<Chapter 5>

*  *  *

Blinding light pricked at my eyelids.  

“Ugh……”

After a restless night, opening my eyes felt like an impossible task.  

I pulled the blanket over my head and turned to face the other side, only to hear a startled breath from bedside.

“……Alice?”

Alice, who had been about to open the curtains, froze in her tracks, awkwardly addressing me.  

“Ah, um. It’s time for your morning tea… but if you’re tired, I can come back later?”  

Part of me wanted to nod, but then I remembered: this wasn’t the time for me to be sleeping so peacefully.  

“No, it’s fine. I’ll get up……”  

I forced myself to sit up, stretching my arms above my head. As I yawned, Alice stared at me, her expression suggesting she had a lot on her mind.  

“What’s wrong?”  

“Well… as I mentioned yesterday, you shouldn’t speak formally to me, Prospective Duchess.”  

“Didn’t we settle that yesterday?”  

We agreed that I could drop formalities once I became the duchess for real.  

“I wasn’t thinking clearly. Even as the Prospective Duchess, you’re still a duchess in some sense. Someone like me, just a mere maid, shouldn’t be addressed so formally by you.”  

Her voice held an unfamiliar urgency. Yesterday, she hadn’t seemed this adamant. Why had her feelings changed overnight?  

‘……Ah. The divine oracle.’  

“O-only the Pope and the Saintess can receive divine oracles!

There’s a saying: ignorance is bliss.  

Not knowing any better, I had acted recklessly. Turns out, receiving divine oracles wasn’t something just anyone could do.  

‘I didn’t realize that being a “devout clergy” referred to people at such an elite level.’

“May I ask you something?”  

“Um, Prospective Ducheess……”  

“……Alright, alright. Is this better?”  

“Yes!”  

Seeing her beam like that, it was clear she had felt uneasy about me speaking formally to her.  

‘At least that’s one thing sorted.’  

So, she found the Saintess scarier than the duchess.  

Well, it made sense. Inosensia, whose origins were unknown, could only have been considered a viable bride for the Duke because she was a candidate for the Saintess.  

The Emperor had managed to send her, someone tied to the Great Temple, to the North through some kind of deal with the Pope.  

“By the way, about what the head butler said yesterday—something about Winstein’s honor. What does that have to do with me throwing myself into danger?”  

“Ah, well…”  

Alice hesitated, nervously gauging my reaction before answering.  

“It’s because… if something were to happen to you here in Winstein, it would reflect poorly on the Duke.”  

“Why?”  

“Since it happened in Winstein… and even worse, in the ducal estate. Also, there are those… rumors……”  

Alice trailed off, struggling to say something beyond her station. But I already had an idea of what she meant.  

‘In the novel, the male lead was notorious enough to be called the Monster Duke.’  

If the bride candidate died in Winstein, people would immediately assume the Duke was responsible. That’s how it went in the novel. There were even rumors deliberately spread to that effect—by the Emperor, no less.  

‘The Emperor claimed the Monster Duke killed the other two bride candidates as well.’  

How did Inosensia end up as the third bride candidate in the North?  

The first two candidates had fled before even arriving in the North.  

Since their departures hadn’t occurred in Winstein, the Duke bore no responsibility.  

Instead, the Emperor’s reputation took a hit. He had boasted loudly about arranging matches for the Duke, only to fail twice.  

‘The Emperor, whose pride is his everything, despised being the subject of ridicule.’  

So, when Inosensia died, he wasted no time blaming the male lead for all three failed matches.  

On top of that, he accused the Pope of endorsing an unsuitable Saintess candidate and sent a fourth bride candidate to the North under the guise of rectifying the situation.  

In other words, Inosensia’s death had only benefited the Emperor.

‘Good. I’ve pieced everything together.’  

[I believe you wish to return to the temple. I will help you escape from the Monster Duke.]

‘Beatrice received a similar note.’  

Believing that someone from the Great Temple had come to help her, Beatrice put her faith in the note without hesitation.  

She fled with the so-called ally, only to run straight into the male lead returning to the ducal estate.  

The male lead, suspicious of two people sneaking through the woods in the dead of night, drew his sword and killed the ally on the spot.  

Though gravely injured, Beatrice survived thanks to her holy powers.  

Witnessing her miraculous recovery, the male lead realized she was the fourth bride candidate and brought her back to the ducal estate, imprisoning her for attempting to escape.  

