A grey haired guy in his teens rudely entered my room.
The second son of the duke, Nicholas Emond.
Unlike the real Bea's mother and father, her two brothers loathes her.
At the age of eight she completely ruined her brother's debut as well as her second brother's debut at the age of eleven.
Not to mention what she did to them over the years it would be normal to expect this kind of treatment.
"Now that you are awake don't pretend weak to hog the attention of our parents! They have work to do!"
He kept ranting.
"Do you know how much of a loss it is for them to nurse you?!"
Again.
"They have important job to do! They have high ranks! Every of their decision will affect the peoples' lives!"
And again.
"Are you done?"
He put his hand on his chest trying to catch his breath after cursing(?) at me like a machine gun.
"Young master, please, the young lady's condition is still-"
"Who cares?!"
He shoved the maid away.
"Anna, it's fine, just go"
With teary eyes, the maid obediently left.
"Listen, I don't know who the fuck you are nor do I want to. Apparently, I have amnesia. Now, I am pretty sure you are mad at me because you have a valid reason for suddenly coming inside the room in such a manner. So please, stop being a lunatic and shut up if you want to talk with me. My ears will fall off with all your yelling"
"Wh-what are... what are you saying?"
He looked at me with a confused expression. He shook his head for some time as if to deny something unbelievable.
"You shut up!"
With a flushed face, he hurriedly left the room after slamming the door, again.
Anna entered the room shortly after my lunatic of a brother went his way.
"Anna, I have a job for you"
"Yes, milady?"
"Get every information you know of about count Frenond"
"Is there something you need, milady?"
"There will be in the upcoming days. So do please do it without telling anyone. You are the only person I can trust at the moment"
In the novel, when the prince killed Dianna, Anna was there beside her corpse. She then committed suicide to follow the lady she was loyal to.
Anna who is loyal to 'Dianna' since the beginning is the only one I can truly trust at the moment.
"I understood and shall execute it swiftly"
...
A month have passed since. I am now able to walk.
Anna was able to collect intel regarding count Frenond.
Evidence that the count is engaging in human trafficking have also been collected.
It was thanks to the jewelries that we sold off in exchange for it after several complicated procedures.
"Let's go"
"Understood"
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Come in"
I entered the room, leaving Anna behind.
"What do you want?"
He sure don't know how not to show hostility to someone.
"I have something I need to tell you"
"If it is another one of your ridiculous demands, then-"
"It is about your relationship with the third son of the former duke of Deltan"
He stopped writing. He look up towards me. His glare was the combination of fear and rage.
"If I tell you that there is a way to be with him would you listen to what I have to say?"
He gritted his teeth in anger.
He knew that if he said "No" then I would tell all about it to our parents. I won't though.
I sat down on the chair as I nonchalantly sip my tea.
"How do you know?"
"How I know isn't important. What's important right now is that there is still a way to fix that broken relationship of yours"
It would only be normal to find a person who just woken up from a coma suspicious to know your secret when your own parents don't.
"As you know you two hold high rank within society. While, sodomy is legal in the continent, it is illegal for a head of a house to marry the same sex"
"I know"
"To fix that, first we need you to step down from your position as the heir apparent of the duchy"
"You want to be the duke?"
"No. Brother Nicholas will be the duke. I have already set a stage for him so that father will take notice of the achievement he is about to receive"
He wants to be the duke after all. Since he wants it so badly, why not let him, right.
While Nicholas is a bit of a goofball most of the times, he is just as smart as brother Roman. Its just that childishness of his that made brother Roman become the heir apparent of the duchy.
"The next thing to do is for the two of you to meet"
"How will you do that when the two of us are so busy. We can't even send letters to each other"
"Right. That is why I will get engaged to Sir. Dereck for a year and act as a messenger. If I get engaged to him then he would have to occasionally come here to visit his fiancé. At the same time this would give me a valid reason to visit their estate which will allow me to send your letters to him without anyone knowing"
"When?"
"I will visit him today. I have already made an appointment last week"
"....."
"Well?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Simple. I want to live a lavish life free from trouble. If my two brothers get what they want then I would be able to live in the shadows happily"
"You have changed"
"Do you prefer the old me?"
"Absolutely not!"
After pulling a long sigh, he started writing a letter.
"This is the letter that you will give Dereck"
"You are surprisingly being cooperative"
"....."
He knows better that if he doesn't do this then his relationship with Dereck would crumble beyond repair. He didn't had a choice since the beginning.
"I will now go. I trust that you will explain everything to our lunatic of a brother later on thoroughly so that we get his cooperation"
"I will"
I went on the carriage with Anna to go to the duchy of Deltan.
...
"Milady, we have arrived at the Deltan duchy"
The carriage door opened.
A velvet red carpet with rose petals was laid down on the ground.
Servants were perfectly lined up.
"It is a great pleasure to have you here, Lady Emond"
"The pleasure is mine, Sir. Deltan"
I took his hand.
In that small moment, Dereck Deltan took that chance to whisper at my ear.
"If you don't want to die I advise you to behave carefully"
Let the phase two begin.