Chapter 24
“Miss Annette, did any letters arrive for me today?”
At my casual question, Annette bustled about like a rabbit.
“Oh my, there’s a whole pile, Lady Irene! I’ll bring them right away.”
Lately, I had been checking my mail every three hours.
On the silver tray Annette brought in, cards were already stacked high once again.
Most of them were invitations from various noble families and social gatherings.
But unfortunately, I wasn’t in a position to leisurely attend social events right now.
Three days until the appointment ceremony.
Only three days remained until the day my life might come to an end.
‘Nothing particularly noteworthy this time either… huh?’
As I flipped through the invitations, something caught my eye.
A pure white card decorated in gold—this was from Cordelia.
‘She already sent a thank-you card a few days ago. Another invitation?’
But when I opened it, the contents were strange.
It was just an ordinary greeting card.
Why send the same message again? There wasn’t even another invitation.
Tilting my head in confusion, I read to the end and soon reached the postscript.
“P.S. Please make sure to read my card when no one is around. I’m quite shy.”
Huh?
A strange feeling crept over me. Cordelia didn’t use such a cute tone.
“Lady Irene, you’re reading it. I’ll bring your tea shortly.”
Annette left the room as she spoke. Sir Joan was in the living room, so I was now alone in the drawing room.
At that moment, the card in my hand began to change.
“Gasp—”
The ink on the card started moving in real time. Soon, it displayed a completely different message.
I could only gasp in shock.
“9 PM today, Rose Garden. The youngest angel’s harp sounds dull. Will come to collect fifty soon. —R”
‘Rizello.’
The name surfaced in my mind.
“Fifty” clearly referred to the five hundred thousand mars I had promised him.
‘What does the youngest angel thing mean?’
If he was going to use magic tricks like this, couldn’t he at least be clearer…!
Anyway, 9 PM.
I glanced anxiously at the clock. There was still a lot of time left until nine.
That day, I spent the entire time steeped in anxiety.
I tapped my fingers so much on the table that Sir Joan eventually asked if something was wrong.
When I said I just had a lot on my mind today, she gave me a serious piece of advice.
“Physical activity helps greatly with distracting thoughts.”
“I-Is that so? Haha… I don’t really know much about exercise.”
“Would you like me to teach you?”
I couldn’t refuse her kindness, so I nodded.
And so, Annette, Sir Joan, and I ended up standing in the living room, swinging wooden practice swords.
Having not exercised even once since coming to this world, my whole body creaked.
“Ow, my whole body… everything aches…”
“Pardon? What did you say, Lady Irene?”
“Nothing at all.”
Shaking my head at Annette, I collapsed onto the sofa.
“You’ve done well. Your muscles must be torn, so you should rest tomorrow and resume training the day after.”
Sir Joan said something terrifying.
T-torn?
What… is torn? Muscles? Aren’t those not supposed to tear?
Overcome with fear, I staggered toward the bathroom.
I had never understood why she was nicknamed “Mad Dog Joan,” but for the first time, I truly felt afraid of her.
After that commotion, the sun soon set.
At around 8:30, I began laying the groundwork.
“Whew… I feel stuffy.”
“Oh dear, are you feeling unwell, Lady Irene?”
“Shall I help you stretch, Lady Irene?”
“N-No, it’s fine.”
I quickly shook my head at Sir Joan’s suggestion and sighed.
“When I feel like this, getting some fresh air really helps…”
“Fresh air? Hmm, it’s quite late…”
“Ah, I wish I could see nature… I feel like I’d feel much better looking at pretty flowers and grass…”
Hearing my obvious muttering, Annette and Sir Joan exchanged glances.
Annette clapped her hands.
“If that’s the case, you can do that inside the cathedral! There are beautifully maintained gardens here.”
“Really?”
Nice, Annette!
She really understood me.
“Especially the rose garden—spring roses should be in full bloom right now.”
The rose garden. That’s it.
My eyes sparkled.
“I’d love to see it. I really like roses.”
“Oh my, we should’ve shown you sooner. Shall we go now?”
“Yes!”
And so, our late-night outing was decided.
