Chapter 09
I had no time to fall into despair after returning to my room.
I quickly started thinking.
As soon as the situation turned like this, I tried to find the paper where I had written down what I knew—
But all I found was this:
“Still before main story start—right before debutante—Swen Trading Company jackpot—Harriet and Selene meet at debutante—Selene and first prince start as rivals—later fight at border—war—various disasters—three of them join forces and solve everything—Harriet gets rejected—sub male lead confirmed, marriage”
“Anyway, if I just stay still, everything proceeds on its own~ I just lie down and wait for Harriet like a predator~”
Who wrote notes like this? Are you insane?
It only contained rough emotions, major events, and nonsense, so it was completely useless for solving the current situation.
This was bad.
If Swen Trading Company failed to reveal the value of the exploration stone, Selene would never discover her… birth secret.
She would never find out she was the daughter of the Beriker Count’s youngest daughter!
What’s more, Harriet was involved in this part.
Swen, who revealed the stone was an exploration stone.
Harriet, following her father’s order to buy the remaining stones, would visit the trading company.
There, upon seeing Selene, she would recall the traits of someone from the Beriker Count family, whom she had known in childhood.
She would inform her father, Duke Raymoon, who had only used an intermediary to deal with Swen Trading Company and never saw Selene’s face.
It was a well-known story in noble society that the late Count Beriker had searched for a nonexistent granddaughter and died because of it.
Suspicious, he would request cooperation from the Beriker family.
Then magicians and Swen Trading Company would conduct a paternity test using the exploration stone itself.
Of course, Selene’s will would not matter.
Because nobles could inherit their mother’s surname, Selene would be immediately registered into the Beriker family—but she would strongly refuse.
However, she would still attend the debutante.
Because the current Countess Beriker, who wanted to reveal her existence, and Selene’s aunt—who could not have children herself—insisted strongly.
There, Selene would get involved with Kelient, and together with Harriet, they would overcome economic crises, war, famine, and various hardships.
But if things continued like this—
If Swen Trading Company remained a small business and stopped trading with the Raymoon Ducal House after buying useless rough stones instead of exploration stones…
Selene would never discover her birth secret and would live forever as a commoner.
Even if her ability awakened, it would only be used for minor things.
Then the empire would not be able to overcome its crises with Kelient alone… and it would fall.
It wasn’t a situation where I could just think “Well, Selene is gone, so Harriet is mine!”
That wasn’t the point.
Selene’s existence was necessary.
I had to help her no matter what.
It was Swen Trading Company’s responsibility to recognize the stone’s value and protect it.
I immediately called Contact, my messenger squirrel.
“Contact, I have something to send to Harriet.”
“Chirp.”
“I’ll write it in ten minutes. Wait here.”
I quickly wrote a letter.
“To Harriet,
Sorry for the sudden request, but I need your help.
I trust you, so I’m telling you this.
Recently, I became interested in the rough stones sold by Swen Trading Company.
So I used all my allowance and bought them…”
It was basically asking her to investigate what was happening inside Swen Trading Company.
A vague request to intervene if possible.
I wasn’t sure if it would work, but if the Raymoon family got involved, they might be able to stop the sale to the Retric Trading Company.
I handed the letter to Contact.
Then I gave it a hazelnut.
“Fuel.”
As expected, Contact’s eyes sparkled.
Although messenger animals supposedly didn’t need food like this, I thought a small treat would make it happier.
Contact grabbed the hazelnut and immediately ran off to Harriet.
I slumped into my chair.
“Sigh… I’m tired after fighting with Ever since morning.”
Could Harriet really solve this?
I closed my eyes, unable to hold back my gloom.
Today I felt like skipping all debutante preparation classes…
Knock knock—
A sound came from the terrace.
“…Isn’t this the second floor?”
Why was I getting so many chills today?
I was facing away from the terrace, so I blinked nervously.
What, is there even an assassin coming to a ducal mansion?
And would an assassin politely knock?
I slowly turned my body and peeked.
“What the—!”
There was Harriet, already leaning against the glass window, ready to prank me.
‘How did you even get up here?!’
For anyone else, it would have looked like a horror scene.
But for us, this was normal—we had done things like this since childhood.
Harriet, who could even use spatial movement, often came like this when something urgent happened.
I walked over and opened the latch.
After sighing in relief, I complained.
“You scared me.”
“I came as soon as I read your letter. It sounded serious.”
He held out his palm.
Contact, still holding the hazelnut in its mouth, looked at me with bright eyes.
“Come in.”
Even though nobles close to adulthood were supposed to keep distance, it seemed better to avoid rumors by letting him in my room than talking where others might see.
Harriet looked around the room once and sat on the sofa like it was familiar.
“You’re really comfortable here.”
“I used to come here often when we were kids.”
I fell silent.
Right. They were best friends.
I wondered how Lana had always stayed calm in front of him.
“…So, I’m the one who called you?”
“That too. And I figured you couldn’t come out easily right now. You’re busy.”
“You’re sharp.”
“I know you well.”
Harriet casually held out his hand.
I just stared at it, not understanding what he wanted.
‘Ah! He came to take the accessory back! He changed his mind!’
I quickly opened the wardrobe and brought out the jewelry.
“This, right?”
I confidently pushed it into his arms.
Harriet let out a small laugh, then pushed it back toward me instead of taking it.
“It’s yours.”
“It’s too much.”
“No. I can’t take it back. Besides, you wanted it.”
“…Me?”
There is no such memory in Lana’s body.
“You even cried saying you wanted it.”
“I never did that!”
“You did. Over ten years ago. My mother even said it was yours. Don’t you remember? She said it suits your hair color since it’s amethyst.”
Maybe it was a childhood incident I forgot?
Frustrated, I tapped my chest and sat down on the bed.
Just because a child insisted doesn’t mean you should take it seriously…
“Why are you sitting there? Come here.”
“I’m not moving until you take it back.”
“Then this sofa is mine forever. I’ll take good care of it. It’s a bit worn in though.”
So annoying.
As I sulked, Harriet gave up arguing, placed the jewelry on the table, and walked over.
He knelt down on one knee and brought his eyes to my level.
“Feeling uneasy?”
“……”
“I’ll take care of what you mentioned. Don’t worry if this is what’s bothering you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
He was the same age as me, just about to turn eighteen.
It was a heavy burden I had placed on him, but strangely, I felt relieved.
A smile slipped out without me realizing it.
“Really? Thank you.”
“I should be the one doing this…”
“Hm? Doing what?”
“Nothing. Just… cheer me on. Hug me.”
He opened his arms like he wanted a hug.
It was just a light hug between childhood friends.
‘This should be fine, right?’
I carefully hugged him, and he leaned into my arms and mumbled.
“Your chaperone will be the Duchess Demierd, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And your partner will be the Duke Demierd.”
“Right.”
“Then where do I fit in?”
“You’re already fitting right into my arms.”
I joked.
Luckily, he laughed.
“Lana, see you at the debutante.”
Somehow, I felt this might be the last time we were like this.
Because I had asked him to go to Swen Trading Company, he would meet Selene and fall for her.
In a way, wasn’t I restoring the original story rather than breaking it?
“Thanks for coming. Seeing you… calms me down.”
I said it honestly without thinking.
Harriet looked up at me.
I felt a faint pain in my chest, thinking this might be the last time I saw him like this.
“I’ll handle it well.”
Then he left without hesitation.
He would contact me. He would at least keep in touch.
But contrary to that reassurance, no news came even when I checked the newspapers every day.
And I rarely heard anything about Harriet either.
Then finally—the day of the debutante arrived.
