Annelia’s father had features similar to hers, just like described in the novel. Like her, he had blonde hair and beautiful light green eyes. With his flowing hair cascading to his shoulders and his shirt slightly unbuttoned, he was a handsome middle-aged man who could appear in movies.

Her father’s name was Caromiel Rosaline, Duke Rosaline. He neatly tied back his blonde hair and stared at me with his light green eyes.

“A contract?”

Today, Luden had sent a contract to my side.

“I thought it might be necessary.”

Caromiel’s eyes wavered as he looked at the contract. He probably never expected his daughter to do something like this.

The previous Annelia would have been an entirely good child. I smiled brightly at him, preventing Caromiel from saying anything.

“Just getting married like this feels like I’d be losing out.”

“Still…”

“The conditions aren’t anything special.”

At my words, Caromiel examined the contract. After reading it carefully, he widened his eyes and looked at me.

“You thought of this?”

“Yes. Who knows what might be said later? We need to prevent that. We just have to follow the contract.”

Caromiel fell silent, seemingly a bit flustered by my words.

“Don’t worry.”

Caromiel seemed lost in thought. But what was there to worry about? We just had to properly follow the contract. Then financial support from the Marquis Charlot family would continue coming.

“It could be an opportunity.”

“That’s true.”

“Business needs money and a solid partner.”

I believed the Charlot family would be a good partner. After all, the original work stated that Luden’s business acumen was tremendous.

“That may be true, but…”

Caromiel agreed for now. Persuading Father was easier than Luden.

“I’ll keep the contract.”

“That’s fine, but be careful not to lose it. If the contract disappears, the other party could manipulate things. Of course, I don’t think Marquis Charlot would do that, but you never know.”

“Of course.”

With that, my report to Caromiel was finished. I smiled and went outside.

* * *

A week passed.

I wondered if I could really adapt well to this world. Just because I’d possessed someone’s body didn’t guarantee I’d do well, right?

As I expected, a problem arose. On my way to eat breakfast, I unconsciously grimaced.

“Haah.”

When I was in Korea, I loved meat. But the Duke Rosaline family had traditionally eaten lots of greens.

A ducal family that didn’t eat meat even once a month! This can’t be! Not putting delicious meat on the table isn’t respectful to food!

“Annelia, today we have salad mixed with fruit.”

During breakfast, Caromiel smiled. He proudly pointed at the salad and dressing with his hand, showing off to me. It meant I should eat it deliciously.

“…Yes.”

I looked at the pile of greens on my plate in despair. Sure, thanks to eating only greens, I was maintaining this pretty figure, but eating only greens for a whole week was killing me!

‘No meat today either…’

Unable to bear it any longer, I finally said something.

“Father, isn’t eating only vegetables a bit much?”

“Annelia?”

“How about meat for dinner today?”

At my words, Caromiel’s expression hardened.

“Meat is bad for the body.”

“Father?”

“No! Vegetables are good for women too.”

No, why would you think that? You eat meat and vegetables! It’s good to eat both!

I was dumbfounded by Caromiel’s words. So I tried again, speaking gently with a smile, but it was rejected.

“Didn’t you originally dislike meat? You were the one who said it was bad for the body.”

“My thinking has changed now. People change.”

“No!”

My doting father wouldn’t budge when it came to meat.

‘This wasn’t even in the original work!’

I suppressed the rising emotions. I wanted to cry.

Today too, I couldn’t eat meat and only grazed on greens.

* * *

Unable to eat meat again today and in a bad mood, I lay on the bed with its fluffy blankets and rolled around.

No energy. I need to eat meat to have energy.

“Miss, is something wrong?”

Seeing me lying on the bed feeling depressed, Lella asked in a worried tone.

“No, I’m just hungry.”

“You ate breakfast.”

“That couldn’t possibly fill me up…”

Eating only greens didn’t feel like eating at all.

“You used to say you were full after eating just a little.”

“People change.”

I repeated what I’d said to Caromiel while hugging the blanket tightly.

“Today’s the day you meet the Marquis.”

“Yeah.”

A week had already passed since meeting him. We’d agreed to meet once a week without fail, and today was that day.

Come to think of it, Father had mentioned we needed to hold a formal engagement ceremony.

‘Why bother with something so troublesome?’

If we were going to get married anyway, wouldn’t it be better to just have the wedding instead of an engagement ceremony? That would be economically beneficial too.

“I should pick out a pretty outfit.”

I jumped up. Wearing dresses was fun. Few people in the world disliked adorning themselves with pretty clothes. And Annelia’s body was beautiful, making it enjoyable to dress up.

“What should I wear?”

“Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah.”

It was thanks to Lella. I had no energy, but I had stamina to use for dressing up.

Going to the dressing room, I looked at the dresses lined up.

“It’s spring, so pink.”

