In Diana’s Room

Diana spent the entire day with her sisters and they even slept together in her bed during the night.

Her sisters pampered her as much as they could. They brushed her hair, magically made her skin healthier, and spoon-fed her during meals. She agreed since they were in her room and since she felt it like she had to help them lighten up.

They reminisced stories of her childhood and hugged her as much as they could. Even as they slept, her sisters were holding her like she might run away if they did not hold her.

Diana sighed and hugged them both. Their warmth helped her fall asleep. They both gave each other the solace that they needed.

“Sister are you still angry with Lord Frederick?” Lumina suddenly asked while brushing her hair the next morning.

“Huh? Why would I be angry at him?” Diana asked innocently. She had just finished bathing and Lumina and Francesca were taking care of her.

“Since he touched your face yesterday,” Francesca reminded.

“Ah, that.” She was not so petty to still be angry about that. She reacted the way she did because she mistook him for her ex-husband.

“It must have scared you right? Waking up with a man you are not familiar with touching your face,” Lumina gently brushed Diana’s hair.

“I was really surprised. I was wondering why a man was in my room. But I am not angry anymore,” Diana reassured them. She wondered why they were bringing up that topic again.

“I see. Do you remember him attending your twelfth birthday?”

Diana searched the little girl’s memories. Frederick was indeed there.

Noble children were not officially introduced to guests until they were twelve years old in order to keep them safe.

Once the children turn twelve, they could be introduced to guests and mingle since they would have to start looking for spouse candidates if they were not already engaged.

On the twelfth birthday of the little girl, the King and his brothers were invited. Duke Varondel and his sons were also invited so Frederick was there. The fact that they were invited to Diana’s birthday meant that they were included in the lists of husband candidates for Diana.

Duke Cedric was showing off his daughter to the men who were allowed to pursue her in the future.

But in that celebration, aside from the greeting when they arrived, Frederick nor his brothers were not at all able to talk or dance to any of Duke Cedric’s daughters. The girl and her sisters were monopolized by the Royal Princes.

Based on the girl’s memories, during the party, the second prince was almost always with Lumina and the third prince kept Francesca to himself.

The fourth prince got to spend the most time with the girl and made sure that she was not approached by other men.

“Yes. But I was not able to talk with him at all. I just saw him drinking wine with his brothers,” Diana replied.

“Of course. His Royal Highness, the fourth prince kept you company after all,” Lumina giggled.

Diana had a feeling that the fourth prince they were talking about was supposed to be her fiancé.

“Lord Frederick was also with his brothers when Duke and Duchess Varondel visits. Have you seen him before your twelfth birthday?” Francesca shifted the topic.

“Ah yes. I have seen him the times they came to visit but never had the chance to speak with him. I have also encountered him several times when I traveled with brother Anthony. That was when I was able to talk with him briefly,” Diana answered from the girl’s memories. She noticed that Lumina and Francesca paused what they were doing at the mention of Anthony’s name. Diana pretended to have not noticed.

“I see. Then you know that he is not a bad person right?” Lumina queried.

“Yes. He was always gentle when he patted my head,” Diana repeated what the girl had told her when they talked.

“Then do you really forgive him for touching your face?”

“Yes. Of course.” It was not like touching her face was a grave sin. Diana understood that Frederick was her husband to be so touching her hand or face was fine.

“Then why did you reject Frederick’s offer to escort you after breakfast yesterday?”

“I was just returning to my room. He did not have to escort me.”

If she had to be honest, it was because she knew that the adults had something to talk about.

“Do you hate him?”

“No, not at all.”

Diana was shocked. Her room was close by. She did not understand why she needed to be escorted. Her personal maids and knights were with her if she ever collapsed.

“Did you see his face when you rejected his offer?”

“N-no.” Diana had turned away immediately after that so she did not.

“Rejecting a noble man's offer to escort you when you do not have a man already escorting you meant that you dislike him. It was like saying you cannot stand his presence near you nor the thought of him touching your hand,” Lumina explained.

“What?!”

Diana could not believe that her being thoughtful of not bothering them so they could talk as soon as possible ended that way. It turns out she had rejected her fiancé.

“He must have thought you hated him now,” Francesca added.

