After quickly changing into something more presentable, Nadia answered her father's summons, only to be greeted with sharp criticism for arriving late. As they walked towards the audience chamber, the Duke began briefing her on what was to come.
There was an upcoming ceremony, and Nadia had a very specific role to play. She was to present Ji-ho with a laurel crown.
The moment he said it, Nadia's memory clicked.
In her past life, this ceremony had carried deep meaning. A young woman of marriageable age would offer a laurel crown to the hero being honoured. On the surface it looked like a simple gesture, but in truth it was practically a public confession of love.
As for her father, he was not doing this out of tradition alone. This was his chance to push Ji-ho even further into the spotlight. Ji-ho was the war's greatest hero, but he was not the only one being recognised. By having Nadia give him the crown, the Duke ensured that all attention stayed on Ji-ho, and conveniently tied Nadia back to him in the public eye.
She remembered exactly how that had ended. This time, she needed a way out.
Not long after they arrived, while the Duke sat down with the king to discuss the ceremony, Nadia and Corrine played their roles perfectly, serving tea and desserts like obedient daughters. But the atmosphere was far from pleasant. The king was visibly irritated, and it quickly became clear why.
He was upset about one particular figure: the northern Marquis of Winterpel.
The north and the south had long been at odds, and this nobleman was no exception, especially when it came to the royal family. Unfortunately for the king, the Marquis was also a key contributor to the war effort, which meant he had to be honoured at the ceremony. And that was exactly what the king did not like. He worried the northerners might cause trouble during the event.
The Duke smoothly offered a solution. Bind the Marquis through marriage.
Marriage again. Was every problem in the world solved by handing a woman over? Still, as frustrating as it was, Nadia knew the logic was not wrong. Marrying the Marquis of Winterpel to a southern noble's daughter would actually calm the tension between the two regions.
And suddenly, Nadia had an idea. What if she volunteered herself?
This was the same girl who had been killed in her past life for being used as her father's pawn in marrying a war hero. And now she was about to walk straight into the same situation again, just with a different man.
For a brief moment, Nadia faltered. Then, to everyone's shock, she stepped forward and offered herself directly to the king.
On the surface she played the role of the obedient daughter. But beneath that calm expression, she was plotting.
Her father and Corrine immediately thought she had lost her mind. After all, the Valajet and Winterpel families were infamous enemies. There was no reason to believe the Marquis would accept a bride from the south, and especially not the daughter of a man he despised.
But Nadia was not done yet. She went a step further and suggested that instead of offering the laurel crown to Ji-ho, she should give it to the Marquis.
That earned her a sharp rebuke. The Duke snapped at her, calling the idea ridiculous and insisting the Marquis would never agree.
Nadia looked shaken, but she did not back down. Instead, she pointed out something crucial. The Marquis himself had requested this ceremony. That meant he wanted to receive a laurel crown, and possibly to improve his standing among the southern nobles.
And there was the trap. If he rejected a young lady's offering in front of everyone, he risked looking dishonourable. The attention would shift from his achievements in the war to the scandal of the ceremony. If he had even a shred of sense, he would not take that risk. So he would accept the crown. And once he did, the king could push the marriage forward, and the Marquis would have little room to refuse.
It was the kind of thinking her father should have valued from the start, instead of treating her like a bargaining chip.
The king seemed convinced by her reasoning, and even the Duke was starting to agree.
Once His Majesty took his leave, the atmosphere shifted instantly, and not in Nadia's favour. Her sister wasted no time tearing into her, furious that Nadia had dared to stray from the original plan. And while the Duke technically benefited from what she had done, that did not stop him from demanding a proper explanation for her sudden defiance.
After everything she had gone through in her past life, Nadia struggled to keep her composure. The emotions hit hard, and for a moment it felt as though she might break.
Still, she forced herself to speak. Her father was not buying the dutiful daughter act this time, so Nadia dropped it and explained the real reasoning behind her decision.
The kingdom's power structure was complicated. The royal family might wear the crown, but in reality they were little more than figureheads controlled by the Valajet Duchy, which made her father the true authority behind the throne. And that also made him vulnerable. If the northern nobles ever decided to rebel, his position would be at serious risk.
Nadia knew exactly where to strike. She carefully played into his fears, claiming that her actions were meant to benefit the family. That by marrying the Marquis of Winterpel she could act as their insider, feeding them information from the north, and quietly eliminating any potential threat to her father's power.
Where had this version of Nadia been in her past life? How had they ever managed to control her so easily before?
Faced with such a calculated argument, the Duke could not dismiss her. And when Nadia added one final touch, casually mentioning that she could even end up a wealthy widow after her father eventually defeated the Marquis, that sealed it. He was completely convinced.
In a single day since returning to the past, Nadia had already accomplished something huge. She had avoided being tied to Ji-ho all over again.
And that was not all. That rude maid, the same one who would later help ruin her life, had already been thrown out for theft. Nadia had made sure of that herself.
One problem removed before it even began.