CH 25

Daniel looked at Frey with his hand on his chin.

The fatigue of the carriage movement seemed considerable.

Daniel was also tired of opening the gate with magic whenever he could not feel the presence of the undead monsters.

However, he sat on a sofa one person far away and could not fall asleep, only covering and opening books.

“… … .”

He was lying on his bed, looking at Frey, who was in a deep sleep.

The image of sleeping while hugging a warm white cotton blanket with magical powers attached to it.

Her dark blonde hair, a characteristic of the royal family, waved to her waist, and her long eyelashes and red lips looked like they had been taken from a doll.

However, what filled Daniel’s mind was not the beautiful Princess Frey’s appearance as rumored.

[“Daniel Prause. Were you having a hard time too?”]

Why did my heart beat at those words?

it was an immediate reaction as if he had been waiting for the word.

I couldn’t understand why Frey’s face and soft eye smile seemed slow at the moment when she said that.

He thought there was not a single thing in common between the princess and himself.

As I reached that point, my subconscious mindset off an alarm.

If you’re mesmerized like this, it’s like you peeped with magic….’

After spending several hours in a daze, Daniel put down the book he was reading.

[“Fray. Will you watch me if I seduce you?”

My head became more complicated when I remembered the scene I had seen in Frey’s future. 

Was it not because of the princess’s magic or curse that made him say such an embarrassing thing, but because of the brief consolation he had just heard?

He suddenly became anxious.

‘Don’t tell me what just happened will make the future worse.’

However, even if he placed his index finger lightly on the back of Frey’s hand and tried to activate magic, he could not spy on the future because he did not have permission from the person concerned.

“Ugh, Daniel… … ?”

Frey mumbled at the thought of something touching the back of her hand. Then her soft skin and hair brushed against Daniel’s fingertips.

“… … !”

Daniel, who was the first to contact a woman in the bedroom, was so startled that he sent Frey into the bedroom of the Grand Duchess.

* * *

the next morning.

“Her Highness the Grand Duchess?”

I heard Emma’s voice.

I was so deeply asleep that I would have forgotten that I had become a Grand Duchess if she hadn’t called me that.

‘Did Emma come to Daniel’s 

bedroom to pick me up?’

I woke up slowly stretching.

However, the situation was different from what I expected.

I’m sure I fell asleep in Daniel Prause’s room, but when I open my eyes, what I see is my room.

‘Is this a new kind of joke?’

It seems that I moved it by magic while I was sleeping without knowing the world. Showing me waking up in his bedroom would have done more to cement my place as Grand Duchess, but—

‘Everyone knows that I was invited to his bedroom through the magic circle, and no one knows what time it was when I was moved here.’

This is enough evidence to refute the label of disqualification as a grand duchess.

Of course, it was a bit disappointing that I couldn’t build closeness with Daniel, but today I was satisfied with this and decided to follow the schedule.

“Emma. Get my clothes ready. Call Lina as well.”

“Yes, your Highness. She said that breakfast would be brought by the Grand Duke’s servants.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than there was a polite knock.

“ Lady Frey, I have prepared breakfast.”

“Okay, come in.”

But something was a little strange.

When serving in the morning and when eating meals.

The Grand Duke’s employees called me ‘Lady Frey’.

It was a polite call, but it was strange that they never called me the Grand Duchess

“Then please enjoy your meal. Gran duch…ough, lady Frey.”

As I was looking at the gaze that glanced at me, I suddenly thought of this.

Maybe just calling me Lady Frey is a silent protest that she won’t call me that because she doesn’t recognize me as a grand duchess.

It was also at a time when the story of the groom breaking the bed (with magic at the request of the bride he had met in a contract marriage) on the first night was not widespread yet.

‘Well, since the crazy princess snatched away the owner who was fine overnight, it’s understandable to feel repulsive.’

Besides, the virtuous owner even turned himself into a promiscuous man to avoid me.

Those who were loyal to Daniel will not like me very much.

At times like this, I need to show my performance.

Even if your personality is a bit low, if you push through your performance, your evaluation will improve a little.

‘To get a good reputation in the North….it would be good to be recognized in a relatively undeveloped commercial field.’

Recognized in commerce = to lead a big company and make a lot of money.

No matter how you say it, it sounds sweet.

In addition, it was a goal that was in line with the long-term goal of hitting the top of the gelon.

As I was about to finish eating, Ilina, whom I had been waiting for, appeared.

“Iina, thank you for the morning. What is your schedule going forward?”

“I heard from Baron Butler that a banquet to welcome the Grand Duchess will be held in about ten days.”

“It must be a northern socialite debutante.”

“yes. It looks like you will have to prepare for that time for a few days.”

I nodded.

If I was going to get into serious business, I needed to work hard to raise my reputation from the 49th floor of the basement to the ground by showing my face often in social circles.

In the process, to identify people’s needs and score points—

‘I need an informant.’

The only ones I can say are on my side right now are Lina and Emma.

The two were not very suitable for obtaining information through the dark path.

In this world, those who mainly do such things are those who have the ability to pry behind them, such as wizards and transcendentalists.

‘Is the answer, of course, the energy of knowledge contained in Baron Holt’s books?’

In this world, there was a custom in which the owner greeted the family in the name of the spirit of the family when he expressed his great gratitude.

I’m sure Baron Holt will bring me a book when I’m in a situation where he can thank me very much.

‘First of all, I’ll use the event called Debutant to buy Iina and Baron Holt’s favor.’

It was about time to figure out how to do it.

Knock knock-

Several knights came to my bedroom with a faint, insincere knock.

Among the group of knights, a man in the middle opened his mouth.

Contrary to his not-so-sincere appearance, the aura he exuded was heavy.

“Meet Frey Obelir. I am Luke Divine, a knight who received the title of the Grand Duke and guards the Grand Duke. Feel free to call me Luke.”

If it’s a knight who protects the Grand Duke

‘That Man? He’s younger than I thought.’

Besides, if he was Daniel Prause’s loyalist, he would rebuild his reputation.

I said with a kind smile.

“Nice to meet you, Lord Divine, no, Luke. Is this our first meeting?”

“Actually, it is our second meeting. I have delivered a note from His Highness the Grand Duke before.”

“Ah, ‘imogi?’ That red serpent that was crying?”

Come to think of it, luke hair and the Imoogi’s smooth skin were also red.

A person who looked like a rebellious boy like this would become so cute when he returns to his true self.

However, just because I knew that fact, my inner intimacy toward Luke Divine increased by +1… … It didn’t happen.

It was because all the knights, including him, were expressing their repulsion towards me with their entire bodies.

Lina covered her mouth with her hand and explained briefly.

“Your Highness, Grand Duchess. By the way, that cry is what the Imoogi makes when it is wary of enemies.”

‘Well…so that’s why.’

Luke took the lead with a not-so-good expression.

“Then lady Frey, let me show you the mansion.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“We will go around the mansion and at the end, I will show you the symbol of the grand duke’s palace with one branch cut off because of a woman’s absurd request.”

‘Which woman?’

I walked around the mansion, ignoring their repulsion.

Like Prause, who has been protecting time for generations, at the center of the Grand Duke’s residence was a clock tower so large that it could be seen even from a private house.

After touring all the other places.

Luke took me to the bottom of the clock tower one last time.

There, a large tree surrounded by a fence revealed its majesty.

Although one of the branches was cut off, it was still beautiful because the stems and leaves were as subtle purple as the color of Daniel’s eyes.

But there are problems.

‘ Why do I feel like I saw this tree in my jewelry collection…?’