A dark night. Inside the Gloriam Hall of Crown Prince Kairus’s palace, brilliantly lit by grand chandeliers as bright as midday, a lavish party was being held to celebrate Princess Elena’s birthday.

Meanwhile, at the lakeside in the garden of the detached palace, situated quite a distance away from the festivities, there were few people around, and only an eerie silence hung in the air.

“Hehehe…”

A woman who had settled herself into an inconspicuous corner quietly pulled something out of her pocket. She then crouched down, fingers moving busily, and left a comment on a post.

‘Title: Ha, has anyone seen this latest fancam of a new fan-getter?’

‘An ordinary suit already looks killer, but showing up in a three-piece suit (and a VELVET one at that) is basically telling me to drop dead?’

Yeah, I’ll die. This is my grave now. ●▅▇█▇▆▅▄▇’

└ Anon1: I’ll lie down in the spot next to you. ●▅▇█▇▆▅▄▇’

└ Anon2: Same same same

└ Anon3: Huh? It’s not that serious. Maybe because I’ve watched it like 127,840,323 times lol

└ Anon2: Don’t your eyes hurt? lol At that point you’re literally getting dry eye syndrome.

└ Anon3: It’s fine it’s fine, Haeyun’s face is eye drops lol

└ Anon4: You’re insane lmao

└ Anon3: Videos like this should honestly be broadcast on the news.

“Haeyun, your face is a landscape, a masterpiece. Haah. How can someone be this handsome?”

The face hidden in the darkness was revealed by the light seeping from the smartphone screen in her hand.

Her shoulders shook as she let out a somewhat sly laugh, yet her hazel eyes, reflecting the light, were brimming with vibrant life.

Shortly after, a new notification appeared on the screen.

『 Monthly internet data fee of 5,000,000 krona has been deducted.』

“What?! They’re sucking me dry to the bone marrow, this money-grubbing system.”

Well, what can she do? She has to endure it if she wants to see her adorable Haeyun. With a half-resigned expression, she carefully tucked the smartphone back into her apron pocket.

Ever since the day she came to possess a smartphone, an object from another dimension given to her by a suspicious man, Isabella’s once dull life had changed completely.

The light that had suddenly appeared and brightly illuminated Isabella’s daily life, which had been wandering in a pitch-dark alley without a single streetlamp, was none other than… Haeyun, a member of South Korea’s top male idol group.

‘One, two. Three! We are! The Venus! Hello. I am Haeyun, the leader of Venus.’

And could it be that her prayers to cross over to South Korea and see her favorite idol Haeyun in person had been answered?

A dimensional travel system appeared out of nowhere, telling her that if she completed given missions and paid a small dimensional travel fee, it would send her to South Korea where her favorite was.

Quietly earn as much money as possible, finish the assigned missions, and leave for South Korea to see Haeyun.

It was a modest yet secretly ambitious goal she had been steadily working toward without anyone knowing, and it was for this goal that she had started this job.

A brief but wonderful break spent looking at her favorite. But only for a moment. Isabella, smiling brightly, hurried her steps to finish the mission safely.

However, she would soon come to regret her choice.

Arriving at the detached palace to fetch the extra chairs, Isabella witnessed a horrific scene unfolding inside and was left utterly speechless.

Of all places, what were the odds of coming to the detached palace to get chairs and running into the Crown Prince in the middle of killing assassins who had launched a surprise attack?

‘Should I run now? Or should I just stay still?’

Either choice was a losing option, but if she stayed like this, a very troublesome situation might arise where she would become entangled with the Crown Prince.

“What is your name?”

“Sel, Sellie Brown, Your Highness.”

Since she had gotten the job at the imperial palace under a false identity anyway, just as Isabella was about to brush him off with a rough lie and make her escape, the Crown Prince hurled his sword at the assassin lurking behind the defenseless Isabella, severing his windpipe in a single strike. Then a fresh smile suddenly bloomed in his amber eyes.

“I don’t particularly like it when people lie.”

Unlike the composed Kairus, the moment she heard his words, Isabella felt her entire body freeze.

“Why does it seem like you’re lying?”

Of all people, she had gotten caught red-handed by none other than Crown Prince Kairus of this empire.

‘I’ll be able to go to South Korea to see Haeyun safely… right?’

—

Isabella Ledia.

She had been quite a well-known figure since childhood. It was because she was the fiancee of Icanuel, the next Duke of Laselles.

Isabella, who had no rough edges but no outstanding talents either, had one label that followed her around.

A wretched Cinderella who received all manner of mistreatment and cold shoulders from the imperial citizens, even the kind her future in-laws would not dish out.

She was disliked by people on the grounds of the gap between their families and her being unqualified to be the mistress of a ducal house. If one were to ask why such an extraordinary engagement came to be, there is a joke that friends sometimes share among themselves.

