21. I’ll Save You  

Darius led me to the back of the castle, under a large poplar tree.  

It was an ancient tree, said to be over 300 years old, and there was a legend that the founder of the Inkheart family had planted it himself. Even after hearing such a tale, I remained indifferent.  

‘At least Lady Ygret’s influence hasn’t reached here.’  

Thinking about my cotton flowers, which still hadn’t been planted because the gardener had been dismissed, only made me feel regretful.  

“A leaf fell on your hair.”  

I could have taken care of it myself.  

Darius reached out toward my head. I felt the soft touch of his hand brushing my hair, followed by the click of metal being fastened.  

‘Huh?’  

As soon as I felt something unusual in my hair, he smiled.  

“Hmm.”  

He hesitated, which was unlike his usual self.  

I reached up to touch my head. This cold, hard sensation, like small stones—was it some kind of hair ornament?  

“I’m not like the other knights who know how to praise the beauty of your hair.”  

Not ‘like’ a hair ornament—it was a hair ornament!  

“If you’re wondering why I’m suddenly giving this to you, well… I suppose it’s because I realized that while the Poche family received wedding gifts, I never gave you a dowry of your own.”  

I froze, feeling as though fifty years’ worth of embarrassment had just swept over me. The fact that my entire life, including before and after my reincarnation, didn’t even add up to fifty years was irrelevant.  

“This is my first gift to you.”  

He spoke in a voice filled with anticipation.  

“It suits you perfectly, just as I thought. Come closer.”  

He gently stroked my hair with a touch full of affection.  

I was weak to such romantic gestures. In this moment, I could almost believe that the wilted leaf that had fallen on my head was a flower petal.  

‘This man doesn’t love me. Get a grip, Annette. You’re not the heroine of this novel.’  

But does he really not love me? Not even a little?  

I tried to recall how this tender Darius had once spoken coldly to Daniel.  

〈Be wary of Annette.〉  

〈Never let your guard down around a woman from the South.〉  

Ah, he was so cruel.  

“Do you not like it?”  

He asked as if he truly cared about my feelings.  

“I…”  

“Excuse me for interrupting, Grand Duke. My lady.”  

Sir Lucion’s urgent voice pulled me out of the sweet dream and back to reality.  

“Oh, Sir Lucion. It’s already evening.”  

“What’s the matter? I don’t recall anything particularly urgent.”  

Darius asked Sir Lucion in a slightly disappointed tone. Or perhaps it was just my imagination.  

“My apologies. I know you’re having an important conversation, and I didn’t mean to intrude, but I had no choice…”  

“Enough. Just get to the point.”  

“Rose has gone missing.”  

I blinked. It was unexpected news.  

“Rose?”  

“She attended the ceremony held in the castle today. But afterward, she left some strange words with a servant and disappeared.”  

Sir Lucion seemed about to explain what Rose had said but then shook his head.  

“It may not be anything serious, but she’s still young and naive, and with the sun setting, I couldn’t help but worry. So, I must apologize, but I need your help with the search…”  

“No need to apologize. Rose is like a sister to me as well. I’ll mobilize the castle’s personnel to search for her. If everyone moves, we’ll find her quickly.”  

Sir Lucion let out a deep sigh of relief.  

“Thank you for your consideration, my lord.”  

‘The last I saw of her was when she glared at me during the ceremony.’  

But up until that moment, Rose had been present in front of everyone.  

“I’ll return to my room. I have a lot to discuss with Lady Ygret regarding the documents.”  

“It might take a while, so don’t wait for me. Go ahead and rest tonight.”  

I nodded at Darius.  

* * *  

For now, Lady Ygret’s issue was my biggest headache. Having read the original story, I was certain that Lady Ygret was embezzling money, but I had no evidence.  

‘I need to find undeniable proof to pin Lady Ygret down.’  

There was so much to do, yet I only had one body. As I lamented my limitations and sat down at my office desk, something caught my eye.  

‘Hmm?’  

My gaze swept over the scattered documents, quill, ink, and books borrowed from the Grand Ducal library.  

‘Could it be…’  

“Did anyone come into my room today?”  

Someone had tampered with my room while I was away.  

“Ah, now that you mention it, Miss Rose did stop by your room earlier because of the punishment you assigned her! But it was just for a moment, and she only said she’d leave the copied books and go!”  

Apple, her face pale, immediately confessed.  

‘These documents—they’ve been reorganized, but it’s clear they’re not in the same order I left them. Rose must have gone through everything.’  

