I Thought It Was a Common Transmigration - Chapter 146
12. Flashback (5)
‘Killian is getting too different…… from the original.’
Lizé swallowed dry saliva.
She’d never been in a situation like this before and didn’t know what to do, but she had to do something.
‘I need to save the author’s power, so I have to involve the extras.’
Lizé decided to use Princess Catherine to get Edith into trouble during the National Day ball.
The preparations for the ball went much like the original story, and Lizé found a sense of stability.
Cliff ordered a beautiful dress from the most expensive boutique in the capital, and the Duke and Duchess of Ludwig made her wear the “Light of Lorraine” necklace.
‘Yes, I’m the female lead!’
But before she could think that, the door to the Duchess’ office opened and Killian and Edith walked in.
“You’re all here. We’ve just returned.”
Killian was smiling, but Lizé noticed that he was firmly angry, his gaze fixed on the Light of Lorraine.
“What are you going to give to Edith, your daughter-in-law?”
The Duchess replied, perplexed by his stern glare, “How about Edith takes the pick? Anything will do.”
“Oh, yes, that would be great. How about that necklace, Edith?”
“Yes? That one?”
“It’s the Ludwig family’s treasure, so you probably have first dibs on it. Why don’t you wear that necklace to the National Day ball?”
This was ridiculous.
She’d lived in the world of “I Refuse Your Obsession” many times over, but she’d never been in danger of having the Light of Lorraine stolen from her.
But Edith calmed Killian down.
“It’s a beautiful and precious piece of jewelry, but I’m going to have to politely decline this time. I think it would look better on Lizé with her blue eyes than on me.”
“But……”
“And with your good eye, I’m sure you realize that that necklace doesn’t go with the dress I’ve ordered today.”
Edith’s calm demeanor finally made Killian take a step back.
But Lizé felt defeated.
‘I can’t believe I saved the Light of Lorraine because of Edith’s sympathy……!’
Looking down from above should always be me. I, the author and female lead of this story, shouldn’t be pushed aside by a mere foreign soul.
With her pride firmly bruised, Lizé brought up the poisoned embroidery thread incident when she met with Princess Catherine, saying that she suspected Count Sinclair of being behind it, but cunningly phrased it in such a way as to put the blame on Edith.
As Lizé had hoped, Catherine suspected Edith.
‘This will at least humiliate her at the ball.’
Lizé waited for the National Day ball, hoping to see Edith embarrassed in front of everyone.
***
-tap.
-tap, tap.
On the carriage ride to the Imperial Palace to attend the National Day ball, Lizé’s attention was drawn to the strange sounds she’d been hearing.
‘What is that? By any chance, does this mean the story will be twisted?’
She looked around nervously, finally turning to Cliff.
“Don’t you think there’s a weird noise coming from somewhere?”
But Cliff seemed to already know what the sound was.
“It could be two friendly canaries pecking at the carriage.”
“Yes?”
Lizé looked at Edith and Killian, who were now looking at her apologetically.
‘How dare you show affection in front of me?’
They’d been showing signs of it before, but now they were too obviously in love to hide it.
‘Damn it. If I had a little more power, I would have done something about this……’
Unfortunately, Lizé didn’t have much left to spare. She had to keep some power in reserve just in case.
In the end, Lizé entered the palace, trusting only Princess Catherine.
Princess Catherine led the episode exactly as she did in the original story, making sure Lizé stood out.
The Sinclair siblings’ faces hardened at the sight of Lizé being escorted by Cliff and her closeness to Princess Catherine.
‘Yeah, the Sinclairs are still villains for me.’
Behind the Princess, Lizé was making calculations, even as she wore an innocent and humble expression.
This episode of the National Day ball seemed to flow similarly to the original on the surface, but in fact, it was actually a separate narrative for Edith.
The Duchess arrived wearing the dress Edith had picked out for her.
‘She wore the dress that I picked out to a bazaar, and she wore the dress that Edith picked out to a ball. I feel like I’ve been cheated.’
Both were praised by people, but the scale of the event was different, and in the end, it was Edith who won.
Not only that, but Killian and Edith were showing more affection than Lizé and Cliff, which drew a lot of attention.
Not only did they dance a passionate dance that was sure to turn heads, but they also managed to shoo away Count Riegelhoff and then went out onto the balcony.
The young ladies who have a crush on Killian had their eyes on them the entire time, so they paid less attention to Lizé than in the original story.
