Raindrops began to fall one by one from the sky that had been clear all along. As they approached the earl’s residence, the thickening rain pounded heavily on the carriage.

The sky darkened as if thunder would strike, looking just like Franz’s complicated mind. He absent-mindedly drew the curtain to cover the carriage window.

He disliked sunny, clear weather. When he saw the dazzling sunlight that seemed to illuminate everything, well… It felt like being stripped naked, so to speak.

Or was it because of his status, having to hide in the shadows despite having the emperor, who was called the sun of the empire, as his father? Anyway, Franz rather preferred this gloomy weather over bright, sunny days.

“We have almost arrived, Your Highness.”

Stilico, who was examining the opposite window, spoke. About 10 minutes left until arrival, he said. Franz nodded.

There was so much he wanted to say when he met Celeste. In fact, it would be closer to a threat than a story, a warning, but it would still be included as a kind of conversation anyway.

The carriage arrived in front of the iron fence that had to be passed before climbing the hill. When the coachman pulled out the yellow flag attached to the side of the carriage and waved it, the gatekeepers hurriedly opened the iron gate.

From here to the mansion on top of the hill, all this vast land was the garden of the earl’s residence.

If it were a site of this scale, a few decent townhouses could be built. The wealth of the Louisette family was newly felt, and the resentment that this affluence was all thanks to whom surged.

Franz smirked. Tired of Marina’s endless greed, he was not much different from her in reality.

The carriage that quickly climbed the hill road now stopped in front of the main gate of the mansion. The two gatekeepers standing on either side of the mansion’s main gate breathed in surprised gasps and exchanged glances.

Originally, his carriage with the royal seal should have had all the doors open by the time it reached near the fence at the bottom of the hill.

When the door did not open quickly, Stilico opened the carriage window and shouted at the gatekeepers. Where did they put an imperial family member who had personally visited here outside the door, did they want to be whipped?

Still, when the door did not open quickly, Stilico got out of the carriage and instructed them to open the door and call someone quickly as the grand duke had arrived.

“Why, did the earl ban me from entering at all?”

Franz also chimed in as he got out of the carriage. Beyond the bowing gatekeepers, a well-built man burst open the mansion door and ran out.

“Greetings to the Grand Duke, Your Highness.”

It was a familiar face. Franz tried to remember the man who knelt down and greeted him, flexing his forearms as big as a child’s head. Kendrick, was it? One of Celeste’s assistants.

“The grand duke has arrived, yet the master of the mansion does not come out in person. What rudeness is this?”

Kendrick bowed his head deeply with a difficult expression. Of all times, Franz appeared just when Celeste was talking with Layla, who had come on an errand from Mrs. Pulcheria.

If Miss Tupper saw this, the news that Grand Duke Toskur frequented Earl Louisette’s residence would reach Mrs. Pulcheria’s ears in an instant. Of all times, just before the marriage to His Highness Albrecht, when she had to be most careful about her conduct…

“I apologize, Your Highness the Grand Duke. There is a guest who arrived at the mansion first…”

Kendrick’s words that he could not greet him because there was a guest further fueled Stilico’s anger.

“What guest has come that you neglect His Highness the Grand Duke! Go and bring Earl Louisette right now. Right now!”

If you don’t bring her, I will barge in, Stilico threatened. It was said that Grand Duke Toskur’s subordinates resembled their master, having no hesitation or courtesy in their actions and deeds.

That was probably not just an empty threat, but a warning about what they would really do if things went awry. Sweat formed on Kendrick’s temples.

That’s when it happened. The entrance of the mansion seemed to become noisy somehow, then the door opened and people appeared. Kendrick turned his head to look back. Franz also slowly moved his gaze toward the source of the sound.

The first thing that caught the eye was a dazzling golden hair. Even at a glance, the glossy, lush blonde hair fluttered in the wind and rain. An illusion arose as if fragrance was carried by the shaking of the hair. Franz blinked.

“Miss Layla, next time I’ll serve you a different flower tea. The aroma is really nice.”

“Thank you, Countess.”

Layla? Where had he heard that name a lot? While ruminating on the woman’s name, the familiar purple-haired woman appeared beyond her. It was Celeste, whom he had waited and waited for.

“I’m worried that Madam will scold me for being so late. But it was really fun… Oh my.”

It felt like a gust of wind was blowing, and it snatched the wide-brimmed hat from the blonde woman’s head. The hat, swept away by the wind and floating in the air, spun and fell at Franz’s feet.

As a result, the gazes of all those who came out of the mansion gathered on Franz. Celeste, her attendants, and the blonde woman as well.

He remembered. The small woman who followed Mrs. Pulcheria like a cicada on an old tree, Layla Tupper. Why was that woman coming out here? Franz stared at Layla quietly.

“What brings you here…”

Celeste’s flustered appearance as if she didn’t know what to do was not bad. She seemed very embarrassed to have been caught meeting him in front of that woman.

Thinking about how he could make Celeste even more flustered, Franz slowly picked up Layla’s hat that had fallen at his feet. Then, he took steps to find the owner of the hat.

Seeing him getting closer little by little, Celeste and her assistant had expressions of not knowing what to do, and the blonde Layla just blinked her big eyes and looked at him.

“Here, your hat fell. Lady.”

Franz grinned, raising the corner of his mouth.

The world is wide and there are many men, I thought, but this is still not it. I glared at the man in front of me, displeased.

I was about to see off Layla, who now had to go back, leaving regrets behind. I had gone downstairs with the intention of watching her get on the carriage, but I was surprised by an unexpected guest.

“Long time no see. Celly.”

The one who greeted with that smile, with the corners of his mouth raised and his eyes curved, was Franz. He stood leisurely as if he knew she would come out, having come here who knows when, even bringing along his knights in droves.

She wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Layla also seemed very flustered upon discovering Franz. Even the attendant who had gone to call the carriage she had come in froze in place, unable to do this or that, upon discovering Franz’s carriage with the royal seal on it in front of the mansion.

Of all times, the wind had to blow then.

The weather suddenly turned bad, I thought. The sudden wind and rain that swept between them blew Layla’s hat away. The hat that flew into the air like that dramatically fell in front of Franz’s feet.

Of all places, it had to be in front of Franz. The men standing next to him seemed to number at least a dozen, so why, of all places, purposely, did the hat have to fall in front of Franz’s feet?

Franz picked up the hat and brought it to Layla. His appearance as he handed over the hat with a smile on his face was almost too cool to be true.

So it was all the more suspicious. No matter how much he was a Casanova who didn’t stop women from coming and didn’t catch women from going, leaving room for all the women in the world, he shouldn’t have done that to Layla at least.

Because in the original work, Franz truly loved Layla.

Isn’t it a common content that usually appears when you look at romance novels? Cool and dashing men who love the female protagonist compete, and the eliminated man turns evil and becomes a villain… That kind of content.

Seeing Franz smiling as he handed over the hat, I belatedly recalled the fact that he had loved her in the original work. And when I saw Layla’s expression as she took the hat, I realized that the story of this world that deviated from the original work had begun to go seriously awry.

Layla’s face, blushing and smiling shyly, was exactly the expression described in the original work when she first fell for Carl.