Chapter 2.1

“Huh? What did I say?”

“N-No, it’s nothing. I must’ve misheard…!”

The old man quickly adjusted his hat, turned bright red, and made a hasty retreat.

Cynthia shrugged her shoulders awkwardly.

‘I forgot to watch what I say in public…’

Anyway!

How could she escape from this novel? There was no clear answer.

‘Maybe…’

What if Elizabeth Bailey came of age quickly and mastered all the XX and XX with different men, like in the original story? In other words, if that R-rated, angst-ridden reverse harem novel reached its proper ending… Then maybe she could return to her original world.

So from that moment on, Cynthia began secretly watching Elizabeth.

“They said Elizabeth and Tesion are getting engaged soon. That means the main story hasn’t even started yet!”

The original novel truly began after the two main characters were engaged. Since they were just at the beginning, there was still a long way to go until the ending, but that also meant there was still hope.

Relieved, Cynthia decided to wait patiently.

She hoped Elizabeth would meet all the men without issue, build that legendary harem, and reach the novel’s happily-ever-after.

But then…

Just like that, Elizabeth got hit by a carriage and died right in front of her!

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“Aaaaah!”

Cynthia, sitting by herself, tore at her hair and screamed at the top of her lungs. Even when she first realized she had been transmigrated into this world, she hadn’t felt this hopeless.

Was Elizabeth really dead?

“She lost so much blood… there’s no way she could have survived…”

Cynthia squeezed her eyes shut, the awful scene flashing through her mind. The image of the Bailey family crest on the wrecked carriage loomed in her thoughts.

‘Elizabeth Bailey was crushed by her own family’s carriage, no less. Why wasn’t she inside it to begin with?’

“…Don’t tell me I’m stuck living in this novel forever?”

She shot to her feet.

She had to go back to where Elizabeth had fallen. Just before the massive horses trampled over her, in that brief instant, she was almost sure their eyes had met.

‘It almost looked like she was trying to say something…’

When Cynthia retraced her steps, she saw the scene of Elizabeth’s accident being cleaned up by a group of guards. Behind them stood a handful of people with grim expressions, dressed in expensive clothes, their hair neatly styled.

‘…Are they from the Bailey family?’

Cynthia crept a little closer to get a better look.

As she looked more closely, she noticed that everyone standing there had light green eyes. Even though the shade and intensity differed slightly from person to person, the distinct green hue was unmistakable. It was a trait passed down through the Bailey bloodline.

“Haah… What are we supposed to do now?”

“Seriously, of all times, she had to die now? Hang on, we need to think this through. First, we should try to cover it up…”

…Huh? Cover what up?

“…What about the engagement?”

“The Grand Duke will be arriving soon…”

“…She really was nothing but dead weight to the very end…”

Cynthia, listening in on the conversation, furrowed her brow in disbelief. Something was definitely wrong. Not a single one of them—

‘—seems the least bit sad that Elizabeth’s dead.’

It was true that, in the original story, the Bailey family had treated Elizabeth like a burden, but she hadn’t expected them to be this cold…

More importantly, was Elizabeth really dead?

Cynthia stepped forward and opened her mouth.

“Excuse me, I just have a quick question…!”

And then it happened.

The noisy, chattering street went dead silent, as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over the entire scene. It felt like all the sound in the world had been scooped up and stuffed into a soundproof black box.

“…Huh?”

Cynthia, caught off guard by the abrupt change in atmosphere, froze mid-sentence. She blinked, completely thrown off.

‘W-What is happening?’

Every single pair of pale green eyes in the crowd was fixed on the same spot.

All of them were staring at her.

‘Did I… say something wrong?’

She frantically replayed her words in her head.

‘Wait, I haven’t even said anything yet…?’

All she had done was say she had a question…

“You there! Say something again, right now!”

Just then, a noblewoman standing near a guard who was scrubbing blood from the pavement suddenly shouted at her. Her pale green eyes were wide with shock.

The weirdest part was, Cynthia had no idea what she was so shocked about.