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13.

I had resolved to stage a protagonist's strike, but my conscience worked overtime.
In the original story, Roselita's ‌first meeting with Cassian was when she saved him from near death.
I told myself countless times to ignore it, but I couldn't shake the thought that if I turned a blind eye, he might actually die.
So I made thorough preparations before the events of the original story could unfold.
Fortunately, since the original story mentioned they met during a summer vacation trip with her parents, it wasn't difficult to align the timing.
'Still, I didn't want to get entangled, so unlike the original, I didn't bring him to the cottage where I was staying with my parents.'
Using pocket money I'd carefully saved up, I rented a shabby cabin in the forest temporarily and brought the injured Cassian there.
On top ‌‌‌‌‌of that, I even matched ‌‌‌Wilhelmina Lopez's hair color and always wore a pale purple wig, and I even called myself Wilma as a nickname!
I even wore a mask pretending to have a cold so I ‌‌wouldn't be discovered. ‌‌‌There's no way he ‌‌‌‌could have recognized me, right?
"What's wrong, Rose? Doesn't the ‌‌meat taste good?"
It's because of you, the way you're being so ‌‌‌‌suggestive!
"...Perhaps I should change the chef."
"Why would you want to rob that poor chef of their livelihood?"
"It is also my duty to bring ‌‍happiness to my beloved ‌‌fiancée's palate."
Ugh, right. As if.
This man just wants to tease me.
To prevent the skilled chef from meeting with misfortune, I attacked my meal with more fervor than usual.
Watching me, Cassian's lips softened into a smile.
Really.
How irritating!

*

The First Empress then pleaded with the Emperor for days on end, even resorting to fasting, insisting that the Third Prince was still too young.
But the Emperor had no intention of recalling Cassian, and ‌‌‌the Prince younger than the Third Prince was only twelve years old, so there was no help for ‌‌it.
'Really, why did he disobey the Emperor's command to exercise restraint?'
Well, he had justified it with the grand cause of maintaining smooth relations with the Kingdom.
As a result, the First Empress was reluctantly preparing for the Third Prince's marriage—reaping what the Emperor had sown.
However, the Third ‌‌‌‌Prince had been raised like ‌a delicate hothouse flower, even more ‌‌‌so than ‌‌First Prince Charlie.

'I heard the Kingdom's princess is incredibly beautiful? And they say the Kingdom has so ‌‌‌‌many fascinating things, so I'm really looking forward to it. Don't be jealous just because I'm getting married earlier than my older brothers, okay?'

Spreading such rumors and turning the First Empress's insides upside down was merely a bonus.
The First Empress, perhaps to relieve such stress, was pouring the national treasury into the Third Prince's state wedding like water.
Naturally, some of those expenses found their way into ‌‌‌‌Cassian's and my Office as well.
"How gracious of the First Empress ‌‌‌to provide us with such convenient ammunition."
My superior, never one to miss an opportunity, was meticulously gathering ‌the documents with genuine delight.
The First Empress had no idea she was digging her own grave.
I spent my days feeling a twinge of pity for the First Empress's ‌‌‌future while focusing on my duties.
It was during the height of preparations for the Third Prince's state wedding.
That ‌I finally encountered her.
Wilhelmina Lopez, who had returned ‌‌to the Kingdom earlier than scheduled upon hearing news of the Third Prince's state ‌wedding.

