"...You haven't yelled at me even once."
For a moment, I thought I had misheard him.
I stared at Ace.
Ace stared at me.
The horse continued walking through the forest as if nothing unusual had happened.
Meanwhile, my soul was slowly leaving my body.
That was his problem?
That was what he found strange?
Not the memory loss.
Not my personality.
Not the fact that I nearly screamed myself to death because of a rabbit.
No.
The problem was that I wasn't yelling at him.
What kind of relationship had the original Alice and Ace even had?
Had they been enemies?
Friends?
Future lovers?
Childhood rivals?
All three at once?
This novel was becoming increasingly confusing.
"...Lady Alice?"
I blinked.
"Hm?"
Ace looked down at me.
"You seem surprised."
Because I am surprised!
I wanted to scream that.
Instead, I forced a smile.
Again.
Unfortunately, it was still terrible.
"I was merely thinking."
"About what?"
About how everyone in this novel desperately needed therapy.
Of course, I couldn't say that.
So I chose a safer answer.
"About the accident."
Ace remained silent.
His gaze lingered on my face.
Observing.
Analyzing.
Calculating.
Why did it feel like I was sitting in front of a human lie detector?
Several long seconds passed.
Then finally...
"I see."
No further questions.
No accusations.
No suspicious comments.
And somehow...
That made me even more nervous.
Because intelligent people were terrifying.
The dangerous ones weren't the people who talked too much.
The dangerous ones were the people who quietly collected information.
Like Ace.
And right now...
I had the uncomfortable feeling that he was collecting information about me.
When we finally returned to the mansion, I almost cried from relief.
Civilization.
Walls.
People.
Witnesses.
Safety.
Wonderful things.
The moment my feet touched the ground, I nearly kissed the earth.
Unfortunately, noble ladies apparently weren't supposed to do that.
A maid hurried over.
"Lady Alice."
"Yes?"
"The Marquis wishes to see you."
My father?
Immediately?
That couldn't be good.
Parents never summoned their children unexpectedly for good reasons.
At least not in novels.
Usually it meant trouble.
Or lectures.
Or both.
The Marquis's study was quiet.
Sunlight streamed through the tall windows.
Bookshelves lined every wall.
And behind a massive desk sat my father.
Marquis Schuberg.
A man who somehow looked exhausted even when doing absolutely nothing.
The moment I entered, he raised his head.
"There you are."
"You wanted to see me?"
"Sit."
I sat.
Immediately.
Obediently.
The way prey sat before a predator.
The Marquis stared at me.
I stared back.
Neither of us spoke.
The silence stretched.
And stretched.
And stretched.
Why was everyone in this world so dramatic?
Finally, he sighed.
"Alice."
"...Yes?"
"What do you think of Duke Ace?"
Danger.
Danger.
Danger.
Every alarm inside my brain activated.
Why was he asking that?
Why?!
I carefully chose my words.
"He's a respected noble."
The Marquis looked unimpressed.
"That sounds like something written in a history book."
"..."
"Try again."
I wanted to cry.
Internally.
Not externally.
Externally, I maintained the dignity of a noble lady.
Probably.
Hopefully.
"I think he is intelligent."
"Anything else?"
Dangerous.
Manipulative.
The source of eighty percent of Noah's suffering.
The reason I threw my pillow while reading the novel.
Unfortunately, I couldn't say any of that.
"...No."
The Marquis narrowed his eyes.
For a brief moment, I feared I had said something wrong.
Then unexpectedly,
He nodded.
"Hm."
That was it.
Just "Hm."
I hated intelligent people.
That evening, another problem appeared.
Because apparently one problem wasn't enough.
The servants had started talking.
Again.
I was beginning to suspect servants controlled the Empire from the shadows.
There was no other explanation.
I walked into the tea room and immediately noticed something strange.
The maids were whispering.
The butlers were whispering.
Even the gardeners looked suspicious.
The moment they saw me...
Silence.
Instant silence.
The kind of silence that only happened when people were talking about you.
