~Tpmma 01~
Chapter 1
“Oh my, His Highness is asking Miss Maria to dance again. How shameless, at a party where his fiancée is watching.”
“At this rate, there might be rumors of a broken engagement. The fiancée shouldn’t just sit there and watch, you know?”
The noble ladies whispered loudly while openly looking this way.
At the Third Prince’s fiancée—Lady Dori Redfield, the one I had possessed.
Of course, they weren’t saying it for my sake.
They probably just wanted some dramatic entertainment—like someone grabbing another woman by the hair for a dopamine rush.
Unfortunately for them, the only thing I’ll show is a madeleine mukbang.
Alright! If this were a Seoul café, these madeleines would be 3,000 won each, but I just ate 6,000 won worth!
But the noble ladies showed no signs of giving up their gossip.
“Oh my, Maria accepted the dance? She’s pretending to hesitate, but she’s definitely being sly. At this rate, she might steal him!”
She won’t steal him.
I sipped my black tea and leisurely watched the handsome man and beautiful woman who had just begun dancing.
The beauty’s name was Maria Meyer.
Beautiful, kind, but strong-willed and all that. A rather old-fashioned character type, which actually makes her rarer in this era—a typical romance fantasy heroine.
And the man dancing with her—my fiancé…
A noble lady spoke loudly enough for me to hear.
“Well, someone like Prince Tristan would want a beauty who doesn’t fade beside him.”
As she said, the glamorous silver-haired handsome man’s name was Tristan Winter Albion.
The same name as the knight in the Arthurian legends who suffered from unfulfilled love.
Maybe he lives up to the name. At first glance, he looks like a “cold-looking knight hiding a fiery unrequited love”—the typical second male lead.
In reality, he’s not cold, not in unrequited love, not a knight, and not a second lead.
You know those guys in romance stories.
The pathetic male side characters who rely on their status and money to harass the beautiful heroine.
That’s Tristan’s role.
Usually, guys like that get beaten up by the male lead or second lead and disappear from the story. Sometimes they even die.
As for Tristan’s ending in this novel—
“Dori!”
“…Sister.”
My thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.
When I turned around, my older sister Grace, Dori’s elder sister, stood there with an angry expression.
“It’s been a while, sister. Have you been well—”
“My body is always healthy. But seeing you makes my heart sink.”
“Sister…”
“This is the fourth song already. Have you danced with His Highness even once?”
“No.”
“Do you think you will?”
“No.”
“You’re too honest!”
“I can’t lie to you, sister.”
“Ha…”
Grace looked at the root of the problem—the prince.
After finally getting a dance with Maria, he was smiling proudly as if showing off a trophy. Seeing that, my sister ground her teeth.
“I knew he wasn’t fond of this engagement, but to openly embarrass his fiancée like this!”
“Sister, I’m really fine. I don’t even like dancing. His Highness probably knows that.”
“Oh, Dori! You’re too kind. How was a child like you born into the Redfield family?”
Grace pulled me into a tight hug. I almost suffocated, but the warmth was comforting. So this is what family love feels like.
But the touching moment disappeared three seconds later when Grace whispered:
“Dori. Being kind is good, but this engagement is not yours alone. Do you know what family that country girl dancing with the prince comes from?”
“Isn’t she from the Meyer baron family?”
“Technically she’s a distant niece of the baron. In the past, someone like her wouldn’t even have been able to debut in society. If a daughter of the Redfield count family loses her fiancé to a woman like that, what do you think will happen?”
It sounded like a question, but it wasn’t one.
She was telling me not to disgrace the family and to hold onto the prince.
Of course, I only had one thing to say.
“It’s okay, sister. His Highness will definitely return to my side.”
“Ah! Being this kind is a disease, a disease!”
Grace raised both hands as if she would pull her hair out, but when she noticed the noble ladies staring, she quickly picked up her fan. Her voice lowered but was still full of irritation.
“Dori! If you had been long-time lovers, that would be one thing, but during your long engagement you’ve only met a few times!”
“That’s true.”
“Then what are you trusting while you wait?”
The original novel.
“I trust His Highness.”
“…If it were me, I’d sooner believe Father will finally succeed in deer hunting this year than trust Prince Tristan.”
Grace looked like she might cry.
At that moment, the music in the hall ended.
Tristan escorted Maria back to her table with movements straight out of an etiquette manual. Then he slowly turned around… and for a moment, our eyes met.
I thought at least he’d look a little awkward if he had any conscience.
He doesn’t.
That bastard didn’t even look at me for 0.1 seconds and immediately turned his head away.
Hey, are you protesting right now? Even if I stepped on dog poop in the street, I’d look at it longer than that!
Tristan returned to a nearby table as if nothing had happened and picked up a glass of sparkling water. The elegant way he wet his lips made him look like a wolf relaxed after a successful hunt.