A hollow promise to betroth their children if they each happened to have a daughter and a son around the same time. It might as well have been kept as a fond memory, but the heads of both families were sincere about that promise.

The grandfathers’ expectation that the two young children, two years apart in age, would surely be well-suited for each other was half right and half wrong. Because when it came to the hollow engagement that began with a promise, Isabella was very much, deeply sincere.

In other words, Isabella had been carrying a one-sided love for Icanuel Laselles, the most accomplished man in the empire, all on her own for ten years. She had stubbornly endured on the strength of that unrequited love alone.

However, the criticism and prejudiced gazes she had received over the course of a full ten years had completely transformed Isabella, who had once possessed a bright and warm nature.

It was because people’s judgments followed her no matter what she said or did. As time passed, Isabella grew increasingly cautious and timid.

A handful of affection and attention. What was that even worth.

The Isabella who had been foolishly naive was only able to realize that cruel truth after her heart had been torn to shreds and she had reached the point of feeling a deep disillusionment with life.

No matter how hard she tried, the taciturn man would never show any interest in her. No matter how desperately she struggled, this relationship was like parallel lines that could never meet.

It was quite a long time ago that she began to think about breaking off the engagement. To be precise, three years ago. That is to say, back when Isabella was still a first-year student at the Academy.

One afternoon when a warm spring breeze tickled the tip of her nose, Isabella ran into Icanuel in front of the library for the first time in a while and called out to him cheerfully.

“Icanuel, brother!”

The only thing that came back to her, along with her sunshine-warm smile and greeting, was a cold reply.

“We agreed not to address each other informally within the Academy, did we not, Ledia underclassman.”

He had always been consistently blunt, but his voice was unusually sharp that day, and Isabella’s body flinched involuntarily.

“But still.”

“I hope you did not enroll here simply to buy yourself time to go on dates with me.”

That was not why she had gone through the entrance examination and enrolled in the Academy.

Isabella wanted to immediately clear up the misunderstanding with Icanuel, who had completely misread her intentions. But her lips were pressed tightly together and would not move.

“You yourself should know better than anyone what kind of impact your words and actions have on my reputation.”

“Icanuel, no. Senior Laselles.”

“Did you follow me all the way to the Academy to bother me?”

If words could have thorns embedded in them, this must be what it would feel like. The face that had been full of excitement instantly flushed a deep crimson. Without giving the frozen Isabella any time to explain, he left the spot first.

‘I should have been more careful.’

The gazes of those around her poured onto Isabella, who was left alone. It was unbearably embarrassing. It was all because she could not keep her own feelings in check, and she had ended up bothering Icanuel.

It was the moment when the rumor that had been circulating in social circles, that their relationship was being sustained only by one person’s unrequited love, became an established fact.

Fulfill the role of the perfect fiancee and never bother him.

Everything felt like it was her own fault for being so lacking. From that day on, Isabella, bound head to toe in yet another shackle, kept every nerve on edge throughout her entire time at the Academy.

“Is that her? The duke family’s Cinderella?”

“She probably got into the Academy because the Laselles family pulled strings for her.”

“Goodness, if she had any conscience, she wouldn’t do that.”

There were still plenty of things being said about her. But even so, Isabella was fine with it. Just being able to see the face of the fiance she loved from afar was enough.

The reason Icanuel treated her coldly was surely because the baseless rumors from people had distorted his understanding of her intentions. She had to believe that, or else her wounded heart would ache even more.

“Senior Laselles. If it is all right with you, would you like to have lunch together today?”

“I must attend the student council meeting now, so I decline.”

“Ah… yes. I am sorry.”

“Then please excuse me first.”

As more and more people directly witnessed Icanuel’s stiff and indifferent attitude toward his fiancee, Isabella became easy prey to be picked apart within the Academy.

All she could do was study relentlessly, over and over, to try to keep up even a little with Icanuel, who topped the year every single year, by maintaining a high ranking within the top ten of her year.

If she could not prove her own abilities, the rumors piling up about her would reach Icanuel’s ears, and her shortcomings were no different from tarnishing his reputation.

At least, as she began to show exceptional talent in linguistics and mana studies, the rumors related to fraudulent admission quickly died down. But despite her efforts, Isabella grew increasingly withdrawn under Icanuel’s worsening cold treatment.

Before she knew it, winter had arrived, bringing with it a biting wind cold enough to sting her cheeks.

Thanks to her fierce dedication to her studies all this time, Isabella had maintained such a high academic level that she had even been invited to the year-end academic conference hosted by the Academy’s headmaster.

‘At this point, surely Icanuel will recognize my sincerity?’

Just like her Academy enrollment, this conference invitation was also an achievement she had accomplished entirely through her own efforts. Icanuel, who topped the year every term, would also be attending the conference. So today, of all days, she intended to have a proper conversation with him.