Chapter 3
While living as Eliana, she quickly adapted to the life of a noble lady of the Grand Duke’s family, as if she had naturally blended into it.
She was not just an ordinary noble.
She was the precious daughter of the highest-ranking family in the Empire, excluding the Imperial Family, so she knew she could not behave roughly like her original self.
The kind and wise eldest daughter of the Grand Duke’s family died and came back to life, only to suddenly speak and act like some commoner woman?
No matter what the outcome would be, it was obvious that such behavior would only bring her exhaustion and trouble.
So she toned down her toughness and pretended to be more elegant in the way she spoke and acted.
Perhaps because she had read many web novels with similar genres and themes for years, acting and speaking like the precious daughter of a noble family was not that difficult.
‘Though it’s a little ridiculous how well I’m doing it.’
She did not know whether she had a talent for acting or whether she was simply lucky enough to resemble the original Eliana.
But no one pointed out anything strange about her words or actions.
They naturally accepted her elegant behavior, and she also naturally accepted the comfort of being served by them.
It was a little absurd even to herself that she acted as naturally as someone who had lived her entire life as a beautiful and kind duchess’s daughter.
But as expected, indirect experience was still experience.
Fortunately, she was also able to glimpse the knowledge and education Eliana had acquired throughout her life.
It was as if she could take out a related book whenever she needed it.
Whenever she had a question or read something, related knowledge would naturally rise in her mind.
If the precious daughter of such a noble family, especially the daughter of a Grand Duke, had died and returned only to become an illiterate person who had forgotten all the knowledge she had learned, people would have looked down on her.
At least, that would not happen.
As always, the time spent reading books with the children passed quickly.
Each child’s nanny came to pick them up, saying it was time for their home tutor lessons.
The children looked disappointed, but only after she promised to read to them again tomorrow did they finally wave their hands and leave her room while holding their nannies’ hands.
Meli, the maid, also remembered the things she had to do and placed down the teapot she had just filled with tea before leaving.
Finally alone, Eliana took out a stack of papers.
Reading and writing were not a problem, but unfamiliar curly letters filled the pages.
‘It has already been a month, so I’ve adapted quite a bit, and my body has recovered somewhat. It’s time to start thinking about how to survive.’
She had no intention of settling down here and living forever as Eliana.
But she also had no intention of running away without a plan.
Everything in life required a plan.
Of course, that might have been because she had an extreme obsession with planning.
For her, making plans and acting according to them was as natural as breathing.
A plan for the plan.
Thinking of possible unexpected situations and preparing Plan B and Plan C before moving forward had been her long-standing habit and life principle.
She had personally experienced in her previous life that only by doing this could she calmly handle unexpected situations that did not fit even Plan B or Plan C.
She knew better than to run away without any information or plan about this world just because she was currently living comfortably with a warm bed and a full stomach.
She was not young enough to believe life was easy in any world.
A young woman with poor health wandering alone in the cold North without a home or possessions would obviously face countless dangers.
Even without those problems, she knew that living outside without proper health would likely result in freezing to death or starving.
She was trying to escape for her own safety, yet if she put herself in a situation where she might freeze to death, that made no sense.
She had lived her entire life as a merchant.
Losing her life because she miscalculated profit and loss was a merchant’s shame, and her pride would never allow it.
And this stack of papers contained the escape methods and life plans she had carefully created while adapting to life in the Grand Duke’s household.
‘Ah, I’m thirsty.’
After thinking deeply for so long, her throat became dry.
Eliana turned her head.
The teapot Meli had left behind caught her eyes.
She looked over them once and picked up the teapot with a white base and blue patterns among the two teapots.
She poured the transparent liquid into the empty cup.
After filling it to an appropriate amount, she placed the teapot down again and lifted the cup.
The liquid, warm enough to drink, moistened her tongue before flowing down her throat.
It was almost tasteless, but perhaps because of its temperature, she could feel a slight sweetness.
It was not unpleasant.
‘What method would be the safest?’
The method she had marked as the safest and most perfect was slowly being forgotten by everyone.
She would claim that her poor health had worsened and that she needed to go somewhere for recovery.
Then she would spread rumors that she had gone to a region where the influence of the North and the Central territories was weak, lived in seclusion there, and eventually died because she could not overcome her illness.
After that, she would disappear without anyone knowing.
There would probably be a funeral and all sorts of procedures, but that could be handled by replacing her body with a fake corpse.
Of course, she would need to find someone capable of creating that fake body and keeping the secret.
She did not know how many years it would take, but she believed it was the most natural and safest method.
It was also a way to live a completely new life of her own.
Not as Eliana, the eldest daughter of the Grand Duke.
But as another person with a new life.
Of course, during the time she spent secluded away to be forgotten by everyone, she would need to prepare a way to earn a living.
She had spent her whole life working under others, earning enough each month to survive.
