.

Where had things gone wrong?

Was it when she first met the original male lead and enthusiastically beat him up because he was annoying?

Perhaps she had unintentionally interfered with the original story.

However, she never had the slightest intention of changing the original story to date or marry Gerick.

It was because Gerick had clung to her for ten years, prevented her from having any romantic relationships with others, and remained by Erika’s side that they had reached this point today.

For a full ten years, Erika had finally accepted Gerick’s feelings, which she could no longer ignore as he focused only on her, changing his expressions from “I like you” to “I love you” as he matured, launching his affectionate offensive.

When he was designated as Crown Prince, Gerick had embraced Erika and even shed tears of joy, saying that he could finally get married.

Who would doubt that love?

Erika had patted Gerick’s back and naturally envisioned a future with him.

For today, she had worn a fancy dress she normally wouldn’t even glance at, along with a breath-constricting corset, and adorned herself with accessories she usually found bothersome.

“You look so beautiful, my lady.”

Amid the maids’ fussing, even Erika had swelled with anticipation, recalling the final scene from the original novel that ended with “and they lived happily ever after.”

But the reality now before her eyes was telling Erika something else.

That she had been mistaken. That she had been deceived. That she hadn’t changed anything.

That according to the original story, the male and female leads had fallen in love.

‘You dare lie to me? Political marriage? How could those be the faces of people in a political marriage—they’re the faces of people in love having an affair.’

Erika trembled with a sense of betrayal.

Until just before entering the banquet hall, Gerick had been holding her hand affectionately, saying he would marry her. Even as he dropped the bombshell that he had to enter a political marriage with Evelyn by the Emperor’s command.

Looking tearful as if he were the one more saddened by it, Gerick had seemed truly pitiful, like a cow being led to slaughter. Saying their separation would be temporary, asking her to wait until he became Emperor.

But the way Gerick was behaving in front of Evelyn told a different reality.

Anyone could see they weren’t people about to enter a political marriage. If someone who had just arrived here and didn’t know about Erika’s relationship with him saw them, they would surely be impressed by their deep love.

Erika asked her best friends who were standing beside her, their mouths hanging open like goldfish in shock.

“What do you think? Do those two look like they’re in a political marriage?”

“Huh?”

Casano and Mornie quickly exchanged glances and then nodded.

“Well, relations with the temple are important…”

“No, no. I mean how do their expressions look? To me, they look like lovers deeply in love.”

“Huh? There’s no way Gerick would do that to you…… Haha…… You know how Gerick is kind to everyone. He needs to get along with everyone to become Emperor…… Haha.”

Erika stared blankly at the two who defended Gerick even as they stumbled over their words.

Their friendship seemed hollow as they rolled their eyes around, trying to avoid eye contact.

“So that’s how it looks to you? Quite different from what I’m seeing? Either my eyes are playing tricks on me, or you’re lying to me—one of the two.”

Erika flashed a bitter smile and leapt over the terrace railing, leaving the banquet hall.

Without looking back, she returned to her carriage and ordered the coachman.

“Home.”

***

After returning home, Erika changed into comfortable clothes and sat waiting at the first-floor entrance for her father, Duke Sparta, and her brother Hermes.

It was the path they would inevitably take to reach their quarters.

Clippity-clop, clippity-clop.

The carriage slowly came to a stop, and soon after, Duke Sparta and Hermes alighted.

“Erika…… Why are you sitting there like that……”

Hermes spoke tenderly with tears welling in his eyes.

Duke Sparta briefly looked at Erika with a hardened face, then entered his office without a word.

He probably needed a place to cry alone.

Erika decided to give Duke Sparta time to cry sufficiently and ask Hermes for his opinion first.

“How did it look to you, brother?”

“Hmm?”

“Gerick says it’s a political marriage. Did it look that way to you too?”

“……Since when did you know? That those two would marry.”

Hearing Hermes’ calm voice as he seemed to be internally processing something, Erika replied without hesitation.

“I heard it in the waiting room where we were waiting together before entering the banquet hall.”

Hermes’ face turned bright red. It was clearly the face of someone about to explode with anger they could barely contain. Yet his voice remained calm.

“Is that all?”

