Chapter 43
“Yes. But they said it’s not complete seclusion like before.”
Although Riina still rarely left the mansion, she had announced that she would attend tea parties that she must attend as the Bolshevik heir.
People couldn’t hide their regretful expressions as they looked at one place.
One by one, as they turned their gazes there, eventually everyone gathered focused on a single seat.
The place where Riina always sat when she attended parties held in this mansion.
“The Crown Prince dynamics will completely change too.”
“It’s pointless to talk about it. Even His Highness the First Prince…”
Thus, not just social circles but also political and financial circles were in an uproar, even staggering, over Einar and Riina’s engagement.
“I’m looking forward to the engagement ceremony.”
* * *
At the time when everyone’s eyes were fixed on Riina’s usual seat,
The person in question, Riina, was working in her office, buried in mountains of documents.
-Knock knock.
“Excuse me, my lady.”
At Sebastian’s voice from behind the door along with the knocking sound, Riina’s pen, which had been signing documents that needed to be processed today, stopped abruptly.
“Come in.”
Even as she said those words, Riina was already anticipating.
No, it wasn’t anticipation, but certainty.
Yes. It was around this time.
“The Duke is looking for you.”
“I see.”
Riina, who answered calmly, soon faced the Duke of Bolshevik, that is, her father.
She silently bowed her head.
“You called for me.”
“I have someone to introduce to you today.”
To her father’s expressionless and indifferent words, Riina only gave a brief reply.
“Yes.”
How was it at this moment before the regression?
‘Someone to introduce?’
Back then, she was also deeply buried in work that had piled up due to the tea party season.
Moreover, before the regression, she had attended an enormous number of tea parties, so there was twice as much work.
That was part of the Bolshevik heir’s duties, but more than that, she had been desperate to announce and solidify her relationship with Smith to everyone…
She probably made appearances here and there unnecessarily.
‘Is it perhaps someone who could be helpful to Smi… no, His Highness the Third Prince?’
Although it’s now crystal clear how foolish that question was, back then, it was as if she had something in her eyes, with Smith being the center of her entire world.
But her father didn’t mock or scold Riina for that.
He simply said what needed to be said, matter-of-factly.
‘No. It’s someone who will help you.’
“It’s someone who will help you.”
Riina, who had been drifting through the past, suddenly raised her head at her father’s voice.
And she faced Jane in the Bolshevik residence.
Black hair and murky blue eyes.
Jane didn’t meet Riina’s gaze directly and bowed.
“I am Jane.”
Although they had already met at the temple, Jane greeted her as if meeting for the first time, and Riina simply nodded without saying anything.
They weren’t close enough to have a small conversation about a chance encounter.
Besides, that chance encounter wasn’t a particularly good memory.
“She will be your shadow.”
The Duke of Bolshevik didn’t speak at length as usual, and then issued an order to leave.
“You may go now.”
At this, Riina nodded lightly, and Jane bowed deeply, very deeply, and stayed in that position for an uncomfortably long time.
As Riina was thinking, ‘Was she like this before the regression too?’, Jane straightened up and quietly stepped back.
As Jane opened the door and left, Riina also took a step forward.
Behind Riina, her father’s voice, low enough that only she could barely hear, rang out.
“You don’t seem to be injured.”
Riina hesitated, but her father didn’t say anything more.
It was always like this.
Whenever there was an incident or accident surrounding Riina, her father would speak like this after everything was over.
He didn’t roll up his sleeves and rush out for his daughter, nor did he shout with veins popping in his neck.
He simply quietly handled all the aftermath, so quietly that even Riina would only find out later.
The exception was…
‘I’m afraid of losing you.’
Before the regression, just before Riina went mad and was sentenced to death, her father, who suddenly visited one night, had said.
What did she reply then?
‘You’ve already lost me.’
Yes. Because she knew herself that she had come too far, she could only answer like that.
If only her father had rejected her as an unworthy child…
Riina, who had closed her eyes deeply and opened them, soon just nodded slightly and left the room.
She stared blankly at Jane, who was waiting with her head bowed in front of the door.
Her father had genuinely thought Jane would be helpful to her and assigned her.
It wasn’t that unusual to assign a shadow instead of an aide to assist the family heir.
At the time, it had a completely different meaning to her, who was desperately struggling to become an heir worthy of Bolshevik.
