"Be careful, your Highness."

Blake had the power of light, but because of the accident that happened not too long ago, Edon stayed closely by his side.

"Stay back. You're getting in my way."

Blake told Edon bluntly, yet Edon didn't give up and stuck closer to him instead.

"Your Highness, the Valley of Chaos has always been unstable ever since the Door of Darkness was closed. There's a lot of rocks here, and earthquakes are not uncommon. It would be better not to walk around until the ground is stabilized."

"...."

Many changes seem to have occurred in the Valley of Chaos after Ser's curse was lifted and the Door of Darkness disappeared

Edon's words were perfectly logical, but Blake didn't say anything.

He was silent, as if in quiet denial of Edon's words.

Edon sighed, but he no longer persuaded Blake.

"Your Highness, let's rest in Vallin today."

Vallin was the place closest to the Valley of Chaos.

"We don't have any time to waste in that place."

"We can stay there overnight. Weren't you injured?"

"It has already healed."

"Miss Rose must be tired."

When Blake heard that, he turned around and looked at me.

"Is she?"

"Riding a horse takes a lot of stamina. It's especially hard for those who aren't used to it. Isn't that right, Miss Rose?"

Edon looked at me with eyes full of hope, urging me to say yes.

I nodded quickly.

"We'll be going to Lord of Vallin's estate."

At that moment, Blake changed his destination.

***

"I greet your Highness."

When we reached the estate, Lord of Vallin, Viscount Dix, the knights and servants all came out to meet us.

The scene was the same as it was in the original novel. Now that I knew that this wasn't just a world of fiction, the detailed information I remembered from the novel was very useful.

Perhaps the 'The Beast and the Lady' was written by someone who had already experienced this world once, or at least, someone who was connected to this world.

So I couldn't ignore the original story, because it wasn't just a novel. Everything was the same except for the people around me.

"Thank you for welcoming us on such a short notice."

Blake greeted him confidently.

When I compared the present to the time when he was despised by everyone around him, my heart moved.

"Ahh!"

The woman standing next to him suddenly screamed.

Following her scream, everyone's gazes shifted onto me.

Viscount Dix tried to fix the situation and introduced the woman with an awkward smile.

"This is my daughter, Joanna."

"I greet Your Highness. I'm sorry, I was just surprised when I saw your wounds."

She covered for herself skillfully, but I knew better. She screamed like that because she was surprised to see me. She had screamed the moment her eyes met mine.

"Your Highness, are you hurt?"

"No."

"Your Highness is indeed chosen by the goddess."

Viscount Dix said so and laughed. Joanna chimed in as well.

"As expected, Your Highness is quite amazing."

Joanna Dix was a supporting character in 'The Beast and Lady'.

She was very beautiful, but she had a deep complex about the fact that she was the daughter of Viscount Dix.

Joanna approached Richard to boost her status, and Richard also became interested in her due to her ambitiousness.

Richard thought he had found a friend who was similar to him. But as soon as he realized that she was greedy, incompetent and foolish, he quickly abandoned that thought. In the end, Richard used her as a mere tool and eventually threw her away once he no longer had any use for her.

"We'll throw a big welcoming party for you."

"I'm tired."

"Your Highness!"

When Blake flatly refused the viscount's offer, Edon was startled and called him unconsciously.

"Hahaha, of course you must be tired. Joanna, show the Crown Prince to his room."

"Yes," replied Joanna gracefully.

Then, the butler said, "The knights can follow me."

I was just wondering what to do when suddenly, Blake took my hand.

"Let's go, Rose."

***

The weather was cold and the land was barren. Even monsters often came by since it was near the Valley of Chaos. Vallin was one of the poorest estates with a small population, but the interior of the mansion was very colorful.

"Rose, were you hurt anywhere?"

'No, I'm fine.'

He was still as sweet as when we were young.

I didn't think so at first because he was rough and rude to the knights, but he was especially nice and thoughtful to women.

'Your Highness, you must be ti—.'

I was going to ask Blake if he was tired, but suddenly Joanna said, "Your Highness, you look much better in real life."

Irritation flashed in Blake's eyes.

"Can't you see we're talking?"

