From that exact day onwards.
Noevian Trovica.
The man began to frequent the mine as if it were his own home.
The mine owner, who was always looking for someone in power to watch over him, quickly noticed that Noevian's attention was focused on Blie.
The mine owner assigned the beautiful Blie to accompany Noevian whenever he came.
Every time he stopped by the mine and ordered a mana stone coffin on someone's orders, Blie would copy the order he handed her and cast a secret glance at her.
Bliss wasn't the first to try to seduce the wooden man.
She saw a place to lie down and stretched out her paws.
The icy man would steal glances at her with his stealthy eyes, and then give her a wistful glance whenever they met.
'I have to have that guy.'
She wanted to appear in front of her father, who was trying to kill her, at least once.
She wanted to monopolize the space that should have been shared with her, and she also wanted to screw over her younger sister who was living comfortably with such a handsome husband.
That's how it started.
From that day on, whenever Blie saw Noevian, she would openly smile. The expressions she had practiced to survive were incredibly useful at times like this.
A man who cannot run straight to his wife even after hearing the news that she is sick.
A man who remains here to carry out someone's orders and waits for the Mana Stone Coffin to be completed.
A man who, when asked who the coffin is for, only repeats that he is simply carrying out orders.
Blie praised Adrienne's past for not cutting up 'all' of her dresses.
That day was the day she went to work wearing Adrienne's dress, the only one she had left.
“Did you say Blie?”
The man who always looked at her with hazy eyes finally spoke to her.
“Don’t you want to work at Ronta?”
Blie replied with the most charming smile she could muster.
“Is there anything I can do?”
***
Blie was completely smitten with this beautiful Grand Duke.
Grand Duke Noevian, who was always burdened by excessive work, would immediately send any precious medicine he could find to his wife in the capital.
Blie accompanied him whenever he transported the mana stone coffins between the capital and Elacon.
“I think Her Highness is very sick.”
On the carriage heading to the capital, Blie secretly looked at Noevian.
As she began to feel more and more attracted to him, Blie began to feel impatient.
But whenever she asked such a question, Noevian would just stare at her without giving any answer.
Love. The deep blue eyes that looked into another person's face were clearly love.
Just because it was an emotion that she wasn't familiar with, it wasn't an emotion that she couldn't recognize.
'My sister's life is so perfect.'
Blie twisted his lips and snorted.
'She is as beautiful as I am. In Piretta, she would have been called the Princess of the East. And to break the heart of such a noble and beautiful husband.'
After Blie started lusting after Noevian, her feelings for Adrienne became even more twisted.
Then, by chance, very by chance, when she found out about Adrienne's physical condition, she thought that if there was a God, He was giving her a chance.
'Glass Body Grand Duchess.'
The Grand Duchess is so weak and dying that the whole country knows about it.
As the Grand Duchess grew weaker, Noevian Trovica's complexion also worsened.
Blie saw hope in that sight.
Whenever a drunken Noevian missed Adrienne, Blie stayed by his side.
She was thrilled by the promise that he would give her a place to live in Ronta's capital. Ronta, which had been so difficult to get to, seemed to have opened up to her with just one gesture from this man.
Blie thought she 'loved' Noevian.
To be exact, she was crazy about the love and affection that Noevian showered on Adrienne.
Doesn't Adrienne have a place to go back to even if it's not that man?
Whether it's Piretta or anywhere else, there will be someone who will welcome the precious Princess Adrienne.
'It's different for me.'
It was Noevian who gave Blie greater hope.
One day, almost a year after Adrienne married Noevian.
The moment she saw Noevian Trovica's face when he heard the news that Adrienne only had a few years left to live, Blie was certain.
She was sure that she could take Adrienne's place.
Blie had always seen Noevian looking tired, but this was the first time she had seen him so broken.
"I love you."
Blie impulsively confessed her love.
It was hard to tell if it was love or desire, but one thing was certain: Blie wanted this man.
She wished that he could abandon the sick Adrienne and let her into the Grand Duchess's mansion. Among the thick-skinned nobles, some would let their mistress into their mansion.
And when Noevian heard that, he said, with a disheartening ease,
“...Will you be my government?”
“!”
Government.
It was quite a shameless thing for a man who had never said or done anything sweet before to say that.
But Blie saw great hope in that one word.
As she imagined herself entering the ducal palace where Adrienne lived and having everything she had, her blood rushed to her body.
“Yes. If I can stay by your side like that, I will.”
And Blie imagined the Duke of Piretta blushing and getting angry at her like a fireball when he saw that sight. She was so excited that she had never been more excited in her life.
