“This means that you will leave an indelible scar on him. Something that did not exist before will suddenly appear, and that emotion will be powerful enough to shake his entire life.”

Irvelyn suppressed the irritation that suddenly arose in her at the thought of having no ties to the Temple and let out sharp words. But the old witch shook her head.

“I just told you, didn’t I? His love will be intense. If the first emotion he ever experiences is a love so fierce that no one can resist it, how great do you think the power born from it will be?”

Only then did Irvelyn finally understand why Duke Fraser was necessary.

The love of a man without feelings… It was indeed the perfect means to gain power.

“But consider this. As powerful as your magic is, you need Duke Fraser’s love to complete it. You are still an inexperienced, young witch.”

As the old witch’s aged warning rang clearly in her ears, a mischievous smile slowly spread across Irvelyn’s delicate face.

“I am a witch – someone who is willing to do anything to get what I want.”

Even before she could use magic, she had entered Count Romand’s territory on her own. Not as a maid or servant, but as a bastard child.

Irvelyn relied on her beauty and cunning, but to wield the mysterious power of magic, she decided to use the Great Witch to her advantage.

“If you want to make a man without feelings fall in love, an incomplete spell won’t be enough, will it?”

“The harder the task, the greater the reward-that’s the law of the world.”

“I’m not interested in such old-fashioned sayings. What I want to know is what I need to succeed in this difficult task.”

“Hmm… You are a witch yourself, so you should know your own magic best. However, keep your eyes on the moon. The moon is…”

“Make me stronger.”

At Irvelyn’s answer, spoken with the instinctive certainty of one who could feel the moon’s magic without needing to be taught, the old witch let out a low, chuckling laugh and whispered,

” That man will go mad for you.”

The words sounded like a curse, but to Irvelyn they were an irreplaceable blessing.

It was the first and last night that the young witch and the old witch shared.

For the sake of fulfilling her desires, Irvelyn decided to lay low for now, hold her breath and wait.

After all, as the old witch had said, she knew her own magic best.

She needed time – at least several months to a year.

Come to think of it, the night of the biggest moon of the year was fast approaching.

It was also the night of the Moonlight Ball, the event where Count Romand planned to formally introduce her to high society.

With slightly narrowed eyes, Irvelyn pulled on the reins.

“Tell Father I will attend the Moonlight Ball next year.”

***

As the entire empire buzzed with preparations for the upcoming grand imperial banquet…

“Decline all invitations. And what about the documents from the Fraser territory?”

“The urgent ones, relevant to the sowing season, are here.”

“All right, I’ll prioritize that first. And since winter is almost over, we should start with the relief efforts.”

“Yes, as usual, we plan to start by hiring workers to clean and restore the mansion first.”

“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever personally supervised this. This year, I’ll make sure to supervise the relief efforts myself.”

As always, while Dalia was fulfilling her duties as Lady of House Fraser, she was also devising a way to remove Alois from the picture.

In the end, she decided to take matters into her own hands to get what she wanted.

But before she could put her plan into action, an uninvited guest arrived. Actually, it wasn’t an uninvited guest at all – it was the owner of a tailor shop she had booked a long time ago. But for the moment, they were nothing more than a waste of Dalia’s time.

“Oh my, you seem to have lost some weight. I’ll have to measure you again.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. If you lose any more weight, you may have to have all your clothes altered again.”

At the tailor’s firm statement, Dalia looked down at her palms, as if only now did she notice the change in her own body.

Perhaps it was because she had far more things to do in secret than others.

Still, thanks to her meticulous efforts, the poisoning plan was progressing smoothly without attracting unnecessary attention.

However, her brief satisfaction with the current situation was short-lived.

From taking new measurements to choosing the fabric and embellishments for her dress, selecting jewelry, deciding on a hairstyle and makeup, and handling countless other details, everything came at Dalia like a storm, leaving her no time to breathe.

And it didn’t stop there.

“The Duke’s measurements…?”

“They’re the same.”

