If his grin was meant to put me in a terrible mood, it succeeded. The man, Thomas, was ugly enough as it was, why did his smile have to make things worse? I made no attempt to hide my lousy mood.

“Luca’s sick. I’m on my way to the apothecary,” I said.

“Oh, what’s this? Now you care if Luca has a cold? You always said ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,’” Thomas said.

“I’m not in the mood for banter,” I said. I brushed him off in annoyance, but he didn’t take the hint and tried to follow along beside me.

He glanced over like he was testing me. “You know, I heard there’s quite a fine man in town today. He must be nobility. Leah was already eyeing him.”

Emden Town wasn’t a very large village. It was the type of place where everyone knew everybody else’s business. If someone new showed up, rumors spread quickly. Like right now. I’d already guessed who this new nobleman must be. The culprit responsible for ruining my dress—the man in the carriage.

“Oh. I think I know who you’re talking about,” I said.

“You met him? Or saw him?”

“I didn’t see him, but his carriage nearly ran me over,” I said.

“Is that why you look like such a mess?” Thomas enthused. There was a hint of relief in his voice. I guess he was pleased that the noble gentleman hadn’t gotten to me.

I pretended not to hear him. Hadn’t I just told him I had a sick child at home? Why was he wasting my time?

Who cares about some nobleman? What’s it got to do with me? I ignored him and went on my way.

It seemed like he was getting anxious because I just kept walking without so much as a glance in his direction. He cleared his throat. “Ahem. Hey? Do you have a partner for the festival today?” he asked.

I knew there was some reason he’d been buzzing around me like a fly since the moment I stepped into the village. I frowned. He hadn’t listened to a word I said. “I told you, Luca’s sick. What would I need a partner for? Stop bothering me and ask someone else.”

“Ugh, don’t use Luca as an excuse. When have you ever cared about him?” he asked, repeating what he said earlier. He must’ve really thought I was lying.

For Heaven’s sake. I didn’t need to convince everyone in the village of my sincerity. Judith Maibaum had lived in this village too long and my time in her body had been too short to ever hope of changing anyone’s mind about her.

Twenty-seven years versus one month. It was the price I’d have to pay for occupying this body, but it didn’t feel good for someone to treat everything I said like a lie or an excuse.

I guess I should be thankful I’m not a witch, famous among the nobility, or a villain, notorious across the continent. At least I can just go to another village where they don’t know me. My plan was to move to another town next year after sending Luca on his way to Winterwald. I had to stay out of sight of the Duke’s relatives anyway.

In the novel, they search for anything they can use to attack Luca. Even if Judith didn’t get herself into trouble trying to wring more money out of the situation, they’d have found her regardless. She was Luca’s only living family on his mother’s side and the person he spent his childhood with, after all.

To the north was Winterwald, pass. In the West, people were unfriendly to outsiders, pass. And Emden Town was in the South, hard pass. I’d have to go to the East or the central region where the capital was located. A young woman would have to be careful trying to settle in a rural village where she had no roots, so the capital seemed like the best bet. As the old saying goes, if you want to hide a tree, put it in the forest.

The longer Thomas followed me around, the more my desire to run away from him grew. I tried to fend him off by giving the same stock responses over and over, but even that had its limits. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I whipped around and glared at him with irritation.

“When have I ever needed Luca as an excuse to reject you? You think I don’t know how to say no?”

“It’s not that,” he said.

“Do you need me to be mean?” I berated him, shooting daggers from my eyes.

Only then did he shut his mouth and hang his shoulders, avoiding my glare, but either he couldn’t give it up or he needed some lame excuse to rationalize his embarrassment. He started muttering to himself. “You b*tch. Always playing hard to get. That’s why you’re still not married and raising a kid by yourself. If you don’t lower your standards you’ll never find a man,” he said.

Classic negging. I could feel a vein stand to attention on my forehead. Judith and I were very different, but we had one thing in common. Neither of us had the slightest intention to lower our standards just to get married.

