Thud.

“What are you doing, unable to dress properly? I told you to at least wear your clothes properly now that the carriage from the Grand Duke’s house has arrived.”

The dressing room door opened and the nanny returned with an irritated voice.

‘I shouldn’t be someone you can order around like that.’

The daughter of the late Marchioness, the young lady the nanny was supposed to protect.

But I was grateful for this nanny’s rough treatment. Her irritation and rudeness brought me back to reality.

If she hadn’t interrupted me appropriately, I would have been lost in sentimentality for a while.

‘If that squawking woman hadn’t thrown herself to stop me from hitting my head against the wall, my soul might have escaped from Anette’s body.’

My cold gaze swept over the nanny.

Does the nanny know? That when I first possessed this body and tried to escape, unable to adjust, letting it happen would have been her last chance in life?

‘People’s hearts can’t help but linger on what they know, right?’

With that gratitude, I smiled brightly. Then I beckoned to the nanny gently.

Today was an important day when the male lead of the original story would arrive at the Porche Marquis’ house. For me, and for the original story. But…

“Are you telling me to wear this now?”

“Pardon?”

“Get rid of it. Right now.”

Thud. The cotton undergarment slid far to the end of the table. It was the clothes the nanny had just handed me.

“What do you think you’re doing? How dare you be so rude!”

The nanny flared up.

“Rude?”

I raised the corner of my lips.

How dare she, who to whom about manners.

In romance fantasy novels, it’s all about power dynamics.

“You want me to go out wearing that to such an important occasion with the Grand Duke coming? That rag?”

“R-rag, you say?”

“Where are my muslin undergarments? I think they would go well with this dress my stepmother sent. That’s the least I should wear to go out.”

The Marchioness Porche had specially given Anette a new dress today. To save face in front of the Grand Duke.

Muslin, shiny satin, petticoats to puff up the skirt, etc. No matter how mistreated, she was still the eldest daughter of a marquis family. Such clothes should have been prepared in the wardrobe. Not this kind of cotton undergarment fit for commoners.

“Nanny, don’t tell me you lost that dress? The new one I haven’t even worn once?”

The nanny gulped audibly. For the first time, a look of embarrassment flashed across her face that had been blatantly dismissive of me all along. It was a visibly anxious face to anyone.

“Oh my.”

I deliberately put on a surprised expression.

“How did you manage to lose it, nanny?”

“Lose it? No! Young miss, old clothes are better, you know. The dress is new, so if the undergarments are new too, won’t it chafe your skin?”

‘She must have sold it off. Knowing Anette wouldn’t be able to say a word.’

“Then show me. Bring it here in front of me, right now. Why are you standing there looking so stupid? Didn’t you hear me, nanny?”

“Th-that! There’s no time now! It’s somewhere in the wardrobe. You should have said something earlier. You need to go to dinner now!”

The nanny reminded me of the appointment time in a voice certain that I would be flustered.

Surely, no fool in the world would miss the first meeting event with the male protagonist. But…

“That’s why I said I can’t go. Unfortunately, tell His Grace the Grand Duke that I’m not feeling well and it’s difficult for me to see him today.”

I smiled brightly at the nanny.

‘The easily bullied and disregarded Anette you knew is dead. On the very day you tried to stop my death.’

A moment of condolence for Anette’s pitiful soul that had gone who knows where. You never know. Maybe Anette entered my body instead of me being in hers.

But I wouldn’t recommend it. The situation with that body wouldn’t be much better either. Anette, if possible, I hope you possessed the youngest daughter of that family of daughter-obsessed parents that I couldn’t enter.

I crossed my arms in front of the nanny as if daring her to do whatever she wanted, without even combing my hair, let alone wearing the dress.

The nanny gasped in shock.

If I don’t go out to meet the male lead like this, the nanny would receive a severe punishment from the Marchioness.

“Young miss, really!”

‘That’s right. You’re in more of a hurry than I am, aren’t you?’

When I didn’t budge an inch, the nanny’s face contorted.

It was an expression that seemed to say, ‘Damn it! Why is she being so disobedient today of all days!’

Well, the Marchioness must have earnestly requested her to make a good impression on the Grand Duke, even bringing a new dress.

If I were to say I won’t attend such an important occasion just because of undergarments, how furious the Marchioness would be. She would lose all the trust she had built up with the Marchioness until now.

“You there, go and bring Lady Caitlin’s clothes.”

The nanny, who had been biting her nails, finally seemed to make up her mind and ordered.

“Pardon? Lady Caitlin’s clothes?”