Even Leila Sinclair’s jealousy, which should have been directed at Lizé, was entirely directed at Edith.
‘But Catherine would do well in her role. She hadn’t met Edith yet, and there was no room for her to be influenced by her.’
So Lizé trusted only Catherine.
Sure enough, Catherine walked straight up to Edith, made eye contact with Lizé, and insulted her right to her face.
“Were you the young lady of the Riegelhoff family? The marriage itself was an unreasonable demand by the Riegelhoffs, wasn’t it? How impudent of them……”
“Your Highness……!”
“Oh by the way, I heard about that, too, that Lizé was poisoned not long ago. Knowing how close Lizé and I are, why didn’t you tell me?”
“That’s because–”
“Because your wife is a suspect?”
Lizé cheered inwardly for Catherine, wondering when she should approach.
This time, however, Killian stepped forward.
After Catherine’s insult to Edith, Killian had come to her defense.
“Funny, Killian. As if you never loved Lizé……”
“Just as you have closed your heart to Cliff because he loves Lizé, I have done the same. I wouldn’t do Lizé any favors by clinging to a hopeless love.”
It was the first ‘declaration of giving up’ to come out of Killian’s mouth.
Lizé felt even more frustrated with Killian, who had completely lost his second male lead role.
She had no choice but to intervene in an episode she had originally intended to leave to Catherine alone. She realized that if she left Killian alone with his anger, something much worse would happen.
But even Lizé couldn’t calm Killian’s anger.
“Lizé, did you tell the Princess about that incident?”
Lizé felt a chill run down her spine at Killian’s cold gaze.
‘Why is this happening? Does the problem lie in Catherine’s hot-tempered personality?’
Killian continued to protest against Catherine despite Lizé’s presence, forcing Catherine to grit her teeth and apologize to Killian and Edith.
It would have been better if it had ended there.
“If you think so much of Killian, why don’t you stop your father?”
“I’ve tried my best to stop him, but……”
“You really tried to stop Count Riegelhoff from joining Archduke Langston? Did I understand you correctly?”
Edith lowered her eyebrows and smiled faintly. She was skirting the constraint and revealing her predicament.
Then even Catherine began to change her attitude.
“Um…… sorry, I just thought Killian was living on a leash in a forced marriage, and Lizé was being bullied.”
After apologizing, Catherine laughed heartily at the story of how Edith had wanted to go and say hello to her, but had been too timid.
At that laugh, the faces of the nobles, who had been glancing over, turned in surprise.
Lizé realized that the title of ‘Princess’s Confidant’ that should have been hers had been split in half.
‘Edith is becoming more and more of a female lead, and I need to do something about it before she becomes harder to kill.’
Feeling backed into a corner, Lizé planned to assassinate Edith, even though she didn’t have much of the author’s power left.
Luckily for her, the novel mentioned a nameless man who had been following Edith.
She quickly gave him the name “Fred Sicily” and added the idea that he was half-crazy about Edith.
The rush of creating a setting that didn’t exist drained her energy.
Using all the plausibilities she could muster, even including Leila Sinclair and Duke Ludwig, Lizé herself took Edith to the scene of the crime.
She’d even made sure Killian was out that morning.
‘There’s no one else around who can help her, so I’m sure I’ll succeed this time.’
Unaware of the situation, Edith treated Lizé as if she were a close friend.
Lizé would have had a great time too, if Edith hadn’t tried to ruin the flow of the original story.
But all that mattered to Lizé was her own world.
Lizé baited the hook in a low voice. “Edith, by any chance, do you like romance novels that are a little smutty?”
Edith jumped at the bait like she was seizing a chance to befriend her.
“The Millane Bookstore is more famous for smutty ones, so why don’t you come with me?”
Unaware that she was being led to her death, Edith accepted Lizé’s offer and stepped into the dingy alley.
The time was approaching noon.
‘Sooner or later, Fred Sicily will show up.’
Fred Sicily hadn’t slept for two days after picking up on the information Leila had deliberately leaked at a tea party at his home the day before.
“Edith Riegelhoff says she’s going to the Millane Bookstore, near Le-Belle Marie Street, around noon the day after tomorrow. For her to go to a bookstore that sells such obscene books says a lot about what kind of woman she is.”
That bit of information was all that was needed to send a stalker with a twisted desire to find Edith.