In truth, Ruth Alessia di Camellia would've been a great protagonist of her own reincarnation story.

She originated from another world and got reborn as a duke's daughter while keeping the memories of her previous life intact. A woman who would do everything in her power to survive, even if it meant killing the heroine with her own hands.

She was beautiful, strong-willed, and wise.

However, she was morally corrupted with no sense of companionship. Even a dog would be more loyal than her. She's that kind of person.

"Huh?" Ruth blurted out in disbelief.

For a moment, the villainess was at a loss of words. It was my first time seeing the genuine look of surprise on her face while staring at me.

Still, she's the meek yet calculating Ruth. With her bluish white hair and azure eyes, I would always describe her as somewhat comparable to the sea.

Calm on the surface, but dangerous deep down.

"I see. I understand now." Once she recovered from her shock, Ruth smiled knowingly. "With that face, of course he'd act so out of character."

The grand duchess snickered at me.

"Fortunately, my husband is sensible man. He's not one to be swayed by something like this."

Ruth rubbed her chin while scanning my face.

"Indeed, the resemblance is uncanny. That face certainly brings back memories." She grinned in amusement. "Heh. The dead should just stay in their graves. Why do they have to haunt us?"

My fists clenched at her insulting words.

"Hm? Why aren't you saying anything?" she asked.

"G-Grand Duchess, with all due respect, Allari is someone unable to speak." One of the mages answered nervously on my behalf.

"Oh? You're mute." The villainess tried to hide her smile by covering her mouth. "My, how pitiful."

Even so, despite the impervious facade that she's showing right now, the fact that Ruth was saying such provocative words was proof that she feels threatened right now. She's someone who asserts her dominance when faced with a formidable foe.

That gave me a little bit of confidence.

Since I don't have the capability to talk, I opted to use the sketchpad I recently started to utilize for communication. All of them watched expectantly as I jotted down my words on the paper.

This lowly mage doesn't understand, Your Grace.

I feigned innocence while flashing my sketchpad.

Did you come all the way here just to meet me?

A condescending smirk then crossed my face.

It seems the grand duchess is quite insecure.

All my colleagues held their breath in that tense situation. Only the villainess read what I wrote, thus they had no idea between our exchange.

She remained unfazed. "Me? Insecure?"

If you aren't, then does it mean that Grand Duke Averill is simply untrustworthy? Which one is it?

To my shock, her palm landed across my cheek.

Wait. Did she just slap me?

"How dare you?" Her face darkened. "Who do you think are you talking to? Shall I remind you?"

Before I knew it, Servan was already between us, shielding me with his arm. He's usually a wimp, but when it comes to me, he doesn't falter at all.

"With all due respect," My brother was trembling, but his voice was firm. "This is not a place where you can just barge in and hurt anyone as you please, Grand Duchess. Please don't do this."

Ruth glared at her. "You dare lecture me?"

"Yes, because you are in the tower at the moment and violence is not condoned here, much more if it's committed by an outsider to one of our own."

Servan calmly adjusted the frame of his glasses.

"Or can I take it that you're disregarding our rules and looking down on us, Grand Duchess Averill?"

As we fell into an uncomfortable silence, I noticed a shadow moving across the hallway, followed by heavy footsteps and the clanging sound of armour.

If it happens to be Alistair, then now's my chance.

To everyone's surprise, I instantly fell on my knees and lowered my face to the floor, as if begging for Ruth's forgiveness. At the same time, Grand Duke Averill entered the room with a displeased face.

"Ruth," His cold voice sent shivers down to my spine. "What in the world are you doing now?"

When I took a peek on her face, the villainess was momentarily astounded. Ruth glanced over the grand duke, then shifted her gaze back to me.

"Hah, would you look at that?" Her eyes were widened, as if she realized that she's been had.

How does it feel, my lady?

"You're quite the actress, aren't you?" She said through gritted teeth, ignoring her husband.

To be painted as the bad guy, that is.

"Ruth," Alistair held her by the wrist. "I am asking you. What are you doing right now? You should have informed me that you were coming here."

"What for? So you could've stopped me from coming?" She muttered grimly, sounding a bit betrayed. "Were you planning on hiding this woman's existence from me, Your Grace?"

It seems that Alistair has yet to realize that the one kneeling down was me. When I lifted my face to him, his eyes darted on my reddened cheek.

The grand duke frowned. "You slapped her?"

"I did." The villainess replied shamelessly.

"Why?"

"Because she looked like that woman."

"Ruth," Alistair took a deep breath in an attempt to compose himself. "I understand why you feel--"

"No, you do not understand." Ruth interrupted him. "Do you think it's a mere coincidence that you winded up in the tower and this wench, who looks exactly like her, shows up out of nowhere?"

The other mages, Servan included, seemed equally confused by the esoteric conversation that only I, the grand duke, and the villainess herself could follow. My brother gave me a questioning look.

"This is obviously a ploy to ruin our marriage." She clicked her tongue. "And seeing how you're putting the blame on me now, it seems they've been successful in doing so, my dear husband?"

He sighed. "I am not blaming you."

"Fine," She smiled to him. "Tell me the truth, then. If I hadn't come here and stayed ignorant of this girl's existence, would you have told me of her?"

"Enough," Alistair evaded her query then covered his eyes. "Don't embarrass yourself any further."

She snapped. "Why can't you answer me?!"

"Ruth!" His voice thundered. "Why on earth do you have to make every single thing about her?"

The sullen look on his face rendered everyone in the room speechless, even the villainess. Alistair looked so exhausted and fed up of everything.