The maid exclaimed in surprise. Caitlin was the daughter of the current Marchioness Porche and was treated preciously, unlike Anette who was an outcast.

To try to dress me in Caitlin’s clothes. It would be fortunate if it went unnoticed, but if discovered, Caitlin wouldn’t stand for it.

“What else can we do! Anette is insisting she can’t go out in those clothes!”

The nanny shouted, clearly shifting the blame for losing the clothes onto me, even though it was obviously her fault.

“Hurry, hurry! Do you want to take responsibility if the young miss is late for dinner?”

I ignored the commotion of the maids and opened the vanity. Tap tap, powder was evenly applied to my smooth, fine skin.

‘Darius Inkhart.’

It was time to go meet the male lead of this novel.

* * *

A beautifully adorned appearance and a new dress.

A straight back, not bowed.

The dignified bearing befitting the legitimate eldest daughter of a marquis family.

I was beautiful.

“…Sister Anette?”

My younger brother, who usually ignored me, stumbled over his words upon seeing my appearance this evening. He couldn’t take his eyes off me.

When I smiled slightly at him as a test, I could see the face of my naughty younger brother immediately turn red.

Everyone gathered at the dinner table was paying attention to me. I could even hear someone whispering.

‘Was Miss Anette always this beautiful?’

‘She looks just like the late Marchioness.’

‘That’s right, the Marchioness was famous for her beauty before she died.’

“Anette Porche, eldest daughter of the Porche Marquis family, greets the distinguished guests gathered here.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to me.

But it was all unnecessary.

This evening, only one person’s interest held any meaning for me.

Darius Inkhart.

The male protagonist sitting at the far end of the long table was my sole concern.

He was the protagonist of this world and the person connected to my life.

“It seems I’m the last to arrive. I’m Anette Porche, Your Grace.”

I smiled brightly for the first step towards an amicable contract marriage. And then I thought.

It’s ruined.

It’s ruined.

‘It’s really ruined!’

Sparkle.

On the face of the male lead looking at me was a cold silver mask.

‘He came to get married, shouldn’t he at least show his face?’

Nice to meet you. I’m asking in advance because I’m a terminally ill extra, but do you have any plans to kill me in the near future?

Even if I wanted to have a cliché conversation, I need to see his face for there to be a dialogue.

But a mask like that.

‘Did the Grand Duke wear a mask in the original work?’

In the original story, it was described that Anette, who was the nominal wife, died without even properly seeing the Grand Duke’s face.

I wondered what that meant.

Anette lived from the time of marriage until her death seeing only that silver mask.

“We ask for your understanding that His Grace the Grand Duke has injured his face and is attending this occasion wearing a mask. As it is difficult for him to speak while wearing the mask, I will convey his intentions on his behalf.”

The Grand Duke’s subordinate with soft brown hair explained on behalf of the Grand Duke with a pleasant smile.

‘This makes it difficult to even speak to him.’

If Darius doesn’t take a liking to me until the end and sends me to the annex as in the original story, I will meet an assassin and die. So I was determined to prove to Darius that I was useful somehow.

To change the route.

‘For Darius, it might be a small matter to bring the wife he originally intended to keep in the annex to his own castle, but for me, it’s a matter of life and death! There’s a reason why extras in novels can’t forget the kindness shown by the protagonist!’

“I see. Thank you for coming all this way despite your deep injury that requires covering your face. I can tell the Grand Duke’s thoughtfulness.”

Insensitive to someone else’s daughter, the Marchioness announced the start of the meal.

The Porche family’s mealtime, filled with abundant ingredients from the south, was lively. Everyone laughed and chatted while enjoying the food, while the two people who came up from the north remained as outsiders, not mixing in.

‘At this rate, we’ll head straight for the original route without any chance to intervene.’

With a resentful heart, I kept glaring at the Grand Duke’s silver mask.

Tall stature, a gloomy atmosphere reminiscent of the winter north, clothes made of thick northern fabric, and a weightiness that made it difficult for others to approach easily. The Grand Duke was exactly as he was in the original story.

I needed to at least know what kind of food the Grand Duke liked, but the silver mask that firmly covered his face didn’t even allow a single expression from the Grand Duke.

‘Surely he’ll take off the mask at least when eating.’

Even if his subordinate speaks on his behalf, surely the subordinate won’t eat for him too?

Not just me, but others were also subtly paying attention to the Grand Duke’s meal.

The dining table suddenly became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

The Grand Duke scooped up some soup. And brought the spoon to his mouth.

Slurp. The soup that was lifted up to above his mouth fell back into the bowl.