Just because she had lived comfortably for a while did not mean she could never do such things again.
She had always been quick to learn and capable of handling various jobs.
She was confident she could at least feed herself.
‘To do that…’
Eliana rested her chin on her hands, which were clasped together.
She could not handle everything alone.
Even leaving under the excuse of poor health required help.
First, she needed to convince the Grand Duke.
And she needed to avoid attracting Baron Arenta’s suspicion.
She did not have the naive belief that people would interpret her intentions exactly as she wanted, regardless of her true purpose.
Especially not Baron Arenta, who had a strong desire for power and obsession with becoming the Grand Duke.
‘He will definitely suspect me.’
Meaning, he was not the kind of person who would simply believe that she wanted to leave the North because of illness and do nothing.
‘He might even bribe the servants leaving with me and try to kill me.’
Since they would be far away, eliminating her would be easier.
And after that, eliminating the person he bribed and destroying the evidence would also be simple.
In the original story, he had dealt with his nephews and political enemies using similar methods.
Besides, how many servants did the Grand Duke’s household have?
She did not think she could identify Baron Arenta’s spies among so many people.
Perhaps a protagonist could do such a thing.
But she knew very well that such luck and coincidences would not be granted to her.
‘Then…’
Eliana turned her head.
The Artera Mountains, standing in a line with their shoulders touching each other, entered her sight.
She needed an ally.
Someone who could eliminate Baron Arenta’s unnecessary suspicions.
Someone who could whisper false truths close to him and make him lower his guard.
At the same time, someone who could make a deal with her and gain something they desired.
Someone with a desire strong enough to covet what she could offer.
She needed such a person.
‘Who could there be?’
Eliana tilted her head and fell into thought.
Was there anyone in The Law of Winsa who matched all these conditions?
She could not remember clearly.
Even though she had read it several times, it had already been years.
If there was no one in The Law of Winsa who matched such conditions, she would have to find someone herself.
And that was also a problem.
Someone who met all these requirements either had to be someone Baron Arenta already held a weakness over, preventing them from acting freely, or someone he genuinely trusted.
In other words, that person would become a double agent.
It would be extremely dangerous both for Eliana and for whoever took on that role.
If Baron Arenta found out that Eliana had approached one of his trusted aides or someone whose weakness he held, he would suspect them regardless of their intentions.
And to erase his own crimes, he would kill one of them.
Eliana still had value because of the issue of legitimacy, and Baron Arenta had to avoid suspicion regarding the attempted murder of the duchess’s daughter.
So she would not be killed immediately.
But what about the person who secretly worked with her?
Baron Arenta was someone who treated the lives of his political enemies as worthless as flies.
If such a person began to suspect that someone had betrayed him…
There was no way he would let that person live.
If someone was Baron Arenta’s close aide or someone whose weakness he held, they would understand this the moment she proposed a deal.
If someone foolish enough to accept her hand without realizing such risks existed, she would refuse them from the beginning.
If someone with such poor judgment ruined everything, her own life would not be safe either.
She needed to find someone who understood everything and still had a desire strong enough to take her hand.
Someone who, even while expecting death and destruction, would still choose to make a deal with her.
And someone clever enough to avoid being discovered.
Choosing the right person was the most important problem.
If the person who made a deal with her was discovered and killed by Baron Arenta, Eliana would have to find another person.
If that happened several times, she herself could truly die in the end.
‘Huh?’
At that moment, the image of one man flashed through her mind.
A man who should currently be spending the remaining time with his dying mother in the smallest palace of the Imperial Family.
‘He exists.’
A man who longed for freedom.
A man who hated the entire Imperial Family, Royal Family, and nobles who had pushed both himself and his mother into a pit of suffering.
Moreover, because he was a member of the Imperial Family, Baron Arenta would not dare touch him even if he suspected him of working with her.
A man who disliked Eliana but could not treat her carelessly because of her status.
A man who acted as if he loved his fiancée more than anyone else in front of others, while secretly providing resources to Baron Arenta so that he could kill her.
If someone appeared who could help him achieve his desire even at the cost of death and ruin, he was the kind of man who would take that hand without hesitation.
Kallis il Cielo Ertilla Barman.
Her fiancé.
‘He will be useful.’
The corners of Eliana’s lips stretched upward.
She moved aside the paper where she had been drawing meaningless lines, revealing a clean sheet underneath.
Eliana dipped her quill into the ink bottle and pressed it firmly.
“Dear my fiancé, Prince Kallis…”
Eliana murmured.
A trace of wickedness could be heard in her voice as she read the words of the letter she was writing.
Her plan was already sufficient.
Using someone was merely one part of the many plans she had prepared.
She had also already created detailed strategies.
Now that the target had been decided, there was no reason to waste time.
They said that when you decide to remove a bull’s horn, you should do it while it is still hot.
She did not want to delay any longer.
