Chapter 4
“By the way, Jeffrey was also the first to fall for Julieta in the original work.”
Unlike other obsessed male leads who first see her at Julieta’s debutante ball a year later, Jeffrey wasn’t there.
The reason was that Jeffrey was engaged to Ariadne.
It was natural for Jeffrey, who had come to visit Bellower Manor to meet his fiancée, to come face to face with Juliet, Ariadne’s close friend.
“Hmm. While we’re on the subject, shall we revamp Jeffrey first?”
With that thought in mind, I hurried to finish the meal.
And that night, I received a bouquet of flowers from Jeffrey, sent through Juliet.
“Here’s the bouquet. Oh, and this is a letter that came with it. Of course, I haven’t opened it, so you can rest assured.”
Julieta handed me the letter with a grin.
“Thank you, Julieta. Have sweet dreams since it’s late.”
“Yeah. You have sweet dreams too, Ari.”
After bidding farewell to Juliet, I closed the door. Then I looked at the large bouquet in my hand.
“A hundred white roses….”
The fully bloomed white roses emitted a fresh floral scent.
The pale yellow roses reminded me not of Ariadne’s distinct blonde hair but of Juliet’s platinum blonde locks.
“Hmm… shall I read the letter then?”
With a calm heart, I opened the envelope. Inside, there were a few sentences written in elegant handwriting.
Julieta, you resemble this flower.
“…Ugh. What a nauseating line.’’
My fingers suddenly curled up like dried squid.
I shuddered and quickly tossed the letter into the fireplace.
There was a bit of stupidity in the third iteration of myself.
So, I believed I could revive the obsessively possessive male leads from the original work through dialogue.
“Douglas Youngsik, listen to me carefully from now on.”
The first person I encountered in the third iteration was Jeffrey Douglas, Ariadne’s fiancé. Despite his twisted aspects, I believed he could easily be reformed with the right words.
“I know you dislike me, Douglas Youngsik. I also know you were forced into this engagement because of your parents.”
“…What?”
“If you truly develop feelings for someone else, I will break off our engagement. But there are conditions.”
“…?”
I expected him to raise both hands and cheer at the mention of breaking off the engagement, but his reaction was strange.
I glanced at Jeffrey’s face, assessing the situation.
He was distorting his handsome features, his thick eyebrows wriggling as if uncomfortable.
“Why is he like that…?”
I kept quiet, sensing a foreboding atmosphere, like a storm about to hit.
“Hey, have you found a man or something?”
Much later, Jeffrey’s chilly voice reached me.
He glared fiercely at me with cold eyes.
“Why is he reacting like this…?”
Isn’t it usually the person who dealt the blow that gets angry?
It was absurd for him to get angry while he himself was having affairs and then ask me if I had a man.
I couldn’t understand Jeffrey’s behavior, but I reopened my mouth to try to salvage the situation.
“It’s not like that. I just wanted to suggest something for Douglas Youngsik’s future.”
“Yeah? Then why suddenly talk about breaking off the engagement? Do you want to break off our engagement?”
“No… That’s not important. What I wanted to say is…”
“No. That’s important, Aria.”
Jeffrey raised an eyebrow and leaned towards me.
Then he looked at me and smiled maliciously.
“Breaking off the engagement? Are you kidding? No matter how much I don’t like it, you have to marry me.”
“…”
“No matter what happens, I can’t break off the engagement with you. So don’t even think about it, Ariadne. You have to marry me.”
…Wait, wasn’t it always the one who asked for the breakup first who was on that side?
I don’t know if it was because it was before the original started, but at that time, Jeffrey seemed to have no intention of breaking off the engagement with me at all.
“Why? Since we both dislike each other anyway… Wouldn’t breaking off the engagement be a good thing?”
I couldn’t understand Jeffrey’s mind at all. What on earth was he thinking, living his life like that?
But what couldn’t be understood couldn’t be understood, and I had to initiate his regeneration.
I gently persuaded Jeffrey, brainwashing him steadily with the “method of transforming from a clingy man to a Benz man,” and eventually…
“Douglas Yeongsik, what did you say to do if the person you like doesn’t accept my heart?”
“You said to wait calmly without hurting them with mean words. Don’t act recklessly or try to confine them.”
The regeneration was successful. I was so moved to hear such normal words coming out of Jeffrey’s mouth.