*

That day, I was utterly exhausted.
The Emperor—that madman, I thought privately, my courage being no larger than a bean—had piled additional work onto me as if exacting revenge through Cassian.
Truly, wealth paired with two such temperaments was insufferable.
In ‌‌‌any case, I found myself shuttling between the Winter Palace and the Sun Palace where the Emperor and other administrators resided, my legs, hands, and mind all occupied throughout ‌‌the day.
Walking with my spirit abandoned, barely avoiding a shambling gait, when I heard a voice as beautiful as a lark's song.
"Would you stop for a moment?"
After days of hearing only Cassian and the weary, low tones of ‌‌those buried in work, my ears perked up at this ‌‌refreshing, bright voice.
When I turned, I saw a woman with lovely violet hair cascading in waves.
Eyes slightly upturned at ‌‌the corners, a beauty mark in the center of her cheek.
Combined with those pale gray eyes and her overall feline appearance, she was utterly adorable.
There was no doubt. This was Wilhelmina Lopez!
I addressed her with professional courtesy.
"Is there something I can help you with, Lady Wilhelmina? Have you perhaps lost your way?"
"...Lost my way? That's impossible!"
Wilhelmina ‌‌‌‌Lopez cried out, though not loudly.
"I, unlike you, brought proper attendants with me! Surely you're not suggesting that I, Lady Lopez, brought attendants unfamiliar ‌‌with the Imperial Palace's layout?"
I simply smiled at her words.
At that, Wilhelmina's face flushed with even greater embarrassment.
"A-and! Unlike you, I've frequented the Imperial Palace since childhood! ‌There's no way I wouldn't know my way around!"
"I see, Lady Wilhelmina."
I deliberately stepped closer to her.
"I merely thought you might find it difficult having returned after so long, and since you're such ‌‌‌‌a kind person, I hoped you might ‌‌‌overlook my shortcomings."
I offered ‌‌her my most brilliant business smile.
At that, the Lady's face flushed crimson.
How could she be so adorable?
"I-I ‌‌heard you were formidable! You know my face though we've never met, and you're quite skilled. Are you also trying ‌to undermine me?!"
How refreshingly honest she ‌was.
I maintained my smile a touch longer and shook my head at her words.
"Restraint? I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. How could I possibly fail to recognize the lady of the venerable ‌‌‌Lopez Duchy?"
I placed a hand over my heart in a gesture of respect as ‌‌‌‌I spoke to her.
"If I couldn't even manage that much, how could I dare claim to be an aide to the Second Prince? And besides..."
"Besides?"
"I simply thought—who else in this world could possess such charm and beauty, adorned with hair the color of lovely lavender, if not the lady herself?"
My honeyed words, delivered like a wedge ‌driven home, sent the lady's face flushing an even deeper crimson.
"Y-you! Just because you're a little pretty doesn't mean everything will work out! I won't give up, I won't!"
With that, she turned and fled, her long strides carrying her toward the Dawn Palace where the Third Prince resided.
I made no effort to suppress the smile spreading across my face as I watched her go.
Oh, Wilma, Wilma.
How much simpler and more endearing you are than I expected!

*

In the original work, Wilhelmina Lopez certainly caused her share of mischief.
However, her nature was inherently timid, and she lacked the audacity to orchestrate anything truly catastrophic.
In fact, during the original serialization, fans had taken to calling Wilhelmina's troublemaking scenes the "healing section."
All she did was slap a few cheeks, splash some juice, and spread gossip through high society.
Compared to the atrocities committed by the Temple and the First Empress, it was nothing but childish pranks.
Eventually, it became unclear whether she was obsessed with Cassian or with me.
'Wilma was simply starved for affection.' ‌‌
In the original work, Wilhelmina merely tormented me in trivial ways before being used by the First Empress.
When her ordinary level of harassment spiraled into something far greater in the First Empress's hands, resulting in her confinement to the Convent, public opinion held that the author had gone too far.
Truly, Wilhelmina had only wanted to cause me minor inconvenience.
It was merely the level of petty provocation she's ‌‌‌displaying toward me now.
In any case, before departing for the Convent, ‌‌Wilhelmina sought me out—not Cassian—and spoke to me thus.

'I'm sorry, truly sorry. I know an apology won't fix anything, but still... I'm sorry. I never meant to put ‌‌‌‌you in such danger.'

Tears streaming down her face as she apologized, insisting there was no need for me to accept it.
Even the original Roselita had pitied Wilhelmina Lopez for her plight.
'Because the Lopez Duchy had never bothered to save her.'
She'd grown up hearing herself called the ‌‌‌‌most noble of ladies, yet in reality, Wilma had never been raised that way.
With four older ‌‌brothers above her and a father who, like everyone ‌‌‌around Wilma, cared only for his own advancement, she'd never stood a chance.
From childhood, no one ‌‌‌had ‌‌‌‌‌paid her much attention—a younger sister who required too much care.
The Lopez Duchy viewed her merely as a tool for advantageous marriage, and so they deemed a noblewoman who'd squandered her social reputation by chasing after Cassian utterly worthless.
After she'd fallen for Cassian and pursued him relentlessly, any strategic marriage with the Imperial Family—particularly with First Prince Charlie—had become impossible.
And so they gladly sacrificed their own daughter as a shield for the First Empress, all for the sake of power.
'Such an ‌‌‌honest and endearing noblewoman she is.'
That's partly why I'd deliberately disguised myself as Wilhelmina Lopez in my childhood.
I'd thought, why shouldn't her goals be realized this time around?
But then....
A serious problem had emerged.
'Now Cassian, unlike the original Cassian, is capable—but he's become a demon.'
And I was ‌‌‌recommending that soft, gentle noblewoman to that man...?
That would be like the Demon King asking me to be ‌‌‌friends!
I exhaled deeply.
From now on, I'd have to shower Wilhelmina Lopez with praise every time I saw ‌‌‌her.
And I'd ‌‌‌‌need to protect her carefully so she wouldn't fall into the ‌‌‌First Empress's schemes.
The original story can go to hell!

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