But suddenly, beef marbling came to mind.

‘Ah.’

I hadn’t eaten meat for so long that the withdrawal symptoms were serious.

“Miss?”

“…Really.”

I missed meat so much. Enough to cry.

* * *

Luden looked at the documents. The investigation about Annelia had come in. The total time taken was six days. It took longer than Luden expected.

Well, he’d told them to investigate thoroughly, so he thought it would take quite a while.

Andre twisted his lips upward.

“It’s enough to make a ghost wail.”

He spoke to Luden, who was looking at the results.

“First, the current Annelia is that Annelia.”

The ducal family hadn’t put forward a different woman as a substitute. According to the person they’d planted, there was no fact of a new Annelia appearing at all.

Just in case, they’d also investigated where the Duke had gone for a month, but all they learned was that he hadn’t gone anywhere besides the ducal estate.

“But like you said, her handwriting is different.”

However, they’d been able to pick up paper Annelia had written on and thrown away. The handwriting was completely different.

“She’s well-regarded among the servants.”

“She’s smarter than before, but there’s no particular flaw in her personality?”

Then Luden, who had been pondering, looked at Andre.

“I should show sincerity to Annelia by giving her money.”

“Money?”

“You spread a rumor that the Charlot family gave Annelia a large sum.”

“Huh?”

At Luden’s unexpected words, Andre tilted his head.

“What are you trying to test?”

Andre couldn’t guess what Luden was thinking. He asked with his eyes for Luden to tell him, but Luden didn’t respond. He only wore an ambiguous smile.

* * *

I ultimately chose a dress as red as beef. Then I applied red lipstick. A bewitching-looking young lady stood in front of the mirror.

‘When Luden comes today, I should suggest we go eat meat.’

Humming, I looked at the round clock. It was time for Luden to arrive. Just then, Lella came to announce his arrival.

“Marquis Charlot has arrived.”

I quickly went downstairs. Entering the drawing room, I saw Luden sitting on the black sofa drinking tea. His legs weren’t crossed, and he sat in proper posture.

Before Luden came today, he’d sent a letter. It said we should do what I wanted to do.

Thanks to that, I could greet him while imagining quite pleasant things.

“Hello.”

I greeted Luden.

“Annelia.”

He called my name. Mm, the feeling is different?

“Have you thought about what we’ll do today?”

Luden asked.

“Well, since we’re engaged, how about we go on a date?”

A date eating meat!

“A date?”

“Yes!”

I said that and showed him the paper where I’d written what I wanted to do.

<1. Go eat cake>

<2. Go eat meat>

<3. Visit Luden’s house>

Seeing the third one, Luden frowned.

“Why my house?”

“I should meet your mother. The former Marchioness.”

Luden’s expression hardened.

“…Is that really necessary?”

“The reason you’re marrying me is because of your mother, right?”

“So?”

“To get along well with your mother, I think it would be better to greet her in advance.”

At my words, he looked at me with searching eyes. When I smiled brightly like I knew nothing, he shook his head.

“If her condition isn’t good, we might not be able to meet.”

“Then it can’t be helped. If that happens, just show me around the mansion.”

I shrugged my shoulders. Actually, in the original work, Annelia spent much more time with Anan than with Luden. So she was closer to Anan than to Luden.

Fortunately, her temperament was gentle and affectionate. So I wanted to get along well too. I also felt sympathy for her illness.

“Alright.”

Luden answered and sighed.

“And though it’s not in the contract, this is a small token of appreciation.”

Saying that, Luden handed me a square piece of paper.

“This is…”

I thought it was a check since he called it appreciation, but the paper just had the Charlot family seal stamped on it.

“If you go to Berk Bank, you can withdraw it as cash. The bank will exchange it for money.”

“There’s no amount though?”

“The crest here represents the amount.”

I widened my eyes. Luden was giving me money?

‘Did I make it too obvious?’

I hid my embarrassment inside and stared at him. Even if I had, what was Luden thinking when he prepared this?

Well, I didn’t really know his intentions, but let’s take the check for now. Money is precious.

“Thank you. I’ll leave the check in my room.”

At my words, Luden nodded. And so our first date began.

* * *

I wanted to eat very sweet cake. Caromiel hated sweet cake. So the original Annelia didn’t eat sweet cake much either.

But I’m different.

Coming to the cake shop with Luden, a whole cake topped with strawberries on white cream came out. It was sliced, making it easy to eat.

I let out a cheer. I could eat the cake I couldn’t eat at home!

I wanted to swallow all the cake right away, but at that moment, a phrase came to mind.

Maintain dignity as a wife.

“…”

In the end, I elegantly picked up my fork and gently picked up a piece of cake. Following noble etiquette.

Luden, sitting across from me, was also eating little by little. Of course, how he ate was outside my interest.

