Eventually, the woman refused Leon and even asked him to dance.
‘The Duke of Brockburg’s daughter rejected Leon’s request to dance in front of me and asked me to dance?’
Duke Brockburg’s daughter was quite a significant figure.
Duke Brockburg was a man of great skill, character, and influence, making him one of the most respected individuals in the Everetian Empire.
That’s why it was a bitter loss for Calix, when the Duke had joined forces with the Empress, forming an alliance that dealt a painful blow to Calix, the Crown Prince.
However, it was already widely known that the reason the Duke joined hands with the Empress was because of that daughter.
There was no official announcement, but it was because she was about to marry Leon.
For such a woman to reject Leon and invite Calix to dance in front of him was an incomprehensible situation.
Even after that, her eyes remained on him.
During a moment when he felt the limits of enduring her persistent gaze, Prince Eden Darkus arrived.
The woman had a strange and perplexed expression, as did others when their attention shifted to Prince Eden.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Calix quietly began to leave the banquet hall.
This should be sufficient to fulfill the etiquette and obligations expected of a Crown Prince.
Except for one thing that he couldn’t handle properly.
The negotiations over the iron ore deal were the ostensible reason for Eden Darkus’ visit to Everetian.
However, Calix suspected that Eden Darkus’ frequent visits to the country and his long-term stay within the Everetian Empire might have any other purpose.
Therefore, he attended this banquet with the aim of understanding Eden’s inner thoughts.
However, an unexpectedly strange complication—the burdensome gaze of the woman next to him—made it impossible for him to endure any longer.
If the woman’s intention was to get Calix to leave, then she had succeeded quite well.
*****
Despite her drastically changed attitude towards Leon at the imperial palace banquet, it seemed apparent that the love that Leon and Kailyn had nurtured over the past decade was quite strong.
A few days after the banquet, a letter from Leon arrived at the house, inquiring about the optimal time to announce their engagement.
Or perhaps Leon, surprised by my attitude, hastily sent the letter.
Either way, upon reading his letter, my heart sank, and I rushed to my father.
“Father, I am not going to marry Grand Duke Leon.”
My father blinked as if he had misheard something and only after a while asked me.
“Lyn, what do you mean? Isn’t your marriage to Grand Duke Leon already a given?”
We’re not even married, how is it given?
I’m going to change the development.
“My feelings have changed. I neither love Grand Duke Leon nor want to make him the Emperor.”
This time, my father’s eyes widened properly.
He carefully examined my face.
“Lyn. Are you not feeling well? I don’t understand what you’re saying. You suddenly don’t love the Grand Duke. Is this true? Is there something going on between you and the Grand Duke?”
Well, it’s reasonable to doubt that something might be wrong with me.
Saying that my feelings changed overnight.
Still, there was no choice.
“Calix likes me. And I have come to like him too.”
“Lyn!”
My father called my name with a tone so intense that it became a ponderous gaze, whether he was excited or genuinely concerned about my abrupt change of heart.
Just a little while ago, I professed my love for Leon, and now, out of the blue, I declare that I like Calix.
Naturally, it was an expected reaction.
However, without changing a single facial expression, I calmly and firmly stated.
“The Prince of Calix likes me. I want to support him as an Emperor, too.”
Yet, my father wore an expression of disbelief.
After all, Calix had not openly revealed his affection and obsession for Kailyn.
He silently suffered from his unrequited love, gradually increasing his obsession.
Only a writer like me, or perhaps even Kailyn, understood Calix’s feelings when he confessed his love.
Of course, my father, who was completely unaware of Calix’s feelings, couldn’t comprehend my words.
“Lyn, are you sure you’re not sick?”
Kailyn was so weak that she had to recuperate in the countryside.
My father seemed to be concerned that his daughter, who was already physically weak, might now be mentally unwell.
“No, Father! It’s not like that.”
“Lyn!”
Ignoring my father’s attempt to interrupt me, I continued speaking.
“I support Calix! After all, the reason you decided to support Grand Duke Leon in the first place was because of me. So, please support Calix now. I believe that Calix will become the Emperor.”
Even though I already knew, saying it like this wouldn’t make him believe it.
Instead, he might worry about my mental state.
That’s why I couldn’t say more than this.
Despite my strong tone, my father remained silent, holding back something he wanted to say.
However, when my father finally broke the silence, his words went beyond my expectations.
“Lyn, the agreement with Grand Duke Leon has already begun. There is no turning back. Carriages move forward because their wheels interlock. All the wheels of the carriage have already started turning.”
!!!!!
Every wheel? Where is that happening? It’s an event that will occur two years from now, so why can’t it be reversed?
There’s still time.
There’s plenty of time to change the plan.
The details of Kailyn and Calix’s relationship and the events between them were roughly written as the initial plot to create the trauma for the protagonist.
Therefore, the precise details weren’t explicitly written.
That’s why I couldn’t know exactly when the secret agreement between Kailyn’s father and the Empress, which became the starting point for the uprising against Calix, began.
It was mentioned vaguely, occurring around the time of marriage talks.
But has it already started?
It’s already irreversible?
That’s outrageous!
“No! Whether the carriage breaks down or not, we can’t be the wheels of that carriage! You must change the plan.”
No matter what.
You have to support Calix no matter what.
You have to change it if you don’t want to die!
I spoke excitedly, but my father remained silent.
I said it for the last time.
“I support Calix. So, Father, you must break ties with the Empress’s faction. Trust my words.”
