Chapter 20
Chapter 20
The Beginning of an Adventure?
Inside the office after the two had left,
Giovanni quietly watched his daughter Angela.
“Father, why are you looking at me like that?”
“...”
Angela shrugged her shoulders, feeling awkward.
The room was quiet. Yet, the silence felt suffocating.
Giovanni’s gaze, simply watching her without speaking, had a weight that made it hard to breathe.
Angela was no longer a child. She had the appearance of a mature young woman, at an age where marriage discussions were already circulating. She had earned a substantial amount of money. Many noble ladies would never have even touched the silver and gold coins that had passed through her hands.
Yet, in Giovanni’s eyes, she still seemed lacking. Her body had grown, but her mind hadn’t fully matured. Just seeing how she had approached Luang at the recent banquet confirmed that. She had moved without properly assessing the man, his status, or the dangers.
Whether it was because she was kind or naive, in the noble world, either was a fatal flaw.
“Angela.”
“Yes, Father?”
“Follow Prince Luang.”
“...What?”
Angela blinked repeatedly, sure she had misheard.
“You said… follow him?”
“Yes.”
Giovanni spoke calmly, as if instructing her to balance the ledgers for the day. That casual tone made it even more terrifying.
Angela parted her lips but could not form a word.
Following Luang.
She knew what that meant. It would not end with a few polite greetings. Once entangled with the prince, her life would change completely—either for better or worse.
No.
With a madman like Luang, it didn’t seem likely to go well.
“Is it… against your will?”
Giovanni asked.
His voice was neither loud nor heavy. It was so quiet that Angela found it even harder to respond.
What would happen if she said no? Would her father be angry? Disappointed? Or would he calmly offer an even worse option?
Angela loved and trusted her father.
But she also knew that Giovanni Goldrun was a father who cared for his daughter while being the head of the family, acting in the interest of the house.
He would choose the best path for her, but that path might not be the one that gave her personal comfort.
“So you’re sending me…?”
“You sound like I’m selling you off.”
Angela flinched.
Giovanni exhaled sharply.
“Not entirely wrong. Noble marriages do have that aspect.”
“Father…”
“But at least I won’t let you be dragged anywhere indiscriminately.”
Giovanni’s eyes darkened.
“I judged that being by Prince Luang’s side is better than being sent to another house.”
Angela could not argue.
Giovanni was not one to make careless decisions. He weighed money, people, and opportunities with precision. If he said this, it meant he had made a calculated choice.
And in that calculation, there was probably a bit of affection for her.
A little.
Yet, strangely, she felt sorrowful. Even though it was a decision made with her well-being in mind, why did it feel like she had been placed on a scale?
“What happens if I follow the prince?”
“That depends on you.”
“Me?”
“Yes. What position you take by his side will be your own doing.”
It was both comforting and cruel. To survive, to be loved, to avoid being abandoned—it all depended on her actions.
Angela lowered her gaze.
Her mind was tangled.
Following Luang would not be easy. The trouble from the Rosefield family was imminent. In the original story, Luang’s fiancée, Rachel Rosefield, would become the villainess.
Consumed by jealousy, obsession, and anxiety, she would eventually harm those around her.
And the side characters near her rarely survived long.
Angela would be drawn into the chaos, far more than an extra ever would be. She would become the target of jealousy.
She was not the heroine, just an extra. A shrimp in a whale fight. Her fate was likely to end silently.
Could she refuse?
If she said no now, what would happen next?
Would it be better to marry another noble family?
Would a typical noble husband see her as an inventor, a merchant, or even as a person? Probably not.
Instead, she might lose her workshop, her freedom, and her money, and her life could reduce to bearing children.
Compared to that, Luang was dangerous, but he might at least not treat her as a childbearing machine. He might even find her inventions interesting and allow her to continue her work.
A grim standard, but in noble society, even that was a luxury.
Angela hesitated for a long time.
She bit her lip, clenched and unclenched her fists, and finally whispered in a small voice:
“…Alright.”
