#15.
It was right around the time Archid had slipped away from the suffocating ballroom to catch his breath.
*Splash!*
Along with the sound of a sudden downpour, ice-cold water drenched him from above.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry! I meant to water the flowers. I had no idea you’d be passing by right there.”
The voice was a sickening mix of a mock apology and a taunt.
When Archid looked up, he saw Roena and her friend, Diana Licke, doubled over in laughter. Diana spoke up.
“Are you alright, Young Grand Duke? Oh dear, what a mess. Your clothes are ruined; I suppose you’ll have to go back to the castle now.”
“She’s right, Your Grace. If you walk back into the party looking like that, you’ll be the laughingstock of the night. We wouldn’t want you to disappoint the Grand Duke, now would we?”
As Roena giggled in agreement, Archid clenched his fists, swallowing his rage.
“I suppose I must,” he replied. “Excuse me.”
With that, he turned on his heel and walked away, acting as if he’d never had any interest in the party to begin with.
Roena bit her lip, clearly dissatisfied by his dry, emotionless reaction, and turned her back on him as well.]
“Gasp!”
I choked on my breath as the memory slammed into my mind with violent force. My hand instinctively clamped down hard on Archid’s forearm, causing him to look at me in surprise.
“My Lady?”
What was that? A scene from the novel? Or was it Roena’s actual memory?
My lips trembled at the vividness of the vision that had just seared through my brain. It wasn’t my memory—since I had transmigrated into Roena’s body, I had never bullied Archid even once. If anything, I was more likely to execute any malicious mob that dared to touch him; I would never have gone out of my way to humiliate him myself.
*‘So, is this a memory of the original Roena?’*
I stared at Diana, who had been a complete stranger to me until a second ago. The moment the memory embedded itself, I felt the history of my interactions with her naturally settling into place. Diana was Roena’s friend—the first person she had befriended after coming to Hadelus, and the very person who had joined her in gleefully tormenting Archid.
I didn’t know why these past memories were resurfacing now, but she was certainly not a welcome guest.
“Roena, are you okay?”
Diana’s eyes rounded as she stepped forward, naturally wedging herself between Archid and me and taking my arm. Looking at the way she glared at Archid, she clearly assumed I was being escorted against my will.
Archid stepped back hesitantly, offering no resistance. For some reason, his face had turned pale. The moment I saw that, I shoved Diana away and snatched Archid’s hand. If I didn’t hold on, I felt as though he would turn and leave without hesitation, just like in that memory.
“My Lady?”
Archid’s eyes widened as I grabbed his hand. His blue-gray irises trembled slightly.
“Roena?”
Diana also looked at me with a bewildered expression. Her face practically screamed, *’How could you do this to me?’* making it seem as if I were the one in the wrong.
I was still a bit disoriented by the memory. The original Roena had clearly enjoyed bullying Archid. Yet, when Archid backed away without even a word of protest, she had felt angry instead.
Why? Was it because his reaction was so minimal that she felt her teasing was pointless and boring?
“What’s wrong with you? Is he holding something over you?”
Diana looked back and forth between Archid and me with a fierce scowl. I pushed my cluttered thoughts aside and looked her straight in the eye.
“Holding something over me?”
“I mean, you coming here with the Young Grand Duke like this…”
“Is a husband and wife arriving together a sign of being blackmailed?”
“Huh? No, I mean…”
Diana bit her lower lip, stammering. This version of Roena was so different from the one she knew that she seemed lost in thought.
Ignoring Diana, I turned to Archid, keeping a firm grip on his hand in case he tried to flee.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Pardon?”
“You said you’d stay by my side today. Who told you that you could just walk away so easily?”
Archid looked from our joined hands to my face and back again before answering softly.
“I wasn’t going anywhere. I simply thought I should step back while you spoke with your friend.”
As he spoke, he squeezed my hand back. The slight pressure offered me a wave of relief. Still, it wasn’t enough; I interlaced our fingers firmly.
“We’re finished talking. Diana, you can go now.”
Stunned by my cold dismissal, Diana wore a helpless expression for a moment before hurriedly vanishing. I didn’t follow her. I had no intention of staying friends with someone who had bullied Archid.
In fact, the majority of the memories that had returned suggested it was Diana who had constantly egged Roena on to mistreat him. She had played a massive role in fueling Roena’s initial hatred for her husband.
*‘This is exactly why people say you should choose your friends wisely.’*
I shook my head, trying to cast off the weight of Roena’s thoughtless past. All I had to do was be better from now on. If I showered Archid with love for the next seven years, surely his wounds would begin to heal, even if only a little.
