[XX Month XX Day

Uncle didn’t give me food today.

He locked me up all day and even beat me.

This was his response when I asked about my parents.

Is he really my uncle?

I should steal whatever food is left when he goes out drunk.]

[XX Month XX Day

The man in the black hood whom uncle serves visited.

The red-eyed man glanced at me and spoke of incomprehensible things like awakening and Eternal.

From that day on, uncle told me to wear a blindfold.

He said my eyes were unlucky and would make people run away.

He called them monster-like eyes.

So I looked at my eyes while washing my face by the lake.

They were glowing bright blue.

I was afraid the moment I saw them.

As if I really wasn’t human.

My heart felt tight and queasy, like it was blocked. Then, something even more frightening happened.

A small leaf floating near the lake.

The moment I looked at it, the leaf disappeared. I felt it being sucked into somewhere deep inside me.

I was so shocked that my heart pounded madly.

After that, nothing like that ever happened again. This… is a secret I’ll take to my grave.

‘Am I really a monster…?’]

Closing the diary, Liria murmured blankly.

“Noah… was indeed Adrian. I failed to save the male protagonist who was right in front of me.”

Liria’s small body trembled as she hung her head.

Overwhelming guilt and sadness.

She couldn’t control her emotions due to regret.

“…Sorry, I’m sorry. Sob sob. For not recognizing you.”

Tears had already streamed down to her chin.

Thinking about Adrian, who had endured his loneliness during times she knew nothing about, made her chest feel tight as if a stone was pressing down on it.

“How lonely and difficult it must have been for him all this time…”

She resented herself for having been complacent, thinking it was still three years before the original story began.

‘Adrian, your world must have been hell all along…’

Wiping away her tears, Liria resolved with pursed lips.

I will definitely save you.

No matter what.

Liria quickly gathered the diary and basket and returned to the annex.

The red-eyed man mentioned in the diary was undoubtedly Osdel, judging by the description and behavior.

He had also mentioned Eternal and awakening.

‘Then where is Noah, no, Adrian now?’

Although the starting points of the original story and the present are different, if Osdel has gotten hold of Adrian, the sequence of events would be similar.

Imprisoning Adrian in a laboratory to forcibly draw out his Eternal awakening.

But Osdel likely couldn’t complete the laboratory before securing funds…

First, there was something she absolutely needed to confirm.

Osdel’s establishment of the laboratory wasn’t possible with his resources alone.

The black magician Tera, who served as the laboratory’s research director.

Thanks to his research and experiments, Osdel successfully forced Adrian’s Eternal awakening.

So it was important to find out the whereabouts of the black magician Tera.

‘I need to prevent Osdel and Tera from meeting. That might prevent the forced awakening.’

“I can’t just keep quiet like this. With this body, I can’t even go out, let alone gather information. I guess there’s no other way.”

Currently, there was only one way to track Osdel’s movements.

Meeting an information broker.

And that method was possible through a mediator in the ducal castle.

Liria recalled what she had witnessed in the garden a few days ago when she went to see the morning glories.

Beyond the bushes, Emmett was talking to someone.

“…His Grace the Duke has ordered to commission a bag.”

Liria quickly hid and listened carefully. She couldn’t see clearly who the other person was.

“I will stop by the leather workshop and place the order. Then, in five days, Jorge will visit in person.”

“Please do so. Well then.”

Emmett finished his brief business and turned away. She caught a glimpse of the other person’s back.

Light blue short hair.

The young and handsome head butler of the main castle.

Leyman Victor.

“Ah… I remember now!”

Jorge Leather Workshop.

Jorge was the alias of the information guild master who had raised Eugene.

The guild master’s real name was Jiana.

She was Leyman Victor’s sister.

So that’s why she felt a sense of déjà vu when she met Leyman.

Later, Jiana would create her own surname, Canel, and obtain the title of Count.

That’s why Eugene’s full name became Eugene Canel.

“I need a bag too.”

It’s too far to wait until the leather workshop visits the ducal residence directly.

I should go there first.

Besides, to meet Jiana in person…

‘I need to meet her separately without going through Leyman.’

Since Leyman is already handling information trading with the Robergs.

To establish a trade without the knowledge of Grandfather, Emmett, or anyone else in the Roberg family, she needs to meet Jiana separately.

Just like in the original story.

Pitter-patter.

Kiki followed closely behind Liria as she paced around the room.

Having made up her mind, Liria called out to Kiki.

“Alright, let’s go meet Jiana!”

“Beep beep!”

With her bag slung over her shoulder, Liria left the room and dashed resolutely toward her destination.

Her destination was Head Maid Anna’s room in the east wing.

Knock knock.

As she knocked with her small, chubby fist, Head Maid Anna blinked in surprise.

“My goodness, Lady Liria, why have you come all this way yourself?”

“…If you have any spare luggage bags, could you have them loaded onto my annex carriage that I’ll send?”

“If it’s luggage bags, I could have prepared them for you if you had sent word through your maids.”

“Ah, please keep this a secret from Marit and Yuphi.”

“A secret?”

“Yes, I want to hide in it during hide-and-seek, shh!”

Liria said, pressing her finger to her lips.

Head Maid Anna looked down at Liria with a fond gaze, as if looking at her own granddaughter.

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to find her request strange.

“I understand, my lady. I’ll have it secretly loaded onto your annex carriage as soon as dawn breaks tomorrow. By the way, are you aware of the family gathering?”

“Ah, yes.”

“By the master’s orders, a separate budget has been allocated for the family gathering preparations. Your maids will take care of everything, but if there’s anything you want or need, please tell me this opportunity.”

“Something I want?”

Liria’s eyes widened.

“Yes, I’ll make sure to prepare the luggage bag for you, so take your time to think about something pretty and cute, my lady.”

She had never thought about such things before.

‘So this is what they call the rich grandfather chance!’

Since it’s not an opportunity that comes often, I should think of something that’s normally difficult to buy.

***

In a dark basement.

Osdel dragged his robe as he took a step toward Humbletine, who was prostrated on the floor.

“I called you because I want to get hold of it quickly. You must be tired of playing nanny, anyway.”

“…Yes, master. As ordered, I’ve hidden the boy very well. No one will know that the prince is here.”

Humbletine’s face turned red with pride as he spoke.

Osdel’s red eyes slowly rolled as he listened to his words.

“…Good. You’ve done well. Now go back and prepare to collect other items.”

Clink.

As he threw a pouch of gold coins on the floor, Humbletine quickly picked it up and was just thanking him.

Swish!

“Gack… ugh!”

An assassin who had been clinging to the ceiling suddenly pounced and cut off the burly man’s breath.

The assassin silently removed Humbletine’s corpse.

“The type I hate most is the loose-tongued kind.”

Especially Humbletine, who was a disgusting man with an unnecessary fondness for alcohol.

His only merit was his obedience.

His head was emptier than expected, too.

There were plenty of substitutes to serve as his limbs, so knowing that the child was a prince was reason enough to kill Humbletine.

“Phew.”

With a black cigar in his mouth, Osdel exhaled a long stream of smoke as he descended the deep basement stairs one by one.

“Now, let’s see the face of our Prince…”