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“Instead, I will earnestly serve you for the sake of my future prosperity!”
At the sound of Becky’s sudden outburst, Lyna couldn’t help but let out a dry chuckle.
“I hate to say this, but please don’t get me wrong.”
Becky raised an eyebrow and gestured dismissively.
“I’m not doing any of this for you. It’s all for my own sake! That way, I can secure a comfortable future!”
Well… she wasn’t entirely wrong.
Until Lyna leave the Bolsheik family, she was indeed the sole heir and successor to the Duke of Bolsheik.
Being by Lyna’s side alone would offer numerous advantages, so much so that it didn’t even need to be mentioned.
But no matter how you looked at it or listened to her, it was evident that Becky’s words were nothing more than a facade, an attempt to appear innocent.
Lyna licked her lips but ultimately remained silent.
Perhaps she held a glimmer of hope.
Just a tiny shred of hope.
Wasn’t the dreadful accident that occurred during the hunting competition, which was a result of Lyna’s unfortunate fate, somehow resolved due to Ainar’s stroke of luck?
So, unlike her previous life, maybe this time things could be… different.
.
.
‘Miss, please don’t cry. Don’t be sad. It’s about time this person who should have perished found his rightful place.’
Despite gasping for breath, the man mustered a smile for Lyna’s sake…
.
.
At the very least, it wouldn’t be like that.
Although she knew how futile hope could be, Lyna wanted to hold onto that fragment of hope.
Because Ainar was there, for the first time since her regression, Lyna had the strength to do so.
Lyna glanced at the carefully arranged items that Becky had placed down and spoke up.
“Thanks to you, I won’t have to venture into the forest again.”
“Really?”
Becky beamed brightly at those words.
Helping someone was always a joyous act.
Especially if it was someone you genuinely wanted to devote yourself to.
“Miss, shall I open the window?” Becky asked, noticing Lyna rubbing her nose, but Lyna shook her head.
“No need. I’m quite familiar with the scent here.”
Upon hearing Lyna’s response, Becky wrinkled her nose at the remnants of grass or flower and took a sniff, but soon shook her head.
“I… I’m not sure.”
Becky sniffed again, her expression still doubtful.
“I do sense a faint aroma…”
“So, you’re saying there’s no scent?”
“Yes.”
Lyna, who had never considered herself to have a keen sense of smell, tilted her head.
“Do you have a weak sense of smell?”
“No, it’s normal.”
As Becky vigorously rubbed her nose, Lyna shook her head.
“It smells more than just ordinary grass.”
Lyna soon averted her gaze from it.
It did have an unusual scent for grass, but she must be familiar with it because she smelled it somewhere else.
Lyna, who didn’t know where that other place was, casually passed by, and the remnants of the grass or flower still had a lingering scent.
When Lyna vaguely tried to catch a glimpse of something that Jane had dug up in that forest but ultimately missed,
Jane was examining the ingredients she had risked her life to retrieve.
Because there was no time or leeway to carefully dig out or handle the roots without harming them, parts of them were crushed and oozing juice, but they weren’t damaged enough to be unusable.
“Phew… Huff.”
Jane, on the verge of exhaling, abruptly sucked in a breath and sealed her lips tightly.
A mere sigh could potentially cause further harm to the roots, and that would be disastrous.
The ingredient had been hard-won, and she couldn’t let a moment of carelessness ruin it.
She held her breath and gingerly manipulated the ingredient.
Would it slip away if she didn’t grip it tightly? Would it shatter if she held it too firmly? Only after she had painstakingly transported the ingredient to her secret space with utmost caution did she allow herself to breathe again.
“Haaa.”
A sigh of relief escaped through her slightly parted lips, followed by a faint chuckle.
“Finally, it’s finally beginning.”
Had it not been an excruciatingly long time indeed?
Ever since she discovered that she was the true successor of the Bolsheik family, she had endured a protracted and arduous period of planning.
And now, at last!
With her shoulders trembling and a smile stretching across her face, a thud reverberated behind Jane.
Caught off guard, Jane instinctively turned her head to find a looming figure in the dimly lit area.
In response, Jane slowly raised her hand and grazed her lips.
Just as her expression had been a facade mere moments ago, a composed and serene smile adorned her face.