Just then, Archid pulled my hand toward him and whispered into my ear.
“Are you truly alright?”
“What? About what?”
“I was asking if it was really okay to let Lady Licke go like that.”
Archid glanced toward Diana, who was now sniffling in the middle of her own social circle. No doubt she was playing the victim, whispering about how I’d treated her.
Among children, social standing is everything. They often go to extremes just to avoid being cast out of the group. Archid was likely worried about that for me. Roena didn’t have many friends; being an outsider with a prickly personality meant few people wanted to be near her. Diana’s group had been the only one to welcome her, and she had blended in through the common bond of malicious gossip.
I shrugged and cast a cynical look toward them.
“I didn’t plan on being friends with them anymore anyway.”
I could already see a few of the “ringleaders” in that group glaring at me with sharp eyes. But really, what could they do to me, the Young Grand Duchess? If anything, I welcomed the challenge. I would gladly nip any trouble in the bud and pay them back with interest.
*‘Hehehe. I will never tolerate anyone bullying my precious Archid.’*
I was busy returning their glares with that resolve when Archid spoke again.
“You truly have changed, My Lady.”
His low whisper tickled my ear. As if it were a signal, the tension drained out of my body. How could even his voice be this perfect?
Feeling a tingle at my ear, I turned my head to meet his gaze and froze.
“……!”
His blue-gray eyes were staring directly into mine, much closer than I had realized. Well, we had been whispering, so the proximity was only natural.
Archid hadn’t expected me to turn my head so suddenly and stared at me, frozen. He looked like a startled rabbit, and it took every ounce of my meager willpower to keep my nostrils from flaring in excitement.
“I-I’m sorry.”
Archid belatedly pulled back. The tips of his ears had turned bright red; he seemed just as flustered as I was.
*‘S-so cute!’*
I barely managed to suppress the urge to let out a silent scream of joy. After that, I was swept up in a whirlwind of conversations with others, all while completely ignoring the suspicious glares from Diana’s group.
—
While the party was in full swing and Roena had stepped away for a moment, Diana and her group approached Archid. Diana crossed her arms, a haughty scowl on her face as she confronted him.
“What have you done to Roena?”
It was obvious she had been waiting for the exact moment Roena left his side. Archid looked at her with an expressionless gaze and replied.
“You speak as if I’m someone who would harm my own wife.”
“Well, Roena is acting so differently from usual, so obviously—!”
Just as Diana was about to launch into her usual tirade, Archid cut her off.
“Obviously, you want to say I’m blackmarking her?”
“T-that’s…”
Diana’s anger stalled as she looked at him, dazed that he had voiced her very thought. Then, seeing the coldness in his expression, she bit her lip.
This was a starkly different look from the weak Young Grand Duke she was used to. Like a predator that had been hiding its fangs among herbivores, there wasn’t a trace of warmth in Archid’s eyes. Today, the blue tint in his gray eyes felt like a cold, sharpened blade.
As Diana instinctively recoiled from the sheer pressure he exuded, Archid took a step forward. Because he was tall for his age, she was forced to look far up at him.
“The only reason I have tolerated you until now, Lady Licke, was because you were Roena’s friend,” Archid said icily.
“I-I am still Roena’s friend!”
“My Lady seems to think otherwise.”
“Wh-what?”
Diana’s face flushed as she stammered, especially when she saw the clear sneer playing on Archid’s lips. It was so eerie that it made her fingertips tremble.
*‘Wh-what is this? Is this really the same Young Grand Duke I knew?’*
He felt like a completely different person. Diana found she could no longer bully him as easily as she once had.
“Did you think I didn’t know? That you’ve been using me to feel a sense of superiority while you mocked me?”
“I-I never—!”
“You never?”
Archid cut her off again, murmuring with a high-handed authority.
“Are you trying to place the blame on me, your Young Grand Duke?”
*How dare you?*
Diana shuddered at the low, vibrating tone of his voice and scrambled backward. In her haste, she tripped over the hem of her own dress. Though he was close enough to catch her, Archid simply took a step back.
*Thud!*
With a loud noise, Diana landed hard on her backside. Watching the terrified girl, Archid let a faint smirk play on his lips. He leaned down slightly, whispering so that only she could hear.
“This is the last time I will tolerate your insolence. So, before my wife returns, get lo—”
It was then.
“What’s going on?”
Roena’s voice rang out from behind him like a savior.
With a pitiful expression and tears brimming in her eyes, Diana turned around.
“Roena! “Waaaaah!”