Looking back, it was all in vain.
Riina didn’t move an eyebrow even as she licked the inside of her mouth, which was bitter as if she had chewed on unripe fruit.
Eventually, she took a step towards Jane and opened her mouth.
“There will be a lot of work to do from now on, so keep your wits about you and follow me.”
Although she’s a shadow now, she’ll soon become the Bolshevik heir.
At this, Jane bent her knee slightly with a grace that was hard to believe for a commoner.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
It was a very ordinary answer, so Riina nodded and then paused.
This scent…
A faint crease appeared between Riina’s brows.
Isn’t this the scent of the plant that Becky had brought, which she still couldn’t identify exactly?
To find out exactly what that plant or flower was, she had called in specialists in medicinal herbs, but they all shook their heads with troubled faces.
‘I’m sorry. It’s difficult to say definitively what it is with just this much left.’
‘The scent? I don’t… The smell of soil is strong.’
Thinking the scent might be a clue, she even called in those who deal with flowers and fragrances.
But they too just shook their heads with ambiguous expressions.
‘There’s no special scent other than the smell of soil.’
Strangely, this unidentified plant with a clear scent only to Riina.
Since Jane had risked her life to dig it up in such a dangerous situation, it must be quite important to her.
Well, as long as whatever Jane does doesn’t interfere with her becoming free, it doesn’t matter.
If it does interfere, she could just confiscate that plant from Jane directly and find out what it is then.
Although it’s not certain, even if she had joined hands with Becky’s blackmailer to threaten her, now that the secret for blackmail is gone, she probably doesn’t need to worry about it anymore.
‘The blackmailer? No. Thanks to that, I was able to be by your side, so I’m rather grateful.’
Becky had also answered with a sly smile when Riina asked what she wanted to do about the blackmailer.
“I’ll have someone show you to your room. Take a rest today.”
As Riina left, Jane, who remained in place with her head bowed, twisted the corner of her mouth.
Of course, there would be a lot of work to do from now on.
Although she’s just a shadow now, she’ll push out that fake and reclaim her rightful place.
And telling her to keep her wits about her, isn’t that what she wants to say?
When the poison with the first ingredient she obtained is complete, the one who won’t be able to keep their wits about them and will go mad will be none other than you, Riina.
Looking at the lip color that was so dark it didn’t match her clothes or face at all, it seemed she wasn’t quite normal already.
As expected, a fake can’t hide the fact that they’re a fake…
“This way, please. I’ll show you to your room.”
At the servant’s voice from the right, Jane’s thoughts were cut off abruptly, and she lightly touched the corner of her mouth.
Eventually, Jane, who had created a soft smile, nodded gracefully.
“Please lead the way.”
* * *
Only after walking quite a distance did the servant open the door to a room, bow their head, and disappear.
“Phew.”
Jane looked around the room assigned to her and took a deep breath.
A faint, pleasant scent wafted around, tickling her nose.
Although she couldn’t identify the exact scent, there was only one fragrance Jane perceived.
The scent of victory.
She controlled her twitching lips and slowly, very leisurely, looked around the room as if at ease.
Although no one was watching, Jane disciplined herself.
The place where she’s standing now is the Bolshevik residence.
So she mustn’t show even the slightest crack.
Until the very end, until she could proudly reveal herself as the true heir, she had to be careful, extremely careful.
Jane, who was imitating elegant gestures that were still terribly difficult and unfamiliar to her body while putting strength to her fingertips, muttered almost inaudibly even to herself.
“If only there had been evidence.”
Yes. If only there had been evidence that she was the real one, she wouldn’t have had to go through these difficult times.
With that evidence, she could have proudly entered the Bolshevik residence and just shouted.
‘I am the real Bolshevik!’
But the fake mother who was already dead and gone had only talked with her mouth.
Well, should she be grateful that she learned the truth because of that loose mouth?
As Jane, who was immersed in the past while looking down at the indescribably clean bedding, heard a knocking sound.
-Knock knock.
“Yes. Come in.”
At Jane’s permission, who had quickly checked her appearance, the door opened silently.
Behind it, not Sebastian, the head butler, but a lower-ranking butler led the way as servants entered.
“Is the prepared room to your liking?”
“You’ve done well.”
