The Grand Duke sat beside the bed with piercing eyes, as if he’d stayed up all night watching me.

I nearly dropped my glass when I suddenly realized I had collapsed in the bathroom yesterday.

And that I’d been wearing only a thin robe.

I set down the cup and hastily checked my body under the blanket.

“I have no interest in your body.”

The Grand Duke remarked indifferently as I tried to see what I was wearing.

“Then who ch-changed my clothes…!”

“You think I would have done it?”

“No?”

Judging by his expression, he looked like someone who would shudder at the mere thought of touching my body.

Ah, perhaps he really meant it.

“I didn’t think so either, Your Highness.”

Hmph. After confirming I was properly dressed in a long chemise, I casually picked up the water glass again.

“But… did you watch over me all night?”

“Watch over you? Hardly. I was keeping guard because you’d obviously try to escape.”

He still seemed to believe I was acting.

“…So you think I deliberately pretended to collapse yesterday?”

“You’re certainly capable of it.”

“But it was real!”

“Are you expecting me to believe your words? How dare you.”

Of course that would be difficult…

I shook my head, drank some more water, and fidgeted with the cup.

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

“From now on, keep trying to recall your memories. Until you remember something.”

“Wait a moment!”

When the Grand Duke tried to leave, I quickly got up from the bed to follow him.

His legs were so long and his stride so wide that I struggled to keep up with my unsteady body.

Perhaps sensing my attempt to chase after him, the Grand Duke stopped at the door and briefly turned to look at me.

“Remember this. Until your memory returns, you cannot leave this place.”

“But I don’t remember anything at all…!”

BANG!

The sound of the door closing jolted me to my senses, and I rushed to the door.

With a sinking feeling, I tried the doorknobs, but neither one would turn.

“Ha…!”

The Grand Duke had truly imprisoned me.

I could clearly tell that the people here despised me.

First, they seemed determined to prevent me from resting properly, with servants entering my room every hour to ask if I remembered anything.

On top of that, they served me terrible food.

They said they would give me soup for breakfast since I hadn’t eaten anything for days, but what came was little more than hot water.

Lunch and dinner were even worse.

Just a few pieces of hard bread and water.

If they thought I would confess to having regained my memories because of this, they were mistaken.

In my previous life, I had rarely eaten proper meals anyway, always working and saving money, so this wasn’t particularly difficult.

“Here, I’ll give you bread! Yes? Bread!”

This happened around the third day.

Since the status window had told me I had no resources to trade, I wondered if bread might work and held it out to the empty air, but no status window appeared.

“A-are you alright?”

Instead, I only received a startled look from a servant who had opened the door to ask if I remembered anything, only to find me talking to bread held up in the air.

“Of course! I’m perfectly fine!”

The servants wore deeply suspicious expressions, seemingly wondering if I’d lost my mind, but I tried to reassure them by waving the bread and saying I was fine.

They clearly didn’t believe me, though.

Looking back, they actually seemed frightened.

“Haah.”

That day, as always, I was coming out of the bathroom attached to my room—which resembled a private hospital room—when I found maids waiting inside.

“…What’s going on?”

I asked, puzzled by the presence of maids who normally only entered to bring food and fresh chemises.

“His Highness said he will have dinner with you, my lady.”

“What? …With me?”

“Yes, my lady. We’ll help you dress.”

When the maids approached with a dress, I instinctively backed away.

I was afraid of how roughly they might handle me again.

“This way, please.”

But they weren’t heading toward me.

They set up a mirror on the table and guided me to sit down.

“Please let us know if anything is uncomfortable.”

I stared at them in confusion at these unexpected words as they carefully helped me into the chair.

Their touch had become much gentler, and they were even smiling kindly.

Why? Why is everyone suddenly acting like this?

Unlike before, they helped me into the dress with calm hands and even styled my hair.

“Do you like it?”

A maid asked, showing me my reflection in the mirror.

Perhaps it was because I’d bathed, or because I’d eaten something over the past few days.

The simple grooming the maids had done transformed my appearance completely from what I’d seen in the mirror before.

With transparent blue-green eyes and fine pink hair that changed hues in different lighting, set against fluffy white skin, I thought I looked more adorable than expected.

Lea Azanie had a small face and long neck, and her collarbones, visible above the neckline of the dress, were so feminine that she briefly resembled a ballerina.

“What…?”

Looking at her like this… this woman…

“She’s actually so pretty! Wow.”

My admiring comments while turning my face this way and that must have seemed strange, because the maids standing back flinched and began exchanging glances while holding their breath.

“They said she went crazy, and it seems true.”

“No, I heard she sees ghosts.”

“Shh, she might hear us.”

“No way. How could she hear us when we’re speaking so quietly?”

“Do you think it’s true that she offered bread to a ghost?”

“They said they saw it with their own eyes.”

So that’s why… I’d wondered why they were being so kind.

They thought I was insane.

They were treating me carefully and keeping their distance because they didn’t know what I might do.

I felt I should correct them, but being treated gently due to suspicions of insanity was better than being treated roughly, so instead, I asked them to guide me.

Wait a minute. Could this be why the Grand Duke summoned me?

Perhaps he wanted to confirm whether I was truly insane after keeping me locked up?

Either way, I couldn’t miss this opportunity to meet him.

“Everyone says you’ve gone mad.”

The Grand Duke smiled leisurely, raising one corner of his mouth.

See? He must have received reports about my apparent insanity.

But the man didn’t seem to believe those reports at all.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t smile so calmly and coldly.

“I’m not insane.”

“You don’t look it. Sit.”

Seated at the head of the table, he replied nonchalantly and gestured lightly for me to sit at the opposite end.

The servants moved like extensions of his body at his single word, bringing me to the chair and pulling it out for me to sit.

Though the dining hall was magnificent, I couldn’t afford the luxury of admiring it.

After being confined for days in that hospital-like room where I’d woken up after being hit on the head, I doubted he’d summoned me just to check if I was sane.

Was he trying to persuade me?

Or testing something?

Suddenly, I noticed the water, champagne, and amuse-bouche placed before me.

Could this be… poisoned?

It seemed strange that this man, who had only given me soup, a few pieces of dry bread, and water, was suddenly serving such fine food. Even if it was dinner with him.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

I couldn’t just eat anything and die.

My previous life had ended sadly, and I didn’t want this one to end the same way.

I wasn’t sure if I could trust the status window, but what I saw there clearly stated that if I survived and found the secret of my birth, I would have a happy ending.

“Um… I’m not hungry.”

I answered as calmly as possible while pretending to wipe my mouth with the napkin.

“Your eyes are fixed on the food, yet you’re not hungry…?”

He glanced at me and asked with a smirk.

“W-well… I’m just looking because it’s pretty.”

“You look like you’re about to drool.”

“You’re seeing things!”

“Why? Afraid it might be poisoned?”

Wow, this man is like a mind reader!

Afraid he might catch my hesitation, I shook my head vigorously as if such a thought had never crossed my mind.

“I never imagined anything so frightening!”

“Eat.”

“No… still…”

“I won’t kill you with food.”

What? I looked at him with startled eyes, doubting my ears, but the Grand Duke picked up a golden knife silently without even glancing at me.

“Not today.”