Having seen him kill someone right in front of her—and being injured by him herself—Beatrice branded the male lead a monster.  

Without a doubt, it was the worst first meeting I’d ever read in a romance novel.  

‘I should’ve stopped reading there. No, better to have stopped at chapter 3 than after finishing all 70 chapters and getting transported here.’  

After piecing together the novel’s plot, reader comments, and Alice’s words, one thing was clear.  

‘This note was sent by one of the Emperor’s spies.’ 

If I fell for its promises of help, I’d end up dead.  

Beatrice, too, might have been betrayed by the so-called ally if the male lead hadn’t intervened.  

‘The Emperor must have planned to kill Beatrice and fully cement the male lead’s reputation as a monster. What a lunatic. Sacrificing lives just to preserve his pride?’  

“Um, Prospective Duchess……”  

“Huh?”  

I looked up to see Alice watching me with a concerned expression.  

I must’ve looked pretty out of it, muttering to myself like that.  

“If you’re feeling stifled, how about a short walk after breakfast?”  

“A walk? Is that allowed?”  

I thought I needed permission to go anywhere.  

“You can’t leave the estate, but you’re free to walk around the grounds.”  

“Really? That’s perfect. I was feeling cooped up. Thanks for suggesting it, Alice.”  

“Oh, it’s nothing……”  

Alice gave me an awkward smile, her expression almost guilty.  

I brushed it off, thinking I was imagining things—until a sudden thought struck me.  

‘Wait. Could Alice be… one of the Emperor’s spies?’  

Goosebumps ran down my arms.  

‘No way. …No way!’  

It hit me like a cold truth. In this unfamiliar world, there was no one I could truly trust. 

*  *  *

Neatly trimmed shrubs and patches of colorful flowers divided into sections lined the garden.  

As I strolled along the narrow path winding between them, the stifling tension in my chest finally began to ease.  

But the relief was short-lived.  

I started kicking small pebbles at my feet, bringing back the unresolved problem I had set aside earlier.  

‘It’s good that I figured out the Emperor’s spy set a trap, but… how am I supposed to deal with it?’  

Handling it on my own is impossible with my current capabilities. Asking for help is equally out of the question—there isn’t anyone I can trust.

‘In other stories, the main character always gets the original manuscript or files for reference when needed.’  

Why didn’t I get one of those? What am I supposed to do with a single top-voted comment?  

Why did I have to transmigrate into a world with no hope or dreams? I’ve read so many romantic comedies and stories with happy endings!  

If only I’d ended up in stories like <How the Shadowy Sub-Male Lead’s Daughter Lived in Luxury>, <The Urban Lady’s Deep Love>, <Please Settle It With Divorce!>, or <I’ll Try Scattering Cash Envelopes Once>.  

I remember all the tricks to getting rich in those stories…  

But of all things, of all things!  

“Ughhh! ……Huh? Wait, Alice?”  

Was I so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t notice? When I looked around, I was suddenly alone.  

“Alice? Where did you go?”  

I frantically scanned my surroundings and called out her name, but only silence replied.  

Is it my imagination? Despite the bright daylight, the air around me feels chillingly eerie.

I rubbed my goosebump-covered arms and forced a smile.  

“Alright, this isn’t funny anymore. Come out already. It’s not amusing.”  

Not amusing? No, it’s downright terrifying.

What if the Emperor’s spy suddenly appears and kills me right here?

‘Nope, forget it. Let’s just go back to my room.’  

I decided to abandon the search for Alice and head back. But just as I turned to leave, I spotted a figure’s shadow beyond a large pine tree.  

‘There you are!’  

Relieved, I quickly ran in that direction.  

“What’s this! Why are you hiding over he…re?”  

Wait. That’s not Alice.  

For starters, it wasn’t even a woman.  

The figure, a tall man who stood at least a head taller than me, had his face obscured under a deeply drawn hood, revealing only the sharp edge of his chin.  

‘Whoa, hold on.’  

Is it even legal to look this suspicious?  

I quietly released the sleeve I was clutching and took a cautious step back.  

A faint chuckle escaped from under the hood, like a gust of wind mocking me.  

Was he laughing at how frightened I looked? Just as I began to feel annoyed, a sudden gust of wind swept through the garden.  

The man’s hood was blown back.  

It all happened in an instant, exposing his face beneath it.  

A sharp left jawline, a cheek, and parts of his forehead were covered in shimmering golden scales, like those of a reptile.
 

<To be continued>

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