Giovanni watched her without saying a word.
Angela avoided his gaze and spoke again.
“I will follow Prince Luang.”
Only then did Giovanni slowly nod.
“Well thought.”
It sounded like praise, but Angela did not feel happy.
It felt as if she had walked into a room she could not escape from, on her own.
“Go.”
“Yes…”
Angela left the office, her voice weak.
The moment the door closed, she exhaled long and deep.
“Haah…”
Her heart raced anxiously.
What should she do now?
Follow Luang.
That meant being drawn even deeper into the original story’s entanglements with the villainess.
In the original, Rachel Rosefield, Luang’s fiancée, would become the villainess, consumed by jealousy, obsession, and anxiety, ultimately harming those around her.
“And I have to survive.”
Walking through the corridor, Angela thought.
No matter what happens, she must survive.
The answer was clear.
Do not provoke Rachel’s jealousy.
And then, a thought, very Angela-like, came to her.
“Instead of stopping the villainess… what if I prevent her from becoming one?”
The reason Rachel became a villainess was obvious.
Fear of losing Luang.
Fear of her betrothed being taken away.
And in the end, inability to control her jealousy and anxiety.
So, if she could prevent misunderstandings, jealousy, and obsession from growing in the first place, then perhaps she could reduce the chances of getting caught in the chaos herself.
Yes.
Her mission was clear.
She had to bridge Luang and Rachel.
Keep them from going toward catastrophe.
The problem was that this was easier said than done.
Angela pressed her hand to her chest, trying to soothe her anxious heart.
“I can… maybe do it.”
Her voice lacked confidence.
She had often listened to romance stories, but she was no expert in love herself.
Her friends may have said she was good at listening, but that only meant she gave the responses they wanted, not that she knew the right answers.
Still, she had to have confidence.
If she didn’t act, she might die. Doing something was better than doing nothing.
Angela asked the servants where the two had gone and headed toward the garden.
The closer she got, the more complicated her thoughts became.
How should she calm Rachel?
What if Luang says something strange?
What if the two clash immediately upon meeting?
What if the atmosphere is already ruined from the start?
Arriving at the garden, she stopped walking.
“…Huh?”
Her thoughts froze.
In the center of the garden, Luang and Bianca were standing much closer than she had expected.
Closer than “close” could even describe.
It was obvious to anyone that the distance between them was delicate.
Bianca’s face was flushed, and Luang leaned toward her far more than usual.
The gap was so narrow that if they moved just slightly closer, their lips could almost touch.
Angela’s chest sank.
Why?
Without realizing it, that feeling had risen first.
That was not right.
Could it be that even Bianca was becoming part of her concerns?
Angela was already planning how to manage the relationship between Luang and Rachel. She also had to manage her relationship with Rachel herself.
And now Bianca too?
That was too much.
“No, it’s not.”
Angela forced herself to calm down.
Bianca had just overcome fear to approach Luang. That had to be it.
She had to believe that.
Yet, between despair and fear, another strange feeling had started to grow.
A feeling she shouldn’t have at all in a moment where survival was the priority.
“What if I were there?”
Expectation.
And.
Jealousy.
“…No.”
Angela muttered to herself.
Jealousy?
What jealousy?
Her father had just told her to trust her body to Luang.
And now she saw them like that?
She refused to accept it—
Her chest felt heavy.
She had to take a step, but her feet felt glued to the ground.
Angela bit the inside of her lip.
This was not the time to feel this way.
She had no right to feel hurt, nor reason to feel uncomfortable.
Her first priority was to survive.
She had to stay alive.
Angela forced her facial muscles to move.
Even a clumsy smile was enough.
And slowly, without stopping, she walked toward the two.
A strange pang sat in a corner of her heart, but that was not important now.
What truly mattered—
Even as an extra in the novel, she had to secure a position where she would not die.
And yet.
Angela knew something had just begun inside her.
A feeling completely separate from survival.
A far more troublesome feeling.