“…”
Why aren’t you answering me?
I had to look back…
My father remained silent until the end.
I was scared of the silence.
Though I quickly adapted to the world of the novel I wrote and tried to get used to the fact that the Duke was my father, facing his stubborn opposition made the emotional attachment that had been growing between us start to wither.
*****
After having an intense conversation with my father and returning to my room, my thoughts became even more tangled.
I thought there was enough time to execute the plan to avoid death, but apparently, the point of my transmigration had already started stepping steadily towards the path of the sword.
Moreover, my father’s unwavering determination to stick to the original plan was a reaction I hadn’t anticipated.
What should I do…
How can I survive without getting killed?
Even if Calix loves me and I pretend to love him, if my father instigates a rebellion to oust Calix…
Can he spare the daughter of a traitor just because she claims to be in love?
When I had a lot on my mind,
“Knock, knock.”
Someone knocked on the door.
Thinking it might be a maid, I nervously called for the person to come in, but the door swung open before I could react.
With striking red hair, a quite pretty and cute girl came into my room with her face flushed.
Who is she?
Before I could grasp the situation, the redhead started speaking.
“Lyn! How long has it been?!”
Then she rushed at me and gave me a big hug.
“Lyn. I really missed you. I just got back to Everen yesterday. You missed me too, right?”
Caught off guard by the intense and noisy actions of this girl my age, I was momentarily dumbfounded.
However, I needed to react quickly.
I didn’t recognize her, but I couldn’t show that I didn’t.
Red hair…
“Abby?”
Finally, I remembered the girl’s name, which I had written down next to my brother Luke’s relationships.
She was the only girl with red hair.
“Lyn, I missed you so much. Father took me on a pointless trip, and it’s been so long!”
Seeing that she took it naturally when I called her Abby, I guess I got it right.
This was Abby, my brother Luke’s fiancée, who may not appear in the novel, but only had a set name and appearance for setting.
It was just a setup person but…
Right! She was supposed to be friends with Kailyn in the novel’s setting.
<Abby Dalton – friend of Kailyn, fiancée of Luke, cute appearance with red hair. The youngest daughter of the wealthy Viscount Dalton>
This was all I had written.
But to be this close…
Is this an independently generated subplot?
Carefully trying to understand the situation with the red-haired girl, I spoke cautiously.
“Abby, it’s been a long time. I missed you too.”
“Yeah, it really has. Did you make any progress with Grand Duke Leon while I was away?”
Ah…
She also thinks I’m in a relationship with Grand Duke Leon.
With rumors spreading about Kailyn and Grand Duke Leon being lovers, suddenly changing my mind wouldn’t be easily believed.
“Ah… not really.”
Well, I distanced myself from Grand Duke Leon. Even though I wish I could cut ties completely.
I roughly glossed over my words.
She didn’t seem particularly interested in my answer, and instead, Abby started talking about something else.
“This Friday!”
“What?”
This Friday? What do you mean out of the blue?
Seeing my bewildered reaction, Abby furrowed her brow.
“It’s the Night Market. It’s on Friday night, you know. You didn’t forget, did you? We agreed to go together this time. I convinced my father to let me come back early just to keep the promise with you!”
Night Market? What’s that?
I might have to get used to unfamiliar settings and subplots.
“This Friday? Ah, right.”
I responded vaguely.
She didn’t seem to care much about my answer and continued talking.
“Let’s leave early that day. Since we can’t buy many, we need to see and enjoy as much as possible.”
Many what? Is she talking about books? I still didn’t quite understand.
“Oh, right. We should see as much as possible.”
I answered quickly.
“Two books is the maximum you can hide in the skirt’s width. Oh, I wonder if a new work by my favorite author is out?”
Hide them in the skirt’s width? A new work?
Wait, what’s going on?
Could it be… that kind of book?
I looked at Abby and tentatively asked.
“Why hide them in skirts? Just proudly carry them. It’s fine.”
Abby’s eyes widened, and she slapped me while saying,
“Lyn, have you gone mad? Your father and brother think of you as ‘Baby Lyn’, and if you show up with books full of explicit content, they’ll be like, ‘Oh, our adult Lyn…’ Wake up!”
Oh, right! Got it! Adult content!
So, this world also has such “good” things? Books full of explicit content? Then is it a picture book?
“It’s better to buy a picture book, right?”
I cautiously asked Abby.
I like pictures.
“Do as you please. I already own everything with high artistic value… Actually, this sister is focusing on practical experience rather than theory now.”
Huh?
Practical experience rather than theory?
What could that mean?
Theory is books, and practice is… oh!
My eyes widened, and I stared at Abby.
Seeing my reaction, Abby naturally said,
“Lyn, you’ve seen enough books, right? It’s time to move on to practical steps with Grand Duke Leon… Once you’ve studied, you should apply it to real life.”
Oh dear… she’s quite a player.
This won’t work.
One by one, without just skipping over it, I have to tell each person that I’m no longer in a relationship with Grand Duke Leon.
“Abby, about that, Grand Duke Leon… I…”
However, before I could finish my sentence, Abby spoke up again.
“By the way, if you get caught bringing in those books by your father and brother, keep our trip to the night market a secret.”
Ugh…
Looks like it won’t be easy.
Still, the man she’s to marry and her father-in-law might be bothered.
Due to Abby’s prattling, I ended up forgetting what I wanted to say about my relationship with Grand Duke Leon.
