Sun An looked at me with a face as if his soul had temporarily left his body and asked.

“Is it true?”

“It is true.”

When I immediately answered, Sun An instantly got excited and shouted.

“No, then I should apologize to Her Highness the 9th Princess, express my gratitude, pay my respects and immediately propose marriage! Why do you need my help? Is it because you’re worried about having a child before marriage?”

“I said there’s no child!”

“But isn’t there talk of marriage with another prince? How would you marry Her Highness the 9th Princess without the excuse of a child?”

Why does it feel like the conversation keeps going in circles?

“I have no intention of marrying Her Highness the 9th Princess. And I don’t want to be falsely accused of causing trouble with Her Highness the 9th Princess, daughter of the Empress, before the marriage arranged by His Majesty. His Majesty was so angry when he heard about it that he threw an inkstone at my head!”

“An inkstone?!”

“A paperweight. But paperweights are heavy too, you know.”

Sun An stared at me blankly, then went back to square one and asked again.

“But if you can’t marry the 9th Princess, you say you’ll marry a prince. Is that alright? You’re a man, is that possible?”

Who wants to do this! I’m a woman disguised as a man!

Marrying the 13th Prince is a big deal and marrying the 9th Princess is also a big deal, but at least with the 13th Prince, the Emperor and Empress who know I’m a woman are pushing for it, so there’s no problem in that regard.

The Emperor knows that I’m recorded as a woman in the family registry and my household register doesn’t specify gender, so if the marriage is confirmed, he’ll inform the 13th Prince that I’m a woman, and later when I become pregnant, he’ll have me publicly stop dressing as a man.

If I marry the 13th Prince and have a child, that child would be the Emperor’s grandchild. Even if not officially recognized as an imperial grandchild, it doesn’t mean the Emperor would stand by and let his grandchild be disrespected just because there’s no material support.

People might gossip at first, but later they’d have to accept it, if only out of fear of the Emperor.

But if I marry the 9th Princess… terrifying things would happen.

The problem of the 13th Prince targeting me is something I can solve on my own, but if I marry the 9th Princess and am branded a fraud, my entire family would be in danger. Of course, before the marriage, the Emperor would first reveal that I’m a woman disguised as a man and punish our family.

“It doesn’t matter.”

But Sun An, unaware of these complicated circumstances, was half out of his mind.

He couldn’t say a word for a long time, then belatedly asked.

“Then how do you want me to help? I haven’t even attained an official position yet. Though our family has prestige, my uncle and aunt don’t like me very much. My cousin is the same. They might not even act on my behalf, let alone for a friend’s matter.”

I quickly waved my hand.

“There’s no need for your family to act first.”

If things go well and the 9th Princess wants to marry Sun An and the Empress takes a liking to him, then it’s already over.

Once a marriage proposal comes from the imperial family, the Sun family would have no choice but to act.

So all I needed to worry about was whether Sun An could be of help in this matter.

“What do you mean?”

“In my opinion, Her Highness the 9th Princess doesn’t truly love me. She just impulsively wants to possess me. I saved Her Highness in a dangerous situation, you see. That incident, combined with my dazzling appearance, must have fueled Her Highness’s desire for possession.”

“Sounds like bragging.”

“But aren’t you also a very outstanding flower boy, if not quite as much as me? If she sees you, Her Highness might change her mind.”

Sun An looked at me with a sour expression. He didn’t seem to immediately understand what I was saying.

I grabbed his hand earnestly and pleaded.

“Please steal Her Highness the 9th Princess’s heart. I’ll prepare everything myself. The place, the time, a chance encounter, I’ll even find out everything Her Highness likes. Please marry Her Highness the 9th Princess!”

Sun An’s jaw dropped. He stayed like that for a while, then stammered.

“M-marry Her Highness the Princess, it would be an honor for me. But isn’t marriage a family matter?”

“His Majesty ordered me. He commanded me to make Her Highness the 9th Princess take back her words about wanting to marry me. If I can’t do it, he’ll punish me.”

“His Majesty did?”

“His Majesty doesn’t want to have me as a son-in-law.”

Sun An looked like he didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

“A daughter-in-law candidate?”

But in the end, he voiced his thoughts and burst out laughing, holding his stomach.

‘This bastard!’

I suppressed the urge to bite the top of his head and pleaded with him again.

“Your face is so sparkling handsome. If Her Highness sees you, she’ll change her mind. Moreover, your family is just as good as ours, so there’s a high possibility His Majesty will permit the marriage. So if you don’t mind marrying Her Highness the Princess, please help me. Hm?”

“…”

“But if you dislike it, you don’t have to help.”

Fortunately, Sun An quietly shook his head.

“I don’t mind marrying Her Highness the Princess. If I can become His Majesty’s son-in-law, it would be good for me. But…”

“But? But what?”

“If I try and fail, won’t I become a laughingstock?”

“Only I will know that you tried and failed. Even if you fail, I will never laugh at you. You’re doing this for me, aren’t you? Laughing at you? No way. I’ll consider you my benefactor for life.”

Sun An stared at me for a long time before finally nodding.

“Alright. But since it’s an important matter, give me some time to think about it more carefully.”

“How long?”

“Three days.”

If Sun An helped, that would be best, but I had to prepare for the possibility of him refusing.

For this, I decided to find other outstanding men as candidates. That way, if Sun An refused, I could go around looking for these men to plan for the future.

