Chapter 71

How to Tame My Beastly Husband — Chapter 71. Alibi (2)

Annette had never known this side of herself, but she had recklessly infiltrated the Temple without a second thought. Whether she liked it or not, there was no doubt she was a cold-blooded Bavaria. She had grown up as Allamand’s daughter, and had learned to think meticulously.

Celestine’s guards had never seen her face beneath the mask. They could suspect the culprit was the priestess they had met before falling asleep, but it would be difficult to discover her identity, especially on a festival day. The temple of Odessa was very large, and there were many masked priestesses present for the ritual.

They would never find Annette. She was not a priestess at all.

But things could become very complicated if Celestine mentioned her.

Really… I am a Bavaria.

She smiled reluctantly. The clothes Railin had left for her were the perfect alibi, but if Raphael knew of her plans, he would have been disgusted. He hated the deceits of the Bavaria family.

Lost in thought, she suddenly remembered Raphael’s eyes, blue as a winter sea beneath his sharp, hawk-like eyebrows. Every time he turned that cold look on her, she felt such pain, as sharp as a stab to her heart. He had said he hated her. He hated the entire Bavaria family.

Silently, she closed her eyes, her head resting against the side of her carriage.

She wanted to leave for Osland as soon as possible.

She wanted to see the place where she would live with her own eyes. There was no other choice, when her relationship with her husband was a lost cause.

The trip back to the house of the man who hated her was desolate.

But once she arrived, and searched the second floor, she discovered that Raphael was nowhere to be found. Cocking her head quizzically, she caught a passing maid.

“Have you seen his lordship?”

“The master went to the palace, and has not yet returned,” the maid replied politely.

Annette nodded and went upstairs. She had known that Raphael had been summoned to the palace, which had allowed her to infiltrate the temple without having to make excuses to him. But she hadn’t expected him to be so long in returning.

She would have liked to know what King Selgratis had to say to him. It was good that he cared for his illegitimate son; having the favor of the king meant power, and even the nobility of Deltium could not afford to ignore Raphael. But Annette had always thought that the king had a strange way of expressing his affection for his sons.

I wish he would not compare His Highness Ludwig to Raphael.

Annette still remembered Ludwig’s miserable face, grieving at being compared to his half-brother Raphael. Ludwig had always been sensitive about his poor physical fitness, and King Selgratis was obviously disgusted by his weakness. In Ludwig’s presence, the king had proudly said, Raphael should have been my legitimate son.

That sort of thing had given Ludwig very complicated feelings about Raphael.

And now that his fiancée had married Raphael…it was only to be expected that his resentment would grow worse. Annette no longer had feelings for Ludwig, but she vividly remembered her last sight of him, his face distorted by tears. He obviously hated Raphael.

But what does Raphael think of Ludwig, and His Majesty the King?

Suddenly, Annette was curious about Raphael’s opinion of the matter.