Chapter 1

The sunlit, tranquil office of the Knight Order Commander was warm, but the atmosphere between the Commander and the visitor was icy enough to freeze.  

“No.”  

After carefully reviewing the documents for a while, the Commander spoke in a resolute voice. The visitor, a woman, frowned and asked,  

“Why not?”  

“If you want an increased budget, bring in some results. It’s already been two years without any achievements.”  

“…….”  

She couldn’t argue. There were no words to counter his statement.  

As he said, the Grievance Counseling Office had shown zero results for two years. Its name had long been forgotten in people’s minds.  

So, there was no way anyone would come looking for it.  

On top of that, the Grievance Counseling Office was tucked away in a corner of the 1st Knight Order’s building.  

Pathetically, there wasn’t even a signboard to indicate its location.  

‘And whose fault is that?’ 

She thought bitterly.  

It was enough to make anyone jump up and down in frustration.  

If left alone, the Grievance Counseling Office would have naturally disappeared. But it was the Commander himself who had forced it under the Knight Order’s jurisdiction and kept it alive.  

And yet, he kept saying, ‘This won’t work because of this,’ or ‘That’s impossible because of that.’  

If that was the case, why hadn’t he just let it dissolve?  

‘What an unlucky bastard.’  

Her eyes glared at the Commander as if he were her mortal enemy.  

And in many ways, he was.  

The two were rivals, enemies even, in every sense of the word.  

“Just leave already.”

The Commander said coldly.  

She had been planning to leave anyway.  

Without even a hint of respect, she turned her back on him. Her attitude showed not a trace of reverence for her superior.  

It was a petty and childish form of revenge.  

“It’s childish.”

Pell, one of her subordinates, commented after hearing her story later.  

“I know.”

“If you’re going to act like that every time, why even bother confronting him?”  

“I’m not in a good mood today.”  

Her tone made it clear she didn’t want to be provoked.  

Pell shrugged.  

“Sorry to bother you while you’re in a bad mood, but… you do know you have to attend today, right?”  

“Attend where?”  

“The party. It’s an imperial decree that all department heads must attend.”  

“……Horrible.”  

“I think it’s horrible too.”  

Pell glanced at the towering stack of paperwork. 

“When am I supposed to finish all this paperwork? Because someone isn’t doing their job…”  

His pointed gaze was directed squarely at her.  

She casually ignored her accusing look.  

‘Why bother working hard?’ 

All the paperwork currently in the Grievance Counseling Office was originally from the 1st Knight Order’s administrative office.  

In other words, even if she worked hard, it would only help that damned Commander.  

‘No, absolutely not.’  

Over her dead body would she let him benefit.  

Then, Pell dropped a bombshell.  

“Can I quit?”  

……What?  

“Q-Quit? Don’t say such horrible things! Look, I’m working now, see? My hands are moving!”  

“Yes. Please keep moving them until the end of the day.”  

As a boss with no dignity and a noble with no pride, she resorted to a pitiful display.  

‘Dignity and pride… what are those? Are they edible?’  

Protecting her one and only employee was her top priority.  

Since she was always selectively submissive, she diligently moved her hands.  

***

The party held in the most extravagant hall of the royal palace was luxurious.  

Expensive goods, a grand orchestra, endless food and fine wine.  

And nobles mingling like fish in water, filling the hall.  

She scanned the chaotic hall with a disapproving look, exuding an air of ‘I’m very uncomfortable here.’  

“Relax your face.” 

Said her sister, Duchess Melis, poking her side.  

If it were that easy to relax her expression, she wouldn’t be frowning in the first place.  

“Terry.” 

Melis said, poking her again.  

Poke, poke, poke.  

“Relax.”  

Poke, poke, poke.  

Why does she keep poking me?  

Terry swatted her sister’s arm away as her side started to sting.  

But the persistent Duchess Melis didn’t know the meaning of giving up. Unable to endure her relentless attacks any longer, Terry snapped.  

“That hurts!”  

Unfortunately, it was at the exact moment the music stopped.  

Her outburst drew the attention of everyone present, their stares piercing her.  

Whispers of shock spread across the room. Melis, unfazed, rubbed her forehead.  

“Honestly… because of you…”  

Yeah, you should have stopped when I told you not to.

Melis’s husband, sitting beside her, patted her shoulder to comfort her.  

She let out an even more exaggerated sob and leaned into his arms.  

Their public display of affection was so natural, as if to say, ‘Of course, we’re a loving couple.’  

“Terry. You always cause trouble.” 

At that moment, the Crown Prince, Orgon, approached Terry with a laugh.  

As if passing the baton, Melis and her husband left, reminding the Crown Prince to keep an eye on her.  

‘I’m not a child.’ 

She sipped her wine and glanced at the Crown Prince.  

“Isn’t it a waste of the national budget to throw a party like this, Your Highness? It’s not for any special reason, just a social gathering for nobles. Meanwhile, citizens in the slums are wasting away because they can’t even afford gruel. They’d be furious to know about this.”  

“Don’t nitpick. You’re just upset because you have to see the Commander’s face after work, right?”  

Sharp as always.  

Caught off guard, Terry clamped her mouth shut. The Crown Prince, Orgon, chuckled as if he found it amusing.  

“…Should I clap for you since you’re correct?”  

“No need for that. But maybe stop drinking?”  

This? 

Terry asked, holding up her glass. Orgon nodded.  

