“Will Your Grace continue to remain here?”

After all, this was Chloe’s personal matter. Elisia glanced at Derick.

Derick shrugged and leaned back comfortably on the sofa.

“Continue. I need to see how you treat the Count’s daughter.”

‘I really won’t do anything.’

Now she felt indignant. It seemed that no matter what she did, Derick would only see her as a wicked wife.

‘What do I need to do for you to trust me?’

Now she felt determined. Until the day this arrogant, haughty man acknowledged that she wasn’t a villainess.

‘Fine. Just watch.’

She turned her head and now stared at Chloe. Somehow, the woman seemed afraid of her. When their eyes met, she flinched like a small animal.

“Your Grace.”

Chloe, trembling weakly with her delicate appearance, opened her mouth as if she had been waiting.

“My request…”

Deliberately, Chloe didn’t finish her sentence. Yet she didn’t forget to glance at Derick.

“Will you grant it?”

Derick, with his arms crossed, watched the situation like an observer.

With both pairs of eyes on her, Elisia felt unnecessarily burdened.

‘Actually… getting Derick’s permission is most important.’

She couldn’t decide Chloe’s accommodation on her own. However, Chloe seemed unwilling to back down until she heard Elisia’s answer.

After briefly touching her forehead, Elisia shifted her gaze to Derick.

His eyebrows shot up. His eyes asked what she was looking at.

“Umm…”

Now that she was about to ask Derick for permission, she wasn’t sure what to say.

After pondering for a moment, Elisia smiled slightly.

‘Why am I overthinking this?’

She had no talent for speaking indirectly anyway. Besides, whatever she said would sound the same to Derick.

He would probably scold her again for acting on her own without consulting him.

Since the outcome was predictable, Elisia spoke boldly.

“Your Grace. May Lady Adelheit stay at the mansion for a while?”

“What’s the reason?”

“Well…”

She wasn’t sure if she should freely discuss personal matters. Elisia shifted her gaze to Chloe.

After hesitating briefly, Chloe briefly explained what she had told Elisia.

Hearing her circumstances, Derick pressed his brow.

“That’s unfortunate. But I don’t want to get entangled with Count Adelheit.”

Of course. Because it was Elisia’s family.

‘Is this separate from his feelings for Chloe?’

Just as she was about to give up, thinking it couldn’t be helped, Derick continued.

“Still, I have a debt to repay to the Count.”

Derick’s gaze fell on Elisia. A flash of hatred momentarily gleamed in his eyes.

Elisia racked her brain.

‘A debt? Did something happen between him and the Count?’

Derick, tapping his fingers on the armrest, wore a sneer.

“Fine.”

“…”

“I’ll allow the Lady to stay at the mansion as long as she needs.”

“What?”

She looked at Derick as if asking if he was serious, but he merely shrugged.

“Really?”

Seeing Chloe’s joy, Elisia’s mind became complicated.

‘Should I be happy about this, or should I dislike it?’

The couple meant to be together was right before her eyes. After all, her role was to disappear into the background; she was nothing but an obstacle.

But why?

‘I’m not sure if this is right.’

She had planned to bring Chloe in, but now that Chloe was actually staying, she felt suffocated.

‘Honestly, I don’t like it.’

Why? For what reason?

“Is that alright with you, Your Grace?”

She momentarily broke free from her thoughts.

Having received Derick’s permission, now Elisia’s confirmation was needed. She had been vague in her responses so far.

Elisia reluctantly nodded. Of course, she completely concealed her ambiguous expression.

“Yes, it is.”

Just as Elisia was wondering if she should call the head butler.

“But there’s one condition.”

Derick detached himself from the sofa.

Both women’s gazes immediately turned to him.

“Don’t approach the Lady. Whether privately or publicly, it doesn’t matter.”

“I…”

“That’s an order.”

She was about to retort angrily but stopped. The moment she met those emotionless eyes, beautiful like rubies, she understood the reason.

‘Because the original Elisia unilaterally beat and tormented Chloe.’

