Chapter 3
“How about that, a real catch, huh?”
Jack, having stopped coughing, stared at her like she was insane.
Iris found his expression quite amusing and burst into giggles.
“How did you come up with such a crazy idea?”
“I have my own sources you don’t know about.”
“There’s information I don’t know? What is it?”
“I’m not telling you for free.”
Clunk.
Just then, the carriage stopped in front of the townhouse. Right. The townhouse left to her by her first husband.
Despite owning this townhouse, she came here to spend time whenever she went through a divorce.
She hopped out of the carriage without an escort, then spun around and smiled at Jack with a wave.
“I’ll call you when I need you.”
“Now she thinks I’m her errand boy.”
“Gotta pay off my debts, don’t I?”
With light steps, she disappeared into the townhouse.
Jack, who had been quietly watching her retreating figure, pulled his hood low over his face and signaled the carriage to move.
“What should we do, master?”
“…For now, leave her be.”
After exchanging cryptic words with the coachman, Jack vanished with the carriage down the end of the street.
* * *
As soon as she arrived at the townhouse, she headed to the bedroom and flopped onto the bed.
Then, as if to prove her words to Jack weren’t a lie, she thought about the Crown Prince.
“Honestly, I don’t remember much.”
The romance fantasy novel she had transmigrated into.
The title was something like <Surviving as a Hostage in the Imperial Palace>, she thought.
‘At first, I didn’t even realize I’d transmigrated into a novel.’
That was only natural. She had transmigrated into a place far removed from the original protagonists, and the story hadn’t even started yet.
If she hadn’t overheard the Crown Prince’s name while working at a hotel, she might never have figured out where she was.
‘Even then, I wasn’t sure.’
But a recent article in the imperial newspaper had confirmed it for her.
<Cecil Kingdom Finally Surrenders…>
The Cecil Kingdom, a vassal state of the empire, had started a war for independence only to be subdued.
Honestly, from the perspective of someone from South Korea, it wasn’t exactly pleasant news, but hearing the name “Cecil” jogged another memory.
‘Rubinus Cecil.’
The youngest daughter of the Cecil Kingdom. Or rather, an illegitimate child disguised as the youngest daughter, perhaps. Her life seemed to have been just as messy.
‘I think Rubinus Cecil was taken hostage by the empire because of this war.’
Typically, after a war, the defeated nation’s royalty would be sent to the victorious nation under the pretense of “studying abroad” but really as hostages.
It was a way to prevent further rebellion by holding a precious child captive.
But to send an unimportant child instead? Were they planning to start another war?
That kingdom didn’t seem like it was run by decent people either.
Anyway, that wasn’t what mattered to her.
‘Probably around early next year, Rubinus Cecil will come to the empire. As in the original story, the Crown Prince will naturally end up with her.’
And she would seize that opportunity.
It was spring now, so she had about a year left.
If she could seduce the Crown Prince into an engagement or marriage in that time, she’d likely secure alimony far beyond anything she’d gotten before.
*‘He’s the Crown Prince of the empire, after all.’*
The scale would be different. So different.
How much would she get?
Just imagining it filled her heart with excitement. But with time running out, she didn’t have the luxury of lounging around like this.
Pop.
She sprang up from the bed, sat at the desk beside it, and pulled out a long sheet of paper.
“The first way to make someone fall in love: a coincidental but fateful encounter.”
Perhaps because this was a romance fantasy novel, these things worked especially well here.
Wasn’t that how she’d managed four marriages and four divorces so easily?
“I roughly remember the major events.”
She picked up a pen and thought deeply. Then, with a sly smile, she began writing something on the paper.
“This should do it.”
<The Crown Prince’s Nighttime Outing>
It was probably right around this time, when the weather was warming up.
She couldn’t recall the Crown Prince’s personality exactly, but the keyword was “savior,” and she knew he was quite kind to the heroine.
He had the qualities of a wise ruler and cared deeply about the welfare of the people.
Of course, she didn’t know exactly when he went out for these nighttime outings.
“Well, that’s Jack’s job to figure out.”
Iris smiled faintly, burned the paper she’d written on, and scribbled a short note for Jack before opening the window and calling out.
“Crow.”
Caw!
With a squawk from somewhere, a pitch-black raven flew in and gently perched on her wrist. She tied the note to the raven’s leg.
“Do a good job this time too.”
After lightly kissing the raven’s forehead, Crow let out a *caw* and soared into the sky.
It was the messenger she used to communicate with Jack, and it was both adorable and clever.
“Maybe I’ll ask for Crow as a gift when I pay off my debts and part ways.”
She’d be glad to be rid of tiresome Jack, but she’d miss cute little Crow.
“He still seems to pity me, so…”
He might grant her that much.
Iris gave a faint smile. The first time Jack came to her was exactly a week after her first divorce.
Back then, she was utterly broken, holed up in a room in the mansion, muttering like a madwoman about where things had gone wrong.
[What did I do? What did I do wrong? Where did it all go wrong? Why, why me…]
It was all her fault. Everything. For daring to hope for happiness. For believing in love again.
[What’s this? Just a crazy woman, isn’t she?]
Jack, who had barged into the silent townhouse, said that when he saw Iris holed up in her room.
[I didn’t expect her to be this young.]
He scratched his head. Iris, hearing another person’s voice for the first time in a week, reacted slowly.
[Uh, so, I know it’s weird talking to a crazy woman, but from now on, I’ll be the one collecting your debts. Got it?]
Debts. Right, debts. Iris still had debts.
In a flash, she grabbed his arm with her sharp, overgrown nails.
[Ugh, what the—!]
[Right, debts. I have to pay them off!]
She laughed like a lunatic.
[I’ll pay off all those debts.]
And with a smile that stretched her lips to the breaking point, she spoke like someone possessed by a demon.
[So, will you help me out?]
From then on, Iris took charge of finding marriage prospects, while Jack handled digging into their backgrounds.
And so far, they’d successfully paid off her debts, to the point where just one more marriage and divorce would clear everything.
Caw!
As she was finishing dinner and reading a book, she heard the raven’s cry. Seeing Crow pecking at the window with its beak, she opened it.
“You’re here even earlier today?”
She kissed Crow’s forehead again, untied the note from its leg, and read it.
<Midnight tonight, Aletu Street.>
“Faster than I expected. Not bad.”
For a mere loan shark, his information network was suspiciously good.
To know imperial matters this quickly was a bit shady.
‘Well, once I pay off my debts, I won’t have to see him again, so whatever.’
She burned the note and fed Crow some dried meat. Stretching grandly, Iris’s eyes sparkled.
“Time to get ready.”
She was starting to enjoy this process.
“The Crown Prince is barely in his early twenties. I wonder how he’ll squirm in the grasp of Iris, who’s been through four divorces?”
And so, as midnight approached,
she left the townhouse dressed in plain clothes, carrying a basket covered with a clean cloth.
Here we go, step one of capturing the Crown Prince ♡
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By Anna 💓
