I’m Looking for the Male Lead for the Ending - Chapter 71

Chapter 36.2

“Lady Peridelin seems like a really nice person, but more importantly, I think His Highness the Grand Duke is interested in you!”

“Huh?”

“Actually, I thought something was odd ever since the last time he gave you the lily-of-the-valley accessory!”

“Well, I’m not sure.”

I subtly leaned back, feeling a bit overwhelmed by her intense gaze, but she continued excitedly.

“Honestly, why else would someone as important as His Highness go so far as to treat you like that? Isn’t it because he’s interested in you and wants to leave a good impression?”

I smiled awkwardly, uncertain whether to agree or disagree.

With an expectant look, Marie added,

“And if everything goes well and you end up marrying His Highness, you’d become the Grand Duchess, wouldn’t you?”

I was about to shake my head, dismissing the idea, when a thought suddenly struck me, and my eyes widened.

‘…Wait. If I reach the ending with Estieren, does that mean I’ll actually become the Grand Duchess? Or is the ending unrelated to becoming the Grand Duchess?’

From what I knew, the only way to end this system was to reach the ending.

Both the child who killed me and the system itself had said as much. I had always believed that the way to reach the ending was by having the other person’s favorability for me reach one hundred. In reality, I’d come close to hitting a hundred before, but I’d never actually reached it.

‘Maybe to reach a hundred, I need to marry them for the ending to appear?’

Come to think of it, I remembered how the endings of the fairy tales I’d read as a child always concluded with marriage. So perhaps that was the kind of ending this system had in mind as well.

The theory felt fairly convincing, and I unconsciously tightened my hands on my lap.

“My lady? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”

I heard Marie’s surprised voice as she noticed my tense expression.

Quickly composing myself, I smiled as if nothing was wrong. Her concerned gaze lingered for a moment before she shifted the mood and asked,

“Now that I think about it, where are we headed, my lady?”

“I thought I’d catch up on some unfinished business.”

“Business?”

I simply smiled in response to her question.

[ 〈 SYSTEM 〉

Ongoing mission — Find the lost fragments of memory
Fragment of memory (0/2) ]

The mission window in front of me still showed unfinished missions.

̊ · : * ✧ * : · ̊

Up until now, I had three active missions that I hadn’t been able to complete.

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[ 〈 SYSTEM 〉

Ongoing mission — Investigate Heron’s situation! ]

[ 〈 SYSTEM 〉

Ongoing mission — Find the lost fragments of memory
Fragment of memory (0/2) ]

[ 〈 SYSTEM 〉

Ongoing mission — Erase the shadow of death looming over Arbonis!
Suspicious Deaths (1/0) ]

Aside from the mission to check on Heron’s situation, the other two missions had something in common.

They were both connected to Neitzia.

In the ‘Erase the Shadow of Death Looming Over Arbonis!’ mission, the area covered included all of Arbonis, so it might be difficult to say that the suspicious death specifically referred to what happened in Neitzia. However, I was already mostly convinced.

‘Honestly, when someone just withers away and dies, isn’t that suspicious no matter how you look at it?’

I let out a shallow sigh and glanced out the window as the carriage came to a stop.

“My lady, it looks like we’ve arrived!”

I stepped out of the carriage first, followed by Marie. In front of us stood the capital’s most famous cafe, where you couldn’t even have a cup of tea without a reservation.

“My Lady, is this our destination today?”

I nodded at Marie, and her eyes widened in surprise as she looked back and forth between me and the cafe.

‘Since she knows my father doesn’t give me much allowance, she must be wondering how I’m managing this.’

I checked my outfit one last time.

To be honest, the simplest and most efficient way to gather information would be to use an informant…

‘But there are too many complications involved with that.’

So, I thought of another approach.

“Fairy!”

At the sound of a voice from behind me, I turned around and saw Perideline stepping down from the carriage. She was happily waving as she ran toward me.

“Lady Perideline!”

I waved back at her, and as she got closer, I saw her cup her cheeks, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

[ 〈 SYSTEM 〉

Perideline Kaisian’s trust increases by 1%.

Perideline’s trust: 67% → 68% ]

If there are no teeth, use gums¹. Since I couldn’t go to Neitzia or see an informant, I just needed to ask someone who might already have the information.

¹ [ This is a Korean proverb that means ‘Making do with what you have or finding alternative solutions when the ideal option isn’t available.’ ] ↩