Evan Linnaeus Icardes.

The boy was Duke Icardes’ only heir. He would become a strange man, completely devoid of emotion, due to his fathers neglect when he was young. His face was as handsome as possible and greatly resembled his father’s, but while he was beautiful on the outside, he was empty on the inside.

See, Evan was utterly disinterested in any human relationships, even with the people around him. As a matter of fact, he never even shed a tear when his wife died. The years following her death were even more turbulent. The royal marriage his father had set up with the princess proved to be unhappy, ending with the princess looking elsewhere to find the love she had sought from him.

I think... In hindsight, the original story seems a bit shoddy...

In the novel, the female protagonist, Princess Elani, eventually found true love with the male protagonist during her loveless marriage with Evan. And while they fell in love, Evan remained emotionally detached, even though he knew what was happening between the pair. It was almost like he didn’t expect anything—neither love nor friendship—from Elani.

There was one problem, though. Divorce was outlawed in the empire. For the two main characters, this was a monumental obstacle to overcome. Princess Elani had always been self-serving, so she had no problems drafting and passing a law that legalized divorce. To put it simply, the princess severed the relationship the archvillain had painstakingly made for his own benefit and married the male protagonist instead.

And naturally, the duke’s grand schemes never came to pass.

The sheer brevity of Evan and Elani’s marriage prevented him from getting the royal family under his thumb.

It does make me wonder, though. What makes him so desperate for so much power? Why does he want to control the royal family... It’s beyond me. What’s worse is that I have no clue what happens to him after the original ending.

Had I known I’d be reincarnated into his family, I would have made sure to have read all of the epilogue as well... But I digress...

Families were handing out congratulatory bouquets to their sons and daughters in front of the academy’s main gate. Evan, expressionless, stood there mixed with the other graduates. Of course, the duke hadn’t prepared a bouquet for his son. That would have been completely out of character for him. But he did present something.

“Here is your wife,” he said curtly, pushing me into Evan.

Good grief! What child wanted to hear that he suddenly had a wife on a day like this—his junior academy graduation day!

“I see… I accept her, Father,” Evan said, barely moving his lips.

Oh... Apparently I had found a boy who had no problems with this arrangement.

His face bore a striking resemblance to his father’s. Despite his young age, he left a striking impression on me with his inky hair, above-average height for a boy of thirteen, and uncaring, crimson eyes. He was a year younger than me but seemed older from his appearance.

Definitely handsome, but his face isn’t the most welcoming...

Even the original piece said he had a graceful and seductive appearance. Evan’s image was a stark contrast to the male protagonist’s and thus evoked an uncomfortable sense of mischief and wickedness.

He certainly looks older than his age... Then again, they say those who seem older in their youth are the ones who become ageless beauties.

Time passes and the blessed ones retain their looks while the others age normally; their roles eventually reverse. With that in mind, I smiled to cheer myself on.

To be cordial, I spoke first. “I am Laria Rose Losstree... Sorry, Laria Rose Icardes. Congratulations on your graduation.” It felt most appropriate to include that line since the duke didn’t have the sense to say it to his own son. Besides, it hardly required any effort to give the boy a little bit of superficial support. “A pleasure to finally meet you.” I added.

“You too.”

A curt reply, exactly what I would have expected from a boy devoid of emotion. Well, I was almost certain he didn’t expect a “well done” or “good job” from his father.

Yup. You’re the kind of man who wouldn’t care if your wife dies or goes running around with other men.

Clearly, he wasn’t interested in me. So it would have been difficult to brand him as an unpredictable life variable. But that wasn’t the end of it.

“I received the message your homeroom teacher sent me. Why did you hit Sir Zerdi’s son?” Evan’s father asked.

He struck a boy?

My ears perked up at the unexpected development. Remember, Evan may have been younger than me, but he was taller and bulkier than his peers.

I assume his fists would pack a nasty punch.

“You beat the boy to the point that he had to be hospitalized for three weeks. I heard he was unable to move an inch from his bed,” the duke continued.

Oh goodness. Three weeks? I kept my mouth tightly sealed and waited for Evan’s answer.

“The boy tricked me,” Evan explained.

“How did he trick you?”

“He claimed to be my friend but spoke ill of me and called me names behind my back.”

Poor boy. He was hurt. I always imagined that he didn’t care about what others thought of him. But he was still so young—part of him must have still been soft and emotional.

He continued his explanation calmly. “I struck him in the open because I didn’t want to become the same man I despised. I thought it was a better choice than just talking about him behind his back.”

“Hmm,” the duke responded.

“I can’t stand it when people lie. It’s awful.”

“So, that’s what happened.”

“I didn’t want to let a two-faced boy like him walk off scot-free.”

“Right.”

I felt like I wasn’t reading between the lines well enough, so I looked up at the duke in confusion. Aren’t you going to scold him? At the end of the day, your son beat up another boy! Three weeks in a hospital bed—completely immobilized, mind you—is no joke!

“Children who take friendships lightly should rightfully be punished,” the duke said nonchalantly, as if he approved of the boy’s action. Maybe being bedridden for three weeks seemed like a trifle to the great archvillain.

Which means my life is most likely even less significant. My best bet was to make a getaway when I reached a suitable age.

With that topic behind us, Klaudin pointed to me and commanded, “Be nice to her, if you can.”

What? Why would you bring that up now?

“She wants to get along with you.”

Uh... But the thing is...

“And she hopes that you two will care for each other.”

I felt sweat beading down the nape of my neck. Was this some threat to force me to court his son or he’d beat me too? Speaking of two-faced people, here was another one in our midst.

Why bring up our private discussion?

Then again, he did have a cold expression. There was no way he’d take it easy on anyone, even if they were the opposite sex. Worse, I had a body as weak as a delicate paper crane, which meant a hit from that boy was definitely going to hurt.

The child of Sir Ze—whatever his name was—spent three weeks in bed. But if that were me? I assume I’d be bedridden for three months, at the minimum.

My imagination was running wild, so I had no choice but to make a move.

“Yes! I do hope we can get along nicely,” I said with a smile, “Evan, you have no idea how much I have been looking forward to this day.”

He’d be indifferent to me soon enough anyway, so I knew I had to simply get over this bump.

“Let’s be the kind of couple who are sweet and affectionate to each other.”

For a split second, I saw something flicker in his eyes, but then he just said, “Whatever. Have it your way.”

Hmm. I swear his neck turned a shade rosier... Was I imagining things?