Unlike the person who spat out harsh words, Casius’ movements in cutting the steak were leisurely.

Watching him, a question arose.

‘For what reason did he agree to lunch? Even so, a married couple is still a married couple, is he doing his duty? Either way, it’s good to be able to see him like this.’

At first, I thought it would have been better to embody passerby #1, but I decided to think a little more positively.

That it was fortunate to even be in a position where I could see him.

I don’t expect it to happen all at once, so just come over little by little, Casius.

As if blocked by a wall, I focused only on my concept while activating “can’t hear you-“.

“I don’t have a good stomach. I like beautiful things. Your Highness has an excellent face befitting my refined taste.”

Casius’ bewildered gaze pierced through me.

I thought it was a bit absurd too.

But it can’t be helped.

‘Casius, put yourself in my shoes. Can I waste even a moment?’

Casius gripped the knife as if it were a sword and glared at me.

Then, as our eyes met, he murmured lowly.

“For the first time, I regret my face.”

“I’ll try harder to make you not regret it.”

Casius, at a loss for words, met my eyes with bewilderment still uncleared.

“I’m genuinely curious, why do you say you like me?”

The rest was a non sequitur. Vivian was truly perplexed as to why she had followed Casius around.

‘Is a bad boy her type?’

No, perhaps she wanted to take away anything I had, so Casius was one of those things. That was the most rational reason.

Anyway, that wasn’t what was important right now.

“Oh my, I’m at a loss for words that you’re curious about that.”

“…”

“As I said earlier, I fell for Your Highness at first sight.”

“…”

“In that sense, how about we have lunch together from now on?”

Oops, I was too hasty. Come to think of it, it was crazy talk that cut out all context.

It was the result of being obsessed with the intense notion that I had to seduce him.

‘If only this were a negotiation table and Casius were the negotiating partner, it would have been much easier…’

Seeing Casius’ expression looking at me as if seeing a ghost, I seemed to know more clearly. That I was too hasty.

‘He’ll probably tell me to stop talking nonsense and just eat.’

It must be torment for him to be sitting across from me calmly without flipping the table.

But.

“Let’s do that.”

“…?”

He’ll continue to have lunch with me from now on?

I was dazed with a feeling that was both pleased and dumbfounded. Because of that, only the awkward sound of cutlery echoed in the space.

Not long after that, Casius rose.

“I’ll be going now.”

All Casius had eaten was a single piece of steak.

“You’re leaving already?”

Is my face so disgusting that you can’t stand to look at it for even a moment?

‘If you’re going to be like this, how are you going to have lunch with me?’

Casius just nodded slightly, then dropped the napkin on the table as if throwing it.

His steps passing by me seemed particularly fast.

But for some reason, he turned towards me when he reached the door.

At the click sound, I turned my body and our gazes met in mid-air as he stopped.

His furrowed brow stimulated anxiety.

Come to think of it, he’s not going to cancel the lunch promise saying it doesn’t seem right, is he?

Thump– As my heart’s pounding grew louder, he opened his mouth.

“That perfume, I’d appreciate if you could not wear it next time.”

“What?”

I deliberately put it on with care, but he’s telling me not to wear it.

‘Is he angry that I copied exactly what Rachel used to wear?’

Casius’ following words completely missed my expectation.

“The scent is so disgusting I can’t stand it.”

“…!”

My heart sank.

It was on a completely different level from just cursing and insulting.

‘It wasn’t just anything, it was the scent you gave as a gift. Don’t you remember that?’

Even after he left, I couldn’t get up from my seat for a long time.

*

As soon as Casius returned to his room, he vomited everything in his stomach.

‘How did she know about the scent Rachel used to wear?’

Although he pretended not to know in front of Vivian, Casius couldn’t not know. It was the perfume he had given as a gift.

‘Just how much does she know about Rachel?’

The more he knew about Vivian, the more disgusting she became.

‘And then she has the audacity to make such a pitiful expression as if she’s the victim.’

If he hadn’t tried hard to recall his purpose, he might not have been able to endure.

It was absurd that she would shamelessly try to seduce him by imitating Rachel.

Moreover, her shocking behavior of spouting such absurd words about falling for him at first sight even made Casius feel the urge to tear his own face apart.

Wondering if all those catastrophes happened because of this face.

Wondering if that’s what happened to Rachel.

All the more reason he had to keep his wits about him. To create the most perfect ending.

Tikan was restless at the sight of Casius, who looked like he might collapse at any moment.

