It was a laughable statement. The very snack she deemed unfit for guests was what Anette regularly consumed.

If it was apparent that I was being mistreated in the Porche household, perhaps the Grand Duke would pity me and lower his guard a little.

The more impoverished I appeared, the better. It would explain my reasons for showing goodwill towards the Grand Duke.

And the ‘fruit’ I had instructed the nanny to prepare—that was the best card I could play for the Grand Duke right now.

The Grand Duke stared at me intently.

‘I knew you’d find this attractive.’

“I thought long and hard about what to offer Your Grace and prepared this.”

Crunch. Without offering it to my guest first, I bit into the fruit.

A sweet yet peculiar taste spread in my mouth. A texture like cotton candy, with a slightly bitter flavor.

This was certainly no ordinary fruit.

“They say the cotton flower is the most precious bloom, as it can ease the cold for the people. I’m delighted to offer cotton fruit for our first tea time, Your Grace.”

Food and cotton. These were what the Grand Duke desired from this political marriage.

“I understand you must be uncomfortable camping rather than staying at the mansion. Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable? I’ll take care of it in my name.”

Darius snorted.

“This room seems even more cramped and worn than my campsite with its tents.”

“Indeed. The Marquis despises me so much that he’s forgotten I’m growing day by day.”

I smiled, unfazed by his clear disdain.

“So isn’t this the perfect opportunity to use the name of the Marquis’s eldest daughter? Thanks to Your Grace’s visit, I finally have some power.”

I pushed the bowl of cotton fruit towards him.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what expression he might be wearing behind that silver mask.

That which grows abundantly in the mild southern climate but is unobtainable in the north, what they desperately desire. The cause that drove the north to wage war against the south. The only hope for the north’s harsh winters.

Pretending to hand him the cotton fruit, I whispered:

“You don’t need something that disappears when eaten. What if I give you what you ‘really’ want?”

“What I really want?”

Darius’s hand overlapped mine, which was holding the cotton fruit. He gripped my hand tightly, unable to control his strength.

‘Ouch.’

Despite the pain, I didn’t lose my smile. Yes, it’s exactly what you’re thinking.

Unlike at the first evening’s dinner, he ate the food in front of me.

* * *

Unripe cotton fruit has a sweet taste. Farmers sometimes eat the unripe fruit as a snack when tired from harvesting cotton. That’s why the nanny had criticized me, saying ‘that’s what commoners eat’.

‘The Marquis’s spite is remarkable, serving what becomes cotton when fully ripe as Anette’s snack.’

One might try it as a joke, but it’s incomparable to real confections.

Could one imagine cotton fruit being served as a snack for Caitlyn and her younger brother Simons?

‘Thanks to this, I found a way to win the Grand Duke’s favor without having to take a roundabout approach.’

During the reign of the previous Inkhart Grand Duke, Darius’s grandfather’s generation, the north waged a territorial war to obtain cotton that only grew in the south. Considering the north’s cold climate, southern cotton must have been more desperately needed than anything else.

However, they were defeated, and the House of Porche, representing the south, and the House of Inkhart, representing the north, became sworn enemies to this day.

And now, I hinted that I could give him that ‘cotton’ which had driven them to wage war.

Seeds and cultivation methods.

Isn’t it a much better deal to grow cotton permanently in the north rather than taking a cartload of cotton?

‘If my guess is correct, the Grand Duke will come to see me tonight.’

Unofficially, secretly.

Knock knock.

As if answering my thoughts, there was a knock at the door.

‘Already?’

There was still plenty of time before it could be considered late at night.

I opened the door with anticipation. And was disappointed.

“A snack from His Grace.”

It was Daniel, the Grand Duke’s knight. He was holding a basket of snacks.

“He said the tea time today was impressive.”

So the tea time with only cotton fruit was so poor that he sent a basket of snacks directly?

“I should express my gratitude, but I’m not pleased.”

At my words, Daniel’s gentle smile froze.

“Please tell the Grand Duke that while the snacks are sweet, my heart in receiving them is not.”

Knowing it was rude, I slammed the door shut as soon as I received the snack basket.

The well-packaged snack basket was thrown to the floor as is.

“You know what I mean.”

A light exchange of greetings with the Grand Duke won’t suffice. Even if I do nothing, the marriage between the Grand Duke and me will proceed smoothly.

I needed a definite level of favor to avoid the planned separate quarters after marriage.

I needed to imprint myself on him more.

So that he couldn’t think of me as a mere extra.

* * *

I woke up in the middle of the night. Knock, knock. A low, rhythmic knocking sound was tickling my ears.

At this hour, it would be either an assassin or a thief.

But what thief would be so polite as to knock?

‘…Could it be?’

As if deciding this was sufficient greeting, the window suddenly opened without waiting for my response.

“You have a peculiar habit of using strange places as doors.”

Ha, the corners of my mouth lifted involuntarily.

“For secret conversations at secret times, this is the perfect entrance and exit.”

“This is the second time you’ve entered without my permission.”

“I apologize for my rudeness this time as well.”

All talk and no action.

He was dazzling, backlit by the full moon pouring through the window he stood against.

Ignoring the fact that I was in my nightcap, I seated him at the table. The lit candle flickered.

He smelled cold and cool, having just come in from outside. It wasn’t unpleasant. A cold scent that cleared my foggy mind.

“If we marry, I think I’ll have to intervene in many of Your Grace’s habits.”

Like the habit of being a picky eater, or the habit of barging in without my permission.

The conversation started with a joke. He immediately countered.

“Will you really betray your domain?”

Cotton seeds. What the north desperately wants.

As part of the dowry for this marriage, the Marquis’s house agreed to provide enough cotton to clothe half of the northern territory’s people.

Cotton is much warmer and more durable than thin linen. But even durable cotton wears out after a few years of use.

The cold north was always desperate to procure cotton to keep their people warm, along with food. Knowing the north’s desperation, the south deliberately controlled the supply of cotton.

Of course, there was ‘leather’ as an alternative to cotton. Leather was warmer than cotton. But game wasn’t always available, and leather was even more expensive than cotton.

What if the north could grow such cotton directly instead of importing it from the south?

Darius’s eyes behind the silver mask were clearly bloodshot.

“You are the eldest daughter of House Porche.”

“As you say, I am the eldest daughter of House Porche. I will bear our family’s crest as I marry into your house, and after marriage, I will be your person.”

I marry as a daughter of House Porche and become a wife of Inkhart. I understood the meaning of those words.

“Even the curtains are worn, and the security of my room is so lax that Your Grace can enter at will. You must have noticed at a glance, but let me ask anyway. In Your Grace’s eyes, am I cherished and loved in this household?”

House Porche treated Anette like a disposable pawn.

That’s why Anette died so easily without anyone’s help and was immediately forgotten on the stage called the original story.

This is a world for the two protagonists, Darius and Evangeline, after all.

Would the reason for an extra’s death matter? There’s barely enough time to hear about how the protagonists are doing.

But you know what?

It matters to me. Because this is now my life.

I don’t want to die. It would hurt no matter how I die. Even dying in my sleep would probably be difficult to breathe.

‘No matter how many nights I sleep and wake up, this isn’t a dream.’

Unfortunately. The reason I made such a fuss about moving to another body right after the possession was because I still hoped this might be a dream.

But even after days and weeks, when I opened my eyes, I was still in Anette’s bed, and in the mirror, a pink-haired girl who shouldn’t exist in reality was awkwardly staring back at me.

She looks at me, and I look at her.

I am indeed Anette. This life is mine to live.

So I decided to live it.