“You’ve gotten lazy.”

The light clicking of his tongue was followed by a reproachful remark.

‘As always. He doesn’t know how to speak kindly.’

Elisia deliberately raised only her upper body with a sigh.

“My body feels particularly sluggish today, so I was lying down for a bit.”

“Couldn’t you come up with a more plausible excuse?”

‘I’m sure you would know better.’

Swallowing the words she wanted to say, Elisia got up from her seat.

“What brings you here?”

While asking, Elisia extended her hand, guessing his purpose. Derick, who had approached closer, glanced at her hand but didn’t take it.

‘Ah, is that not it?’

Feeling embarrassed, Elisia gently lowered her hand.

‘What’s this? Just staring.’

Those red eyes staring at her blankly with his arms crossed, like an emotionless robot. Elisia was about to urge him but then composed herself.

After a moment, Derick tilted his head slightly and moved his lips.

“One month from now.”

Elisia glanced up and subtly met Derick’s eyes.

“The Harmony Festival, where demons and humans meet once a year, will be held.”

“…!”

Derick had brought up the very information she was planning to ask about.

‘What a windfall!’

Elisia nodded her head.

“That day, you have something to do.”

Derick’s following words were unexpected.

‘Something I have to do?’

Elisia’s eyes blinked. Her head tilted as if asking what he meant.

Standing askew, Derick looked down at her with an arrogant posture.

“You asked me for a divorce.”

“…Ah, yes.”

“Do you understand what it means for you and me to divorce?”

Of course she knew.

The ceasefire agreement between Minotas and Carden.

To maintain peace, the Elphias Grand Duke family, war heroes, had to marry demons for generations.

‘But since I’ve pretended to have lost my memory…’

She absolutely shouldn’t act like she knows.

Elisia immediately shook her head. Derick looked at Elisia’s face and then moved his lips.

“It’s no different from breaking the ceasefire agreement between Minotas and Carden.”

“Aah…”

Derick’s face contorted as if displeased.

“Beyond terminating the contract, I’d like you to make it clear.”

“…”

“That you were the one who wanted the divorce.”

Lost in thought for a moment at his answer, Elisia soon raised her head.

“So you want me to ensure the ceasefire isn’t affected since I’m the one who asked for the divorce, right?”

“Yes. After that, we can proceed with terminating the contract.”

“…”

“Until then, there will be no divorce.”

As if he didn’t want to exchange any more words, Derick showed a satisfied face.

“So don’t forget to tell Lilith.”

But from Elisia’s perspective, Derick seemed to hope she would forget.

‘Ah, right.’

Recalling the original story she had momentarily forgotten, Elisia laughed inwardly.

Derick, more than anyone, resented the ceasefire agreement between Carden and Minotas.

That’s why he joined hands with Hugo, the second prince of the Carden Empire, to break the ceasefire agreement and start a war.

‘Of course, Elisia was the catalyst for that war.’

Seeing Derick’s reaction, she reaffirmed her determination.

She would definitely meet Lilith at the Harmony Festival and emphasize the reason why she needed a divorce.

‘I need to divorce safely and preserve my life first.’

Suddenly, she felt a gaze observing her reaction. Elisia cleared her throat, gathered her thoughts, and looked up at him.

“Do you have anything else to say?”

“…No.”

“I thought you had more to say since you’re still here.”

At those words, Derick frowned and silently turned his body. She stared blankly at his broad back as he moved farther away.

“Well, that was helpful for once.”

Elisia shrugged her shoulders and stretched.

‘First, I should worry about the Imperial Princess’s birthday celebration tomorrow.’

It would be her first outing with Derick since her possession.

Though she felt somewhat anxious, she deliberately ignored it.

***

The next day.

“…my lady. My lady. You must wake up now!”

Elisia’s eyes flew open at the sound of someone waking her up in the early dawn.

‘Is this really necessary?’

With a face still drowsy from sleep, Elisia surrendered herself to the hands of the maids guiding her.

Originally, before her possession, when she was Seon Yura, she worked without rest. She couldn’t even spare time for sleep.

Compared to that, now she didn’t have to do anything, so she could sleep well and wake up late without any problems.