"That person is dead." Grand Duke Averill looked like he was about to cry. "I beg you. Please let her rest in peace and stop using her name against me."

It seems that his plea got through his wife. Ruth, who was seething with rage earlier, had finally calmed down. Even so, she refused to apologize.

"Let's go." Alistair took her hand. He glared at all the mages one by one, including me. "Whatever happened in this room should stay in this room."

"O-Of course, Your Grace." Emma assured him.

"I remember all of your faces. If word about my wife causing a ruckus gets out, I'll hunt down every single one of you." he threatened.

The grand duke was about to leave, but then his feet halted. He turned around and looked at me.

"You."

His face softened, followed by his sharp words.

"Don't show your face in front of me again."

With that, Grand Duke Averill left with his wife.

For some reason, I felt defeated. In the end, my existence is only a thorn to him now, and he wouldn't hold onto something that would inevitably hurt him. He chose to take her hand.

"I-I thought I was going to die!" Servan screamed.

"You did well, dude!" Emma patted him. "I cannot believe she just barged here and confronted Allari out of nowhere. Seriously, that's so messed up!"

"It seems like they have serious marital issues." Clio, another of our senior around his thirties, commented. "Even so, they should've settled it at home. Geez, why did they have to fight here?"

"D-Do you think they'd tell Sir Ion?" My brother nervously queried. "What if they execute me for being rude to a noble? Will you guys miss me?"

All of them laughed at Servan. He's so silly.

"Oh!" Servan faced me then examined my cheek. "Does it hurt? She slapped you pretty hard, right?"

I shook my head to reassure him.

"My poor sister," He hugged me then caressed my head. "Don't worry, brother will protect you!"

Thanks, I guess. But even though you can protect me from any external injuries, the wound on my heart will remain untreated forever, brother.

---

"I heard from Emma and the others. It seems you have earned the wrath of Grand Duchess Averill?"

The next day, I was summoned by the head mage of the healing department, Sir Ion. As it happened, news of my clash with Ruth spread like wildfire.

I wrote down on my sketchpad.

I didn't do anything, Sir.

"I know, but it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, she is a grand duchess and you're a commoner." Sir Ion remarked dismissively.

I frowned. What a load of bullshit.

"From now on, you'll be assigned to outdoor tasks, to prevent you from running into the ducal couple during their stay in the tower. Any complaints?"

I begrudgingly shook my head. I didn't like the idea, but there's nothing I can do about it.

"Come to think of it, Haniel was supposed to return a few days ago, but he's nowhere to be found. That airhead must have taken a detour."

Haniel?

I remember Servan mentioning him briefly.

"Oh, right. You did lose your memories." The head mage stated. "He's an extremely talented mage, so talented that he's the leading candidate to be the next master of the tower. He's also my student."

Someone that impressive is here? I wonder if he's a character with a significant role in this novel.

"Alright," Sir Ion grinned. "Go look for him."

I pointed myself with a questioning look.

"Yup. To be honest, since you can't speak, there's a limit to what you can do outside." The head mage fiddled with his hands. "But if it's just searching for a missing person, I'm sure you can do it."

I don't even know what this Haniel looks like.

"You don't have to worry. That guy stands out so much, finding him should be a piece of cake for you." Sir Ion childishly raised his thumb to me.

And so, I was given an unexpected task.

In an attempt to keep me away from the ducal couple, they sent me out to look for this certain Haniel, and Sir Ion described him to me briefly.

Where do I even start looking for him?

Now that I think of it, what if this was actually the plot in progress? Is this my role after all, to search for this VIP and escort him back to the tower?

Nah. It's a shitty role, that can't be it. And it doesn't sound like a role that would end up in me dying.

While I was wandering aimlessly in the capital, business was booming as usual. The market was bustling with merchants and customers alike.

I was in the middle of trying out some street foods when someone familiar caught my eye. His Grace?

I wasn't mistaken. It was Grand Duke Averill, indeed. He was in commoner clothes underneath his dark robe, but his face stood out in the crowd.

"Don't show your face in front of me again."

Suddenly, Alistair looked in my direction. His eyes widened in recognition. Crap. Our eyes really met!

I panicked, so I turned to my heel and accidentally bumped into a stranger. Due to the instantaneous impact, my feet reeled and I then lost my balance.

However, before I could even fall, a firm and strong arm swiftly caught me by the waist.

Huh?

The moment I opened my eyes, they were out of focus due to the sunlight behind the stranger.

First I caught a glimpse of his ebony black hair. It was long and went past his shoulders, with short strands covering his eyes and the sides of his face.

Due to the lack of distance between us, I got a closer look on him. His nose was small and his lips were thin, giving him a somewhat innocent impression. He also had thick and long eyelashes.

He was truly the embodiment of beauty.

Soon after, I recognized the jet black robe with a tinge of red which he wore. Healing mages like myself don a white robe with green patterns for us to be easily distinguished during disasters.

This guy wears a black robe.

And to mages, black symbolizes destruction, which means he must be someone who uses strong offensive magic and casts deadly spells.

"Are you okay?"

Yet his voice was so soothing, almost like a lullaby.

But then I remembered what the head mage told me earlier. Before I left to search for that person, Sir Ion said I only need to know two things.

One, that he had deep purple eyes.

"Hm?" The guy glanced on the ominous thing tied on his back. "How strange. Is it reacting to you?"

Two, that he's a man carrying a coffin on his back.

That fateful day, I met him for the first time in my third role as Allari. Haniel, someone who spent his life loving and waiting for me unconditionally.

---