If she hadn’t made a contract with Felix……? Perhaps things would have flowed according to the original work’s content. Realizing that fact, her fingertips began trembling with tension. She felt Kervic’s pitch-black eyes turning toward her fingertips.

The intimidation was considerable. He arrogantly crossed his arms and still didn’t move while leaning against the wall. His sharp gaze as if testing the person before him remained the same.

“Haven’t you made a decision yet…… Well, meeting with me in this situation where you’re receiving Felix’s courtship might be awkward?”

“Huh.”

At Kervic’s words, she drew in a difficult breath. Thanks to the gossip magazine that Felix intentionally spread rumors through, the scandal between her and Felix was known throughout high society. But if Kervic had already approached her in this situation……

‘He might think I strategically attached myself to Felix to reject Kervic’s proposal.’

She didn’t know how detailed a conversation Kervic had with Marina. Seeing that she was still breathing fine, it seemed Kervic hadn’t told Marina all of his schemes.

If she made a mistake, she might fall for his trick and Felix would be confined like in the original work, and she might end up playing the role of defiling him again!

“……How could a mere nameless baron’s daughter like me dare to look up at the sun? I can only suppress this heart.”

“Ha……! Do you really love Felix?”

At Kervic’s words, she showed a sorrowful expression. Please, let this acting work on Kervic too……!

“Heh…… Interesting.”

Kervic muttered with an expressionless face. Under that intimidation, she couldn’t even breathe properly. He who had been staring at her intently in the suffocating tension spoke with a cold expression.

“We’ll see each other again soon, Marina Enchester.”

With those words, Kervic disappeared into the darkness. Until the sound of his footsteps echoing in her ears completely disappeared, she stood there trembling.

‘What is this, how exactly are things going!’

She backed away and barely escaped the dim corridor. In that brief moment, her whole body was soaked with sweat.

Everything was suspicious. First of all, that Marina and Kervic were acquainted from before the original work began. She hadn’t expected it at all.

‘To think there were settings in the original work I didn’t know about……’

After parting with Kervic, she frantically left the palace. A coachman caught her in the front yard of the separate palace and she could barely return to the Enchester family.

“Lecia!”

As soon as she arrived home, she planned to grab Lecia and interrogate her about recent events one by one. She was anxious there might be more stories about Marina she didn’t know.

Since Lecia and she had done most of the mansion work together, it seemed like she would know all of Marina’s every move. However, there were limits to this.

‘I can’t tell her to talk about Marina’s activities that weren’t in the original work!’

If Marina had written a diary it would have been helpful, but with Marina’s personality, she wouldn’t have left such important matters in writing.

“Miss. Is something wrong?”

“Huh? Oh, no.”

In the end, she had to step back while receiving Lecia’s suspicious gaze.

Coming down to the mansion’s hall with a sour feeling, she had no choice but to gape. The mansion’s hall was full of all kinds of treasures. The baron couple greeted her with excited eyes in front of the treasures.

“Marina! His Highness Felix says these are gifts from him!”

“Oh my, heavens! I’ve never touched such beautiful jewels in my entire life!”

According to the contract, Felix had sent documents related to mining investment along with the jewels. Baron Enchester, already blinded by the prospect of investing in the mining business, immediately invested an enormous amount of money in the mine……

[ The Imperial Family Puts Effort into New Mining Industry. Are There Diamonds There……? ]

A few days later, the mining investment business story that Felix had conveyed was published prominently in the newspaper. The baron and baroness burst into tears of joy as if they had won the lottery. The Enchester family, who had been struck by a windfall overnight, couldn’t stop laughing.

‘Right……! Living like a human being with a clean contractual relationship. I really did well to make this contract. Of course!’

It seemed like one contract had solved all problems.

⁕⁕⁕

Having received his contact and visiting the imperial palace for the second time, she hid the fact that the corners of her mouth kept trying to rise toward the sky and extended her hand for a clean business relationship.

“Here, your hand.”

She boldly demanded only his ‘hand’. Don’t let him covet anything more!

“Quickly. Your hand!”

“Hmm……”

As she held out her hand telling him to hurry up and give it, Felix quietly glared at her. Oops, did she treat him too much like a puppy?

Perhaps conscious of other people’s attention, he eventually obediently placed his hand on top of her palm. On top of her small, thin hand, a large, firm hand was placed.

And Felix smiled with satisfaction and slowly intertwined his fingers with hers.

“Your Highness…… Wh, what are you doing right now?”

“Why, you said to give you my hand.”

‘Don’t hold it in such a sticky-feeling way!!’

Her scream was blocked by other people’s gazes. The attendants around them were whispering among themselves and laughing.