I reopened the books and spread out the map, searching for the most recent notes I’d written.  

‘There’s a circle drawn on the map.’  

I had narrowed my search to three potential locations. Among those, one now had a new circle drawn on it that hadn’t been there before.  

“Inform the Grand Duke and everyone in the castle! Rose Temeri is not in the places you’re searching! Rose is in the Ash Tree Forest beyond the hills!”  

* * *  

I didn’t even know I could ride a horse. As soon as I realized that Rose had seen my maps and notes and gone ahead to the Ash Tree Forest, my body instinctively headed for the stables.  

Ironically, it was only when I grabbed the reins of a neighing horse that I discovered Annette’s body knew how to ride.  

“No, Rose Temeri. You can’t go there. You mustn’t.”  

I muttered frantically, not even knowing what I was saying.  

“My lady!”  

“The Ash Tree Forest! Do you understand? Right now! The forest at night is dangerous! She probably doesn’t even have a torch!”  

I left these frantic words with the servant chasing after me and immediately spurred the horse into motion.  

“My goodness, my lady!”  

I had spent days and nights poring over Northern maps and documents in my room.  

I had long since memorized the maps. But just because I had them in my head, did that mean I wouldn’t get lost?  

It was as if something was guiding me, pushing aside the possibility of failure and allowing me to ride smoothly. It felt more like a sense of duty than anything else.  

‘Please, Rose. It’s far too early—even earlier than in the original story.’  

In the original story, the heroine searched for the Northern treasure vault. Rose Temeri was also involved in the Northern treasure vault in the original.  

Rose had been jealous of the saintly heroine who had suddenly appeared and captured Darius’s heart.  

<I have to defeat her. If I achieve something great, Brother Darius will surely look at me.>  

But Rose had no means to do so. She had no holy power like the saintly heroine and couldn’t help others.  

Then, she thought of the ‘legendary treasure left by the Inkheart Grand Ducal family,’ which she had dismissed as just a fairy tale.  

If it were real, and if she could find it, wouldn’t Darius reconsider her?  

The place where the heroine found the Northern treasure in the original story was next to Rose’s corpse.  

Both had thought of the treasure and arrived at the same place, but Rose had already died by then.  

The heroine, clutching the cold, lifeless body of the woman who had envied her, wept as she claimed the Northern treasure.  

‘I thought I had twisted the original story! Since I wasn’t supposed to exist at this point, and my search for the treasure was happening earlier than in the original, I thought those events wouldn’t occur!’  

I hadn’t paid attention to Rose.  

She was just a character meant to lose to the heroine. Worse, she was a character destined to lose and die because of it.  

Knowing her fate, I found her pitiful, even laughable.  

No matter what you do, you’ll never win Darius’s heart. In fact, you’ll only end up overstepping and dying because of it.  

‘But being a little spiteful and annoying doesn’t warrant death. If you die now, you’ll be dying even earlier than in the original story.’  

Please, just be alive.  

The place where Rose was would also be where the treasure vault I was searching for lay. But I couldn’t tell if I was searching for the treasure vault or for Rose herself.  

“Rose, Rose Temeri!”  

I shouted at the top of my lungs.  

“If you die now, I’ll take the male lead for myself! I’m serious! Even while the heroine’s away, I won’t give him back to you!”  

My voice echoed meaninglessly across the white snowfield.  

* * *  

A horse’s neigh broke the silence.  

‘Ash Tree Forest.’  

It was one of the locations I’d deduced. It was also a place where Darius, Rose, and Sir Lucion had played as children.  

The place where the founder of Inkheart had hidden the treasure.  

‘It’s too vast.’  

Before me stretched an endless expanse of dense trees. There was a path, but I had no idea where to go.  

‘Rose…’  

Answer me, Rose.  

So I can save you.  

At that moment, a green, firefly-like light appeared before my eyes.  

‘What is that?’  

The firefly-like light swayed gently, as if signaling to me.  

‘There’s no guarantee it’s not a demonic beast…’  

This forest was a place of legends and hidden treasures, a place where danger and allure coexisted.  

Hah.  

I took a deep breath and pulled the reins.  

“Neighhh!”  

The horse reared up on its hind legs and stomped the ground.  

‘Rose, just stay alive. I’ll make you copy etiquette books for the rest of your life if you do.’  

Without further hesitation, I followed the strange green light.  

“Annette!”  

A desperate voice called out to me from behind. It was Darius.  

‘Darius!’  

“This way, take my hand!”  

A group of knights was following behind him.  

I turned urgently, but it was already too late.