“I’ll call for a healer.”

As Rachel had predicted, Casius had been putting off even examinations for years since she disappeared.

“I don’t want to hear that anymore.”

At Casius’ low words, Tikan couldn’t continue speaking.

His lord was thinking only of bringing down Snowfell, even with a face as white as paper.

The reason he agreed to lunch must have been for that too.

“The Caeple?”

“We haven’t obtained it yet.”

Casius’ brow furrowed at Tikan’s words.

Caeple was a poisonous herb that could only be cultivated in Snowfell.

The Empire strictly prohibited the cultivation of poisonous herbs, so even high noble houses rarely possessed them.

But Snowfell secretly cultivated poisonous herbs.

Because poison was the easiest means to eliminate political opponents without a trace.

The nobles knew about this, but were too intimidated by Snowfell’s power to freely talk about it.

But what if that poisonous herb was used to assassinate a member of the imperial family?

The situation would be different. Even nobles who were wary of Snowfell wouldn’t keep their mouths shut in the face of such a clear justification.

Casius planned to drink poison made from Caeple during lunch and blame it on Snowfell.

That would be treason, and above all, it would be easy to implicate the Snowfell family.

However, to make it appear as a planned crime by Snowfell, there was a need to go along with their rhythm to some extent.

It would be somewhat suspicious if the crime occurred at just one sudden lunch.

That was the only reason Casius accepted the lunch Vivian proposed.

With not much life left anyway, Casius thought this was perfect as a final plan.

Even while preparing all these plans, he could only think of Rachel.

‘Will I be able to see you even once before I die?’

Meanwhile, Tikan’s vision blurred as he grasped Casius’ intentions.

“Your Highness, you’ll really collapse at this rate.”

“There’s no need to worry. I won’t die before seeing Snowfell’s downfall.”

“Why do you say such things?”

Ignoring Tikan’s words lightly, Casius changed the subject.

“Is there still no word from Lord Rodgo?”

It had already been several days since he ordered an investigation into the traces of a magician found near Rosemary Manor.

Casius felt that if only he could uncover that culprit, he would be able to find Rachel right away.

“Well…”

“What, is there a problem?”

“They’re analyzing it, but they say it will be difficult because it’s an extremely complex magic circle…”

“Complex, you say?”

A conversation with Rachel from long ago resonated in Casius’ mind.

“To erase their traces, they sometimes deliberately use multiple complex formulas to make the magic circle difficult.”

“Is there a need to go that far?”

“Because they have to conceal their crimes.”

“So is that why you hide your heart too?”

“What have I hidden? And that’s different from concealing a crime.”

“As expected, criminals don’t know their own faults.”

As Casius lost his words recalling that day, Tikan’s voice echoed in the space again.

“They say the magic circle was intricately interwoven in multiple layers, as if someone had deliberately tried to conceal it.”

‘A thorough attempt at concealment, a magician of tremendous skill.’

Casius’ suspicion solidified into certainty.

‘Snowfell.’

If it was their doing again this time, he couldn’t even imagine what he would do now.

*

In the passing of a day, my mind was filled entirely with Casius.

Casius appeared in my dreams last night too, glaring at me with eyes full of contempt.

Before marriage, I worried about how I would handle it if he looked at me like that… But after actually experiencing it, that was nothing.

Only his last words saying the Rosemary scent was disgusting still buzzed in my head.

Still, after a day had passed, the aftermath of the shock subsided a little.

‘Well, I am Vivian after all, so it’s understandable.’

While lost in thought, the maids finished styling my hair as I had chosen.

Wanting to look different from yesterday, I deliberately put on a simple tiara.

Just changing one accessory had an effect beyond expectations.

The tiara, which the usual Vivian would never wear, accentuated an elegant feeling, giving off a completely different atmosphere.

When the grooming was finished, Marianne asked hesitantly.

“What shall we do about the fragrance?”

It was a question of whether to use Rosemary again.

He won’t like whatever I do anyway, so what does it matter what scent I use.

But after hearing those words yesterday, it felt a bit wrong to use that scent.

“Do as you see fit.”

At the words to do as she saw fit, Marianne’s face became all smiles, pleased at what would be good.

And soon she brought and applied Lysian fragrance.

As the grooming was finishing, one maid hurriedly entered and whispered something to Marianne.

Seeing Marianne’s face harden instantly, it seemed to be not very good news.

“What’s the matter?”

“Well…”

“Tell me.”

Only then did Marianne speak with difficulty while watching my reaction.