Raoul, who recently started practicing with longswords, freely entered and exited the armory attached to the back of the training grounds.

“I’ll just put away the sword and be right back.”

Diana nodded with a bright smile. The breeze blowing was refreshing. It was perfect weather for a walk.

‘Should I go for a walk by the lake with Raoul?’

At that moment, she sensed movement from the stairs connected to the training grounds.

‘Is it Baihar’s group?’

Her nose wrinkled automatically. Recently, some irritated knights had been taking out their frustrations on the innocent Raoul.

It was because of the title revocation incident that shook the castle a few days ago.

‘I was surprised too. Was it to root out rebellious elements?’

With the large-scale personnel reorganization, both the left and right arms of Vice Captain Baihar were cut off.

Perhaps because he lost his cherished subordinates, he had been in a foul mood lately.

‘If he knows Raoul brought me to the training grounds…’

It was obvious he would find fault when Diana wasn’t around. As filth is avoided for being dirty, it was best not to get involved.

Diana pushed Raoul, who was walking out, into the armory and closed the door.

“What’s wrong?”

“Let’s stay here for a moment before going out.”

Raoul blinked slowly with a puzzled expression.

“This is my first time in the armory, I want to look around…”

Diana said as she entered between the rows of shelves stacked four levels high.

On the shelves were relatively small or infrequently used weapons like sharp daggers, flails, and steel crossbows.

“Ask if you’re curious about anything.”

Raoul had just followed Diana behind a shelf far from the door.

Creeak.

The iron door opened and a woman’s whispering voice was heard.

“There’s no one here.”

“Wait, Helen!”

“Shh! Be quiet!”

‘Helen?’

Diana’s head turned at the familiar name. Long, pure light green hair was visible behind the shelf.

Thud!

She trapped the mysterious man between the wall and her body, interrogating him in a low, secretive whisper.

“Fine. Now tell me.”

“Helen, don’t do this… What if the knights see us alone here?”

“Pretending to care for me again…! Stop acting innocent and honestly tell me what you want.”

A long, slender body was visible between the stacked scabbards.

The man hidden behind her was about the same build as Helen.

His voice was soft and slow, conjuring the image of a gentle, round face even without seeing him.

He tried desperately to calm the agitated Helen.

“Wha- what I want… There’s nothing like that…”

Helen exhaled irritably and slapped her palm against the wall with a smack.

“There is!”

Diana covered her mouth at the forceful display. Where did her bright and kind demeanor go? She seemed like a completely different person.

The man shook his head trembling.

“Really, there’s nothing…! If it’s about that day, I won’t say anything. I swear!”

“What good is that measly oath? In the end, you’re just like all other men! No, you’re even worse!”

It was no less than a makjang drama.

Diana gripped the shelf tightly, swallowing hard in lieu of popcorn.

Bang!

At that moment, the iron door slammed against the wall, creating a tremendous noise and vibration.

Crash!

The shelf shook and a heavy iron flail fell towards Diana’s head.

Thanks to Raoul embracing her, she avoided a fatal injury, but it was a hair-raising moment where her skull could have been shattered.

Clatter clatter clatter.

The suddenly appearing man kicked aside a fallen dagger and headed towards the back of the armory.

“Damn it! So many things fell!”

For better or worse, he didn’t clean up any of the fallen weapons and only grabbed a longsword and iron shield before leaving the armory.

Thud!

As the door closed again, Diana let out a sigh of relief. ‘You can let go now.’ As she tried to unwrap the arms enveloping her body, Raoul showed no reaction.

‘What? What’s wrong?’ Following his calm gaze, Diana let out an internal scream.

Kyaaaaaah!

Helen and the man who had hidden behind the opposite shelf were kissing.

Surprised by the sudden development, Diana covered Raoul’s eyes with both hands.

‘What are you doing!’

Helen removed her hands from the man’s neck and took rough breaths.

“…Let’s just date.”

“Suddenly, what…! No, more importantly, why the kiss…!”

“We’re going to date. Are you going to say it or not! Just tell me that!”

Helen turned her head primly and shouted.

The man, who had been mumbling and moving his lips hesitantly, cupped his cheeks with both hands and blinked his large cow-like eyes.

“That… Would someone like me be worthy of dating you?”

“Ah, enough. Hurry up! Only if you date me will I be able to sleep soundly!”

“If that’s the reason, then still…”

“Ah, how frustrating! Really! You’re not a pervert! I take back what I said earlier!”

“Helen?”

“Let’s go out and treat your wound first!”

Silence fell in the armory. Diana blinked busily as she assessed the situation.