She grinned and, before he could take it away, gulped it down.  

Mmm, sweet.  

Ignoring Orgon’s disapproving clicks of the tongue, she licked her lips and eyed another glass on the table.  

“Why do you hate the Commander so much?”  

“Because I don’t like him.”  

“That’s not a reason.”  

Why, you ask?  

Terry glanced at the Commander standing far away.  

As always, his face was expressionless, and he wore the same uniform he wore daily to the party.  

Standing stiffly, showing no interest in the party, he neither drank nor ate.  

“His very existence?”

“…….”  

Orgon seemed at a loss for words.  

Terry looked at him with a mocking expression and picked up another glass of red liquid.  

‘You wouldn’t understand.’

Even if she explained, he wouldn’t get it.  

Not a chance.  

Crown Prince, you are the male protagonist of this story, and the apprentice Saintess, Anella, is the female protagonist.  

Above all, the idea that that man, Eched Astrea, the Commander of the Knight Order, is the second male lead is utterly absurd.  

Who would believe such a ridiculous statement like, ‘I’ve regained the memories of my past life, and this world is the same as the novel I read in that life!’  

Even I found it difficult to comprehend.  

The memories of her past life resurfaced during the most humiliating moment of her life.  

It was the very moment she challenged Eched to a duel and suffered a crushing defeat.  

Plagued by the feelings of defeat and humiliation, she was consumed by despair and emptiness.  

This was because Eched, the Commander of the Knight Order, wasn’t even human, and the story’s setting made it impossible for her to defeat him.  

To be a tragic character forever stuck in second place, overshadowed by the brilliance of the second male lead…  

And to top it off, she was destined to meet a catastrophic end—caught plotting Eched’s murder, only to be thrown into prison where she would take her own life.  

So, she decided to change her future.  

Graduating from the wretched academy and spending three years lounging in bed was truly enjoyable.  

At least, until her sister’s patience ran out.  

‘Those who don’t work, shall not eat.

Her sister, Duchess Melis, declared this as the new family motto and pressured her into finding a job.  

That’s how she ended up scrambling to get hired at the Imperial Grievance Counseling Office.  

There, she unexpectedly encountered her nemesis, Eched, and somehow ended up working under him. That’s when she came up with a new plan.  

Move to the countryside.  

Some remote rural area where no one would know her. She’d make just enough to scrape by and live a self-sufficient life.  

But the settlement funds required to start a life in the countryside were astronomical, and since she had no savings or inherited wealth, she’d end up like a raccoon washing cotton candy.  

‘Honestly, if I really wanted to, that kind of money would be nothing.’  

The biggest obstacle, however, was her family.  

Living in hiding, away from Shaterian, her godfather—the Emperor—and her sister, the Duchess, was practically impossible.  

Even now, they’d assigned Orgon, her so-called guardian (read: watchdog), to keep an eye on her.  

As she scanned the boring banquet hall for an opportunity to escape, she gave up and decided to soothe her frustration with alcohol.  

“Drink slowly.”  

Perhaps giving up on stopping her entirely, Orgon sighed as he spoke.  

Of course, she didn’t listen to a word he said.  

“This is nothing.”  

“You’ll regret it later.”  

“Over something this trivial?”  

She snorted, shrugging her shoulders.  

What was there to regret about having a few drinks?  

She’d always thought her drinking habits were fairly gentlemanly.  

Or so she believed.  

***

The light was blinding.  

As her consciousness gradually cleared, her head throbbed painfully.  

“Ugh…”  

Damn hangover.  

She groaned and rolled over onto her side.  

‘Is today my day off?’  

It must be. The party had been held on the last night of the weekday.  

“Lady.”  

‘What is that?’  

Was I dreaming? Was I hearing Eched’s voice because I was dreading work?  

“Unlucky bastard…”  

Hearing that detestable man’s voice on her only day off was the worst.  

Her luck was truly dead.  

“Lady.”  

Why do I keep hearing it?

If it was a dream, she wanted to wake up; if it was a hallucination, she wanted it to disappear.  

“Get up already.”  

Disappear…  

…Wait.  

“…….”  

Her hazy mind suddenly snapped into focus.  

A foreboding sense of doom washed over her. And since her intuition was usually right in such situations, she grew even more uneasy.  

She cautiously opened her eyes, her limited field of vision revealing beige curtains covering the window.  

Slowly, she turned her gaze around, taking in the unfamiliar yet strangely familiar surroundings.  

It felt like something she’d seen somewhere before.  

‘Perhaps in a book…?’  

“Lady.”  

The voice came from beside her again.  

Her neck turned stiffly, like a broken wooden doll.  

It wouldn’t have been surprising if creaking sounds accompanied the motion.  

The first thing she saw was a toned chest and firm abs peeking out from a loosely tied robe.  

Water dripped from the damp silver hair above, and his lips were a deeper red than usual, his cheeks lightly flushed.  

It was, overall, a situation ripe for misunderstanding.  

“Why…”  

Her gaze met his peculiar eyes, a mesmerizing mix of black and silver.  

In that instant, her mind went completely blank.  

“Why am I…”  

‘Why… Why am I here…?’  

An unfamiliar room, waking up in bed.  

And a half-n*ked man, freshly washed and dripping wet.  

‘Surely not…’  

…No way, right? No, that’s impossible.  

Impossible…  

…Someone, please tell me this is a lie.  

Please, I’m begging you!