SPRH 2

Chapter 2

“Liriope, stand up straight!”

From a distance, Olliana shattered my thoughts and shouted in a clear, ringing voice.

Olliana is a cousin one year younger than Liriope, whose body I now inhabit.

She was a twenty-year-old young lady with blonde hair as radiant as a ripe lemon and green eyes resembling fresh blades of grass.

Her typical doll-like appearance was the kind of look that would send my fondness for beautiful women skyrocketing, but.

‘That rude little— I’m going to give her a proper scolding someday!’

I glared at Olliana through my thick, unkempt hair that hung over my eyes.

Olliana plucked a red rose petal, saying she was gauging the wind’s strength, and let it fly.

“Bullshit.”

I, having become a human target, muttered a curse under my breath.

“Please, Young Lady Olliana. Stop with the pranks.”

Nanny Emma, standing about ten steps away from me, stamped her feet and whimpered.

Emma was a woman in her late fifties with hair half white and half black mixed together.

The woman with a warm impression had been Liriope’s nanny since her biological mother’s time.

The reason I obediently followed Olliana’s orders was because of Emma.

If I had resisted, Olliana’s blows would have been directed at Emma.

“Olliana, there you are.”

Just as Olliana was about to draw the bowstring, the Countess Akis approached.

The Countess Akis was Olliana’s mother and the aunt-by-marriage of Liriope, whose body I now inhabit.

“Mother.”

“Shouldn’t you be preparing for tomorrow’s banquet? Not only young Count Philip Quadde but the Duke is coming as well.”

The two of them sat down at a nearby tea table as if they had forgotten about me.

The maids nearby hurriedly set the table with tea.

“Mother, may I wear that necklace at tomorrow’s banquet?”

Olliana asked, her gaze fixed on the necklace the Countess Akis was wearing.

The necklace’s pendant was a teardrop-shaped emerald surrounded by small diamonds.

The emerald was the size of a thumbnail, so it seemed quite expensive.

“Don’t tell me—because you want to make a good impression on Duke Declan Pergnath?”

The Countess Akis asked back while fingering the emerald.

“Yes, if all goes well, I’ll become the Duchess, won’t I?”

Olliana narrowed her eyes as if swollen with dreams and pressed one hand gently against her chest.

“Just don’t cry when you see that monster of a Duke.”

The Countess Akis laughed, saying Olliana was cute.

“Mother, do you think I’m a child? Cry at the sight of the Duke?”

“He’s a man who not only has terrible burn scars but also has rumors circulating quietly that he’s impotent. Don’t take interest in such a man for no reason and stay put. I’ll arrange a better match for you.”

“A better match than a Duchess?”

“Of course.”

I listened carefully to their conversation, eyes glinting beneath my hair.

‘Philip Quadde is coming tomorrow. Now my wedding to that trash really is just around the corner!’

My mind snapped to attention and goosebumps rose on the back of my neck.

In the original work, Philip—the man I’m to marry—was the nephew of the Empress Dowager, who held the empire’s highest power, and a piece of trash who committed acts of violence against women.

Until now, I had been imitating Liriope appropriately while scheming to escape, but I didn’t have a single penny to my name.

Since it’s twenty years before the original work begins, I also lacked information about this world.

‘Declan! Declan said he’s coming tomorrow too!’

So the strategy I devised was to search for a husband to replace Philip.

The only person who could break off my marriage to Philip—the Empress Dowager’s nephew—would have to be someone with power comparable to hers.

The number one candidate among them was Declan.

I had thought I’d have a chance to meet him once I arrived at the capital, but now I’d be able to meet him a full month earlier.

“Liriope, go to your room. And cover up that shameful hair of yours.”

The Countess Akis looked at my brown hair—inherited from my commoner biological father—with disgust.

At this, Emma hurriedly approached me.

“Young Lady, were you startled?”

“I’m fine.”

I concealed my anxiety and raised one hand to take down the apple placed on my head, handing it to Emma.

“Young Lady, you mustn’t cry when you see the Duke tomorrow.”

Emma spoke soothingly as if comforting a child, and split the apple in half for me.

“I know.”

I feigned ignorance and crunched into the apple.

‘I must meet Declan tomorrow for sure! I need to assess whether he’s suitable as my husband candidate.’

I had no intention of living even a single day with that trash Philip.

And I had even less intention of spending my first night with that garbage.

On the day of the banquet, the Count’s estate was bustling from the morning.

Originally I stayed in a shabby room in the annex, but since many guests were expected today, I was moved to the main house.

“Young Lady Liriope, I’ve brought some ice.”

Emma pressed a handkerchief wrapped around ice against my swollen cheek.

I lay on the bed and quietly received her touch.

‘Tonight, I’ll face Philip. That trash.’