This man had lived his entire life with every detail – down to a single strand of hair – meticulously tailored, and he would continue to do so.

Even as he poured his fervent love into Irvelyn, his body had not thinned or changed in the opposite direction, so of course it would remain the same now.

It was only after Curtis had finished choosing the clothes and decorations for the banquet that Dalia was able to catch her breath.

As she tiredly sipped her now lukewarm tea, the tailor, delighted to be in charge of the Frasers’ attire again this year, approached her quietly with a broad smile.

“Duchess.”

From the subtle warmth in her voice and the deepening smile, Dalia immediately sensed that the person in front of her wanted something from her.

In addition to her lack of interest in the banquet attire and jewelry, Dalia’s mood had soured after being forced to deal with Curtis’ arrangements all by herself.

Usually the person in front of her was quick-witted, but today they failed to notice her irritation, which made her feel even more frustrated.

However, when she heard what the tailor said next, she could no longer blame them.

“As you mentioned, this year’s theme is based on pure white, with ivory as the main color and purple as an accent. And you wanted to start planning next year’s theme in advance…”

Wasn’t she the one who had subtly informed the dressmaker not long ago that she would also be ordering outfits for next year with Curtis?

“You two make such a perfect pair, so it is truly a pleasure for me to design your clothes…”

Dalia barely resisted the urge to press a hand to her forehead, which felt as if it had grown hot with frustration. She raised a hand, almost to silence the tailor’s endless chatter, but stopped herself at the last moment.

If she had followed her true feelings, she would have made it clear that she had no intention of attending next year’s Moonlight Ball in a matching outfit with Curtis. But that was a secret only she knew, so instead she just swallowed a quiet sigh.

To end this boring moment as soon as possible, she tried to recall her memories from before her regression.

The reason why deciding on this year’s dress theme had been so slow and difficult was that no matter how hard she tried to dig through her memories, she couldn’t clearly remember what she had worn before her return.

She wasn’t someone with a bad memory, but aside from the general color of the dress and a few key embellishments, she couldn’t remember the finer details.

However, when it came to next year’s dress, she remembered it vividly.

Not just hers and Curtis’, but Irvelyn’s as well – she remembered them all with absolute clarity.

Under the shimmering moonlight, she shone brilliantly in her dress, and even though Curtis wore a completely different color, the two of them looked like a strangely perfect couple.

How could she ever forget that moment?

Now, she no longer felt any pain for them.

What really weighed on her heart was the memory of her past self – how she had once been so filled with excitement and joy for the rare moments she had spent with him, how she had agonized over every little detail, put in so much effort, poured everything she had into those moments. It felt stupid. And pathetic. But one thing was for sure: it would never happen again.

Dalia closed her eyes tightly before slowly opening them again, determined to put an end to this pointless task as soon as possible.

In the end, she wouldn’t even get to wear the dress – it would have been “poisoned” by then – but Curtis was different.

He would still attend the Moonlight Ball as usual and meet Irvelyn.

And the deeper he fell in love with Irvelyn, the faster he would forget about Dalia.

As this thought crossed Dalia’s mind, she remembered the dress Irvelyn had worn before her return and spoke immediately.

“Next year’s theme will be black.”

Under the bright glow of the moon, Irvelyn’s pale, almost inhuman beauty – shining even brighter than the moonlight itself – was perfectly complemented by a simple black dress with minimal embellishments.

Seizing the moment, Dalia quickly sketched out the general design of her own attire and meticulously directed every detail of Curtis’ outfit.

She wasn’t worried about the dress, which she wouldn’t even wear, but the outfit that would be paired with Irvelyn’s – that had real meaning.”Oh, with such a simple and elegant design, the sophistication will be maximized. In fact, given how striking the two of you already are, excessive decoration might only be a distraction…”

Cutting off the tailor’s seemingly endless chatter, Dalia added,

“My dress will have to be checked later, so put it aside for now. But as for His Grace’s clothes, complete them exactly as instructed and deliver them in full by this time next year.