Chapter 1.2

She looked at the unfamiliar landscape with a face that looked like she was used to her surroundings.

The visible landscape reminded her of a Western setting that was found only in movies – women in colorful dresses, men in fancy coats. A place where horses and horse-drawn carriages replaced public transportation.

The coachman pulled the horse’s reins. Even though the horse still staggered, the problem seemed to lie with the steward, not the violent horse.

“Milady.”

And a title she’s not used to. Nonetheless, her head turned naturally. There stood Mindy in a maid uniform. She was the only person in the mansion who treated her without reserve.

“Are you alright?”

Putting down the soup, Mindy’s face was filled with worries.

The young lady nodded slightly and looked at the coachman through the window as she approached for more ventilation.

Mindy clicked her tongue. He seemed to have drunk again today. The man couldn’t come to his senses even though he had the help of the Marquis. So far, there had been no major accident or damage, so the employees of the mansion were quietly passing over the issue.

When Prillance turned her head, she could see Mindy’s hand putting down the spoon.

Along with the sound of Mindy’s sigh, the soup soon disappeared from sight. She thought the soup had disappeared in an instant, just like her.

She had been worried about how she could avoid class the next day and how she would face her friends. Finally, Hyun Woo’s last figure came to mind. With his hands reaching out to her, it was the figure she turned away from. When she came home, she remembered desperately hoping with trembling hands, not knowing what was in her hand.

Had she fallen asleep or collapsed somewhere? Perhaps she had been abandoned like that soup. Holding on to her last memory like this, she had constantly ruminated over nothing but these set of thoughts for days.

“Milady, do you know that person? I’m talking about Marquis Grant from across the street.”

A few days ago, Mindy sat down next to Arim, who had been less talkative, and had started telling her stories she had heard outside. Somehow there was a familiar name in today’s story.

“Ver Grant……”

She responded by voicing out the familiar name. Marquis Grant’s successor, Ver Grant, was her favorite supporting character in a novel.

“He is so famous that I thought you’d know for sure Milady Prillance.”

She wasn’t used to the name Mindy called her, but at the same time it was another familiar name.

Prillance Weiand.

A person whose unrequited love ate her up. The daughter of Marquis Weiand. She was a villainess who was hungry for the affection of Roman, the male lead of Arim’s favorite novel.

And now it was her name. When Arim opened her eyes from the end of her last memory, she became Prillance, the villainess in the novel ’The Duke’s Lover’.

“But now he is no longer a Marquis, but a Viscount.”

Mindy stated while continuing to sew by Prillance’s side.

“I heard the former Marquis, rumored to be an upright person, was arrested for treason.”

“Treason…….”

Prillance quietly followed.

“That’s right! I guess you can’t judge people by their appearances…”

Mindy first responded excitedly to Prillance’s reply, then tried to speak in a hushed tone, as if overly cautious.

“There was no conclusive evidence. But the imperial family couldn’t just let it go, so it ended with a decline of their title.”

At the end of Mindy’s whisper, the story of the novel passed through Prillance’s head.

The novel begins with the story of the supporting character Ver and the protagonist Cecia. Ver, Marquis Grant’s successor, and Cecia, the daughter of Royne, a wealthy emerging aristocrat family, grew up together from childhood.

The late Marquis Grant was a type of person who, if he had the means, he would make it possible.

The knight-turned-Marquis Grant had been upright, polite, and loyal. Therefore, he had not looked down on Royne’s origins, who had a good commercial eye but had been a commoner at the time.

Not to mention that Ver, who grew up in such a family, had little objection to associating with them since childhood. He fell in love with Cecia.

It was this incident that broke the two’s rosy future together.

The rebellion of Marquis Grant. Various circumstances and movements had been found that show the Marquis tried to gather military forces and rebel.

According to the novel, from generation to generation, the Marquis’ estate had been at the border of other countries for generations. So it was possible to have soldiers to protect the territory.

Of course, because of such a privilege, the title was given only to the family who had a big reputation from generation to generation, and loyal to the imperial family.

Marquis Grant was in control of the estates in contact with the kingdom of Hanon. One day, Marquis Grant rushed to the territory with a military call order after receiving an urgent message that the kingdom of Hanon was gathering soldiers.

But when the Marquis arrived, there was no military movement in the kingdom of Hanon. The only ones present were knights armed by order of the Marquis. And this was all witnessed by Duke Tonz.

Marquis Grant, who moved their house’s knights, was suspicious and searched around him. But other than the military gathered, no evidence came out. Rumors spread. The honor of the marquis fell to the bottom and the imperial court doubted the loyalty of the Marquis.

At the mention of treason, it became an issue that could not be overlooked.

In the end, the Marquis showed his loyalty with his own self-determination, and the Marquis was reduced to a Viscount. The Grant’s estates were also given to the imperial family.

Since then, Ver’s life had fallen to its abyss. Ver, who was supposed to enter the Imperial Knights, was rejected for abandoning his honor and loyalty to the imperial family. Afterwards, Ver asked to break off his engagement with Cecia. It was for the sake of not causing trouble in Cecia’s house.

Ver, who was on his own, became a Viscount, instead of a Marquis.

“Ayyu, How did he end up like that when he captured and broke the hearts of so many ladies?”

There was sadness in Mindy’s voice. A maid who Mindy knows used to praise him so much, saying his character was as good as his face, but now she says there is no such thing as a good person.

“I have to go out.”

Prillance got up in a hurry. Mindy had a puzzled look on her face, but right now she had to meet Ver.