But having to get up and move from early dawn after a long time was quite challenging.

“Haah…”

When Elisia sighed, the maids helping with her grooming flinched. Unaware of this, Elisia looked at the mirror in front of her.

‘Elisia’s appearance is truly artistic.’

Her skin was transparent without a single blemish, and her eyes beneath long eyelashes were perfectly round.

Her high nose and peach-colored cheeks gave her vitality, and her cherry-like lips looked charming enough to captivate everyone’s gaze.

Above all, her golden eyes that sparkled in the sunlight and her silver hair flowing elegantly marked the pinnacle of beauty.

She truly looked like a living rose. A beautiful flower hiding its thorns.

She was beautiful even without makeup, but with the added technique of cosmetics, her face seemed otherworldly.

Admiring herself, Elisia finally voiced her amazement after changing her clothes.

“Wow…”

The admiration that welled up from within left her dazed.

In a good mood, Elisia headed with light steps toward the carriage waiting outside the mansion.

‘Is Derick not here yet?’

As she was looking around and about to enter the carriage that the head butler was opening for her, she heard a voice.

“You’re late.”

Her body instinctively shrank at the low, emotionless voice piercing her ear. When she raised her head, Derick was sitting with his arms crossed, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

‘What? He was already here?’

Should she greet him, or just bow her head? Contemplating, Elisia took a seat as close to the door as possible.

“Good morning.”

“Couldn’t you come out earlier? It takes a full three days to reach the Imperial Palace, so we have a long way to go.”

Elisia, who was about to say something, just maintained her smiling face and closed her mouth. Seeing her expression, Derick gave her an indifferent glance before turning his gaze outside the carriage.

Soon, the carriage departed. Elisia swallowed a sigh and leaned her head back.

‘How long did he wait to act like that?’

Still, she decided to be understanding. After all, Derick probably hated Elisia enough to want to kill her.

Thanks to Derick maintaining silence, the inside of the carriage was quiet. Elisia turned her head to look out the window.

The surrounding scenery passed by quickly due to the fast-moving carriage.

‘I just need to stay still when we get there, right?’

In the original story, Elisia was called the flower of society. Having conquered all social circles, there would hardly be anyone who didn’t know her.

It was obvious that people would approach her from all directions.

‘I’ll just stand quietly in a corner like a wall.’

Having made her plan, Elisia closed her eyes with ease.

After all, Derick had no intention of talking to her, and neither did she.

“When we get there.”

However, a low voice breaking the silence quietly penetrated her ear. Elisia slowly lifted her eyelids and looked straight ahead.

“Don’t cause any trouble.”

At the quiet warning, Elisia let out a laugh of disbelief.

‘Fine. Let’s just stop talking.’

She didn’t want to engage in pointless arguments with Derick. Instead of answering, Elisia just nodded.

It felt like she was losing, but it was better to stop here.

Elisia closed her eyes again and turned her head. She felt a sharp gaze on the back of her head but ignored it.

***

They traveled like that for exactly three days. It’s hard to describe how suffocating and awkward it was.

‘Especially how he would glare at me whenever I dozed off.’

His eyes seemed to say, “How comfortable you must be to sleep so easily.”

As they continued their seemingly endless journey, the carriage gradually slowed down. Simultaneously, Elisia’s eyes opened.

‘Oops. I must have fallen asleep again.’

Glancing outside, she could see that the scenery had definitely changed.

Elisia unconsciously turned her head to the left where Derick was. His eyes were closed. Yet, as if he wasn’t asleep, a cold voice was heard.

“Turn your head away.”

At the quiet murmur, Elisia naturally averted her eyes. He was a heartless man to the end.

“How long will we be staying?”

“As briefly as possible.”

“Since I’ve lost my memory and can’t distinguish what’s what or who’s who, I’ll stay quiet.”

Only then did Derick open his eyes, his gaze falling on Elisia.

“You’ll come to get me when it’s time to leave, right?”

Originally, she was someone who would thoroughly enjoy social gatherings and resist leaving even when it was time to go. It wasn’t the first or second time he had struggled to take her away.

No matter how poor their relationship was, they had to leave together to avoid gossip.