“So, that’s why you haven’t visited me all this time.”

What she hadn’t realized right away was that Edward didn’t inherit the County in the original story. That was why she hadn’t noticed. Why had it suddenly become his responsibility? County Caitlin was supposed to go unclaimed, leading to the extinction of the family line.

“There was a reason!”

“What reason? You expect me to just blindly trust you without telling me anything?”

“I was trying to save you…!”

Perhaps the reason he ended up inheriting the County was, indeed, to save her. Unlike in the original story, she was still alive. Maybe in the original story, she had died, making the County unnecessary.

“I don’t know how strong Brother is, but you know you can’t stand against the Grand Duke.”

“There’s someone helping me.”

She never realized how oblivious he could be. She knew he was docile and kind, but maybe his desire to save her clouded his judgment.

“As I’ve said time and again, I can handle my own matters.”

“Elysia!”

“Should I trust Brother who hid not only his abilities but also his illness from me? At least His Grace, no, Damon hasn’t deceived me.”

He simply chose not to tell.

“Elysia, do you really trust Grand Duke Raphael?”

If he was asking if she trusted him, honestly, she couldn’t say she did. If it were before, she would have instantly said no. Leaving him wasn’t entirely voluntary. If she hadn’t noticed, she might have lingered around Damon, wasting time.

“Better than someone who deceives me. When did you start deceiving me?”

“The reason I hid my abilities was… to keep us both alive…!”

She understood. She understood everything in her head, and that was the problem. Had Edward not hidden his abilities, he would have been exploited by Julius from a young age, and she would have been thoroughly abandoned. It was only because Edward pretended to be a fool, a weak patient, that she could survive.

“Who exactly is with Brother now?”

She already knew who was with Edward now. She asked even though she knew, wanting him to say it himself, hoping he would no longer deceive her.

“Does it matter? They’re helping us.”

“Helping us without me even knowing who they are? Why? Because Brother knows them?”

The person she knew would never offer kindness without reason, especially not to Elysia. She didn’t know how much she regarded Elysia as a thorn in their eyes.

It was a funny story.

“Shall I guess? Who this person helping Brother is?”

In this empire, there were few entities powerful enough to oppose the Grand Duchy. No ordinary family would dare. The Grand Duchy was the only one capable of checking even the imperial family, Even if she didn’t know the original story, she could easily guess.

“Elysia, it seems you’re under some misunderstanding… The person helping us isn’t like that.”

“You should speak clearly. It seems they’re helping Brother, not us.”

“Do you really not understand why I made this choice?”

She didn’t understand. Edward met that person by what seemed like a chance. However, reflecting on it, was it truly coincidental? How did they meet Edward in the Logan Empire?

“You’re saying this is because of me?”

The suggestion that everything was for her sake nearly made Elysia burst into laughter. She had no desire to escape Damon with that person’s help.

“I don’t want their help.”

She realized, without reading the documents, that the Edward before her was no longer the brother she knew. She had momentarily forgotten.

The original story’s course couldn’t be altered.

…Edward was the male lead of this story.

* * *

If she were asked why she hadn’t recognized the male lead, she could say this: the male lead’s name wasn’t Edward Caitlin, which was why she couldn’t immediately recognize him. The male lead’s name was Ethan. He was said to be of common birth.

But no one believed Ethan was merely a commoner. At least, they thought he was a fallen noble.

Indeed, until the very end of the book, Ethan’s true identity was never fully revealed. A new myth was needed. He was not a powerless noble but a hero who rose from the very bottom to vanquish evil. A plausible story.

“Lady Sierra.”

“….”

“The person helping you is Lady Sierra, isn’t it?”

As soon as Sierra’s name was mentioned, Edward’s mouth shut tight. It was the response she had anticipated. He couldn’t confirm or deny it.

And to think Edward was Ethan…

“Elysia.”

“I don’t know how Brother met the Lady, but involving an outsider in family matters doesn’t seem like a good idea to me.”

What Sierra wanted was Edward’s power. He possessed the unique ability to oppose Damon. Of course, even with that power, he couldn’t kill him.

“No matter what you say, it seems too late for me to intervene now. Just don’t worry about me.”

Saying this wouldn’t make Sierra lose interest in her. What could possibly be her motive for approaching Edward, especially since Damon hasn’t killed the Emperor yet?

Sierra had gone to Edward after Damon killed the Emperor, so after Elysia’s death. In other words, the leads, Edward and Sierra, meet in the Logan Empire. The plot begins when Sierra and Edward, who went to Logan to escape anger, meet.

“In the Logan Empire… That’s where you met, right? Think about it, could that really be a coincidence?”

At that time, Edward wasn’t presented as the successor to the County. Mysteriously, he appeared as a commoner with magical talents.

Moreover, he lived under the name Ethan. That’s why she couldn’t recognize him quickly. The only thing she remembered about the male lead was his silver hair. But silver hair was relatively common, not a unique trait like Damon’s.

“I do like Brother, but it seems we’re no longer walking the same path.”

The male lead with silver hair could use magic. Initially, she couldn’t even imagine Edward as the male lead. He was believed to have no magical talent, a fact she had confirmed with her own eyes several times.

In addition, his name was different. The only commonalities were being in the Logan Empire and having silver hair.

“I hope we won’t end up attacking each other.”

Elysia left Edward behind and walked away. Her mind was in turmoil. She didn’t understand why the story had become so twisted. She needed to sort out what she knew.

The male lead of this story was Edward.

With the ability to use magic, it couldn’t be anyone else. Throughout the story, Ethan’s origins remain undisclosed. Yet he knew too much about the nobility to be just a commoner.

Crack, crack.

Elysia was biting her nails out of anxiety. Her fears were confirmed.

Edward was the male lead…

“What should I do now?”

The flow of the story was indeed converging towards her. All her struggles to change her future seemed futile.

The future, as foreseen, couldn’t be changed. No matter what, Damon was destined to kill the Emperor. Edward would find himself in opposition to Damon. Sierra and Edward had indeed met. How Sierra managed to win Edward over was unknown, but he had already sided with her.

It was her fault for not realizing this sooner.

“I was foolish…”

She had underestimated Sierra too much. She should have remembered that Sierra had feelings for Damon… Right up until the end of the story, even as he was dying, Sierra lamented. Whether that was truly love, she didn’t know. She had even doubted if Sierra truly loved Ethan, the male lead.

Sierra’s reaction to Damon’s death did not align with someone who claimed to love Ethan.

The reason Sierra gave up on Damon was simple. She believed she couldn’t have him. He was a man nobody could possess, so she relinquished her claim. But now, the circumstances have changed.

Elysia was next to him.

“The document, I need to look at the documents…”

Although the facts were already apparent, there might still be other details in the documents. It seemed less and less likely that she could peacefully divorce. If Edward and Elysia had a good relationship in the original story, it explained why Edward harbored such hatred for Damon—he was the man who had killed his sister.

And Sierra would’ve taken advantage of that.

Elysia opened the envelope with trembling hands. She was confident she wouldn’t be shocked by its contents, regardless of what they revealed.

__