Alyss sat on the infirmary bed, legs swinging in the air like a bored toddler stuck in timeout. The engagement talk was completely dropped—thankfully—after her chaotic, window-crashing entrance.
Beside her, Leonhardt Von Lleigh sat quietly, half his face hidden behind the infirmary bed frame, as if trying to peek at her without getting caught.
Alyss narrowed her eyes. Why is this little gremlin still here? And why does he look like an abandoned doll waiting to be hugged?
She scowled. Stop that. Don't look at me with your baby seal eyes, Leon. I'm weak.
Still, if she thought back on it, she was cuter in her past life. Absolutely adorable. In theory. Too bad no one ever carried her around, probably because she cried too much and bit people. Small details.
Leon suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.
"Alyss… Young Lady Alyss. I wasn't wrong picking you as my fiancée. Out of the hundred noble girls, I'm glad I chose you."
He said it with a soft smile that looked too honest for his age.
Alyss blinked.
She's so lucky, her brain deadpanned in response.
She rolled her eyes and sneered.
"What are you doing here, anyway? Weren't you still talking to my father?"
Leon perked up. "He dismissed me. Said I should look after you since we'll be seeing each other often. I think it's great! We should get acquainted."
Why do you sound like you're running a business merger, Alyss thought grimly.
"You're too young to be thinking about marriage. Shouldn't you be more into, I don't know… reading? Sword fighting? Bugs?"
She winced as the physician dabbed ointment onto the scrape on her forehead.
Leon beamed with infuriating confidence.
"I've already mastered advanced reading. Sword fighting is easy. I'm more focused on strategy now—my brother's the soldier. I'll be the brain."
Alyss clicked her tongue.
Right. She forgot Leon was a prodigy. The kid who crushed armies by age twelve and turned into a villain not because he lacked skill… but because he didn't trust anyone.
That also included wiping out this body's original owner, sweet and obedient Alyss, like she was a speck of dust in his cape's path.
>"Great. Good to know I'll be in safe, tactical hands," Alyss muttered as she winced again, trying to mask it with a smile.
Leon tilted his head, looking thoughtful.
"I'll take care of you," he said suddenly. "And I'll teach you magic. I know the Empire's rules say girls shouldn't learn magic, but I'll teach you anyway. That way, when I'm not around, you can protect yourself."
Alyss froze.
Wait.
That wasn't in the manhua.
None of this was in the manhua.
The original Alyss would've fainted if a boy even looked at her too long. There was no forehead injury, no window stunt, no secret offer of magic lessons.
I changed the plot, she realized, heart thudding.
That means… the story can change.
Her eyes lit up. "You'll do that?" she asked, trying to keep her voice neutral, but her excitement leaked out.
Leon nodded proudly. "Mm. I'll teach you."
Alyss turned to the physician and gave the woman a finger-to-lips shhh motion.
"Please don't tell my father," she said sweetly. "He'd be so mad at me."
The physician almost melted on the spot.
"Of course, my lady," she whispered, unable to resist her cuteness.
Leon grinned. "I won't tell either."
Alyss flopped back on the bed, sighing deeply.
Okay.
She was a six-year-old boy stuck in a noble girl's body, accidentally charming villainous fiancés, changing canonical events, and somehow surviving it all with style.
Next up… how to escape this ridiculous plot without getting arrested for treason. Or adopted permanently.
But for now, she let her legs swing again, just a little.
Maybe she'd stay long enough to learn one spell.
Just in case.