With a touched expression, I clapped my hands. Then Jeffrey twitched uncomfortably, raising one eyebrow.
“Hey, do you think I’m a child or something? Do you think I don’t know such obvious things?”
I didn’t know. That’s why Julietta, because of you, destroyed the empire. Damn it.
But I forced a smile. Arguing with Jeffrey at that point seemed like pouring oil on a burning fire.
“Anyway, it’s amazing.”
Jeffrey had definitely become a different person from the first and second times. And surprisingly, he sought me out more than Julieta did.
“…Can we see this positively?”
It was unclear, but I let it pass. Well, as long as he doesn’t obsess over Julieta.
But on the day of Julieta’s debutante ball, when the original story begins, Jeffrey, whom I had worked so hard to regenerate, suddenly fell in love with Julietta like a different person.
And as in the original, he earnestly pursued Julietta, and eventually, the rampaging Julietta destroyed the empire.
“Damn it. It was a real waste of time.”
As I reminisced about the past, a sense of regret overwhelmed me again.
I reluctantly called Sophia, Ariadne’s maid.
Sophia was one of the few servants at the Veloa Mansion who was friendly to Ariadne.
“Oh my. Miss, why are you up so early today?”
Sophia asked with a puzzled voice as she looked at me.
The original Ariadne was a heavy sleeper, but how could she properly obsess over the male leads if she was like that?
The basics of obsession were diligence and perseverance. So with determination, I replied to Sophia.
“I’m going to try waking up early from now on. I can’t afford to live lazily anymore.”
“Oh my! Miss, you seem to be in high spirits,” Sophia exclaimed, covering her mouth as she giggled.
I smiled back at her and handed her the paper and pen I was holding.
“So, Sophia, there are a few things you need to take care of right away. It’s quite a list, so jot them down as I tell you.”
“Yes, of course. Just tell me.”
As Sophia took the paper and pen, I began calmly.
“First, find us a florist. We’ll need about one to three people. We need someone who can start working right away this afternoon.”
“Yes, yes. And then?”
“We need yellow roses. But not just any shade of yellow. I need about 10,000 roses in a shade closest to my hair color.”
“….Ten thousand? That many? What are you going to do with them?”
Sophia’s mouth hung open in disbelief.
…Well, sure, 10,000 roses might be a bit excessive. But it can’t be helped.
After all, if you’re going to be obsessive, the scale has to match.
Who would take seriously a clingy male lead who gives just ten roses? It’s somewhat amusing, isn’t it? It even makes you seem a bit pathetic.
At least 10,000 roses would be considered insane. Well then, okay.
“In fact, I’m planning a surprise event for Douglas Youngsik. So, I need you to arrange a little pretext for me to visit the Duke Douglas today. Just decorate his room for a while and come back. Let them know we won’t need any hospitality.”
“Wow… a surprise event? Douglas Youngsik must be really lucky!”
Sophia clasped her hands together in awe. Perhaps in her mind, a beautiful pink romance involving her mistress was being vividly painted.
And with eager eyes, Sophia assured me.
“Miss, trust me. I’ll do everything in my power to ensure your surprise event is a success!”
“Mmhm. Thank you.”
“Actually, it wasn’t a pink romance but merely a countermeasure against obsession… But I guess there’s no need to let that be known.’’
And about three hours later, Sofia returned and informed me that all preparations were complete.
“Ariadne, Miss, I’ve prepared everything you asked for.”
“Oh my, already?”
“Yes! I told you I would help you with everything, didn’t I?”
Sophia smiled brightly, her eyes sparkling. Somehow, she seemed more reliable than usual.
“Thank you, Sophia. I’m ready too.”
Today, I wore a red dress, which I don’t usually wear. And I adorned my neck with a deep amethyst necklace.
Large violet sapphire earrings twinkled on my ears. The reason I dressed up like this was that Jeffrey had a habit of being suspicious.
“Just by dressing up, I can express how obsessed I am with the other person.”
That’s how obsessed male protagonists are.
At first, the heroine’s hair color might upset him, but eventually, it becomes his favorite color, and he might even suffer from separation anxiety if he can’t see that color.
“Yeah. So I should wear more red and purple dresses. I hope Jeffrey feels disgusted by seeing me like this.”
With that thought in mind, I called Sophia.
“Sophia, let’s go now. Is the carriage waiting?”
Sophia nodded briskly as if she had been waiting.
“Yes! Of course! We can leave right away!”