It was insanely sweet. So delicious. This is happiness.

How long has it been since I had this!

“It’s really delicious.”

I praised the cake’s taste endlessly.

“I’m glad it suits your taste.”

“You know good restaurants well.”

“I researched restaurants and date spots to some extent. This is a place I used to come to often with my mother.”

Luden explained various things. He seemed satisfied seeing me eat deliciously. Then let’s put it all in my mouth! When I go home, I’ll be eating only greens again, so I need to eat hard to prepare for that.

After finishing the cake, I patted my stomach. Luden looked at me with an expression that showed he didn’t know whether to be happy or troubled.

He looked at the plate that had become empty in an instant, then asked me.

“By meat, do you mean… steak or something like that?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“You ate cake, can you eat more?”

“Don’t worry. My stomach is big.”

I tensed my stomach. Luden smiled at me.

The second meeting wasn’t bad. He was pleasant and we communicated well.

“Annelia doesn’t look down on people for being young.”

“There’s nothing to gain from that!”

I wouldn’t do such a thing to Luden. He’s my fiancé.

“But since when did you start liking foods like steak?”

“I suddenly wanted to eat it recently. Now I dream of eating steak because I want beef so much.”

Luden laughed.

“Annelia’s words are so amusing.”

He stood up.

“Let’s go to the steakhouse now.”

“Good.”

“The portions aren’t very large, but if you’re hungry, we can order more.”

That was good to hear. I licked my lips.

I want to feel the juices of meat quickly! Meat!

That texture felt when cutting steak, that sensation felt when chewing meat—I missed it so much. The conclusion was that I wanted to eat steak too much.

* * *

I very happily devoured all the steak that came out in front of me. Clutching my full stomach, I rode in the carriage toward the Charlot family. After dozing off briefly, we arrived at the mansion and Luden woke me.

“Annelia, we’ve arrived.”

“Already?”

Rubbing my sleepy eyes and getting out of the carriage, I admired the Charlot family mansion. It was a building with a strong antique feeling. On the path leading to the main building was a huge garden, and in that garden, trees and flowers bloomed.

Seeing the flowers, I stopped walking for a moment. The garden had red and pink flowers mixed together.

“There are many red flowers.”

“Red is the Charlot family’s symbolic color. Direct descendants have traditionally been born with red eyes.”

At Luden’s words, I nodded.

“My mother ordered many red flowers to be bought and planted to match that.”

So it was Anan’s work. Walking into the garden, I smelled the flower fragrance. Then I turned around and asked Luden.

“I want to manage it together with the former Marchioness.”

“That would be good.”

Luden spoke casually. He seemed to think I was just saying it for form’s sake, but looking at the garden, I truly thought I wanted to decorate this place beautifully.

‘I need to become close with Anan.’

As I left the garden, Luden explained about the small building visible in the distance.

“The annex was rebuilt recently.”

“Why?”

“It was such an old building that it could collapse.”

Luden said that and quickly took me to the main building. The Duke Empire didn’t have set regulations on the scale of mansions that could be built according to status. 

Therefore, despite being a marquis family, the Charlot family mansion, counted as one of the wealthy families in the empire, was larger than the Rosaline family mansion, which was a ducal family.

Opening the front door, light entered the white building. Then the splendid interior of the building came into view.

Stepping inside, maids came out and greeted Luden and me. Then I followed Luden. He stopped in front of a huge door. A magic circle was drawn on that door. I searched my memory to recall what this magic circle was.

‘It’s a healing magic circle.’

Did that mean Anan’s condition was bad enough to require such a huge magic circle? Well, how sick she was had appeared in the original work too.

“Let’s go in.”

Luden said that and knocked on the door.

“It’s Luden.”

Then a bell sound came from inside. Anan seemed to be awake.

Luden quickly opened the door and brought me inside. The room was dark. I could see blackout curtains blocking the sunlight from entering.

The scent of a sick person seemed to vibrate. I swallowed and walked further inside.

“Welcome.”

A woman lay on the bed. She was Anan Charlot. Officially, she had collapsed from the shock of her husband’s death. Since she hadn’t been healthy to begin with, that had weakened her body and her vitality itself had disappeared.

But the reason she became like this was different. Luden hadn’t publicly revealed it, so I had to pretend not to know even though I knew.

She sat up. Even with illness evident on her face, she was extremely beautiful.

“Hello.”

I greeted her.

“You’re our Luden’s fiancée.”

Luden nodded and spoke.

“Annelia said she wanted to meet you, so I brought her.”

“You did well.”

Anan slowly examined me. I gave her a bright smile. Seemingly reassured by my smile, Anan laughed. But that laugh had no strength.

“There’s nothing good about staying here long. Now that you’ve seen my face, go out and show her around the mansion.”

“Understood.”

“It was nice meeting you.”

Her hands also had no strength.