Reiana was just about to fall asleep.

She felt a chilling presence and opened her eyes slightly—only to find a masked intruder pressing a knife against her throat.

She had no idea when they had arrived, or even how they had gotten in.

Gulp. Reiana swallowed hard and stared at the two men standing before her.

“What do you want?”

Though the Crisha family was not as powerful as the Brellof family, they were still one of the noble houses belonging to the Arwen Empire.

The fact that everything around her remained eerily quiet meant no one had noticed the intruders. Anyone who could slip past such heavy security and reach her chambers could not possibly be ordinary.

Reiana was certain they had come for a specific reason—and that reason involved her.

The two men standing before her had their faces covered, but they were Tendai and Andro, dispatched from the Karlua Empire to track down Ascan.

Without speaking, Tendai handed her a slip of paper containing information obtained from a tavern.

The moment Reiana saw the paper, she immediately recognized it as the very information she had been secretly gathering about Ascan through back-alley contacts.

“Why… this…?”

She couldn’t understand.

She had mentally run through countless scenarios, but never—not even once—had she considered that someone might come after her over a mere slave.

Looking at Reiana’s stunned expression, Tendai curtly replied,

“Tell us who this is.”

“That’s…”

Reiana had no idea who these intruders were, but one thing was certain: they did not come with good intentions.

If they had nothing to hide, they wouldn’t have broken into her bedroom in the dead of night—or bothered to conceal their faces.

Reiana’s mind raced.

This was an opportunity.

She didn’t know who they were or where they came from, but instinctively, she sensed this might be her chance to take revenge on Tanashia.

If so, there was no reason to hesitate. Reiana even let a cold, sly smile curl at the corner of her lips as she enunciated each syllable with deliberate clarity.

“He’s the personal attendant of Tanashia, eldest daughter of House Brellof. His name is Ascan.”

At the unexpected mention of the powerful House Brellof, Tendai’s eyes widened slightly in surprise—but that was all.

Tendai and Andro exchanged glances and nodded.

Now that they had confirmed Ascan’s whereabouts, they had no further business with Reiana.

In truth, Tendai and Andro could have killed her silently here and erased all traces—but they chose not to.

If a noble young lady were found murdered in her own bedroom, it would draw massive public attention and trigger a full-scale investigation.

Since Tendai and Andro had infiltrated the Crisha estate undetected, they could also leave just as quietly. Causing a major incident would only harm their interests.

Andro spoke in a low voice.

“Close your eyes and count to ten. If you don’t comply, you die.”

Reiana nodded obediently and shut her eyes.

One, two, three… ten.

The moment she finished counting, she opened her eyes again. The two masked men who had stood right before her had vanished—as if they had never been there.

Still unable to believe it, Reiana turned on the light in her darkened room.

Had there not been a small, sharp cut left on her neck by the knife’s edge, she might have convinced herself she had dreamed the whole thing.

“Ha. Whoever you are, it’d be nice if you took care of Tanashia too.”

Just as Reiana murmured this with a pleased smile, her chamber door opened. A maid, startled by the sudden light in a room where her mistress should have been asleep, rushed in.

“Young lady, is something wrong?”

“No, quite the opposite—something good just happened. Mysterious intruders came and asked about Ascan.”

“What?”

The maid’s eyes widened incredulously.

Reiana giggled at the maid’s shocked expression. She hadn’t expected the maid to understand anything anyway.

“That’s all. You may go.”

“Ah, yes. Please call me if you need anything.”

The maid bowed deeply and exited Reiana’s chamber.

Reiana had spoken without thinking—but to the maid, those words carried weight.

The maid’s name was Sally. She was a spy planted in the Crisha estate by Tanashia.

‘I don’t understand what she’s talking about, but Lady Tanashia ordered me to report even the smallest details. I must inform her of this.’

Sally discreetly wrote down what she had just heard from Reiana and passed the note to another hidden contact within the Crisha estate.

These individuals had worked as servants in the Crisha estate for a long time—but they had been secretly recruited by Tanashia after the academic festival ended.

Because Reiana treated low-status servants poorly, none of them were truly loyal to her.

Tanashia had exploited this weakness, promising them generous rewards and future employment if they ever left the Crisha estate.

In return, they reported every move Reiana made.

To Tanashia, this was only natural. Since Reiana had uncovered Ascan’s true identity, she couldn’t afford to leave things unchecked.

Finally, something had been caught in her information net.

And so, on this night in the capital—with neither Tanashia nor Ascan present—events were unfolding at a frantic pace.

We had arrived at the villa, our destination—but ever since that kiss with Ascan, I had been dazed, as if my mind had gone blank.

No, outwardly I might have appeared blank, but internally, my thoughts were pure chaos.

‘What on earth was that?’

I had been ready to give Ascan anything he wanted. But what he asked for was completely beyond my expectations.

─May I kiss you?

Why did he say that to me?

No, more accurately—I kept denying it because it seemed impossible, yet no matter how much I thought about it, there was only one logical answer.

‘Could it be… he likes me?’

But that couldn’t be. In the original novel, Ascan hated Tanashia. That was why he killed her in the future.

Ascan was the hidden villain of , but also the very person who conquered the Arwen Empire and murdered Tanashia.

‘And now he says he likes me?’

How was that even possible?

Judging by the original plot, this simply could not happen.

Could the story have deviated because of me?

‘If that’s the case…’

If Ascan—who in the original novel never spared Tanashia a single glance—now liked me, then the conclusion was obvious.

‘That means he likes me—not Tanashia. He really likes me.’

