I also turned around after staring at his back for a moment as he walked away.

“Let’s wrap this up quickly and go home.”

I left the rest of the cleaning to Tia and hopped into the carriage.

Then, I covered the window with a curtain to prevent anyone from seeing inside.

“Awesome!”

Overwhelmed with joy, I clenched my fists.

I was so proud of myself for not getting flustered by the sudden appearance of Yussis and scheduling our next meeting as planned.

“This is my chance. I have to find a way to develop a relationship with the male lead!”

Black Butterfly, commonly known as Black Cluster.

I had succeeded in establishing contact with Yussis using information from the dark side.

However, considering there were many restrictions on the information that could be provided to Yussis, I didn’t think I should continue using that method in the future.

“If I’m not careful, the Male Lead could die because of me.”

As the ultimate bastion of darkness in the story, the Death Society of the Black Cluster consisted of fearsome men with power befitting their status.

One could easily guess what would happen if Yussis provoked Black Cluster too much.

‘The apostle will move.’

The top executives of Black Cluster, demons full of carnage and madness.

Considering Yussis’ current skills, if he clashed with the apostles, he’d definitely die.

As a result, I had no choice but to be cautious when providing information.

Knock—knock—…

There was a knock on the carriage door.

“Milady, shall we depart?”

“Yes, we should.”

The wheels rolled and the carriage started on its way.

Usually, Tia would’ve sat next to me, but not today.

I guess she noticed the curtains were closed and thought that I wanted to be alone.

No wonder female characters were always eager to find a competent maid.

I relaxed and organized my thoughts again.

First, I recalled the biography of the Male Lead in the original work.

Back then, I focused on the chronology of major events. But this time, I delved into the life of the Male Lead.

I looked into everything I could use, including mentions, memories, and emotions from the 0th Episode that I might have missed.

How long did I think about it?

“Is this the only way after all?”

Although I contemplated for a long time, the conclusion was relatively simple.

The curiosity of the Male Lead was piqued.

I could meet him on a regular basis.

I had to prepare for the doomed ending.

—And the only means that could fulfill the three conditions above…

“Dungeon.”

When reading the novel ‘Mysterious Society,’ dungeons were a recurrent theme. After all, it was about clearing a dungeon.

“There’s no one on this continent, or this whole world for that matter, who knows more about dungeons than me.”

I had memorized all the locations and strategies for undiscovered dungeons.

“I’m going to carry the Male Lead through the dungeon before returning.”

I still didn’t know how much Yussis knew about Black Cluster.

He must have vaguely asserted that Black Butterfly wasn’t a shabby group. Eventually, he’d realize that he needed to become stronger.

I intended to accelerate his growth.

“It’s a big operation: Raising the Male Lead.”

The biggest advantage of that plan was that both the process and results were good.

I could use the dungeon as an excuse to get closer to Yussis and develop a relationship with him. On the other hand, Yussis would be able to clear dungeons earlier than in the original work, monopolize the rewards, and grow quickly.

The result would lead to a virtuous cycle, ultimately saving Yussis from meeting his own demise.

“So far so good… Still, it’s a shame that I can’t follow the Male Lead.”

I had a bitter taste in my mouth.

Direct descendants of the Brunak Family could only leave the duchy with the duke’s permission.

The problem was the permission.

Because of concerns about the successor candidate running away, obtaining permission was especially difficult.

‘Or maybe I can use the order as an excuse to get out…’

I was aware that was an act that courted death.

Regardless of the reason, the principle was to dispatch two people per team.

No matter who I went with, I was bound to see bloodshed—or more likely, shedding my own blood.

Tsk, tsk…

Just as I had reached that thought, the neighing of horses and the vibration of the carriage subsided.

“Milady, we have arrived.”

I got out of the carriage with Tia’s help.

‘I need to get some rest.’

I was very tired after encountering Yussis and Evan out of the blue.

I thought it’d be better to rest, collect myself, and then organize my thoughts.

After leaving the annex, I walked along the connecting corridor leading to the main building.

From the other side, two men and women were walking while engaging in a lively conversation.

“I told you, Leon would be able to do it.”

“Isn’t your nephew a man fit for the seat of power in the North?”

“Auntie, I’ll do my best not to be a burden to Brother Leon. Please watch over him.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of him.”

As they got closer, my expression became more and more sour.

‘Why do we have to run into each other?’

I may not know anyone else, but I knew the young lady at the center of the group well.

A middle-aged woman with short curly hair and viciously slanted eyes, decorated in luxurious dresses and accessories from top to bottom.

Lunarin was the duke’s third wife and Leon’s biological mother.

“Oh my, look who we have here. If it isn’t Kiana.”

Upon seeing me, Lunarin pretended as if she had just recalled me.

“Greetings, Madam.”

I made sure to maintain a polite expression.

“Where have you been?”

“I had some business to attend to.”

“You mean volunteering at the slums?”

A sneer appeared on Lunarin’s lips.

She dismissed and overlooked what I did, seemingly proud that she knew what I was up to.

“From what I heard, you’re quite sincere in your service.”

“Could it be that you were trying to help those lowlifes? If that’s the case, the surname ‘Brunak’ is wasted on you.”

Lunarin smirked as she taunted me. The middle-aged man and young man who stood on both her sides followed suit.

I looked at those three in bewilderment.

‘Why are you arguing so openly?’

After the death of Maria at Leon’s hands, I vaguely heard that Lunarin started throwing her weight around as if she was the next powerful person in the duchy, but I had no idea that she’d be this reckless.

‘Let’s just ignore her.’

Dealing with these extras one by one was a waste of time.

“Think however you want.”

I ended up answering appropriately.

“If you don’t have anything more to say, I shall excuse myself.”

I curtseyed, slightly lifting the hem of my skirt before I turned on my heels.

“I heard there was an altercation with a knight of our family the day before yesterday.”

However, the middle-aged man with a mustache stopped me.

‘Altercation?’

I turned around to see what he was getting at.

Then Tia came over and whispered softly.

“That gentleman is Count Geoffrey Lawrence, head of the Lawrence family, Prince Leon’s maternal family. Next to him is his only son, Sir Jackal.”

I had completely forgotten the incident from a few days ago, when I obtained the rune armor from the Underground Waterway. That day, a knight had rudely threatened to inspect the carriage.

If I recall, the knight was affiliated with the Count of Lawrence family.

“Brother, did something like that really happen?”

“The knight was chasing the family traitor and asked politely. However, not only was the princess uncooperative, she also threatened him.”

“Oh my, who would’ve thought…”

Ready to kill, I glared at Count Lawrence as he spewed nonsense.

‘Are you serious?’

The knight of the Count of Lawrence family started it.

Hearing how they fabricated the truth to suit their fancy was just preposterous.

“How can this be? Isn’t that just disrespectful toward our family and not to mention, to my aunt and brother, Leon?”

Jackal was so confident that he could somehow control the flow of the conversation and rope Leon into it.

“Father, I must request a formal apology from the princess here.”

Even more shocked, Jackal put on his glasses and stared at me aAs I just watched.

“Princess, please respectfully apologize to my family and my aunt.”

What an outrageous request it was!

‘Do you think this is a sitcom?’

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