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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: First Meeting
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“What did she ask to call?”
Eric, having just finished a long night, ruffled his hair and frowned, still in his gown. A tutor, out of the blue? When he’d told her to stop doing nothing and actually *do* something, she hadn’t lifted a finger. Eric found Roje strangely unfamiliar. The woman who had only ever known him was now rejecting him, no longer looking at him with her usual longing gaze. But he didn’t pay much attention to Roje’s change. To him, ‘Roje’ wasn’t a particularly significant person. In short, Eric couldn’t care less what Roje did.
“Let her do as she pleases.”
Eric waved his hand dismissively at the butler. At Eric’s words, the butler let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly pulled out some documents, handing them to Eric.
“Then what kind of tutor should we call? I’ve roughly narrowed down some candidates…”
“Figure it out yourself. Don’t ask me about every single thing.”
“Ah… Understood.”
The butler neatly organized the documents he had taken out and bowed to Eric. Eric didn’t even look at the butler, instead gesturing for him to leave quickly. The reason Eric was so quick to dismiss him was probably the woman asleep beside him.
‘That woman… Doana?’
The butler momentarily doubted his eyes. Doana was lying in Eric’s bed. And naked, at that.
“What are you looking at?”
At Eric’s words, the butler flustered, fumbling. He was embarrassed that he’d stared at the woman so obviously. Eric subtly covered Doana’s sleeping body with a white sheet and spoke irritably.
“I don’t have a habit of sharing what’s mine.”
“Wh-what are you talking about? It’s a misunderstanding.”
Unable to hide his beet-red face, the butler quickly exited Eric’s room.
“Hmm… Eric?”
As if woken by their voices, Doana rubbed her eyes and called Eric’s name. Eric grabbed Doana’s wrist, still half-asleep, and pulled her towards him.
“What is it? Still not enough?”
Doana nestled into Eric’s embrace, as if to charm him.
“You liked it. You practically passed out.”
At Eric’s confident tone, Doana almost snorted with laughter.
‘They say no one’s perfect…’
To be honest, Doana was deeply disappointed. He was supposed to be the male lead of a romance, yet he was utterly underwhelming in bed. But as Eric was the lifeline she needed to cling to, Doana had to humor him.
“It was wonderful.”
She said words she didn’t mean, burrowing deeper into Eric’s arms. She’d only fallen asleep because she was so bored, and he’d completely misinterpreted it.
“Come here.”
He embraced Doana once more. Doana displayed her acting skills without reservation. She wore an expression of utmost happiness, praising Eric to the heavens.
***
“There’s so much to memorize.”
Roje sighed, wondering if she’d bitten off more than she could chew. The butler had arranged a lesson for the very next day, as Roje had expressed a desire to start as soon as possible. It was already so difficult from the first lesson… The pressure felt like she was studying for her college entrance exams all over again.
“So our family fell because they backed the wrong horse…”
Roje’s family, the Serviart Count’s family, had been defeated in the imperial succession struggle. The members of Roje’s family, who had been a thorn in the side of the nobility, barely clung to their lives, but lost their territory and entered the path of ruin. They had only survived thanks to the help of the Crown Prince her parents had supported.
‘He must have thought I was pathetic…?’
What must he have thought, seeing her know nothing about her own family? Roje’s face flushed hot. In truth, the tutor wasn’t even surprised to see Roje know nothing. She was a woman who had fallen for and married the man who brought her family to ruin, so it made sense she wouldn’t know anything. Roje lightly tapped her cheeks, refocusing her mind. She had looked bewildered during the first lesson, but she didn’t want to give the same impression during the second.
‘The late Emperor and Empress passed away early due to illness, and their uncle ascended the throne in place of the young Crown Prince.’
Roje recalled the tutor’s words. He taught Roje, openly revealing his political ideology.
‘It was a good thing. The young Crown Prince was nothing more or less than a troublemaker in the imperial family. He’s a ruthless and cold-blooded man whom everyone avoids. Well, you won’t likely encounter him, but be careful. You must never get involved with him.’
The tutor emphatically warned her, stressing the point intensely. [Grand Duke Arteum.] The former Crown Prince, now a Grand Duke. Roje drew a large ‘X’ over the name Grand Duke Arteum that the tutor had mentioned, and muttered.
“Right. There’s no harm in being careful.”
He was a minor character, but she remembered him clearly. He hadn’t been portrayed in a good light in the novel either. He’d wielded power recklessly and was eventually executed by the imperial faction, wasn’t he? The execution scene had been depicted so brutally that she remembered it vividly. How could she forget such a cruel punishment, unimaginable in her original world?
“Ugh… It’s coming back again.”
She recoiled from the vividly conjured scene and shook her head. Then she blacked out Grand Duke Arteum’s name completely, making it unreadable. At the time, Roje didn’t know. She would soon meet the very person she so desperately wanted to avoid. Roje grumbled to herself for a long time, reciting what the tutor had taught her over and over. How much time had passed? Roje, who had been sitting motionless at her desk, finally put down her fountain pen. Looking out the window, the sun was already slowly setting.
“I’m stiff.”
She stretched her stiff body this way and that, then slowly rose from her seat. Then she slowly walked towards the terrace. Roje leaned her arms on the railing and admired the sky, painted red. How long had it been since she last looked up at the sky like this? The cool breeze swept pleasantly over her. Roje gathered her flowing hair and slowly braided it. Her skill was clumsy. In her previous life, Roje had always kept her hair short. Drying it took too long, and she didn’t have the confidence to style it every day.