The rose garden, softly illuminated at night, was breathtakingly beautiful.
“…Wow.”
I let out a gasp without realizing it, and Annette smiled warmly.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? The flowers are lovely, but that statue in the center is truly stunning too.”
In the direction she pointed stood a large statue.
It appeared to be the god Elun, surrounded by baby angels flying around.
I carefully examined the angels.
‘Which one is the youngest angel?’
“It really is charming.”
I continued laying the groundwork.
“It looks like the perfect place to gather one’s thoughts. May I walk around alone for a bit?”
Sir Joan was silent for a moment.
I looked at her nervously.
She was a diligent guard knight. Even when Rashid had come to the library before, it turned out she had secretly called Ian.
Fortunately, perhaps because we were inside the cathedral, she nodded.
“Please, take your time.”
I slowly walked alone through the garden.
Reaching the statue, I pretended to admire it while looking up.
‘They’re not all the same.’
The angels around Elun varied in age.
‘That’s a teenage angel. That’s an infant. And that one…’
When I spotted the lowest one, my eyes lit up.
It was clearly a newborn angel.
The youngest angel was indeed holding a harp.
Though it seemed too heavy, it was half resting on the ground.
‘The youngest angel’s harp sounds dull.’
That’s what the card said.
Why would the harp sound dull?
Probably because something was touching the strings.
I carefully reached toward the statue.
From where Sir Joan and Annette stood, my hand wasn’t visible.
The moment I felt around the harp—
‘There it is.’
A crinkling paper envelope brushed against my fingers.
I smiled triumphantly.
I couldn’t check it openly with people watching, but I was certain.
Rizello had delivered properly.
In the original story, he had created a magic circle that could block divine power.
There had been an episode where he used it to help the heroine.
The thing inside this paper must be herbs infused with magic.
If I ground them into an extract and drew a magic circle, it would temporarily block divine power in that area.
‘Good. I’ll confirm it once I return.’
With a pounding heart, I tucked the envelope into my clothes.
That was when—
“Taking a walk under the moon?”
‘Gasp.’
I nearly jumped.
Praying it wasn’t who I thought, I turned around.
But I couldn’t have been mistaken.
Ian Esteban.
A man whose beauty shone even more under the moonlight stood there.
‘What kind of insane timing is this?!’
“L-Lord Ian. What brings you here?”
“I was passing by and saw Sir Joan. What are you doing?”
His gaze shifted to the statue behind me.
My blood ran cold.
“Is there something interesting in there?”
“Haha… not interesting, just beautiful. I was admiring it.”
“Was the angel’s foot that beautiful?”
Damn it.
He must have noticed I was staring at the lower part where the harp was.
What do I do?
My heart pounded wildly.
Just then, voices came from outside the garden.
“I heard Baron Freeman was caught in an affair.”
“Oh dear, I knew it. His eyes looked suspicious.”
A group of noblewomen entered the garden.
Their cheerful chatter suddenly stopped when they saw us.
“Oh my, oh my.”
“That’s Lord Ian and his fiancée, the Saintess…!”
“Oh my, are they on a date?”
“A nighttime rendezvous in a rose garden—how romantic!”
‘It’s not like that…’
Cold sweat ran down my back.
These nobles whispered far too loudly.
Ian’s eyebrow twitched.
There was no way he hadn’t heard them.
“What a romantic couple.”
“Such a perfect match.”
This is driving me crazy.
I looked up at Ian nervously.
We were being mistaken for a couple on a romantic date.
It would be fine to acknowledge the noblewomen.
But there was a problem.
‘Excuse me, Ian. Why are you looking at me like I’m a criminal?’
His gaze was cold.
Of course—he had just seen my suspicious behavior.
Who looks at their lover like that?!
At this rate, the noblewomen would notice his expression too.
“Lord Ian… my cheek.”
I whispered quickly.
He frowned slightly.
“My cheek?”
“Put your hand on my left cheek.”
“….”
“Hurry. Quickly.”
After a brief silence, Ian obediently placed his hand on my cheek.
His warmth spread across my skin.
“Oh my. Oh my.”
The noblewomen gasped in delight.