Felix went one step further here and pressed her palm firmly with the thumb of their intertwined hands. In an instant, her heart also sank with a thud.

“You are exceptionally beautiful today as well. Do you still have no intention of accepting my heart?”

He gently stroked her hair. Thanks to that, the agitation of the attendants serving in their vicinity could be felt openly.

The problem was that she couldn’t contain her fluttering heart either.

‘Was pretending to be lovers this difficult? Ugh, my heart hurts.’

The surroundings brightened brilliantly at Felix’s smile. She seemed to understand why there were background effects of flowers fluttering beside the male protagonist in pure romance comics.

She was just holding hands, but her body trembled.

To think that the person who had been threatening her with a contract just recently could make the world look this beautiful just by smiling.

‘Ah, get a grip. I can’t lose my mind like this. I have to act!’

On the surface, she was playing the role of agonizing over whether to accept or reject the Second Prince’s love. It wasn’t easy to seriously respond to these cringeworthy lines…… She, who had to get used to business, smiled awkwardly and answered pitifully.

“L, love for someone like me, a daughter of a humble baron family? Haha.”

“Such things don’t matter to me.”

“Your Highness……”

Felix’s expression became quite serious. She tried hard to avoid his gaze due to the burden and tried to make the expression of a melancholy lady weighing between the barrier of status and love.

‘Ah, charging is finished.’

Having defined this time as simple ‘charging’ and calmed her mind, she stood up with a cold face.

“I haven’t finished speaking yet.”

“Yes……? Eek!”

In an instant, he grabbed her arm and pulled her. Having fallen into his embrace, she tried to push against his chest in surprise, but he was faster.

Felix trapped her in his embrace with his firm arms and buried his nose in her hair. Over his shoulder, she could clearly see the attendants blushing. She hunched her shoulders tightly with tension at the sound of him breathing in low.

‘What are you doing?!’

‘It’s not enough yet.’

‘Isn’t this sufficient?’

‘Since you started it first, it’s fair that I decide when to end it, isn’t it?’

Unable to make any other rebuttal to his words, he smiled softly and pulled her closer. The attendants didn’t know what to do and eventually turned their heads away.

Suddenly, an attendant urgently knocked on the door. Only then did Felix raise his head at the knocking sound that echoed through the room. She quickly escaped from his embrace taking advantage of the gap. The flustered attendant approached him and whispered something. Felix’s eyebrows shot up instantly.

“……Your Highness?”

“A dinner appointment came up. Don’t be surprised.”

“A dinner appointment?”

He habitually took her hand. As soon as Felix held her hand, his complexion improved a little, but his expression, more rigid than usual, showed no signs of relaxing.

“Yes, First Prince Kervic proposed a dinner gathering.”

⁕⁕⁕

The villain of the original work, First Prince Kervic Solium, had arranged a dinner gathering. This hadn’t happened in the original work.

‘What on earth is he scheming?’

On the appointed day, she entered the palace while hiding her tense breathing. Felix, who had been waiting for her in the corridor, approached. He too seemed to have something suspicious about him. With a rigid face, he extended his hand to her.

“No matter what happens, don’t be surprised. My brother is……”

“Keeping the Second Prince in check.”

“……You know.”

“Is there anyone in the Solium Empire who doesn’t know that you two are candidates for imperial succession?”

“But we’re pretending to be close brothers. My brother especially toward me……”

Before he could finish his words, an attendant approached the two of them.

“His Highness the First Prince is waiting.”

Kervic was waiting for them.

Following the attendant’s guidance, they began to move. She didn’t forget to whisper to him.

“Don’t forget the contract. You must…… definitely protect me.”

“……Right.”

At her request, Felix nodded while briefly making a suspicious expression.

Entering the splendidly decorated hall where dinner was scheduled, they could find Kervic with his still intimidating atmosphere and the princess consort, Laila, sitting beside him.

Unlike her partner Kervic, Laila had a gentle impression. She was an innocent woman with beautiful light purple hair and transparently white skin.

“Laila, Felix and Lady Marina Enchester have arrived.”

“Ah, welcome. I’m really glad to meet you!”

Hearing Kervic’s words, Laila turned her body toward them. Though she waved her hand welcomingly, the direction her body faced was slightly off from the two of them. However, she politely bowed toward that direction.

Having read the original work, she knew well about her circumstances of becoming unable to see well due to illness in childhood. Seeing her maintain polite etiquette, Kervic was smiling as if satisfied, but……

‘Why on earth did he want to meet?’

For her, who had been uncomfortable with their last sudden meeting, she could only be extremely tense. However, Kervic welcomed them while hiding his schemes with a gentle smile.