“Hmm… it’s harder than it looks.”
When the maid did her hair, she made it in an instant, so Roje thought it would be easy. She touched her hair and gave an awkward laugh. Just then, someone knocked on Roje’s door.
“Madam, the carriage has been prepared.”
A maid entered Roje’s room.
“The carriage?”
“Yes. You asked me to prepare the carriage for 9 o’clock earlier, saying you needed to go see the Count’s gift.”
“Ah… I did?”
Roje gave an awkward laugh and spoke to the maid. This was because the transmigrated Roje had never asked the maid to do such a thing. The original protagonist must have asked the maid.
‘So the rumors about her suffering short-term amnesia from the shock must be true…’
The maid looked at Roje with pity in her eyes.
‘Poor Countess… The Count seems to be having an affair quite openly now.’
Rumors had already spread widely among the maids. The fact that Doana had been in the Count’s bedroom until late at night spread rapidly. Even Doana, who had been assigned to Roje, was reportedly reassigned to the Count at his request.
“I’ll help you prepare to go out.”
Before Roje could say ‘No,’ the maid untied Roje’s hair and skillfully braided it downwards. It was distinctly different from what Roje had done. She looked at Roje in the mirror with a satisfied expression, then decorated Roje’s hair with fresh flowers.
“You look so beautiful.”
The maid styled Roje’s hair with more care than usual. As a fellow woman, she felt sorry for Roje.
“But 9 PM seems quite late. Are shops still open at this hour?”
“You said you were attending an auction today.”
“…Right, I did. I’ve been a bit preoccupied lately.”
Roje casually agreed with the maid and gave an awkward smile.
“Yes. I’ve set aside the invitation separately, Madam.”
The maid held out a palm-sized invitation to Roje. The black invitation simply listed the venue, time, and auction items. Its slick surface clearly indicated it was made of a luxurious material. As Roje scanned the list of auction items, her eyes landed on an item that seemed vaguely familiar.
‘Luna’s Tear…!’
Roje clung to the faint memories resurfacing. Eric, who was very interested in craftsmanship, had long wanted ‘Luna’s Tear,’ and Roje, hoping to gain favor with Eric, managed to obtain information and successfully bid on it. But unfortunately, Roje didn’t earn him any favor.
‘Because… it was revealed to be a fake.’
Eric sent ‘Luna’s Tear’ as a gift to the Empress, and in the process, it was exposed as a fake. Eric angrily declared he couldn’t show his face because of Roje, and she clung to his trousers, apologizing, until she tumbled down the stairs.
‘…Even that night, Roje still foolishly spent the night with Eric.’
And she even went to him first, despite her injured body.
“Um… Madam?”
As Roje stood blankly, the maid cautiously called her name.
“…Do I have to go?”
“Pardon?”
As if she’d heard her mutter with a sigh, the maid’s eyes widened as saucers, and she questioned.
“It’s an auction you’ve been looking forward to for days! If you get ‘Luna’s Tear,’ how happy the Count will be! Love will blossom for you.”
When Roje just stared at her, the maid gave an awkward smile and muttered.
“Haha… That’s not to say the Count doesn’t love you now, of course…”
Anyone could see that wasn’t how one treated a loved one. Roje thought to herself, watching the maid trail off, clearly trying to gauge her reaction. The maid, still wearing an awkward smile, forcibly pushed Roje’s back, eventually nudging her out of the room.
‘This might be an opportunity to change the Count’s heart…!’
The maid clenched her fist as if she had a great mission, pointing to the naive-looking man standing nearby.
“Sir Sereun will accompany you as your escort.”
“My name is Sereun, Madam!”
He bowed to Roje with a rather nervous expression. He looked quite young, with a youthful impression, perhaps just barely twenty.
“It’s a pleasure.”
When Roje greeted him, Sereun’s face flushed red. Roje was escorted into the carriage. As the carriage moved, Roje looked out the window and pondered.
“What should I buy…?”
She couldn’t come back empty-handed after going all the way to an auction… nor did she particularly want to buy a fake. As she pondered, the rapidly moving carriage slowly decelerated and came to a halt. The coachman’s voice was heard from outside, announcing their arrival, and Sereun opened the carriage door, extending a hand to Roje.
“We’ve arrived, Madam.”
Roje took Sereun’s hand and slowly descended the carriage steps. She looked around, surveying the auction house. It didn’t seem to be a particularly secretive auction. When Roje showed her invitation to the man standing at the auction house entrance, he handed her a round number plate. The plate had the number ‘38’ written on it.
‘Is that a seat number?’
Entering the auction house, Roje looked around, searching for her seat.
‘Oh? Someone’s already sitting there.’
Another man was sitting right there, bold as brass, in the seat marked ‘38.’ Roje slowly approached the man.
“Ma-Madam? Why are you going that way?”
She heard Sereun’s voice, panicked, telling her not to go that way, but Roje seemed not to hear him. She’d been wondering why only the area around her seat was completely empty.
‘Wasn’t seating assigned on a first-come, first-served basis?’
Roje tilted her head as she walked over and lightly tapped the man sitting alone on the shoulder.
“Excuse me, but I believe this is my seat.”
Roje showed the man her number plate. The man sitting in Roje’s seat frowned and turned his head. He gazed steadily at Roje with eyes as chillingly blue as ice.
