<CHAPTER 2>
Brilliant golden hair and eyes as blue as a tranquil lake.
She was a woman with a pale, slender figure and features so delicately sculpted that she looked almost unreal.
I’ve never seen her before…
When Emilia’s eyes met the woman’s, she blinked.
Then she began trying to figure out who she was.
Is she a guest of Mrs. Romans?
Judging by her expensive clothes, that seemed the most likely possibility.
Ever since Cedric had passed his examination, Mrs. Romans had occasionally invited guests over for tea.
Emilia looked up at Cedric, silently asking him for an explanation.
“Who is she?”
“Th-that’s…”
Cedric stammered in response to her question, but he stepped forward, deliberately blocking the woman from Emilia’s view.
But then—
“Ced. May I introduce myself?”
The woman stepped to the side again and gently placed a hand on Cedric’s arm.
Emilia’s gaze naturally fell upon that pale, delicate hand.
Ced?
That was a nickname even Emilia herself never used.
A strange sense of displeasure made her brows knit together, and then the woman continued.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Reina Ilake.”
“Oh, I’m Emilia…”
Emilia was about to introduce herself as well when she stopped.
The woman’s name was not unfamiliar.
Her eyes widened.
Reina Ilake?
That was undoubtedly the name of the heroine in this novel.
The heroine who had been born as the illegitimate daughter of a count’s family and entered into a contract engagement with the male lead in order to escape her family.
No way…
Emilia looked over the woman’s appearance once more.
Now that she thought about it, she looked exactly as she had been described in the novel.
Why on earth is she here?
And in her fiancé’s home, no less.
Just like Emilia herself, Cedric was a character who had never even appeared in the corner of the original novel.
Furthermore, Reina was supposed to remain confined to her estate until she met the male protagonist, Kaiden…
Perhaps noticing Emilia’s confusion, Reina offered an explanation.
“Cedric and I were childhood friends. We happened to run into each other in the capital, though. Isn’t that right, Ced?”
“Y-yeah… We happened to run into each other on my way back to the inn. Haha.”
“How lucky I was to see you again in such a dreary capital.”
Reina smiled shyly, as though reminiscing about the happy day they had reunited.
The two of them were childhood friends?
Emilia had never known that.
She hurriedly searched through her memories of the original story.
Come to think of it…
Before it was revealed that Reina was the illegitimate daughter of the count’s family, there had been a mention that she had lived in the countryside.
Then is that when they met?
But even so, that didn’t answer all of Emilia’s questions.
Even if she was happy to see an old friend, would she really follow him all the way out here?
Just then, Mrs. Romans approached the entrance with a puzzled expression.
“Why are you all still standing out here… Emilia? What brings you here at this hour?”
Reina smiled brightly and invited her in.
“Why don’t we all go inside instead of standing here?”
Her manner was almost as if she were the lady of the house herself.
Emilia glanced between Cedric and Mrs. Romans.
Judging from their expressions, neither of them seemed to find anything strange about Reina’s behavior.
Am I the only one who thinks this is strange?
A peculiar feeling passed through her.
But whether Reina knew what Emilia was thinking or not, she urged her on.
“Yes? Please, come in.”
“…All right.”
Emilia slowly nodded.
Whatever the case, she couldn’t simply face this situation and then go home.
—
The meal was quite pleasant.
Mrs. Romans asked Reina about her life over the years.
Cedric shared memories of the time they had spent together as children.
Clink. Clink.
Yet Emilia alone remained silent.
Though she was sitting at the same table, she felt as though she were stranded on a deserted island, completely cut off from everyone else.
But even more than that sense of isolation, it was Cedric’s behavior that bothered her.
He acted as though Reina, his childhood friend, was the only person in the room he could see.
Well, of course he’d be happy to see an old friend after so long.
But Emilia had come all the way to his house because she was worried about him, only to be treated as though she were invisible.
“Ce…”
She was about to call out to the visibly excited Cedric, but closed her mouth again.
No matter how she looked at it, this wasn’t something she should say in front of an unrelated person.
Instead, she deliberately set her spoon down on the table with a sharp clatter.
Only then did everyone at the table turn their eyes toward her.
“I don’t feel well, so I’m going to get up first. I’ll be in the guest room for a while.”
“What?”
Scrape.
Before Cedric could even finish his response, Emilia deliberately rose from her seat and walked away.
Truthfully, she wanted nothing more than to return home immediately.
But there was a reason she didn’t.
She wanted to talk to Cedric.
Why hadn’t he contacted her even once all this time?
And, more importantly, what on earth had he been doing that had made him return so late?
—
After entering the guest room, Emilia frowned, feeling strangely uncomfortable.
Did I really get indigestion?
She had only used it as an excuse to leave the table, but it seemed the food she had eaten earlier really had gotten stuck in her stomach.
She was thumping her chest with her fist when—
Knock. Knock.
A soft voice came from beyond the door.
“May I talk to you for a moment?”
“Come in.”
As soon as Emilia gave permission, the door opened cautiously and Reina entered the room.
“What is it?”
“Well…”
But Reina didn’t say anything.
She simply hesitated.
“Sit down and tell me.”
“Thank you.”
At Emilia’s gesture, Reina sat down in the chair across from her.
Yet for some reason, she still couldn’t bring herself to speak for quite some time.
Emilia quietly waited.
What could she possibly want to talk about that she’s taking this long to say it?
Perhaps something that had happened in the dining room was bothering her.
Just as Emilia was trying to guess the reason—
“Actually, I came because I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor?”
The unexpected request left Emilia puzzled.
Not Cedric, but me? Someone she’s never even met before?
“What kind of favor?”
At that, Reina, who had kept her head lowered all this time, finally raised her beautiful blue eyes and met Emilia’s gaze.
There was even a hint of determination in them.
“Please break up with Cedric.”
“…What?”
The words that came out of Reina’s mouth were so absurd that Emilia instinctively asked again.
“Are you telling me to break up with Cedric?”
Reina nodded.
“I know what I’m saying is sudden. But if you truly care about Cedric, then you should be the one to break up with him first, Emilia.”
She tightly clasped her hands on the table.
“Cedric has nothing left to do but climb higher now. But if you stay by his side, it will be difficult for him.”
For a moment, Emilia was speechless.
Is she saying that I’ll only hold Cedric back?
Of course, if she looked at the matter objectively, Reina wasn’t entirely wrong.
To rise to a higher position, it was fundamentally helpful to establish connections with powerful nobles.
And the easiest way to accomplish that would be to marry a noble lady.
On the other hand, Emilia had no connections whatsoever and couldn’t provide Cedric with that kind of assistance.
But still…
This was crossing the line.
Not just slightly, but by a considerable margin.
To say something like this to the fiancée of a friend she had only just reunited with was incredibly presumptuous and rude.
“Whether or not I’ll hinder Cedric’s future is something we’ll have to wait and see.”
Emilia spoke firmly.
“B-but—”
“And more importantly, I have no reason to hear something like that from a third party.”
At those words, Reina bit her lip tightly.
But only for a moment.
Then she hurriedly continued.
“If it were me! I could help Cedric. I could introduce him to the sons of noble families I know, and also…”
“That’s enough, Reina. Are you saying you want to become Cedric’s fiancée in my place?”
“…”
Reina lowered her head and said nothing.
That silence was clearly an affirmation.
So that’s really why she was doing all this?
