Chapter 100

“Everything burning down couldn’t have been a coincidence. They must’ve destroyed it all before we could investigate.”

“But was that orchard really that important?”

“I learned two things. One a little recently, and one quite recently.”

“Your phrasing has gotten strange lately, Your Grace.”

“And you’ve been getting more sarcastic lately.”

Ever since he started teaching Reina, Damian shot Peter a sharp look.

Damian claimed Peter had gotten more sarcastic, but Damian himself had also grown more expressive with his emotions through interacting with Reina.

He just didn’t realize it.

Frowning slightly, Damian continued.

“Anyway, what are the two things you learned ‘a little recently’ and ‘quite recently’?”

“Bonita is afraid of a ‘certain smell’.”

“What kind of smell?”

“The smell of dried grass in a field?”

“That’s oddly vague and oddly specific at the same time.”

“And she avoids a certain fruit.”

“A fruit?”

“Yes. She hesitated when she saw fruit jam cookies. Especially blueberry ones.”

“Couldn’t she just dislike blueberries?”

Damian remembered Bonita smelling the blueberry jam cookie. It had been such a small moment that it would’ve been easy to overlook.

“No. She knew it was blueberry and ate it quite happily.”

“Then the ‘certain fruit’ you mentioned must resemble blueberries not just in smell but in color too.”

“Exactly.”

Peter mulled over Damian’s words, then voiced a question that came to mind.

“I always thought Boni looked exactly like Reina except for her eye color. So she didn’t inherit the allergy.”

“Yes. That’s the second thing.”

“That Boni doesn’t have a blueberry allergy unlike Reina? Is that even possible?”

Damian shook his head.

“No. Reina Botn doesn’t have a blueberry allergy.”

“…What?”

“She didn’t react to the blueberry back then.”

“But she definitely took allergy medicine, didn’t she?”

“And it barely worked, which made things worse.”

Since the medicine didn’t work, they’d tried all kinds of treatments, and thankfully one of them worked.

“The problem is that we don’t know exactly what that medicine was.”

“They threw everything at her.”

“That’s a bit harsh. Do you know which maid delivered and recorded the medicine at the time?”

“…I might.”

“You might?”

“It was probably Sofia Baran.”

Damian knew that maid. She was the one who’d been permanently exiled for siding with Count Embron.

“This is troublesome.”

Damian frowned as a dull headache throbbed at his temples.

* * *

Reina stared at the rows of dresses spread out before her with her mouth hanging open.

“This line is for parties, this side is for tea time, and these are…”

“L-Lady Beanz. Weren’t we supposed to have just one dress made?”

Reina urgently called out to Madam Beanz.

“That was the one we asked to have finished first for the party. And this upcoming party is the Baron of Lian’s first official appearance, isn’t it? We need to be especially careful.”

“Then what about all these clothes?”

At Reina’s many questions, Madam Beanz and the designer looked at her with satisfaction.

“These are for starters.”

“For starters?”

“Yes.”

“I see…”

Reina thought she might’ve been dreaming ever since the day she collapsed after seeing the necklaces.

She lightly pinched the back of her hand.

‘That hurts.’

It wasn’t a dream.

“Is it really okay to try on this many clothes?”

“But Baron, don’t you have very few outfits? This is the perfect chance to get them.”

Madam Beanz stared at Reina intently.

“You currently have one blouse, two skirts, one pair of slippers, and one dress, correct?”

Reina flinched at how accurate that was.

“And those are all from before you received your title, aren’t they? What you wear day to day doesn’t matter, but for official occasions, appropriate attire is important.”

“That’s true.”

“Then what about the young lady’s dress?”

“Lady Estelle’s dress?”

Madam Beanz looked puzzled at the sudden mention of Estelle.

“She won’t be attending this event.”

“…What?”

Now that she thought about it, Damian had said Estelle wouldn’t be attending this party.

‘No, but in the original story…’

She should’ve attended. Reina felt stunned.

Seeing Reina’s dazed expression, the designer and Madam Beanz guided her along. They were already used to her drifting off into thought and began the fitting process anyway.

Like a puppet, Reina let herself be moved around while thinking on her own.

‘Why?’

In the original story, not long after Estelle arrived in the capital, an invitation from the imperial family came. Estelle initially declined, but later ended up attending the party.

Then something clicked in Reina’s mind.

‘Ah…’

“Baron, what’s wrong?”

“Is the dress uncomfortable?”

“N-No. I’m fine.”

Reina shook her head lightly and smiled.

‘The timing moved up.’

Originally, Estelle wouldn’t come to the capital for another two years.

After the incident with Count Embron, Damian had become far more protective of Estelle.

‘For two years, Lady Estelle stayed at the ducal castle. His Grace only visited the capital briefly, citing her health.’

Reina’s involvement had sped the story up.

By a lot.

‘Then did I even need to have that dream?’

From what Reina could tell, those visions only came up when something had recently happened or when a crisis was about to befall Estelle.

But things were already diverging from the original story. So why had she seen it?

Her thoughts spun.

‘Even if the young lady isn’t attending, is there something I need to be careful about?’

Or had all her assumptions been wrong?

‘I’ll find out when I go to the party.’

With that thought, Reina lifted her head.

“Are you done thinking?”

“Ah.”

Reina looked at the many dresses still left before her.

“I’m not actually buying all of these, so is it really okay to try them all on?”

Madam Beanz looked at her like she’d said something absurd.

“What are you talking about? Everything here has already been paid for.”

“Was it His Grace again this time?”

“Yes. The duke paid for it again.”

Instead of fainting this time, Reina felt like crying.

Lately, days that made her want to cry came far too often.

* * *

Time passed quickly.

In that short span, Reina memorized countless noble names and etiquette. She played with the children and sometimes read books in the office.

But there was one thing she still couldn’t fix. Her habit of stepping on her partner’s foot when turning during dances.

‘That just won’t go away.’

Reina quietly accepted the maids’ attention. Quietly, though being waited on still felt awkward.

Bonita and Estelle alone laughed happily.

“Reina looks like a princess.”

“Mom looks like a princess.”

“If a real princess heard that, she’d get mad.”

Madam Beanz had clearly put in a lot of effort to enhance Reina’s presence.

The deep blue dress was densely embroidered with silver thread and tiny crystals. It looked like countless stars cut out of the night sky and sewn into fabric.

The necklace was woven like a spiderweb with pink tourmaline and small diamonds.

Reina decided not to think about how much everything she was wearing cost. She felt like she’d get motion sick before even leaving for the party if she did.

Her hair, swept up, was intertwined with gold threads like vines. The reflection in the mirror felt unfamiliar.

She tapped the floor lightly with her stiff, brand new shoes.

“When you come back, you have to tell us how the party was.”

“Yeah, you have to.”

“Okay.”

Reina kissed both children lightly on the cheeks and left the mansion.

A carriage far more extravagant than usual stood in the garden.

As always, Damian wore a black uniform. The difference was the heavy cloak trimmed with gold thread draped over his shoulders, and his uniform looked slightly more ornate than usual.

“Did you wait long?”

“No. I just came out.”

Damian offered his hand and escorted Reina into the carriage.

“It won’t take long to reach the imperial palace. Use the time to prepare yourself.”

“Yes.”

Prepare herself.

Reina nodded with a solemn expression.

She had to be ready not only for the nobles, but for whatever future awaited her next.