He was practically declaring with his whole body that he didn’t care about me.
Hey, you’re never getting the heroine.
Grace sighed.
“Dori, I should go now. I have to dance the next song with my husband.”
“Alright. Thanks for the advice.”
“Don’t just say thanks! If you keep staying on the sidelines, I’ll tell Mother too!”
Grace stomped away angrily.
A little distance away, her husband greeted her. With smooth escorting like flowing water, Grace smiled brightly and took his arm.
Even though noble marriages were arranged for status, if you found a partner like that, it wouldn’t be so bad.
The small problem was that my life partner was already decided.
That partner—or enemy—was speaking loudly somewhere far away, apparently talking so I could hear.
“How was my dance with Miss Meyer? I’m not shameless enough to evaluate a lady’s dancing skills. …You say there’s another lady I should be paying attention to? Did my mother attend today’s banquet?”
He’s basically saying I should take care of myself, you shameless bastard.
But Third Prince Tristan Winter Albion—
No matter what nonsense you say, you’re marrying me next year.
Because that’s what the original novel decided.
Everything started two months ago.
Late winter. I got fired from my night librarian job after working three years—well, technically three contracts of eleven months each. I trusted the head librarian who said they’d hire me as a full-time librarian, and because of that I missed the contract timing at other libraries.
I returned home with my soul completely drained and was unpacking my bag when an old book rolled out. I must have accidentally brought it home while repairing books.
I couldn’t return to the library, but I should at least return the book.
But looking closely, the book didn’t have a library barcode—it had a rental shop barcode. And the rental shop had already gone out of business long ago.
Someone must have bought it from a closed rental shop and accidentally returned it with library books.
What a tangled life for a book.
A book that belonged nowhere and would probably be discarded even if returned to the library…
For some reason, it felt like my life. I rubbed my nose a few times and opened the book.
I wanted to prove, as a reader, that its life as a book wasn’t over yet.
So I repaired and read the worn-out book that had been published 20 years ago, not noticing that the old boiler in my studio apartment had turned off…
…and when I opened my eyes, I had become a minor noble lady in that novel.
The novel’s plot was simple.
A boy and girl who were childhood friends grow up and meet again in the capital. The male lead, the future Duke of the North, and the heroine from a lower noble family are attracted to each other but think they don’t match, but they love each other anyway and get married. The end.
With cliché seasoning: a knight second male lead, a villainess who wants the male lead, and a male side character who harasses the heroine.
Third Prince Tristan was that male side character. In the latter half of the story, he gets beaten up by the knight second lead and is forced to reform. In the ending, there’s a single line saying he married the fiancée who had been waiting for him.
And that devoted fiancée is me—Dori Redfield.
‘Feels like the author made that setting carelessly.’
Why do some authors always end with a big wedding festival for all the couples?
Anyway, what’s certain is that even if the Third Prince chases Maria all social season, he will eventually marry me.
“Ha…”
So annoying!
He’s got a bad personality and the only thing he has going for him is his face. So what if he’s a prince? He’s basically an unemployed guy living off citizens’ taxes! In a society with primogeniture, there’s no guarantee princes other than the heir will live stable lives either!
But it’s not like I’m in a position to choose.
“At least it’s not a bad ending.”
I should be grateful I’m getting a husband with a decent face.
I had just eaten what was probably a year’s worth of madeleines—something I could only afford two of on payday in my previous life—when someone called my name.
“Dori Redfield! Look over here.”
It was my chaperone—my aunt who came as a lady’s advisor and supervisor.
She had said, “Dori is well-behaved, so she doesn’t need supervision,” and went off to gossip. Looks like she finished chatting.
I smiled and turned my head…
“…Your Highness?”
Next to my aunt stood an unwanted guest.
My future husband, Tristan.
Judging by the expression like he bit his tongue while eating, he must have been dragged here by force.
Even now he was desperately avoiding eye contact with me. Impressively annoying.
My aunt laughed cheerfully.
“Dori, you tried to approach His Highness several times today but failed, didn’t you? I felt so bad watching, so I brought His Highness here myself.”
I never tried to approach him! Thank you for the consideration, but please don’t tell horrifying lies!
My aunt didn’t forget to flatter the prince either.
“His Highness is always surrounded by people, so shy Dori probably couldn’t approach him. We’re so grateful for Your Highness’s kindness in coming here personally!”
Behind Tristan’s back, my aunt opened her eyes wide as if sending a telepathic message:
‘Be happy! Even if you’re not, pretend to be happy!’
“…Your Highness, welcome.”
I opened my fan and hid my face—the savior of bad actors. Meanwhile, my aunt quietly backed away.
In the suffocating awkward silence,
With a table between us,
Only Tristan and I remained.
I wonder how many seconds this professional karma-builder will last today before running away?