However, her muddied blue eyes still flickered, causing a flustered Hans to barely manage to speak.
“Ja, Jane?”
Observing Jane’s almost fanatical gaze, Hans cowered, his broad shoulders shrinking in fear.
But as always, Jane simply ignored Hans.
Someone like Hans held no interest for her.
Now that she possessed the first ingredient, she had to promptly proceed with her next plan.
However, she couldn’t disregard the fool who was causing a commotion before her.
Advancing toward Hans, Jane’s movement elicited an instinctive retreat from him.
Witnessing this, the smile at the corner of Jane’s mouth deepened, and she gracefully waved her hand.
“Come here. Why do you stand so far away?”
Her voice remained soft and composed, coaxing Hans closer to her.
Following Hans’s movement, Jane’s hand slithered up like a snake.
Her pristine white hand, meticulously maintained while harboring the determination to one day enter the Bolsheik estate, gleamed faintly in the dim light.
Her slender fingers straightened Hans’s disheveled collar as she reassured him.
“When you came home, what were you supposed to do if I didn’t come out?”
With a voice as smooth as ice, Jane’s words made Hans gulp nervously.
“Hans.”
“Wait quietly in the living room.”
“That’s right. That’s what you were supposed to do.”
“I… I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”
Whispering like a child confessing their wrongdoing, Hans received a response from Jane.
“You shouldn’t have done something that required an apology in the first place.”
As if passing judgment, fear gripped Hans’s eyes.
Stepping back from Hans, Jane pointed her chin at him.
“Do you know how to reflect on your actions?”
“Uh… Yeah.”
Like a beast being dragged to a slaughterhouse, Hans shrank back and retreated.
Jane maintained her smile until Hans had completely disappeared from her sight.
But beneath her slightly parted lips, an incredibly vexed voice slipped out.
“What a foolish man. I’ll have to deal with him as soon as he becomes useless.”
Once she entered the Bolsheik estate, she would require that scoundrel’s skills. For now, she would tolerate him, but as soon as she reclaimed her position…
Jane swiftly turned around and meticulously searched her secret hiding place.
Soon, she retrieved a piece of paper containing the poison recipe. She had memorized it so thoroughly that she could recite it flawlessly. Her fingers brushed against its corner.
As she gazed at the first ingredient, carefully wrapped in fine white cloth, the corners of her mouth began to twist slowly.
Her eyes held no trace of a smile. Only her lips bore a bitter, twisted smile. It was an eerie sight, but of course, no one was there to witness it.
Without diverting her gaze from the first ingredient, Jane felt around for her pen.
A restrained sense of joy emanated from between her lips as she drew a line through the name of the first ingredient at the top of the recipe.
“Finally.”
In her deep blue eyes, filled with seething desires and growing murkiness, a brilliant future was being painted.
The perfect tomorrow she had envisioned long ago, when it was almost forgotten.
Nightfall approached, just a few days away from the day she would be brought into the Bolsheik Duchy to serve as Lyna’s “shadow.”
Around the time when the hunting season concluded and invitations for the official tea party season—the grandest gathering of the year—began to circulate, a significant topic consumed conversations whenever people gathered, regardless of age, gender, or social standing.
It was the engagement of the second prince, who had never been linked to any romantic rumors, let alone an engagement, to the young lady of the Bolsheik family, who had broken off her engagement with the third prince.
“I had a feeling it would turn out like this.”
“Indeed. They make quite a suitable couple, don’t they?”
“Oh my, if someone heard us, they would think we’ve known for ages!”
No one refuted the almost teasing tone in the man’s laughter.
“That’s absolutely true. It’s remarkable.”
“Yes. As far as I know, they had no connection whatsoever.”
“Could they have bumped into each other on the way to the palace of the third prince?”
“That’s a possibility, but…”
“Come to think of it… now that she’s engaged to the second prince, she’s completely done with the third prince.”
“Oh, you’re right.”
“Have you seen the black stallion? The emperor liked it so much that he placed it near his throne.”
“Didn’t it have a large scar on its jaw?”
“He even appreciates its imperfections.”
Smith’s name was briefly mentioned in the midst of the conversation but quickly faded away.
In fact, even before this, Smith’s name had only been associated with Lyna, so it wasn’t particularly surprising.
“Did she say she wouldn’t be coming today?”