“But when Her Highness the Grand Duchess passes away, then I will become Your Majesty’s government ‘completely’.”
When Blie, who was expected to accept it, made a condition, Noevian's expression turned scary, but only for a moment. It might have seemed presumptuous for a woman who always had a bashful smile on her face to say that.
However, the only way for Blie, who had nothing, to enter the Grand Duke's residence was to trade what little body she had. And that method worked well for Noevian, who sometimes looked at her with eyes full of desire.
***
Blie worked in Noevian's external office in the capital.
It was quite easy to receive the mana stone tube from Elacon and send it to where he instructed.
By then, Blie was very happy to have gained Noevian's trust. Moreover, when Noevian occasionally visited the capital, he would sleep in the side room of the office instead of the mansion and meet Blie.
She wondered why he didn't go to the mansion hr wanted to go to so much often, but she thought it was because he started to love her more than Adrienne.
A gorgeous new dress that fits her body perfectly. A life where someone protects her without having to draw a dagger and fight her.
Blie was very content while preparing to marry Count Acacia and become his government, enjoying a comfortable and easy life.
Holding the front page of the newspaper that had shaken her life to its core, she took it out and looked at it whenever she had the chance, and now laughter came out of her mouth before anger.
She didn't even realize how much time had passed while she imagined that the beautiful woman sitting proudly next to Noevian Trovica was not Adrienne, but herself. Since their faces were the same, she didn't even have to imagine it that hard.
One day, Blie heard news that the Grand Duchess's condition was getting worse.
Blie had a flash of the idea of directly laughing at Adrienne for not even knowing that her husband was having an affair.
'If this continues, wouldn't it be a shame if the child dies without even being able to see it?'
The most precious thing you have. The brightest thing that shines by your side. The person you love the most loves me, not you.
If only she could whisper, she would whisper like that.
A hint of annoyance appeared at the corner of Blie's mouth, which had been smiling faintly.
***
The next day.
Blie cast a powerful confusion spell on her face.
If Rossi had known, it wouldn't have ended with just a few slaps on the back, but she couldn't stand seeing Adrienne's condition.
She knew that the medicines procured by Noevian Trovica were sent to the Grand Duke's residence in the capital once or twice a month.
Gathering medicine and sending it to the Grand Duke's residence was also a task she performed in the external office where she worked.
Blie always disguised herself as a servant who led a medicine cart.
It was a magic that would never be noticed unless you had magical powers. However, it was not magic that lasted long, so you had to come back quickly.
Blie hid in the Grand Duke's residence under the pretense of delivering medicine to the attending doctor and watched.
Inside the Grand Duchess's bedroom, wide open.
Adrienne, wearing clothes she hadn't changed in days, bit her lip and protected her pride amidst the giggling maids.
The maids, startled by the gaze of outsiders, closed the bedroom door.
It seemed as if her eyes met Adrienne's through the gap in the closing door.
Even though she couldn't see inside because the door was already firmly shut, Blie couldn't take her eyes off it.
It was as if lightning had struck her head hard.
Blie couldn't move her body.
From the voices and speech of the maids, she heard while transporting the medicinal herbs.
There was not even a shred of respect for the Grand Duchess.
'What is this?'
Somehow... She feels like she's lost her strength.
There was not a single thing that resembled the Adrienne she had imagined.
Beautiful but messy hair.
Her white skin, which should have been as smooth as a pearl, was pale and her cheeks were slightly sunken as if she had not eaten anything.
The lifeless, turquoise eyes were so similar to her own that for a moment, her heart swayed violently like waves.
'Who's worried about who right now? Did I really think she was pitiful? You fucking idiot!'
With her head turned white from shock, Blie ran back onto the returning carriage.
Blie had a terrible nightmare that day that she couldn't even remember.
***
Was it not true that I felt like I was going to vomit and that my heart was pounding?
Blie, whose healthy body was like his entire fortune, was sick all day long.
And then she looked again at the portrait of the woman in the newspaper she always carried with her.
She had always harbored an old jealousy towards such a lively and annoyingly pretty girl, but strangely enough, it felt like it had all dispersed and disappeared in an instant.
They say she's going to die soon, but did the aura of death on her face make Blie weak-hearted?
'Why me? Seeing a kid who's been living well until now? Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it was just that day.'
The day she headed to Noevian's external office located in the center of the capital, her stomach rumbling with excitement.
Blie, who had been reaching out and grabbing the doorknob with an unusually tense hand that day, was startled by the voice coming from inside.
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