“His Majesty the Emperor ordered him to enter a political marriage with Evelyn because of relations with the temple. He asked me to wait. Said when he becomes Emperor, he will definitely make me his imperial consort.”

“Not Empress…… but imperial consort……”

The sound of teeth grinding echoed through the hall.

“I see. That’s how it is…… Political marriages are like a fate for high nobles like us.”

I just didn’t know that bastard would use it like this.

Hermes clenched and unclenched his fist before embracing Erika.

“Our Erika, you must be very upset. No matter how necessary a political marriage might be, he broke his promise to you, so you have every right to be angry, Erika.”

Hermes didn’t mince his words, perhaps finding it pitiful that Erika was calmly sorting through the situation.

“What I’m curious about is whether they really looked like they were in a political marriage to you, brother.”

“Huh?”

Faced with Erika’s persistent question, Hermes pondered before slightly shaking his head.

It wasn’t because he was a doting brother—even to Hermes, Gerick seemed suspicious.

***

From the next day, Erika asked the same question to people around her and those around Gerick. Did Gerick and Evelyn look like they were in a political marriage?

“How did it look to you?”

“Huh? Um, well……”

Some were flustered by Erika’s question,

“Well, if that’s what they say, then I suppose that’s what it is……”

Some fumbled for words,

“Erika……”

Some looked at her with pity, but the answers were almost the same.

That Gerick, who would become Emperor, needed the temple’s help.

And that Gerick, who loved Erika, would never betray her, so she should just be patient and wait until he made her his imperial consort.

It was uncomfortable how everyone seemed at a loss whenever they saw Erika, as if she wasn’t the only one surprised by the sudden situation.

Yet it was disgusting how they acted as though they didn’t doubt at all that Gerick and Evelyn’s marriage was political.

Most unbearable was how they took it for granted that Erika would become an imperial consort when Gerick became Emperor.

‘Why should I become a concubine?’

Erika decided to stop asking people and investigate for herself.

Since Gerick was either too busy with wedding preparations or too ashamed to contact her, Erika had no choice but to seek him out herself.

Erika released her crows more actively than ever to collect information on Gerick’s every move.

It felt like becoming a stalker, but Erika really wanted to know.

Whether Gerick had lied to her or not.

Whether he had betrayed her or not.

Everyone she asked said it was indeed a political marriage, but their expressions said otherwise, which was confusing.

Erika decided to abandon the half-hearted attitudes and worthless consolations of these people and approach the truth through the information carried by her loyal crows.

The crows were loyal beings that Erika had secretly raised with her years of webnovel expertise since coming to this world, and they would never lie to her.

“Gerick’s schedule today.”

Erika snatched a paper that suddenly flew to her from thin air. Her eyes gleamed sharply as she quickly scanned the contents.

After the marriage announcement, Gerick had been spending time with Evelyn every day.

It might be natural to spend time together during the wedding preparation period, but would a political marriage require meeting every day like this?

Moreover, the two weren’t meeting to prepare for the wedding.

According to the crows’ reports, Gerick and Evelyn were all about “enjoying themselves to the fullest until the last moment, since marriage would take away the feeling of dating.”

Every day, instead of wedding preparations, they went on dates and kissed at every opportunity.

And for the past few days, they had reportedly been holed up in a hotel, not coming out.

“They were at a hotel, you say? What were they doing there?”

Erika thought her voice sounded quite hollow.

What would virile young men and women do locked up in a hotel room?

She felt pathetic for asking something so pointless.

‘He didn’t let Evelyn go all night…… They did it at least three to five times…… And it doesn’t seem like it was their first time?’

Insane.

Erika inwardly cursed, unsure if she was cursing herself or Gerick.

The thought that the efforts she had put into strengthening Gerick’s stamina were being used like this only amplified her sense of betrayal.

If he had just apologized, saying his love had cooled, that he had fallen in love with Evelyn, she would have coolly stepped aside with a “Fine, live well together.”

While acknowledging, ‘So it turns out changing the original story was difficult. So this is the force of the original plot.’

But betraying trust and deceiving was a different matter.

Considering everything Erika had done for Gerick until now, he shouldn’t have acted this way.

They could break up after dating, but he should have maintained a minimum level of courtesy in the breakup.

At the very least, he should have given Erika time to sort out her feelings and accept reality.

“I need to see this with my own eyes.”