Elisia headed back to the banquet hall.

‘This is the right thing to do, isn’t it?’

From the moment she possessed this body, she had resolved to cleanly step aside from between the male and female protagonists. But why did she feel so uneasy about it?

Elisia scanned the banquet hall looking for Derick. She thought she would find him quickly since he was a man who stood out anywhere, but he was nowhere to be seen.

‘He said he was going to see the Second Prince, but I guess he’s not back yet.’

Just then, she heard the servant’s booming voice.

“Her Highness the Imperial Princess has arrived!”

In that moment, the announcement that the party’s guest of honor had appeared rang out.

“I should at least pay my respects before leaving.”

Elisia made her way toward where the princess was.

There was someone quietly watching her from behind, but she never noticed.

***

“Welcome, my friend.”

The man who welcomed Derick with open arms was Hugo Felipe, the Second Prince of the Carden Empire.

Having grown up together since childhood, the two had such a close relationship that they trusted only each other in a place where there was no one else to rely on.

“Whatever.”

Though he should have been used to Hugo’s friendly welcome by now, Derick still felt embarrassed. He pushed away Hugo’s arm with one of his own and sat down across from him.

After taking a sip of the prepared tea, Derick leaned back comfortably in his chair.

“I thought you wouldn’t come today.”

“I knew you’d come looking for me at the mansion if I didn’t.”

“Haha! That’s right, that was the plan.”

Hugo paused and examined Derick’s face carefully.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, and you look better than before.”

“I don’t know. Nothing’s changed.”

“Really? But you look much more at ease than before.”

“I told you, it’s nothing.”

Derick picked up his teacup but hesitated.

‘Could it be?’

Elisia’s face briefly flashed through his mind, but he quickly dismissed it, thinking it couldn’t be possible.

“How is your terrible wife these days?”

“That woman?”

However, as Hugo brought up the topic again, Derick had to recall Elisia once more.

The woman who had shown him such terrible obsession was gone now. Recently, Elisia showed only behaviors he had never seen before.

Derick’s feelings toward her were divided into two.

A shameless woman who claimed to have lost her memories and completely forgotten her past wrongdoings. A woman he could never forgive.

On the other hand, it was a fresh shock and unfamiliar. Though she looked the same on the outside, her inner self was completely different, making it impossible to predict her words and actions.

‘I’m confused. The current her is not someone I can simply hate…’

Perhaps because of this, Derick’s red eyes trembled, unable to hide his confusion. Deliberately ignoring this fact, Derick told Hugo everything that had happened so far.

After hearing the story, Hugo was so surprised that his face hardened.

“Is, is that true?”

“Yes.”

“That terrible wife of yours asked for a divorce…”

Hugo had witnessed her vicious behavior several times when visiting the Grand Duke’s residence. He had felt sorry for his friend who suffered from her touch.

For such a woman to demand divorce first, of her own accord.

“That’s truly remarkable. Something must have happened in that lake?”

“I don’t know. Just…”

Now that he had found a new use for her.

Derick couldn’t let her go yet. She was literally a very convenient human sedative. He no longer needed rare fruits or poisons to which he had built up tolerance.

Looking down at his palm, Derick clenched his fist.

“What matters is that I can still use her.”

A woman who once made his skin crawl at the mere touch of a finger. He believed the change in his impression was simply because she had become useful.

There was no other way to explain it.

“Anyway.”

At Hugo’s voice, Derick organized his thoughts and lifted his eyelids.

“Since things seem fine now, you won’t have to stress about it. That’s good.”

“…”

“I’ll visit the mansion soon.”

“Why?”

“I want to see whether your terrible wife is acting or what.”

“You don’t need to visit specifically for that.”

“Huh?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Derick smirked.

“She came with me today.”

“Ah, right. That woman couldn’t resist parties.”

Suddenly, Hugo blinked as if remembering something.

“By the way, if that woman truly has lost her memories…”

Rubbing his chin, Hugo showed a troubled expression.

“You did tell her about what happened at last year’s birthday celebration, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean? The commotion your terrible wife and my sister caused.”

Hugo urged Derick as if he couldn’t believe he had forgotten. Furrowing his brow, Derick soon seemed to realize something and stopped speaking. The two men’s gazes met in midair.

“Oh no.”

Hugo was the first to stand up.

“This is bad.”

Last year at the Imperial Princess’s birthday celebration, there was an incident that shook the social world.

The Emperor had spoiled Princess Aila Felipe so much out of affection.

As a result, Aila became so arrogant that she could stand above the Emperor’s head, and no one could defy her.

“You don’t want to disappear from society, do you?”

That one habitual phrase of the princess made even prestigious noble ladies tense.

The only person who could match shoulders with such a princess was Elisia.

If anyone touched her, who was evidence of the peace treaty, there was a high chance war would break out again.

Therefore, no one in this empire dared to touch her.

“The princess should behave properly. You know what happens if you mess with me.”

Elisia had fully exploited the fact that people couldn’t easily touch her.

Jealous of Elisia’s beauty and having received a declaration of war, Aila deliberately stepped on Elisia’s skirt hem to pick a fight.

Other noble ladies would have turned pale and trembled at just that.

But not Elisia.

“Just a child with nothing but the title of princess, chirping away noisily.”

“You…! How dare you, when all you do is beg for love from the Grand Duke!”

Elisia’s mask of composure cracked as she snorted. Aila had touched Elisia’s only weakness, one that should never have been touched.

“Kyaaak!”

She poured the wine she was holding onto Aila as if throwing it at her. A sharp scream filled the banquet hall.

“I know that well. So shut up.”

In an instant, the party venue turned into thin ice. No one dared to move, and no one could
breathe freely.

At that moment, Elisia quietly passed by Derick, who was silently watching her. She even closed her eyes slightly, deliberately trying not to look at him.

“Let’s hurry.”

For some reason, that memory kept circling in Derick’s head.

The two men quickened their steps toward the banquet hall.

His heart sank at the thought that something might happen to her. Derick’s expressionless face changed.

For the first time, anxiety settled on his face.

***

Imperial Princess Aila Felipe.

Golden hair that held the sun and sparkling aqua eyes. Though small in stature, she had a cute face that was petite and full of charm.

‘There are plenty of people to welcome her even without me.’

The princess was already surrounded by many people receiving blessings.

Though Elisia felt she should at least greet her out of courtesy, she stopped midway.

‘It seems sufficient without me specifically going over.’

Just as Elisia was about to turn around, thinking that approaching to greet might draw attention:

“…?”

At that moment, her eyes met directly with the princess who was far away.

Something felt strange. At the same time, Elisia instinctively felt she should avoid this place.

‘That’s the look of trouble.’

The faces of countless troublemakers she had encountered flashed before her eyes.
Elisia turned around naturally, as if she hadn’t seen anything. Just as she took a step to leave the banquet hall quickly:

“It’s been a while, Grand Duchess.”

She could no longer ignore the voice coming from afar.

‘I’m certain. Elisia and she must have a bad relationship.’

The princess deliberately called out to her from a distance. Seeing the glint in her eyes, she was clearly plotting something.

Sighing softly as if she had no choice, Elisia smiled brightly as if nothing had happened. Then she calmly turned around and walked slowly toward the princess.

‘Anyway, I’m Elisia who knows nothing.’

‘I should just greet her and leave, absolutely no other conversation.’

“Were you going to leave without greeting me? How disappointing.”

Looking at her reproachfully, Elisia inwardly remained cautious as she slightly bowed her head.

“I couldn’t recognize you from so far away. I apologize, Your Highness.”