To be honest, she knew this situation was inevitable.

But the timing was really bad. She had finally somehow managed to convince her father and had just gotten his permission for the engagement.

‘This engagement has to be maintained for at least a year so that the relationship between the Hills and Rasianes could be harmonious…’

But like in the original story, if Llewellyn falls in love at first sight with Sierra …

“…”

Just thinking about the possibility made her blood boil. It was hard for her to stay calm.

‘… No, let’s be reasonable. I’m sure Llewellyn knows the importance of this engagement very well. Yes, let’s just say we can keep the engagement … But what about Llewelyn’s feelings?’

Would his heart no longer belong to her?

“… Rosenia?”

“…!”

“What are you thinking about?”

Llewellyn’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She stared at him, blinking blankly, and then smiled awkwardly.

“

“It’s nothing. By the way, she’s already here. She’s in this room, right?”

Rosenia tried to change the subject, but Llewellyn just kept staring at her without answering. He must have noticed that something was wrong with her.

“Rosenia, do you have anything troubling you?”

Llewellyn asked. His voice was sweet, but his eyes were sharp.

It felt like he could see right through her, so she pretended to look at the decorations near the door and replied nonchalantly.

“What do you mean by anything troubling me? It’s nothing like that.”

This didn’t seem to convince Llewellyn, but she thought he wouldn’t pry anymore.

However, she was wrong.

“… This won’t do. I’ll put off meeting Miss Oscar until next time. First of all, I need to know what’s going on in your little head.”

“Yes? Heuk, D-Duke! Wait a minute!”

Llewellyn, who spoke very seriously, lifted her up. As he was about to leave the hallway, she managed to stop him with magic. It was a simple spell to create a transparent barrier.

Just before hitting the barrier, Llewellyn, who had barely stopped, sighed and said.

“I almost bumped into it while holding you, Rosenia.”

“I thought you’d notice and stop. More than that, Duke.”

When she said this in a serious voice, he looked at her with serious-looking eyes… Still, his eyes didn’t sway even after knowing that there was someone who could ‘cure’ his mana congestion.

‘But when you meet Sierra … you might change.’

Because a person’s heart is more fickle than one might think.

“… Duke, I can’t wait for you to meet her.”

An insincere voice came out of her mouth. Actually, in a way, it was half sincere because she really wanted him to be cured.

“I heard she can completely cure your mana congestion. So let’s meet her quickly and have a talk.”

Llewellyn just gazed at her for a while without saying a word. She wished he could just say something. Time just passed without a hitch.

Just when she couldn’t stand it anymore, he started talking.

“Rosenia, I.”

Llewellyn finally opened his mouth.

“I don’t care if I don’t get better.”

Rosenia blinked blankly, unable to say anything. He didn’t care if he didn’t get better… What on earth was that supposed to mean? She couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

“… Ridiculous. So, are you saying you’re going to spend the rest of your life struggling with the mana congestion? You might get completely cured …”

“Rosenia.”

Seeing her become agitated, Llewellyn hugged her tightly. The words she couldn’t say were at the tip of her tongue. She looked at him, pursing her lips. The eyes that looked at her were calm, strong, and unwavering …

“Rosenia, I don’t care if I’m not completely cured. I just need you by my side.”

“… Ridiculous.”

“Why do you think it’s ridiculous?”

“Well, no matter how much I think about it, it’s not at all a rational decision… You will suffer from pain for the rest of your life…!”

“I will suffer from pain but…”

Llewellyn’s large caressed her cheek. Tears welled up involuntarily at the warmth of his body. Llewellyn continued while wiping the tears from her eyes with his thumb.

“I know you will make it go away in no time.”

“…”

“Isn’t that right, my dear Rosenia?”

The clear and transparent emerald-like eyes narrowed into soft curves.

‘… What should I say?’

The smile in his eyes was like a peacock spreading its tail feathers. Even in the midst of this, he was seducing her.

He once again left her dumbstruck and she burst out laughing like an idiot.

He always shook her up like this. It only weakened her determined heart.

‘If you had wanted to be cured, I would have understood … Even though it was hard, I would have let you go …’

The rims of her eyes turned red as she burst into tears for no reason. Llewelyn Rasiane was the bane of her life. She never thought she would want him so much.

“I don’t care about anything else.”

Llewellyn kept caressing her cheek and whispered. His tender touch strangely made her feel rather lost.