The moment this thought fully formed, my face flushed as if on fire.

I covered my burning cheeks with both palms and lowered my head.

‘I’m crazy. What’s the age difference here…?’

In my past life, I was 27. Of course, as Tanashia, I was 15…

Come to think of it, I wasn’t even sure which age I should count myself as. Just because I retained memories from my past life didn’t mean I wasn’t actually 15 now.

Looking back, there had been countless suspicious moments with Ascan.

I couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it started, but he had always treated me too kindly. Until now, I had assumed it was mere loyalty—but I was wrong.

It was affection.

Thinking about it, Ascan’s gaze had always been filled with longing whenever he looked at me.

‘What should I do?’

Until now, I had focused solely on survival. Suddenly realizing Ascan’s feelings had thrown me into complete panic.

At that moment—

Knock. The door opened, and someone entered.

Just from the footsteps, I knew exactly who it was. No one else walked with such quiet, measured steps except Ascan.

I was still covering my face with both hands. I couldn’t bring myself to lift my head and face him, so I stayed frozen in place.

The very person I had been agonizing over was now standing right in front of me. I had no idea what expression I should wear to look at him.

“Aren’t you coming for a swim?”

“N-not right now.”

“They say the evening temperature drops enough to enjoy the hot spring. I’ll prepare soon—would you like to join me for a soak?”

“Not today. Maybe next time.”

“What about dinner?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Will you… continue avoiding looking at my face?”

I couldn’t answer.

I knew I should respond maturely and calmly in moments like this—but embarrassingly, I was hyper-aware of Ascan.

Thud. Thud. His footsteps drew closer to me.

Ascan’s feet entered my downward field of vision. He stopped right before me and spoke in a voice softer than before.

“Do you regret offering me a gift?”

“…No.”

No matter what anyone said, it had been an accident.

The jolting carriage, Ascan’s face far too close.

I had merely lost my balance for a split second—and my lips had met his first.

‘Right. It wasn’t even a real kiss—just a childish, clumsy peck.’

If he had initiated it, I might have had something to say. But since I was the one who pressed my lips forward first, I had no grounds to complain.

Yet somehow, even now, I could still feel the lingering sensation from that brief moment.

“That’s why I warned you. Someone greedy might try to take advantage of your kindness.”

“I said I don’t regret it.”

“Then why won’t you look at me?”

When I remained silent again, the feet standing before me began to move.

I watched as Ascan took one step, then another, slowly moving away from me.

He had done nothing wrong. I was the one who first offered him a gift. I was the one who urged him to speak up if he wanted something.

Of course, I hadn’t expected this—but his feelings, which I had failed to notice until now, were surprising—not his fault.

Suddenly, I lifted my head and grabbed the collar of Ascan’s shirt.

At my touch, he turned toward me. His golden eyes widened slightly, then trembled faintly.

I didn’t need him to explain—I understood why.

Even I could feel my face burning hot. To him, my cheeks must have looked completely flushed.

This time, I spoke first.

“Listen when someone talks to you. I said I don’t regret it. I’m just embarrassed.”

Ascan’s eyes, which had widened in surprise at seeing my face, narrowed slightly—as if confused.

Sensing his curiosity, I continued explaining.

“I mean, after something like that happened, how am I supposed to look at you normally? I start wondering why you said that, what it means… and then I start examining my own feelings. My head’s just a mess.”

“…Do you dislike me now?”

“What?”

“Are you really not regretting it?”

I had thought Ascan was acting normally—but that was my mistake. The corners of his eyes suddenly crumpled, revealing a desperate, pleading look.

“Ascan…”

He must have been silently agonizing over my suddenly cold demeanor.

Before I could say anything, he gently touched my flushed face—his fingers trembling as if handling something fragile.

“You’re blushing because of me… somehow, that moves me.”

“I told you—I didn’t want you to see this.”

“I never expected you’d be so aware of me. Come to think of it, if you had acted completely indifferent, that would have been painful too.”

“…Ugh.”

“May I consider it possible, then?”

I didn’t need to ask what “possibility” he meant.

He was asking whether there could be progress in our relationship—whether something beyond “young lady and slave” was possible.

Before I could answer, Ascan smiled—even as his eyes remained strained.

“No. You can’t show me this face… and then tell me it’s impossible.”

“What face? Too pretty a face?”

It didn’t fit the serious mood, but I couldn’t help asking—I was too curious.

At my playful retort, Ascan laughed even more deeply, as if he couldn’t hold back.

“A face so lovely… it drives me mad.”

His gaze, his expression, even the slightest touch of his hand—it all seemed to scream how genuinely he felt.

He was expressing, with his entire being, how much he liked me.

How had I not noticed until now? I must have blindly trusted that, in the original story, Ascan could never like Tanashia.

At that moment, a knock came at the door, followed by a man’s voice.

“Young lady, I am Baron, the villa’s caretaker.”

Since I couldn’t resolve things with Ascan right now, I called out to Baron beyond the door in a calm tone.

“What is it?”

“A messenger bird has arrived from the capital—what should I do?”

“Ah, bring it in.”

There was only one reason a messenger bird would come all the way to the villa—I had ordered that I be kept fully informed of any news from House Crisha before leaving on this trip.

But Baron’s voice didn’t stop there.

“And there’s one more thing to report. A man named Dekain is reportedly heading rapidly toward this location.”

“Who sent that message?”

“Dekain… himself.”

“…What?”

I couldn’t help but wear a bewildered expression. I had no idea why Dekain, whom I had last seen in the laboratory, was now chasing me all the way here.