The man Helen had kissed was none other than Biche. Small build and violet eyes. He was the only one in the castle with the characteristics of the Primo tribe.

‘They’re dating, right…?’

She was so excited that she completely forgot about Raoul.

Raoul, who had been waiting obediently with his eyes covered, grasped her wrist and lowered it while muttering.

“Diana, I can’t see.”

“Sorry!”

He looked around with a puzzled expression.

“Why did we hide?”

“Just… it happened somehow… Anyway, it’s fine now! Let’s quickly clean up and leave!”

Diana, who had been fanning herself, hurriedly began picking up the fallen daggers.

Raoul watched her busy back and thought.

‘Cute.’

She looked just like a rabbit harvesting strawberries on a mountain.

“I’ll do it.”

Raoul pushed Diana, who was struggling in front of the flail, back and quickly cleaned up the training ground floor.

Biche had long been forgotten in his mind.

He only regretted losing even a minute of the lovely afternoon time with Diana.

Diana lay in bed, recalling what she had witnessed that morning.

Helen’s bold and confident attitude kept lingering in her mind.

‘That must be Helen’s true personality?’

Born with elven blood, Helen was a considerable beauty even when seen from 100 meters away.

Her bright and shining hair, tall stature and curvy figure, and large, sparkling eyes like embedded jewels did not deviate an inch from the standard of beauty set by the imperial people.

‘We’re the same extras, but there’s no comparison between us.’

After the ball, she once again painfully realized her own situation.

No matter how innovative clothes she wore or what wonderful friends she made, Diana was nothing more than a misplaced stain in their eyes.

Even if she resolved not to care about others’ gazes, this too was just self-consolation for not being able to fit in.

‘Ugh, stop thinking like this! Please!’

Diana wanted to be confident like Helen. She didn’t want to shrink away while being treated as an oddity, or worry about her own worth.

‘I want to love myself too…’

“Why do I feel anxious when I’m happy?”

Looking at the confident Helen, Diana suddenly had such a thought.

‘How much does Raoul know about me?’

Raoul, confined to the castle, probably thought of Diana as some great noble lady, but in reality, she was the official ugly duckling of this world that everyone avoided.

Not only that, she couldn’t give Raoul glory, money, land, or titles.

On the other hand, Ayla, who had everything, was the real jackpot stock that Raoul should actually catch.

Seeing the puppy love that she thought would fade quickly deepening today, her worries intensified.

Raoul had held her hand and roamed the forest all afternoon.

The two of them spun around under the tree shadows frequently. Even when the surroundings became blurry, Raoul remained clear.

That distinct face, that smile, was so brilliant that it made her dizzy to covet it.

‘Is it okay for me to be this happy? When Raoul doesn’t know anything about me… and likes me…?’

The rabbit doll Raoul had given her at the festival caught her eye. Diana buried her face in the soft plush doll to calm her heart.

‘It’s okay. Raoul will give up soon too. Before he gets disappointed in me, Ayla will capture his heart.’

And it didn’t take long to confirm that fact.

The next morning, Diana opened the newspaper early.

After the assassination attempt, she couldn’t help but pay attention to the rebels’ movements.

‘Recently, there haven’t been any suspicious people approaching me… I guess they’ve decided my value has decreased after the scandal article?’

On the front page of the newsletter was a large photo of Crown Prince Albert giving a speech on annihilating the rebels in Colindore Square.

Diana, who turned to the next page with anxious eyes, froze when she saw the small illustration in the upper left corner.

In the square frame was drawn a scene of a girl in a black mask guiding people while holding a holy book.

Diana immediately recognized her identity as soon as she saw the picture.

‘It’s Ayla…’

In the original work, the rebels tried to recruit runaway slaves and hidden mixed-race people in the capital to expand their forces.

They interpreted Aiona’s holy book differently from the original imperial people and criticized the class society, and in fact, many people were greatly fascinated by this idea of equality.

The content confessed by those caught for treason in the interrogation room was written at the bottom.

Before dawn, a carriage goes around the outskirts of the capital, picking up people. Our eyes are covered on the way so we don’t know exactly where, but it smells of earth and is wide enough for voices to echo. When we arrive, a masked girl hands out holy books and guides us to our seats, and it’s packed with people inside.

Her rapidly moving pupils stopped.

Her face was covered, but her eye color was a really rare golden hue. It shone just like gold! Also, one thing that sticks in my memory is that she wore a handkerchief with forget-me-not embroidery on her arm. I remember that clearly.

The leader ordered her to take it off, but she kept wearing it until the end.

‘The handkerchief I gave her…’

The light blue flowers blooming in clusters were definitely the embroidery Diana had sewn.