"I-I'm sorry..."

When Joanna stopped, Blake looked at me again.

"Huh? What were you saying? Tell me again."

His voice sounded so sweet that it would be hard to tell he snapped so angrily just a moment ago.

"Am I tired?"

I nodded and Blake smiled beautifully.

"I'm glad you're worried about me."

I met his gaze and my face flushed red unconsciously.

Why was he doing this?

Joanna suddenly stopped walking and said, "Your Highness, you can stay in this room."

She pointed to a room at the end of the hall.

It couldn't hold a candle to the Imperial palace, but the decoration on the door was quite splendid.

"I see."

"Miss Rose, you will be guided to your room by my nanny."

"I want Rose's room to be on the same floor as mine."

"Your Highness, this place is restricted."

Joanna was right. Blake was only given special permission by the owner of the mansion because he was the Crown Prince.

The Imperial knights even stayed in the library, so I, who didn't have any identity, didn't have any right to be here.

I tugged Blake's shirt. I didn't want to be known as a stubborn girl who didn't know her place.

"Rose, is it okay?"

I quickly nodded.

"Rose is someone important to me, so take good care of her."

"Yes, your Highness. Miss Rose, please follow me."

Joanna's nanny replied in a polite manner.

***

When Joanna's nanny and I walked down the hallway, the servants who saw us froze.

"What's that?"

"It's the woman the Crown Prince brought earlier."

"Really?"

"Yes, I saw her earlier."

"Why did he bring that disgusting person?"

"I know right."

They gossiped while staring at me disgustedly.

While I was with Blake, I didn't care about my scars at all, but seeing other people's reactions brought me back to reality.

"Come this way."

As soon as Blake was out of our view, the nanny quickly changed her attitude.

While I was walking with my head down, I heard someone say from behind me.

"What!? Even if he's the Crown Prince, this is too self-centered of him!"

Joanna made her way towards me angrily.

The servants noticed this and either slowly disappeared or turned around and started wiping the windows.

Joanna didn't care about the servants. She only stared at me.

"Nanny, where are you going?"

"We're going to the fourth floor library."

"You're letting her stay at the library?"

"Yes...."

The nanny looked at Joanna and nodded.

"Take her to the annex."

"The annex?"

"Yes."

"Ah, but—"

"Are you complaining? Do you want to take responsibility if she's carrying some sort of disease?"

Joanna glared at me disgustedly.

The nanny hastily bowed her head.

"No, miss. I'll take her to the annex right away."

***

"Here we are."

As soon as we went into the room, the nanny coughed.

The room was full of dust from being left unused for a long time.

"Then, rest."

I grabbed the nanny's clothes when she was about to go out.

"Oh my god!"

She screamed as if I was spreading my disease to her, even though I grabbed her clothes with my right hand, which didn't have any scar. I took my hand off in a hurry and pretended to wipe the table.

It didn't matter if the room was small. It was smaller than my room in the Amoria Palace, but it was much wider than my room in Korea. I wasn't trapped in a tower that was closed on all sides like a thousand years ago either.

However, it was pretty hard to breathe with all the dust accumulated in the room.

I tried to ask for a mop and the nanny said okay but I didn't know if she understood my words or not.

I was going to open the window when suddenly, the door opened.

I turned my head to see Joanna staring at me.

"You-did you do something? They said you were picked up from the Valley of Chaos?"

She had come to do a background check on me.

Her expression was full of hostility towards me.

In the original story, Joanna was jealous of Diana because of Richard.

She didn't bother her, instead she straightaway attempted to kill her.

Richard knew about it, but instead of stopping her, he took it as an opportunity to get closer to Diana.

Just like a thousand years back, Phillip's habit of using women to achieve his goals really irritated me.

"You're hideous. Don't mistake his good deed for something else! Who do you think would accept a monster like you?"

Why on earth should I listen to this nonsense?

'You're being rude.'

"What? You can't say anything?"

Joanna laughed and mocked me. Unlike Blake, she had no intention of seeing what I wanted to say. So even if I protested, she wouldn't bother reading my lips.

"Nanny, put a mirror in this room, so that this monster wouldn't dream about silly things."

She insulted me and went out.