Awkwardly smiling, it felt like my weakness had been discovered.

“Affection… Well, with such a family, any affection that might have existed would probably be gone.”

“True.”

“It’s a bit odd. From what I’ve investigated, neither that Earl couple nor you, Isabella, were any different… until one day everything changed?”

For a moment, I almost spit out the tea I was sipping absentmindedly.

“Yes.”

“Why the change of heart?”

My soul had swapped bodies. I don’t know why I ended up in this body, but one day I became a sister who abuses a budding villainess.

So, at first, it was about not wanting to die…

“Because it became lovely.”

“Lovely?”

“One day, I started to see what I hadn’t seen before. And then I began to regret everything I had done. From that moment on, I think, I suddenly fell in love and, therefore, suddenly changed.”

Discussing it as a novel or saying that I changed Shenencia’s future because I knew my own future would be equally futile.

“Bella. I thought you would say something like you saw the future again and, therefore, decided to change.”

“Unbelievable, isn’t it?”

“More believable than saying you suddenly fell in love.”

Damn it. I thought it would be less believable, so I deliberately said something different, but what now?

“Still, it’s nice to hear.”

“Yes?”

“That you fell in love. I feel like I understand that a bit.”

Ah. Are you saying that you’ve fallen a little bit in love with Rurdello? Leandro, who had been lifting a teacup to his lips, chuckled sardonically.

Leandro, whom I expected would ask more questions, asked nothing. The sound of rustling leaves whenever the wind blew and the sound of lifting and putting down teacups filled the place.

We sipped tea for a long while there.

“I thought His Majesty kept me close because he knew I could see the future.”

“Lian.”

“Ah. Yes, Lian… You. That’s why I thought you kept me.”

Talk about a pinnacle of sensitivity. He immediately caught on to the inadvertently slipped word, Emperor.

“Initially, that was the reason.”

“Yes.”

“But as I kept you near me, I felt that even if that wasn’t the reason, you needed to be by my side.”

“Why?”

“Strangely enough, Bella, I don’t feel any aversion toward you.”

I, too, found his words perplexing.

“Why do you think that is?”

“I don’t know. Multiple hypotheses, but no conclusions. Maybe because you remind me of my younger sibling? You look nothing alike, but… If they had grown up, they would have been as blatant and openly emotional as you, arguing back when I point things out.”

I looked at Leandro, unable to tell whether this was a good or bad thing.

“So I thought it might be because of that, but also…”

“Also?”

“Nevermind. There doesn’t seem to be a need to talk about that.”

What he was about to say, he cut off with a grave expression. Somehow that felt even worse.

“Why do people stop talking midway?”

“Because I didn’t feel the need to.”

If you didn’t feel the need, why bring it up at all? You’re making me curious.

Somehow, I looked at him with a gloomy expression. Leandro, however, skillfully deflected the topic.

“More importantly, how are you getting along with Rurdello?”

“Yes. He comes by often to get angry or irritated, but he comes by regularly.”

We’ve had our bouts with Shasha… Learning new characters has made the relationship between Shasha and Rurdello worse.

Sometimes calling each other a pig and a snow rabbit, nowadays, they’re busy competing over who gets the most characters correct, labeling the loser as dumb.

I couldn’t say this in front of the Emperor, so I smiled awkwardly.

“Still, it seems we get along.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“So, can you tell me more?”

“About what?”

“About Rurdello. I know how the child came to be here, but… I think I should have some information.”
Ah, with a small sigh, he also let out a deep breath.

“So it is.”

“If it’s hard to talk about…”

“I don’t know where to start or what to say.”

Scratching his head, he shrugged his shoulders.

“Have I told you why the child came here?”

“Yes.”

“That’s all.”

“As for the child’s mother…”

Seemingly wanting to hide information about the mother, he only shook his head rigorously.

“You must really dislike talking about her.”

“Thinking about that person wreaks havoc on my mental state, to a point where even I can’t handle it.”

What could have possibly happened between Ledelo’s mother and the Emperor?

They must have loved each other to have a child. If they loved each other so much, why does the Emperor hate Ledelo’s mother so much?

‘Could she be the reason for his misogyny?’

There seemed to be no other explanation.

There was no mention that the Emperor has always had misogyny since he was young.

Of course, at that time, Liandro was a barely-known prince, and no one cared, so if he had been misogynistic from his youth, no one would have known.

However, it seemed that it wasn’t the case from back then.