Dalia leaned against a tree, using the fluttering shadows cast by leaves as her mat.

The cool breeze tousling her hair and the fresh scent of the forest brushing her nose made her feel more at ease.

While enjoying a peaceful moment in the forest, Dalia looked up at the sky and recalled what had happened with Clayton yesterday.

‘He was clearly trying to drink my blood.’

Remembering the red eyes that glinted as if about to devour her, Dalia rubbed her nape.

Her fingertips felt the traces of yesterday’s incident.

It wasn’t a big wound, more like being pricked by a somewhat thick needle.

‘Usually, the male lead trying to drink the female lead’s blood is supposed to happen in the distant future…’

Seeing Clayton unable to control his impulses, she instinctively realized that the day she would replace Lloyd’s role wasn’t far off.

‘Is this actually a good thing?’

Since she was already pregnant, if her blood suited the male lead’s taste, he wouldn’t be able to easily discard her.

So she thought it might not be bad to change her plan and take on the role of a blood bag more actively.

‘Well, it might hurt a little, but…’

Just as she was consoling herself that it would be like getting a thick injection in the neck, Samantha suddenly burst in, snapping Dalia out of her reverie.

“…Who’s coming?”

As if she hadn’t heard Samantha’s words clearly, Dalia asked again, while the maid was breathing heavily from running.

“A red-haired woman! Some strange woman has just arrived at the mansion with lots of luggage!”

“…”

“Could the name of that red-haired woman be…”

“Rose Hertz! She’s the young lady of the Count Hertz family!”

Dalia dropped the apple she was eating at the familiar name that came from Samantha’s lips.

The perfectly ripe red apple rolled pitifully on the ground.

“Rose Hertz came to the mansion at this hour… and with luggage…”

Dalia muttered as if trying to grasp the reality of the situation.

“Yes! The duke has given that woman quarters in the east annex!”

Samantha raised her voice, excited by Dalia’s shocked appearance.

The east annex was further away than the west annex where the main wife resided.

She had briefly asked the butler before, and he said it was an old building that hadn’t been inhabited for a long time.

So, the fact that they had prepared Lloyd’s quarters there meant…

‘Are they going to live together in the same house now?’

Dalia’s mouth fell open wide as she finally grasped the situation.

‘This wasn’t in the original story!’

While Dalia would have been secretly pleased if it were Lloyd’s usual visit, this was different.

‘Clayton, you crazy bastard!’

A curse towards Clayton spontaneously sprang forth.

As if expressing Dalia’s feelings, Samantha continued speaking.

“We can’t let this slide, my lady! There’s clearly a mistress of the mansion, yet he gives a room to another woman! This is clearly an act of disrespect towards you, my lady!”

Yes, it was disrespectful indeed.

Even though Clayton was the master of the mansion, Dalia was the mistress.

Yet, to allow a guest to stay in the house without any consultation with the mistress. And not just any guest, but someone rumored to be his mistress.

It was clearly a measure that disregarded her position as the duchess.

Now she wanted to open up the male lead’s skull and observe what he was thinking.

And Samantha, who seemed even more upset than Dalia, was fuming before finally bursting into tears.

“Sob… The duke is really too much. Why would he do this to our lady… Our lady even secretly visits a doctor for the duke’s sake…”

Samantha seemed to think of her as the female lead abandoned by her husband in a morning drama.

But come to think of it, now that she was pregnant, she had indeed become the protagonist of a story from “Love is War”.

But soon, as if tired of thinking, Dalia shook her head.

She was already confused by the unexpected situation, and now hearing the sobbing beside her was giving her a headache.

“Haa… I’m tired.”

Just as Dalia was pressing her fingers against her temples, seemingly exhausted by the current situation,

There was a rustling sound and a presence was felt.

“Um…”

Dalia raised her head at the familiar voice.

“…You.”

The person who appeared before the two was Lloyd. As always, he was dressed as Rose.