Oh no.
Not again.
I approached cautiously.
"What happened?"
"No nothing, Lady Alice."
The head maid smiled.
Too quickly.
Too brightly.
Too suspiciously.
I narrowed my eyes.
"What happened?"
The maid coughed.
Another maid coughed.
A third maid nearly exploded trying not to smile.
This was bad.
Very bad.
Finally, one of them broke.
"We heard that Duke Ace spent nearly four hours alone with you."
"..."
"..."
"..."
What?
THAT was the rumor?
The head maid sighed dramatically.
"Young love."
"There's no love."
"Forbidden feelings."
"There are no feelings."
"A tragic romance."
"I AM MARRIED."
The room fell silent.
The maids blinked.
Then one of them whispered:
"That makes it more tragic."
I nearly threw a teacup.
For the first time, I finally understood why the original Alice did it.
Unfortunately...
The rumors didn't stop.
They multiplied.
Rapidly.
Aggressively.
Like rabbits.
The next morning, three noble ladies suddenly visited.
Unexpectedly.
Uninvited.
Suspiciously.
And every single one of them asked about Ace.
Every.
Single.
One.
At this point, I was convinced the Empire had nothing better to do.
I smiled politely.
Answered politely.
And internally screamed.
Hours later, after the last guest finally left, I collapsed onto a sofa.
"I'm tired."
The maid handed me tea.
"Being popular is difficult."
"I would like to be unpopular."
The maid ignored me.
Traitor.
Three days passed.
Then four.
Then five.
No news from Noah.
At first, I wasn't worried.
The border was far away.
Communication took time.
Everything was normal.
Probably.
Hopefully.
Maybe.
By the sixth day...
I began checking the front gate.
By the seventh day...
I accidentally checked five times.
By the eighth day...
Even the servants noticed.
The head maid smiled knowingly.
I wanted to disappear.
That afternoon, Ace was visiting again.
Because apparently my suffering wasn't complete.
We were sitting in the garden.
Drinking tea.
Or rather,
I was drinking tea.
Ace was observing me.
There was a difference.
The Duke calmly set down his cup.
"You seem distracted."
"No."
"You looked at the gate six times."
"..."
"I counted."
Of course he counted.
Why wouldn't he count?
At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he counted my breathing.
I avoided eye contact.
Ace watched me for a moment.
Then...
"You're waiting for news."
Not a question.
A statement.
I froze.
The Duke's gaze softened slightly.
Only slightly.
"So you do care about Sir Noah."
For some reason, those words made me uncomfortable.
Not because they were wrong.
But because they were true.
And because saying it out loud somehow made it feel real.
Before I could answer,
Footsteps echoed across the garden.
Fast footsteps.
Urgent footsteps.
Dangerous footsteps.
My heart immediately sank.
A knight was running toward us.
His armor was dusty.
His breathing uneven.
And his expression...
His expression made my blood run cold.
Not because he looked sad.
Not because he looked angry.
But because he looked frightened.
Very frightened.
The knight dropped to one knee.
"My lady!"
The entire garden fell silent.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
I stood up immediately.
"What happened?"
The knight hesitated.
Just for a second.
But that second felt like an eternity.
Then...
"A report has arrived from the northern border."
My heart stopped.
No.
No.
No.
Not yet.
Please.
Not yet.
The knight lowered his head.
And suddenly,
Nobody spoke.
Not me.
Not Ace.
Not the servants.
Not even the birds.
The silence felt unbearable.
Terrifying.
Heavy.
The knight swallowed.
Then finally said,
"Sir Noah has been injured."
Everything went silent.
Completely silent.
And for the first time since arriving in this world...
Fear truly gripped my heart.
Because I remembered the novel.
And I remembered exactly what happened after Noah was injured.
The poisoned arrow.
The beginning of tragedy.
The beginning of everything.
And suddenly...
I wasn't thinking about Ace anymore.
Or rumors.
Or acting like the original Alice.
I only had one thought.
One terrifying thought.
Was I already too late?