The study showed no signs of midday drowsiness.

A low voice resonated from the man dominating the room.

“Who’s doing what?”

In response to his question, the butler Jason standing before him repeated:

“Madam suddenly barged into the kitchen without warning and inspected each of the foods and ingredients there.”

It wasn’t unheard of for the lady of the house to inspect the kitchen.

Occasionally, before important banquets, she would go to the kitchen to encourage the servants or give them precautions.

But it was customary to give advance notice through the butler or maid before visiting.

Moreover, what kind of person was the current Duchess?

She was a mistress who was frustratingly considerate of her subordinates’ feelings.

Not only did such a person suddenly go to the kitchen, but she also inspected the ingredients and even scolded the chef, saying the food he made had gone bad.

Furthermore, it was said that Chef Max fainted and lost consciousness after the Duchess left.

Of course, a mere chef fainting wasn’t something that needed to be reported to the Duke, but the Duchess’s strangely changed behavior couldn’t be ignored.

Additionally.

“And… they say the collapsed Chef Max was poisoned.”

“Poisoned?”

Clayton’s eyes changed as he listened half-heartedly to Jason’s words.

He stopped his busy hands and stared at Jason standing in front of the desk.

“Yes. According to the testimony of those in the kitchen, the Duchess ordered Chef Max to eat the food that was in the kitchen, and Max collapsed after eating that food and after Madam left. The food was the stew that was supposed to be served for Madam’s dinner tonight.”

Clayton, who had been silently listening to the butler’s words, opened a drawer and took out a letter.

It was a report written a few days ago, stating that strange movements had been detected.

Clayton, who was carefully examining the letter, asked:

“What’s the name of the poison the collapsed chef was poisoned with?”

“They say it’s nightshade.”

“Nightshade…”

Tap, tap-

At those words, Clayton seemed lost in thought as he tapped his fingers on the desk.

It was the same as the poisonous herb that woman had secretly brought into the mansion.

Moreover, the report also stated that the woman had met with the chef recently under the pretext of food.

There was no need to dig deeper.

The answer was already there.

“It seems our mother doesn’t like the new family member.”

Unlike the words that carried a not-so-light meaning, a smile briefly appeared on the man’s lips.

“And it’s interesting that my wife noticed this.”

As if enjoying the current situation, he moved his fingers to the window.

Looking outside where the sunset glow was falling, he saw Dalia walking in the garden.

Dalia.

A woman like a single flower, just as her name suggests.

The most beautiful and fragile among the flowers that had fallen into his grasp, seeming as if she might break if touched.

Who knew a woman he thought was only fun at night would entertain him during the day as well.

Clayton muttered with an even deeper gaze:

“I think I’ll have lunch with my wife tomorrow.”

His eyes persistently followed her back.

“I feel like I’ve been too distant from my wife lately.”

It was late afternoon as the sun was setting.

It had been a pleasant day.

The omelet that came out in the morning was savory, and the mushroom soup was just salty enough to whet the appetite.

It was a proper meal worthy of the name after a long time.

So, after finishing the meal, I was planning to take a leisurely bath and roll around in bed, but…

“Is the food not to your liking?”

At the man’s casual question, Dalia’s hand, which had been idly poking at the appetizingly grilled sea bream, stopped abruptly.

“Ah, no?”

Forget about whether it suits my taste or not, I’m going to get indigestion!

That’s right. She was having lunch with the male lead.

Dalia put a well-seasoned piece of fish in her mouth to show that she was eating well.

The salty sensation on the tip of her tongue reminded her that this was grilled fish, but she couldn’t properly savor the taste.

She glanced at the man sitting across from her, chewing slowly.

Come to think of it, this was the first time she had seen his face since the night she had possessed this body.

It was quite different from how disheveled he had been then.

His neatly combed-back hair and tie tightened up to his neck were perfect, as if to say he wouldn’t show a disheveled appearance even at home.

And that’s not all.

Unlike last time when it was dark and hard to see, the man’s face she met in broad daylight was…

‘Wow, he’s handsome.’

If someone isn’t nervous eating with a person who looks like that, they must be blind.

To be frank, who would focus only on the taste of food while eating with someone as good-looking as Cha Eun Woo?

So, the pounding of her heart must be due to the human instinct that’s weak to visual stimulation.

It was around the time Dalia was trying to calm her thumping heart.

Clayton, who seemed to have finished his meal, took a sip of water and asked.

“I heard there was a commotion in the kitchen?”

“Yes… Pardon?”

Dalia, who had been answering while mindlessly eating, asked back in surprise.

‘Commotion? Was there any commotion in the kitchen?’

As she tilted her head, not understanding what he meant, he continued.

“I heard the chef collapsed after you left.”

“…The chef collapsed?”

It was the first time she had heard of this.

No, come to think of it, he did look unwell after eating the food.

It must have been spoiled after all.

‘And yet he kept insisting it was fine.’

Serves him right.

While Dalia was inwardly criticizing Max for continuously lying to her, Clayton continued in a casual tone. And his words were enough to make Dalia look at him directly.

“They say there was a poisonous herb in the stew. Did you feed it to him on purpose?”

“…Poisonous herb?”

What on earth is he talking about?

What’s this about a poisonous herb, and me feeding it on purpose!

As she was starting to feel confused beyond bewilderment, a piece of the original story flashed through her mind.

The attempted poisoning of the female protagonist.

It was a plot orchestrated by the male lead’s stepmother, the current Duchess Sayer, to confirm the infertility of the female protagonist, who was barren.

Fortunately, before the female lead could eat the poisoned food, a maid spilled the stew bowl in front of the butler, foiling the attempt.

Dalia recognized the familiar scent of nightshade from the spilled stew, and because of that incident, she was gripped by fear that the people in the mansion were trying to kill her and couldn’t leave her room for a while.

‘Come to think of it, where in the original story are we now?’

Only then did she realize that she hadn’t accurately determined the point in time she had possessed the body, being too caught up in the comfortable life.

She had simply assumed that she would be pregnant from that night and thought carelessly that as long as she didn’t run away, everything would be fine.

Dalia’s eyes moved busily.

‘The poisoning incident was certainly…’

As she belatedly traced the flow of events in the original story, Dalia stiffened as if she had realized something.

“Ah.”

She remembered. Where in the timeline she had possessed this body.

Early in the original story. The male lead notices that his stepmother is trying to poison the female lead, but he doesn’t bother to stop it.

The reason was that he knew the already barren female lead would only get a little sick from eating the poisonous herb, without any danger to her life.

And what that meant was…

‘The male lead doesn’t love me.’

Clayton doesn’t love Dalia yet.

At that despairing realization, she dropped the fork she was holding with a clatter.

A man who hates and despises his own blood due to the family curse.

The only reason such a man entered into a contract marriage with the female protagonist, me, was because of that one fact that she couldn’t get pregnant.

But what if a woman he doesn’t even love bears his child?

What would happen then?

‘Won’t he really kill me…?’

In the original story, by the time the female lead ran away, the male lead was already in love with her.

He just couldn’t admit it to himself.

That’s why even if he knew about the pregnancy, he couldn’t kill her.

Because he already loved the female protagonist.

But look now.

At the cold-blooded face that shows no reaction even though his wife almost ate poison!

If I become pregnant in this state, he won’t just let it slide.

‘So if I want to live comfortably in this house from now on…’

It meant either not getting pregnant or working hard to seduce the male lead from now on.

Oh, this is a disaster.