No matter how indifferent he was to his surroundings, he couldn’t ignore the disaster happening in his own mansion.

Summoning her without reason, picking fights, using insulting language, humiliating torment, even violence. These were all things Chloe had suffered at Elisia’s hands.

But recently, Elisia had stopped tormenting those around her and committing evil acts.

She didn’t cling to Derick, didn’t harm Chloe, and was careful to appear as a different person.

Yet all those efforts seemed to have been in vain in this moment.

‘To Derick, I’m just the villainess Elisia after all.’

Her heart ached. Her body went limp at the inescapable truth.

‘Perhaps I…’

She seemed to have been hurt by Derick’s words.

Dismissing his words as not meant for her had already become a thing of the past.

“Then… I’ll just call the head butler to guide her to her room and won’t bother her anymore.”

Instead of answering, Derick glanced at Elisia.

‘Do you really mean that?’

Though his eyes were filled with doubt, Elisia merely responded with a weak smile. Derick clicked his tongue lightly and walked past Elisia.

‘I won’t torment Chloe anymore.’

Unable to say that, she felt only frustration building up. Along with some indignation.

Left alone in the reception room, Elisia turned to Chloe and smiled awkwardly.

Silence descended on the reception room with just the two of them. Elisia fidgeted with the cold teacup.

“Your Grace.”

She flinched slightly at Chloe’s voice breaking the silence, but didn’t raise her head.

“So it’s true that you’ve lost your memories.”

“…”

“When you asked for my name at the banquet, I thought you were pretending.”

Her voice was calm yet somehow confident. It was a different tone from when she was in front of Derick earlier.

Following an indescribable intuition, Elisia raised her face. She wanted to see Chloe’s expression.

‘What?’

Chloe was smiling.

Just slightly, with the corners of her lips raised.

It felt strange somehow. The weak, somewhat passive, and insecure Chloe was nowhere to be found.

“Thank you for granting my request.”

But Chloe quickly bowed her head. As her blonde hair covered her face, her expression was no longer visible.

‘Did I see wrong?’

Tilting her head in confusion, Elisia shook her head, thinking it must have been her imagination.

“Ah, yes.”

Though uneasy, she had nothing to resolve her suspicions, so Elisia gave a perfunctory answer.

“So you really don’t remember anything, Your Grace.”

“…”

“Everything you did to me and His Grace.”

“That’s…”

“How convenient to erase everything by claiming memory loss…”

“…”

“But that’s fine.”

Chloe, interrupting Elisia, smiled brightly. That smile was very pretty but somehow meaningful.

“Because you granted my request.”

“I don’t know what I did before, but…”

Something felt off. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly what, but her instinct was telling her.

‘Why does she seem to be wearing a mask?’

With an ominous feeling, Elisia also put on a mask and smiled sweetly.

“I’ll make sure you’re comfortable during your stay at the mansion.”

“Thank you.”

After their conversation ended, an awkward silence descended once again.

‘When is the head butler coming?’

She glanced at the reception room door, but the firmly closed door showed no sign of opening.

‘When I read the novel, I thought she was just a pitiful female protagonist.’

But the Chloe she faced now seemed like someone hiding her true intentions. She seemed far from the sorrowful, pitiful female protagonist who needed protection.

For some reason, she felt she needed to stay alert.

‘This doesn’t feel right.’

Just as her thoughts were deepening, a welcome knock was heard.

“My lady. I heard you were looking for me.”

“Ah, yes. From today, Count Adelheit’s daughter will be staying at the mansion. Please guide her to her room.”

“Understood. There are two well-prepared rooms available, so I’ll help guide her.”

Following the head butler’s guidance, Chloe rose from her seat and followed behind him.

Elisia sat in her place and watched Chloe’s retreating back.

“Is this the right thing to do?”

After all, she would soon divorce and leave the mansion, and Chloe and Derick would share their feelings and reach a happy ending, so there wasn’t much to worry about.

But why did she feel like she had made the wrong choice?

‘So the reason I started caring about Derick’s words and actions is…’