CH 8.1

No matter how affectionate and brightly he smiled in front of her, she was anxious that she might die someday if she stayed in this house.

She even examined her body thoroughly, wondering if she had a real illness, but except for gaining weight, Grace’s body was healthy.

Grace let out a deep sigh and went out to the garden.

‘Huh?’

Benjamin wasn’t visible today.

Grace looked around without realizing it.

“Well, he might not come out. I’ve been saying it’s a coincidence until now.”

Besides, she came out later than usual today.

Grace thought that she seemed to be making excuses not to be disappointed after a series of thoughts.

Eventually, something strange came into Grace’s sight as she started walking alone.

‘What is this?’

There were small signs stuck in front of the garden bushes.

All of them were signs with the names of flowers written on them.

“… “

It was natural for Grace to recall her conversation with Benjamin as she looked down at the signs.

“I see. I haven’t considered such a problem.’

Grace’s heart fluttered.

“….Could it be?”

It hadn’t been long since he said that.

Grace asked the maid next to her, wondering.

“Did the gardener make these signs?”

The maid replied as if she had been waiting for her question.

“Yes! The master ordered it!”

“Your Highness?”

“Yes!”

“Why?”

Did he do it because she didn’t know?

Her thoughts became tangled and overwhelmed.

‘But why, really?’

Grace knew that Benjamin was a kind person, but this seemed far from ordinary kindness.

She couldn’t help but feel uneasy as he caught every word and took care of them one by one.

Then, a voice in Grace’s head whispered.

[Wake up.]

[What delusion are you trying to have? It’s embarrassing.]

Suddenly, as if turning over cold water, Grace’s body trembled and her mind cleared.

The maid who had told Grace about the signs asked her a question.

“Madam, are you feeling cold?”

“…Yeah, I think so.”

“Then how about going in early today? So as not to get sick.”

Grace looked around before nodding her head.

“Yeah, I should.”

She couldn’t see any sign of Benjamin coming out of the main mansion. She felt a little disappointed.

‘Have I gotten used to it?’

As Grace was staring towards the mansion, Sally brought a warm fur and covered Grace with it.

“Madam has been getting quite thin lately, so I’m worried.”

“Thin…?”

Grace touched her own cheek.

“Do you have any worries? I know it’s not my place to interfere, but…”

Sally spoke to Grace with a truly worried expression.

‘Sally was always kind to Grace.’

The maid who spoke most kindly to Grace before her possession was Sally. The other maids were also kind, but there was a distance between them. Therefore, Grace couldn’t help but feel a liking towards Sally.

Grace smiled. 

“It’s nothing. I think I just suddenly started losing weight.”

“…Did someone say something bad to you?”

“Hmm?”

Did someone say something bad? Grace’s eyes widened and blinked.

‘Many people in the empire say bad things… If I don’t divorce, I’ll be found dead in the ducal house…’

And she thought of words she couldn’t bring herself to say.

Sally continued to worry about Grace, unaware of her thoughts.

“You haven’t been to the study recently, so I wondered if something had happened.”

‘The study?’

Grace wondered what she meant, but then she realized that the old Grace used to lock herself in the study.

‘Oh, right.’

At first, she was too busy adapting to her new body, and then she was struggling to survive, so she had completely forgotten about her original self.

‘I used to read books until I was sick of them.’

Grace thought of herself before she took over this body.

Before the possession, she was always sick and had to stay in the hospital. 

As a result, she always had books close by since she couldn’t go outside and play.

“It’s because I prefer moving around like this lately.”

“….”

“You get depressed if you stay in the room all the time.”

Sally’s expression became even more melancholy at Grace’s words. It was because Grace had lived a life close to confinement until now.

But what Grace was currently thinking of was her life before the possession, which was not much different from her current life.