Judith’s first requirement for a partner was wealth. Her inferiority complex meant she was very concerned with the way she dressed. She wanted all kinds of dresses and jewels to make her beauty stand out, and that required money.

Her second requisite was looks. If all she wanted was money, she’d just be some rich merchant’s second wife, but she couldn’t stand for her children to be ugly. She wanted a child prettier than Luca, and that would require a handsome father. So her marriage was on hiatus for a bit but I fully supported her.

I wanted even more than that—a good personality so we can get along, a good voice since I have to listen to it for the rest of my life, and no lazy guys who can’t work off their gut, though skinny guys just aren’t attractive, either. Oh, and tall! He absolutely has to be tall. I wasn’t about to make any compromises.

I snorted at Thomas. “You know, you’re pretty good at projecting. Why don’t you worry about yourself for a change? If you think you have a chance with me, you’re the one whose standards are too high. You’ll never find a wife if you don’t lower them,” I said.

His face got redder with every word. He lost his courage and ran off with his tail between his legs, muttering something evasive.

I snorted again. Did he really think I wouldn’t get that he was trying to neg me? Lalisa and Luca may have been one-of-a-kind beauties, but Judith could still turn heads in this town. Her memory told me Thomas never had the nerve to talk to her when they were young.

Who knows why he thought it’d be different now? Had he gotten braver with age? No. He just thought Judith’s worth had fallen enough for him to shoot his shot, even though none of her real qualities had changed at all. The only difference was the number of years she’d been alive. Judith and Thomas were the same age! If she was getting too old to marry, so was he. Who did he think he was?

People really can’t get over their double standards. I was so annoyed. I couldn’t believe I’d come all the way to another world just to hear another lecture about getting married.

Now that I’d finally gotten rid of Thomas, I walked faster so that I wouldn’t run into any more Thomases. However, as it was the May Festival, every street was full of people. I tried to squeeze through the crowd as quickly as possible, but as I was making my way through, I suddenly collided with a broad, strapping man. I’d only bumped into him lightly, but his body was so firm that I bounced right back off him.

“Ow!” I yelped.

People forked around either side of me as I fell to the ground. I yanked my herb basket tightly toward my chest. If the herbs fell under people’s feet and got trampled I’d have wasted the whole morning. First the carriage, then some man. It looked like I wouldn’t be getting off lightly today.

Suddenly a shadow fell over me like storm clouds rolling in. I didn’t realize it was the shadow of the man I’d bumped into until a moment too late. He reached his hand out to me. The sheen of his black leather glove flashed before my face. His hand must’ve been twice the size of mine.

“Are you all right, miss?” The low reverberation of his voice was nice. It tingled in my ears, but a nice voice was just a nice voice.

Rationally assessing the situation, this was an unfamiliar voice that was overly polite. It didn’t seem like he was from around here at all. The well-polished tips of his shoes, which were all that I could see without looking up, suggested that he was the son of a wealthy family.

Nothing good will come of getting involved with someone like this. If I looked like I did in my previous life, I wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally getting involved, but with Judith’s looks, I couldn’t rule it out.

Her face in the mirror still stunned me every morning when I washed it. If I were the old Judith, I’d flash a gorgeous smile to show off my beauty and hold out my hand to the man, but as myself, I didn’t want to get tangled up with him. I lowered my head to hide my face from his gaze.

He continued speaking, unaware of my inner feelings. “In my hurry, I’ve done you a discourtesy. I apologize,” he said.

“No, it’s fine. I was in a hurry too.” I jumped straight up from the ground on my own, without even considering taking his hand.

He must’ve seen my filthy skirt as I stood up. “Just a moment, miss. Your clothes,” he said with concern.

“Oh, it’s okay. It’s not your fault, sir. I must go now. I’m really very busy,” I rambled, wary of his seeming concern. I bowed at the waist, then fled in the other direction with the strange feeling that his eyes were following me.

Surely he’s not coming after me? I almost turned to look, but I knew I’d be asking for trouble if our eyes met. Trying to ignore his gaze burning a hole in the back of my head, I slipped into the crowd.