The coldness of the ice against my throbbing cheek made even my chin tremble.

From the anxiety of meeting the person who would drive me to death, I don’t know how many times I slapped my own cheeks last night, begging to return to the real world.

My thighs were bruised purple from pinching them too much.

‘God! Of all things, why the role of the battered wife!’

While my insides were boiling at the absurd situation setup, Olliana opened the door without even knocking and entered.

“Oh my, Liriope. What’s that on your face? Many noblemen are coming to today’s banquet—going out with that face will be quite a sight.”

Olliana laughed with her long blonde hair swaying.

How diligent, wandering around first thing in the morning to get under people’s skin.

Just as Olliana’s laughter was dying down, maids brought in a deep pink dress.

‘What’s this? That tacky dress?’

It was a dress with excessively many fluttering frills.

The kind only a four-year-old would wear when playing princess dress-up.

“I prepared a dress that suits you well. Wear this and dance with young Count Philip.”

Whatever was so funny, Olliana laughed again, tears even forming in her eyes.

‘I need to meet Declan today.’

I removed the ice pack from my cheek, got off the bed, and stood before the pink dress.

‘First impressions matter. If I—already rumored to be simple-minded—wear such a childish dress, Declan won’t even glance at me.’

Until now, I had been pretending to be a simpleton with the mental age of seven, like the original Liriope, to hide the fact that I had been possessed. But in front of Declan, I couldn’t do that.

“I don’t want to! I want to wear a pretty dress too!”

I threw a tantrum, grabbing and tearing at the dress’s frills.

Pretending to be a child made me feel like hives were breaking out all over my body, but I raised my voice and ruined the dress.

‘They wouldn’t have prepared two of these ridiculous dresses just for me. I’ll have to bring one of the dresses Olliana hasn’t worn.’

It didn’t matter if I took a dress Olliana had worn.

As long as it wasn’t this dress that would turn me into a ridiculous pink monkey.

“Young Lady Liriope!”

The maids forcibly pulled me away from the deep pink dress.

“Give me a pretty dress too!”

This time I grabbed and pulled at the hem of Olliana’s dress.

“Are you insane! What are you doing right now!”

Olliana, greatly flustered, ordered the maids to stop me.

In the process, the hem of Olliana’s dress that I had been holding ripped with a long tearing sound.

“You little—! What did you eat wrong this morning!”

Olliana raised her hand as if about to slap my cheek.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

Even though Olliana’s hand hadn’t even touched my cheek, I screamed loud enough to bring the building down.

Guests had already arrived at the Count’s estate for today’s banquet.

The important guests among them would be in the main house’s reception room by now, conversing with Count Akis.

Sure enough, the Countess Akis, having heard my scream, flung the door open.

“What is the meaning of this! Don’t you know there are guests in the mansion right now!”

The Countess Akis glared and scolded in a low voice.

“No, Mother. That’s not—”

Olliana slowly lowered her raised hand.

“Quiet. Olliana, go to your room.”

After reprimanding Olliana, the Countess Akis scanned the ruined pink dress with cold eyes.

“Liriope, do not act rashly.”

I bowed my head deeply as if frightened by her warning and fidgeted with my fingers.

Then, like a simpleton who couldn’t grasp the situation, I raised my head and grinned brightly.

“Auntie, please give me a pretty dress too. And a sparkly necklace too. Then I think young Count Philip will see me prettily too.”

I stared intently at the Countess Akis’s neck.

To be precise, at the thumbnail-sized emerald necklace hanging around her neck.

The Countess Akis flinched as if something had struck a nerve and covered the emerald with one hand.

“Have Emma pick Liriope’s dress herself.”

Then she turned and left the room, her body whipping around audibly.

Olliana glared at me as if she wanted to claw my face to shreds, then followed the Countess out.

“Young Lady, are you alright?”

Emma turned my body this way and that with hands full of worry.

“Yes, Nanny, bring me a pretty dress. And food too, because I’m hungry!”

I clapped my hands and pushed Emma’s back, telling her to hurry and bring a new dress.

I wasn’t worried about Olliana taking revenge.

All the nobles attending today’s banquet would depart for the capital only a week later, and Philip and a few other nobles would be staying at the Count’s estate in the meantime, so it was fine.

‘First, I need to get the swelling on my cheek to go down.’

While Emma left the room to get a dress, I ran to the bathroom and locked the door.

In the original work, I had read that the female protagonist used her ability by turning her bracelet.

And now, on my wrist, there was a bracelet identical to the one described in the original.

It was a bracelet with a thin platinum body and two teardrop-shaped sapphires facing each other.

Standing before the mirror, I took a deep breath and twisted the sapphires on the bracelet.

As the sapphires spread apart, my brown hair softly shimmered and turned a silvery-blue color.