So Sun An and I started making a list of handsome men from fairly good families. Sun An, who had wider connections than me, was definitely helpful in this kind of task.

“Thank you so much.”

“If things go well and I can marry Her Highness the Princess, I should be the one thanking you.”

Relieved, I even had dinner together at Sun An’s house before returning home.

“You might end up marrying His Highness the Prince. Shouldn’t you distance yourself a bit from your friends?”

My mother worriedly asked when she saw me, but when I reacted with disgust, she didn’t say anything more.

But mother still had a concerned look on her face.

I was about to protest ‘Do I have to give up all my friends just because I’m marrying the 13th Prince?’, but then I realized that even if our friendship didn’t change, I wouldn’t be able to meet my friends as comfortably as now due to public perception once I stopped dressing as a man, and I was at a loss for words.

Even if people knew we were friends before, they might still gossip if I, having stopped dressing as a man, went around meeting male friends of my age as a woman. Mother knew the reality, so she was just worried for me in advance.

Thinking about it gave me a headache, so I quickly retreated to my room.

And the next day. As I went to teach the 13th Prince, I carefully tucked the list Sun An had made into my chest.

I planned to check out the actual people on this list instead of coming straight home after the lesson.

But it was during the middle of the lesson at Wolmugung, as usual.

The 13th Prince was quietly listening to me interpreting the classics when there was a brief pause. He stretched out his long finger, pointing at me, and asked.

“Teacher? What are you carrying inside your sleeve?”

“!”

Did the list stick out a little? I was startled and hurriedly looked down. But my sleeve was fine.

No, but how did this disciple know I had something in my sleeve?

But he seemed to have seen something, so I hurriedly made up an excuse in my confusion.

“Just. A letter.”

Then I pushed the folded paper further inside. However, the 13th Prince was so sharp that he didn’t let it go just like that.

“May this disciple see it?”

“No.”

I answered firmly and deliberately looked at my disciple as if he were a strange person.

“Why would Your Highness want to see my letter?”

Isn’t that right? Even if the disciple hadn’t poisoned me before the regression, it would be the same. Why would someone else look at my letter? This isn’t actually a letter, but still.

Fortunately, when I reacted like this, the disciple shrugged his shoulders and went along with it instead of insisting on seeing it.

I was relieved and started to focus on the classics again.

“Please look at the book, Your Highness. The flow is being interrupted.”

And as soon as the lesson ended, I quickly stood up, thinking of going back.

“I’ll escort you.”

The disciple approached, offering unnecessary consideration.

“Yes…”

I answered docilely, worried he might ask to see the letter again, and walked towards the doorway.

Just as I was about to leave, unexpectedly, a low voice was heard right above my head.

“Teacher.”

Without any exaggeration, it came from right above my head. Startled by this, I hurriedly turned around and almost lost my balance, nearly falling off the threshold.

Thanks to the disciple catching me, I fortunately only stumbled without falling, but my heart sank as much as if I had fallen because he gripped my arm tightly while catching me.

“Thank you.”

I quickly replied and forcefully pulled my hand away from his grip.

“I’ll be going now.”

Then I bowed hastily and ran out of Wolmugung, my heart pounding so loudly that I could hear it in my own ears.

Goosebumps rose on my arm as I recalled drinking poison in his arms.

‘No. If I act like this, I’ll be found out. The disciple doesn’t know I’ve regressed.’

Whether I regressed or not, the disciple must hate me. But at the very least, if he doesn’t know I’ve regressed, the point at which he’ll try to kill me is after he’s succeeded.

He wants to take me to the height of success and then push me off from that peak.

But if he finds out I’ve regressed, the disciple would try to quietly kill me before reaching that point.

So I must absolutely hide the fact that I’ve regressed. To do that, I need to suppress the fear that arises every time I come into contact with him.

‘I can do it. It’s okay. The disciple… the disciple did it too.’

The disciple says I killed him in the life before the regression, but he didn’t show any sign of that to me before the regression. So I can do it too.

I took a deep breath and only after leaving the vicinity of Wolmugung did I enter the inner garden and take out the letter from my sleeve.

But…

‘It’s gone!’

The letter I had put in my sleeve was missing.

Surprised, I hurriedly checked various parts of my body, then recalled when the disciple grabbed my arm as I stumbled.

‘No way? Could it have been then?’

It can’t be, right? There was no sign of it…

But unable to shake off the suspicion, I eventually retraced my steps back to Wolmugung.

As I ran into Wolmugung like that, I saw the disciple. He was standing in the middle of the path leading to the front building, looking at the list Sun An had given me.

Then, as if sensing my presence, he glanced at me slightly.

Even though his face wasn’t angry, that gaze made my head spin.

No, no. It’s okay. All that’s written there are just a few names. There are hardly any who have attained official positions, and even those who have are all new, so it won’t look like I’m forming a faction.

Even if the disciple sees it, there’s nothing that could make him realize I’ve regressed.

That thought finally brought some relief.

Right. There’s nothing strange in the content. So the 13th Prince has no reason to be angry… right? Then why does he have such a cold expression?

As I stood there bewildered, the 13th Prince beckoned me to come closer.

Dragging my heavy feet and approaching reluctantly, the disciple returned the letter to me and asked with a smiling face.

“How many days has it been since I told you I dislike unchaste people, and you’re making a ‘list of handsome men’? My teacher. What should this disciple do with you?”

“!”