If anything was different from usual, it was his shoulders, which were slumped and drooping.

Seeing Lloyd like this, Dalia ordered Samantha.

“Samantha. You go back to the mansion first.”

“What? My lady! How can I leave you alone with that woman… Ahem. That young lady!”

“Samantha.”

When Dalia commanded again with a somewhat subdued look, Samantha closed her mouth.

Then, as she reluctantly moved her feet, she didn’t forget to glare at Lloyd.

After chasing away Samantha, who had been glaring daggers, a heavy silence enveloped the forest. And the one who broke that silence first was Lloyd.

“…I’m sorry.”

Lloyd bowed his head in front of Dalia as if he were a criminal.

“What are you sorry for?”

Seeing Lloyd so dejected, Dalia felt a pang in her heart again.

For Lloyd, this must be like a bolt from the blue.

Although there weren’t many people coming and going in the annex, how uncomfortable must it be to have to dress as a woman all day long.

‘Both of us are suffering so much.’

Just as she was about to sigh at her and Lloyd’s predicament, suffering unnecessarily because of one man,

Lloyd, who had been hanging his head like a criminal, continued in a subdued voice.

“A few days ago, while I was away from the mansion, the duke visited our estate.”

“…What? The Hertz estate?”

“Yes…”

Lloyd calmly recounted what had happened at the mansion.

His sister had no choice but to receive the duke due to his sudden visit. But fortunately, the duke didn’t notice that they were different people.

So even his sister doesn’t know why she was suddenly summoned to the duke’s mansion.

“After the duke left, someone came from the duke’s mansion. They said orders had been given to pack my things and come to the mansion by today. I was so surprised…”

Dalia calmly organized her thoughts, wondering if something had happened without her knowledge, or if there was some forgotten content from the original story.

But soon, unable to retrieve anything, she shook her head.

‘Nevermind. Let’s just think positively.’

This might actually be for the best. Living in the same house with someone everyone considers to be a mistress will increase the sympathy towards her.

Then the duke won’t be able to completely disregard her.

Thinking this way, her heart felt somewhat lighter. So, Dalia gave Lloyd a few precautions.

“We should refrain from meeting alone for a while. If there’s an urgent matter, let’s meet in the forest like this. After all, if we two meet, it’s likely to draw attention.”

Lloyd nodded in agreement to Dalia’s words and observed her expression.

‘I hope the duchess doesn’t misunderstand unnecessarily…’

He didn’t care if the world thought he was a woman, or if they pointed fingers at him calling him a mistress.

As long as Dalia believed in him, that was enough.

‘Even though she doesn’t show it, she must be having a hard time.’

The duke he knew wasn’t the type to take care of his wife attentively.

He wouldn’t care about the repercussions of him staying here. And the one who would be hurt by that would clearly be Dalia.

‘If Dalia had met me first instead of the duke…’

So if she had become the Countess Hertz instead of Duchess Sayer, surely…

‘What am I thinking!’

But before that thought could deepen, Lloyd shook his head to clear his mind. Then he looked at Dalia, who seemed lost in deep contemplation.

Silver hair glinting in the sunlight from above and amethyst-like purple eyes.

From the moment he first saw Dalia, he thought she was a dazzlingly beautiful woman.

So he was simply happy to spend time with such a beautiful woman.

Her care for him was as comforting as his sister’s, and her concern for him was as warm as his deceased mother’s.

So it was as natural as cold ice melting in warm sunlight for him to open his heart to Dalia.

Yes, a very natural feeling.

This feeling, like a teenage boy’s innocent first love, was probably…

As his thoughts reached this point, an indescribable emotion began to swirl inside him.

The scattered pieces of emotion began to find their places one by one.

And only after those pieces came together to form a shape did he realize.

Ah, I like her.

Dalia, who is beautiful enough to dazzle the eyes.

I like a woman who has already become another man’s wife.

Having finally noticed his true feelings, Lloyd let out a short sigh.

It was a harbinger of misfortune.