Chapter 32: CH 32

(Eve’s POV)

“Oh, right.”

If we catch the culprit right before taking the drugs and ask her about what she’s trying to do, the culprit would get rid of the scheme.

‘If only I could tell the Duchess or Diane beforehand, but if they ask me how I knew about it, I would have no way of explaining it.’

So, it would be best to hit the scene right before the incident occurs.

A beautifully crafted wall clock was hanging on the hallway wall.

Diane said that the time she takes her medicine was around 10 o’clock.

There was still plenty of time.

We had nothing to worry about since the Grand Duke’s knights were just waiting downstairs in case we needed them.

“Then let’s go to the music room.”

We passed the hall on the second floor with the Grand Duke and went up to the music room.

On the day of the event, all the workers are mobilized to attend and provide assistance inside the mansion.

Even now, the lower floors of the basement, where the servants work, must be hectic.

In the hallway, where the rooms that will not be used during the party are located, only glass lights were hung, and not a single soul can be seen.

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Still, the light in the tea room that was next to the music room was brightly lit and the maids were busy moving inside.

At the end of the Ball, the lady guests would come up here to drink tea and chat.

It seemed to have been prepared in advance.

“It’s here.”

I opened the door to the music room.

The door, which had been tightly closed, opened easily.

Nell who had come in advance must have left it open.

It was dark inside the music room with the lights turned off.

The pastel-toned furniture and the harpsichord engraved with colorful patterns are quietly immersed in the darkness.

The only light was a yellow light from the little lamp that Nell was holding.

Nell was sitting on the sofa as she waited for me.

“Princess…… Oh my… I greet you, Your Grace, The Grand Duke.”

Nell, who was glad to see me, found the Grand Duke and bowed her head in haste.

“No one has come yet, right?”

“Yes, Princess. No one came.”

“Good job, Nell. Please go down now, return the key to the Duchess, and rest.”

When Nell closed the door and left, it was only the two of us who were left in the music room.

“We can wait here.”

We had no choice but to wait for the maid to bring in Lady Diane’s medicine.

We sat down on the sofa in the music room.

There was a chill seeping in, inside the darkroom.

Only the small lamp that Nell had left was emitting a warm yellow light in the dark blue darkness.

Outside the window was a small garden covered with white snow.

The snow that was piled lightly shone in dazzled blue under the moonlight.

The cold moon hung in the night sky and drew white rays on the windows and decorations.

“Do you think it’s okay for us to do this?”

After a while, I broke the silence first.

The Grand Duke turned to look at me.

In the quiet darkness, his eyes were also dyed black-purple like the night sky.

“Do you want to go back to the ballroom?”

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“No, it’s not like that.”

I didn’t want to go back to a place where I was getting everyone’s attention again.

I felt like a rare animal to be seen at a zoo.

“I just thought that people will look at us strangely if we don’t go back until the party is over.”

Hearing this, the Grand Duke looked at me carefully for a moment.

“There is nothing strange about it. Isn’t it natural to have a secret meeting with your fiancé on a day like this?”

That part is what I meant to be weird.

We went out saying that we will rest for a while and didn’t come back for a long time.

And then they would notice that we are not in either the drawing-room that was beside the ballroom or in the waiting room.

It was a situation that could be misunderstood by anyone.

Well, we indeed planned to have it as if we are in love anyway, so It seems that things are going according to our plan…..

As I was thinking up to that point, I felt the Grand Duke’s gaze and lifted my head again.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“The Crown Prince, did he know that the Princess was in danger?”

Oh, was that what you were curious about?

“No, he doesn’t know.”

After listening to my reply, the Grand Duke spoke quietly after a short pause.

“I’m curious. Why did you leave your real brother unaware about what’s happening, and ask me for help instead?”

That’s because you’re the final winner in the original story.

But of course,  I couldn’t say that.

“Do you think that my older brother can protect me? Against His Majesty the Emperor?”

As the Grand Duke, he can fight the Emperor and protect me.

However, for Arentine, he has no power yet to stop the Emperor’s evil plan.

“Honestly, I don’t think he has the heart to protect me.”

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Even if we have that special connection, he could have just pretended to be sad once Eve died.

In the original story, Arentine did not show any form of sadness at Eve’s death.

