They were marrying not out of love?

Still, that was now how she saw it. She sensed a fondness from Sierra towards Edward. Not the matured deep feelings of love, but rather, something like a budding affection… a freshness? Similar to the excitement of new lovers.

“No, no… this can’t be…”

“Yes? What are you saying?”

Sierra shouldn’t have liked Edward. She was supposed to remain fixated on Damon until the very end of the story. Despite Edward being the male lead, many readers speculated that her true love was actually Damon.

And she believed it, too.

“Did Edward agree to this?”

“Yes, of course. Marriage isn’t something one does alone.”

“Why does he accept the title of Count?”

“Currently, I’m the only duchess left in the four Grand Duchy. Being a count is more advantageous than being a member of the County.”

It was unbelievable that Edward agreed to all this. What would he gain from marrying Sierra? Even if he wanted to save Elysia, there had to be other ways to do so without marrying Sierra.

“Now, do you believe that I’m not your enemy?”

It wasn’t about belief.

Elysia was too shocked to respond, staring blankly at Sierra. Now everything feels confusing. All that she had believed for twenty years seemed like an illusion. The original story had changed. She thought it was flowing naturally, just a bit early…

Everything was strange. Everything she knew was different.

“…Ah, I understand.”

Elysia staggered up. She wanted to leave quickly. She felt she couldn’t stand being there any longer. She was not in her right mind from the shock.

“Your Grace…!”

“I’m sorry for coming so suddenly today.”

“Edward is very worried about you. And I’ll genuinely help you.”

This version of Sierra was unfamiliar… It shouldn’t have been like this.

Elysia shook her head slowly.

“There’s something else I need to tell you.”

“What is it…?”

At this point, she felt nothing could surprise her anymore. She was already overwhelmed.

“It’s about the Solar Information Guild I mentioned last time.”

“Yes?”

“Did you ask about any specific information?”

The principles of the Information Guild were confidentiality. Naturally, Sierra wouldn’t know what she had commissioned there. Probably Damon, the owner, did. Owning the largest information guild in the empire, just imagine how much information he must have.

“What does that mean? Did the lady…”

“No, not at all. I just came across some new information… I wanted to advise you to be cautious.”

She was worried that Sierra might use the fact that she had shared the existence of the Information Guild to intimidate Elysia. Sierra immediately denied it, looking shocked.

“I was wondering if you’ve already asked about the Grand Duchy.”

“I haven’t asked that yet.”

“That’s good. Please, don’t ask about the secrets of the Grand Duchy.”

‘…Don’t ask about the Grand Duchy’s secrets?’

Sierra sounded like she knew something specific.

“I’ve been using the Solar Information Guild for a long time.”

Elysia knew that, too. Sierra had been using information guilds since she was very young.

“I’ve tried countless times to find out where it operates but never succeeded. However, I noticed one pattern. Whenever it involved gathering information related to the Grand Duchy, it was distinctly uncooperative.”

Sierra had already figured it out. Even in the original story, she tried to get information about Damon through the guild but got nowhere.

“After dozens of tests, I concluded that the Solar Information Guild blocks me whenever I try to learn the Grand Duchy’s secrets. Even the slightest question related to it, the quality of the information was different.”

“Have you been investigating the Grand Duchy all this time?”

“Yes, Edward and I were looking into the secrets of the Grand Duchy.”

It was a wonder how she had survived so far. Damon wasn’t a merciful man. To think that investigating him was risky enough, but attempting to unearth his secrets…

“Don’t worry. I haven’t been obvious about it. I’m not foolish. I’ve been using the guild for over ten years.”

Sierra was clever. No one knew that better than Elysia. She had always been surprised by her schemes.

“At least, I’ve concluded that Solar is connected to the Grand Duchy Raphael. That’s what I’ve deduced.”

“So, don’t try to uncover the secrets of the Grand Duchy through the Information Guild?”

“Yes, exactly. The secret is very close to you.”

* * *

The revelation that the secret was so near sent a shiver through Elysia. It seemed that during the half-year she had struggled to distance herself from Damon, Edward and Sierra had been investigating everything.

“Brother.”

It was Edward who had uncovered it all. His words on their wedding day.

“…So, it was Brother who discovered it.”

“We realized that we could no longer obtain information within the Caesar Empire.”

At that time, Edward had mentioned that information about the Grand Duchy still existed in other countries. Was that why he stayed in Logan Empire, even though he was not ill?

“Edward gathered information from various countries to save Your Grace.”

She was unaware of that… she had been intoxicated by the comfort Damon offered in the Grand Duchy. She had enjoyed it, honestly. Despite her resolution not to fall for the affectionate Damon, she indulged under the pretext that it was inevitable.

Justifying that at least his shell was to her taste. Was it not a predetermined emotion from the start?

Among the many characters, Elysia had been drawn to Damon.

She hadn’t realized that from the moment she started changing him, she had already been attracted to him. She was destined to fall for him.

“I…”

Elysia’s fists were trembling finely. She wasn’t sure she could handle it. She didn’t want to leave him, waiting for him to let her go first. She knew it was cowardly, yet she couldn’t stop herself.

“I understand it’s hard to accept right away.”

She didn’t want to hear it. Even now, she was barely holding herself back from leaving. From the moment she had inhabited Elysia’s body, she had been unable to escape from Damon. Perhaps she was even being punished.

“Elysia!”

“Brother…?”

As she struggled to keep her collapsing body upright, a familiar voice called out. Sweaty and panting, Edward had run to her, and she could no longer hold herself up. She felt her body collapsing.

“Why did you come all this way!”

At Edward’s scolding, Elysia felt an even stronger sense of reality.

“You knew I would come, didn’t you?”

“I thought you wouldn’t come here recklessly.”

“How long did you think you could keep hiding?”

Fortunately, just before she collapsed, Edward caught her, so she was spared of any embarrassment. Elysia smoothed her dress calmly and sat down.

“You should go back.”

“Didn’t you want to rescue me?”

When Edward told her to go back, she felt it was time to settle things today. It was too dangerous. No matter how much Edward strengthened his power, he couldn’t defeat Damon.

“It’s not the right time now.”

“Are you preparing for a coup?”

“What?”

“What are you talking about?!”

Startled by her words, both Edward and Sierra’s reactions made Elysia realize that at least it wasn’t that. Had Sierra planned to become empress only after Damon killed the emperor?

“I don’t know how you plan to save me.”

“Grand Duke Raphael will destroy himself when the time comes.”

She knew it. In the original story, Damon’s end was self-destruction, but it never detailed how. Initially, Damon seemed like an invincible villain. No one could harm him, and he himself couldn’t commit suicide.

“Are you waiting for the Grand Duke’s short life?”

“…Yes.”

So, it was as she thought. She was just clinging to an impossible hope. The imminent death of the Grand Duke was no secret within the empire.

“If you’re just waiting for a divorce to happen, there’s no need for Brother to sacrifice himself.”

“Elysia…”

“Please, be honest.”

From Edward’s attitude, it seemed he wasn’t just waiting for time to pass. Then, there was no need to grow stronger or marry Sierra.

“What’s the secret of the Grand Duchy? What are you so concerned about?”

She was curious about the secret only she didn’t know. What was making Edward so anxious?

“The Grand Duke’s time is running out. Just over a year left? According to my calculations, he will die soon.”

When she heard that Damon would die, Elysia’s body trembled. She wanted to appear unaffected, though her fingertips trembled. He was going to die. Even though she already knew this, hearing it from someone else’s lips was different.

…Especially coming from Edward, the male lead of the story.

“So, there’s really no need for this…”

“And Elysia, you’re going to die too.”

__