“No. I do not. Why would I hate him? He had not done anything for me to hate him.” Diana could not believe that her supposed act of thoughtfulness made everything so complicated that it even reached that point.

“Then do not reject his offer to escort you again. Let him walk you to where you need to go next time,” Lumina smiled.

“O-okay. Should I apologize to him?”

“No need. He would be happy as long as you let him escort you.”

“Okay,” Diana sighed in relief. Noble etiquette and practices might be what would be hard for her in this world.

“Lord Frederick was the one who made the antidote for me right? How did he do it? I have to thank him properly,” Diana inquired. She did not want to be an ingrate. After all, it was because Frederick could cure the girl’s body that Diana was able to have this chance to live again. She should show her appreciation.

“He traveled to other kingdoms to search for the ingredients. All of it was so rare that we do not have it in Evymeria. It could only be found in other kingdoms so we had to rely on him,” Lumina explained.

“Lord Frederick was able to gather it all in such a short time. I was honestly impressed. He must have traveled without rest so he could return here as soon as possible,” Francesca added.

“Indeed. If it was someone else, it might have taken years to recover all those ingredients.”

“How long was I asleep?”

“More than three months. Francesca and I froze you in time when we realized we could not counter the antidote.”

“We are truly grateful that Frederick was with us. He was the only one in the kingdom who could travel with great speed that he could finish hopping from one kingdom to another in mere three months,” Francesca added.

Diana was reminded that there were no airplanes or railways in this world. Travel even from just one duchy to another would take days so kingdom to kingdom should take longer.

“How could he travel that fast?” She wondered what kind of cheat Frederick had to be able to accomplish such a feat.

“Frederick had been hiding that he had the ability to teleport to places he had visited before,” Lumina explained.

Apparently, Duke Varondel had been allowing Frederick to travel the whole kingdom and the neighboring kingdoms so he could maximize his ability when the time comes.

Diana came to understand that teleportation in that world could be used only by those who had an excessive amount of mana. Those were the royal family, the ducal family of every duchy, and some noble servants.

However, teleportation could only be used within one’s own territory and with the use of magical tools or scrolls which were expensive and rare. No one could teleport wherever he wanted as long as he had been there before like Frederick did. It was also one of the reasons why his ability had to be kept secret.

“He was able to sneak into the neighboring kingdoms undetected. But according to his servants, it had been a difficult journey even for Lord Frederick. The teleportation uses a lot of his mana and yet he still had to fight strong demon beasts to obtain the ingredients,” Francesca added.

“Then doesn’t that mean he had done so much for me? I can never repay him if it’s like that.”

“We are all indebted to him. But Lord Frederick is kind. He believes that we are not indebted to him at all. Since it’s like that, we just have to treat him well right?” Lumina clarified.

“Okay. I’ll treat him well from now on.” She could tell that her sisters were taking the roundabout way to tell her to be good to Frederick. Even without them telling her, Diana already planned to be good to him anyway.

‘Yes, I will take care of him. As his fiancé, I will prepare him delicious meals and indulge him if that’s another way I could repay him.’

Then she realized that noble ladies usually do not cook. And she could not even taste the food. Even if she insisted to cook, she would not know how it tasted. She did not know the dishes that Frederick preferred nor the methods of cooking in that world.

‘It seems I can’t use my years of experience being a good wife here. I’ll just observe Frederick in the meantime. Maybe someday, the time will come when I could repay him for curing this body.’

Diana realized that what she had to do in the meantime was to not be a burden to Frederick. She also had to revisit noble etiquettes in order to avoid offending or insulting Frederick again.

Another dilemma that crossed her mind was how good wives behaved for nobles. She had a lot to learn.

The little girl’s memories did not help this time since she was not yet taught about it. Diana had no choice but to ask Lumina and Francesca about the roles of a wife later.

That morning, her sisters looked a lot happier and in a lighter mood compared to yesterday.

Diana was relieved that her sisters were finally smiling. They looked even more beautiful. ‘If I was going to be with these angels, life here might not be so difficult.’

But compared to them, the men looked rather sleep-deprived and exhausted as if they were not able to rest at all.

‘Did they even sleep? Maybe they had a drink last night,’ Diana wondered when the men came to escort them.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Stay tuned and do add this to your library. Stay safe.