Rather, there was a scene where the nobles murmured that the Crown Prince seemed to be delighted with the death of his younger sister.

It’s not surprising considering Eve’s deeds, but he’s still a very cold-hearted older brother.

And he is my one and only brother.

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‘Come to think of it, I have never been blessed with my family here either.’

Before I came inside this novel, even when I was living in the real world, I always had no family.

My parents died when I was very young, and I went back and forth between relatives’ houses and later went to an orphanage to live.

Considering those days, I think it’s a little better to live here as a Princess and enjoy the luxury of living.

Still, if I had to come inside a book, I would have preferred to live in a normal household, not as a noble or Imperial family, as long as I could live happily in an ordinary family.

And I don’t think I’ve caused any particular harm to others.….

To become a villain who is hated by her family and is about to die is just a little too much.

While I was immersed in my thoughts, suddenly something was wrapped around me.

As I turned around due to surprise, I saw the black robe that the Grand Duke was wearing, now hanging on my shoulder.

The Grand Duke, who took off his robe and put it on my shoulder, spoke in an indifferent tone when our eyes met.

“If you wear such thin clothes in the middle of winter, you will get sick.”

What I’m wearing now was an evening dress that is normally worn during a Ball.

It was a dress that exposed both arms, but I did not feel the cold when I was in the ballroom.

However, inside this music room, the air was a little bit chilly. And wearing his outer coat made me feel much warmer.

“It’s warm. Thank you so much, Grand Duke.”

“Terrence.”

I looked back to see what he meant, and the Grand Duke added in a calm voice.

“Call me Terrence. How long are you going to call your fiancé by his title?”

Oh, so that was his name.

I always kept thinking that he was the Grand Duke, so I forgot his real name. Yeah, since he was my fiancé, I’d better call him by his name.

“Thank you, Terrence.”

The Grand Duke, no, Terrence turned his gaze back to the window.

I couldn’t see it in detail, but at first glance, it looked like there was a wrinkle on his forehead.

Did I do something wrong?

But Terrence remained silent, staring only at the window.

This guy is hard to please.

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I’m just glad that it’s a contract marriage. How hard is it for a woman to become this man’s wife?

It was when I was complaining like that.

Tap. Tap.

At that moment, faint footsteps were heard outside the door.

The source of the sound was coming from the hallway.

Someone was approaching this way as they passed through the quiet hallway.

We approached the door without time to discuss our plan.

Terrence gently opened the door silently.

Through the gap in the slightly opened door, I could see the back of the maid walking down the hallway.

A maid walked to Diane’s room with a tray of medicine bowls on it.

It was the same scene that I’ve seen on the foresight.

As soon as I saw it, tension spread through my back.

Scenes I had seen as illusions were repeated in my head.

After the maid who brought the medicine bowl goes out, the criminal inside gets a suspicious powder on the medicine.

Then Diane, who was in the bedroom, comes out and drinks the medicine.

The first thing was for us to break in just before Diane took her medicine to catch the culprit and gather the evidence.

The maid with the medicine bowl opened the door leading to Diane’s inner room and went inside.

While I and Terrence peered into the hallway through the crack in the door and waited, holding our breath.

After a while, the maid who entered the room came out with an empty tray.

The maid turned around the hallway and disappeared.

And a few seconds passed in tension.

“Now.”

At this point, the criminal must have called Lady Diane.

I glanced at Terrence, thinking the same thing, and immediately opened the door and went inside.

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Passing through the small living room, I opened the drawing-room door immediately.

As expected, as soon as the door opened, the criminal maid and Diane were together inside her room.

“Lady Diane.”

Diane, who was holding the medicine bowl, heard Terrence’s voice and raised her head in shock.

“Brother Terrence?”

“Lady Diane, you can’t drink that!”

“What….?”

While Diane sat idly, unaware of the situation, Terrence quickly approached and took the bowl from her hand.

A moment of despair passed by in a blink of an eye.

Looking back, it was a life-changing thing, but it passed in an instant and only figured out once the situation was over…. 

That was the case with Diane.

It wasn’t until Diane came to her senses that she realized that her cousin, Terrence, had grabbed her wrist and stole the bowl of medicine.

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