Chapter 4
Chapter 4
“Excuse me.”
A handsome man with a gentle appearance entered, the long silver chain of a monocle hanging prominently from his eye.
Since he was speaking politely, he probably wasn’t the lord—but just in case, I stood up from my seat.
The man approached me without making a single sound. Lifting his monocle slightly, he looked me over.
Despite his gentle appearance, his gaze was cold.
“You are Miss Aileen, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“A pleasure to meet you. I am Noah Roheim, an aide to the lord.”
So he wasn’t the lord after all.
“I’ve heard that the Hunter’s Village managed to pass through this monsoon safely thanks to Miss Aileen. Is that true?”
So that was why I had been summoned.
“It was thanks to the villagers preparing diligently. I only suggested that we try a certain method.”
“You’re quite humble, Miss Aileen. Very good.”
What exactly was so good about that?
“In a moment, the lord will enter. This is your first time meeting him, correct?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Then I will explain the proper greeting etiquette and precautions. If you happen to offend the lord and get your head cut off, it will be troublesome for me, so please listen carefully.”
…Did I just hear something terrifying?
When I stared at him in confusion, Noah Roheim smiled, his eyes curving like crescent moons.
It was impossible to tell whether his words had been a joke or serious.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
“First, when you see the lord, bow deeply until your head nearly touches the ground.”
Since my life was at stake, I memorized every word he said without missing a single detail.
From greetings to how to respond, even how to manage my gaze—it wasn’t difficult, but there was quite a lot to learn.
And since I absolutely couldn’t make a mistake, I repeatedly reviewed everything I had just learned.
“Is there anything you don’t understand or are curious about?”
“Please tell me the lord’s name.”
At my question, one of his eyebrows tilted upward.
“You were born and raised in Belheim, yet you don’t know the lord’s name?”
Actually, I wasn’t born here—and I had only lived here for two months.
I swallowed the words that rose to my throat and smiled awkwardly.
“I just want to confirm that what I know is correct. I shouldn’t make a mistake.”
Fortunately, my clumsy excuse seemed to work.
He nodded.
“His Grace Archduke Calix Krauvel.”
An archduke.
That meant he was second only to the imperial family in status.
“Getting the lord’s name wrong would be a grave offense, so remember it well.”
“Yes. I’ll remember.”
Calix Krauvel.
I repeated the name several times so I wouldn’t forget it.
But the more I repeated it, the more it felt familiar.
Where had I seen that name before? A novel? A movie?
While I was thinking hard—
The door suddenly burst open without a knock.
“You have arrived, my lord.”
As Noah Roheim bowed his head, I hurriedly bent at the waist as well.
Because I bowed immediately, I didn’t see who had entered.
“You may raise your head.”
A low voice came from above me.
I slowly lifted my head from where I had been staring at the soft carpet of the reception room.
The first thing I saw were polished black leather shoes, shiny enough to reflect my face.
Smooth trousers without a wrinkle.
A vest accented with silver buttons.
A collar fastened tightly to the very top.
Then—
A sharp jawline like the edge of a blade.
A straight nose.
And finally, grayish-blue eyes.
The moment our eyes met, my breath stopped.
Scary.
My breathing stalled, and a crushing pressure seemed to weigh down on my shoulders.
Even though it was the height of summer, the air in the reception room felt colder than freezing.
I have to run away.
Just as my instincts screamed and I unconsciously began to step backward—
A creation so handsome that people said even the gods must have crafted him with care. Yet people first felt his overwhelming presence and shrank back before it.
A line from a novel struck my mind like lightning.
Thus, people feared Calix Krauvel and avoided approaching him. But Annabella Riseren walked toward him without hesitation.
Until now, I hadn’t known which novel I had transmigrated into.
But now I realized.
It was a mass-produced romance fantasy novel titled “The Light That Devoured the Imperial Palace.”
The story followed the female protagonist Annabella Riseren, who fell in love with the male lead, Crown Prince Cedric von Lucebel, after setting out to subjugate monsters.
Calix Krauvel was the second male lead in the story.
He suffered from a hopeless one-sided love, was eventually consumed by demonic energy, and became the final boss.
Worse still, to fight Cedric—who came to rescue the kidnapped Annabella—Calix even committed the atrocity of turning his own people into monsters.
Which meant that if I stayed here…
I could end up turning into a monster too.
Absolutely not! I have to avoid this at all costs!
Forget quests or anything else—survival came first.
Usually when people transmigrated into novels, they used their knowledge to change the future.
But I had no intention of doing that.
Why would I gamble with my life when there was an easy option—leaving the final boss’s territory?
“It is an honor to meet you for the first time. My name is Aileen. I am deeply honored to meet His Grace Archduke Calix Krauvel.”
Even in that moment, I greeted the lord exactly as Noah Roheim had instructed.
It was an instinctive action born from my desperate desire not to die.
Calix Krauvel nodded indifferently and took the seat of honor.
When Noah Roheim said something beside him, the lord looked me over with interest.
Maybe it was because he was the final boss, but his presence was overwhelming.
Even when dealing with construction workers hardened by countless hardships, I had never been nervous.
But with Calix, my heart trembled just from meeting his gaze.
“Explain how you managed to survive the monsoon.”
I didn’t want to share my techniques with others without compensation.
But defying the lord was dangerous.
And this opponent was the final boss from the original story.
If I offended him, my head might roll off instantly.
“I think it would be easier for Your Grace to understand if I explain while drawing. May I borrow a pen and paper?”
At my request, Noah Roheim quickly brought them.
“If the roof is sloped, rainwater won’t pool but will flow down…”
Eager to leave this place even a second sooner, I immediately began explaining.
“…Then we created drainage channels by adjusting the elevation along the terrain so rainwater would flow out of the village.”
The moment I finished and put down the pen, Calix Krauvel took the paper.
He stared at it so seriously that I wondered if I had done something wrong.
Noah Roheim did the same.
“Um… is there some kind of problem?”
When I asked nervously, Noah Roheim smiled.
“There is no problem. However, I am curious—have you ever studied architecture or design before?”
I had studied it to death.
My father had been a carpenter, so I had frequented construction sites since childhood and learned to use saws and hammers even before middle school.
I majored in architectural engineering at university and later worked in urban design.
But that was when I was Han Seona.
“No. I’ve never studied it.”
Since Aileen had never learned such things, I feigned ignorance.
“Then how did you come up with this?”
“I was thinking about how to solve the problem of rainwater pooling, and the idea just came to me… Is there some problem?”
Pretending to know nothing, I asked with an innocent expression.
Calix Krauvel alternated his gaze between me and the drawing.
Then he quietly gave an instruction to Noah Roheim that I couldn’t hear.
“Yes. I will prepare it.”
W-wait a moment! Why are you leaving me alone with the terrifying boss?!
My inner scream burst out.
I desperately wanted to follow Noah Roheim out.
But unfortunately, I didn’t have the courage.
“Can this triangular roof be installed on all buildings in Belheim?”
After Noah Roheim left, Calix Krauvel asked while holding up the paper.
“Each building has a different shape, so some adjustments would be necessary, but it should be possible for most of them.”
Calix’s eyebrow lifted slightly.
“And the drainage channels?”
“We would need to check the condition of the ground. If the channel is too close to the house, moisture will accumulate, so there needs to be some distance…”
Wait.
Did I just sound way too much like a professional?
“You said you never studied architecture, yet your knowledge is impressive.”