“You’re the most important thing to me. More than my pain, more than anything else.”

“

Then his lips touched her forehead. The moment Rosenia felt the soft and warm touch, she trembled.

“So, you don’t have to meet with the physician Oscar’s daughter—”

Just then, the door of the parlor burst open.

Rosenia stiffened while being held in Llewellyn’s arms. Because it was very clear who had opened the door.

Soon after, the voice of a girl echoed through the hallway like a pitiful melody.

“No …”

The voice was trembling as if she were crying. It was beautiful and thin enough to make Rosenia’s heart pound. She surely was the female lead.

“Please listen to what I have to say, Duke … I beg you.”

It was the ‘dramatic moment’ when both the male lead and female lead finally met.

Rosenia slowly turned her head and looked at Sierra Oscar.

She was indeed beautiful. No, the word “beautiful” wasn’t enough to describe her. She had shining silver hair as if made from starlight and blue eyes as transparent as glass beads. She was like a lily of the valley that had just bloomed, and like a snowflake that was about to melt away. It was the same as the description in the original story.

‘… How can anyone be so pretty …’

Rosenia thought blankly and checked Llewellyn’s reaction. Her heart was beating wildly. She was really afraid that her fears would come true.

However …

‘Ah …?’

His reaction was completely different from her imagination.

Despite her concern, Llewellyn’s expression as he looked at Sierra was dull. His gaze was as dry as grains of sand in the desert. It was different from when he looked at her. At that moment, she realized for the first time that he could also make this kind of expression.

“… Duke?”

Rosenia quietly called him. Then, as he looked back, his usual smile came back and his whole face came back to life. The dull eyes suddenly changed and were now overflowing with vivid emotions.

Only for her, he only had feelings for her.

It was evident in the voice that answered her call.

“Yes, Rosenia.”

“…”

“Why did you call me?”

Rosenia couldn’t answer immediately and just blinked. The reason why she called him …

… To tell the truth, it was really embarrassing …

‘How do I say this … I wanted to check how you feel when you look at me!’

She wasn’t that thick-faced to say such an embarrassing thing out loud. So she just gave an evasive answer.

“Umm, can you please put me down? To keep hugging like this, it’s a little …”

“Ah …”

Llewellyn sighed low, then narrowed his eyes and said.

“I don’t want to.”

“…?”

No, this guy …

She looked at him and felt dumbfounded at his mischievous smile.

“Is now the time for this? Miss Oscar is watching us. Put me down first and talk.”

“

When she hit him on the chest, Llewellyn finally let her go with a look of regret.

Rosenia shook her head and turned to Sierra Oscar, who stood like a folding screen1.

She glanced at them with an uneasy and treacherous expression.

And Rosenia knew very well why.

‘To avenge your family and protect your life … You must be very desperate.’

Originally, it was Llewellyn who helped her get revenge and saved her life. In exchange, she helped him by healing him completely.

‘But it all got messed up. And this all happened … Because of me.’

Llewellyn chose her.

He did not fall for the heroine, Sierra Oscar.

Rosenia was just happy with the fact. Now that she wouldn’t have to lose Llewellyn to the heroine, a sense of relief swept over her. Her heart was pounding with excitement, but she couldn’t smile as she saw Sierra’s face full of sadness and fear.

‘… My happiness is your misfortune.’

She had taken away her only chance of revenge and her only way to survive …

“…”

She still didn’t like her presence.

However, she felt sorry for her when she thought about her situation; she had lost her family and had been left alone.

Knowing that her presence had twisted Sierra’s life, Rosenia felt a strange sense of guilt.

“…”

‘What should I do?’

She didn’t think it was right to send Sierra away like this.

However, her selfish heart thought of her as a person who had nothing to do with her.

After weighing the two contradictory feelings, the side that weighed more eventually …

… was her weak heart that wanted to help Sierra.

‘I can’t turn a blind eye to it. Considering you lost all your family and came all the way here alone …’

Come to think of it, treating Llewellyn was not the only condition Sierra could use to propose a ‘deal’ with him.

She had strong divine powers, so she would be of great help to the Duke of Rasiane in many other ways.

‘I’m not completely reassured that Llewellyn chose me, but let’s believe him.’

She glanced at Sierra, then at Llewellyn, and said clearly.

“Let’s listen to her for now. What does Miss Oscar have to tell us about?”