Chapter 8 - First Night (2)

“Come on, now that you’ve had a drink, be honest with me.”

“What? What the…”

Annette suddenly had a bad premonition. She tried to ask him calmly but then Rafael came close to her and whispered in a wicked tone.

“Do you still believe you can be the Crown Princess?”

In an instant the atmosphere cooled down. This was a misunderstanding that tormented Annette in her previous life.

The accusation that she made a vicious move to become the Crown Princess.

Even in her previous life, Rafael believed in this false accusation and this led to their honeymoon end up with fights and tears.

‘In fact, I don’t even remember those memories of him right now.’

Annette, who returned, did not care about the marriage that was cancelled five years ago. The face of the Crown Prince Ludwig, who she once believed she would marry, now was only a hazy memory. Now that she thought about it, it was actually a good thing, that she didn’t become the Crown Princess.

However, one thing that Annette found unfair was that she could not clear herself of her false charges until she died. Even if she was not interested in being the Crown Princess, Annette wanted to clear up all the false charges against her. After all, her previous life became miserable because she didn’t take any initiative herself.

Rafael’s blue eyes flashed coldly as he looked at her. When Annette saw it, she sighed inwardly. She had tried to defend herself hundreds of times in her previous life, even though she knew it was useless.

“That’s a misunderstanding, Rafael. I’ve never done anything like that. Someone framed me.”

“Who is it? That’s funny! The testimony was very clear. For someone who wanted to be a Crown Princess, you must have been terribly disappointed to marry someone like me.”

Annette’s protests went unheard. His eyes were so malicious, as he looked down at her with total contempt. Rafael, without any doubt, believed the rumours he heard, just like in her previous life.

“If you don’t believe me, then I don’t have anything to say to you anymore. It’s late today, so let’s rest and talk again tomorrow.”

Annette was tired and didn’t want to repeat the same argument. She got up to leave, as she usually did whenever Rafael was being mean. It was useless to say anything to him  when he was like this. Rather the longer the conversation was, the more uglier the fight became. So it was wise to avoid it before a fight broke out.

However, Rafael, who was a newlywed, did not let her go so easily. Before she knew it, a large hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled her, just like he did at the wedding.

“Where are you going on our first night? Don’t make me upset, Annette.”

The small and slender Annette was no match for the well-built Rafael. As she fell back under his strong grip, her blonde hair that the maids had brushed beautifully for a long time, became disheveled. Rafael reached out his hand and tenderly brushed her disheveled hair. Annette shuddered at his sudden affectionate touch.

The feeling of a warm, large hand brushing her hair along the curve of her earlobe was too vivid. Annette unconsciously, turned her head and avoided his touch. But Rafael roughly grasped her face and turned it back towards him.

“Shh, you think I’m a bad guy, that’s why you keep avoiding me like this, right? Why? Is it because I’m not the Crown Prince? Oh yeah, a noble Bavarian like you would obviously get sick just by looking at a bastard like me! Hmm?”

Rafael’s voice was chillingly sweet. But the words he spoke became more and more hurtful. He was determined to have a quarrel with her. He would occasionally come to her with this unrestrained rage, as he did today.

If it had been the same as in the past, Annette would have fought him back fiercely. And they would have been arguing back and forth until they couldn’t hurt each other any more.

But Annette, who had returned, had no more anger in her. These wasteful quarrels had already exhausted her in previous life. Even though Annette was hurt by Rafael’s words, she found it equally painful to hurt him back. So now she wanted to be a little wise.

It was time to find a smarter way to deal with him.

“Let go of me, Rafael. Hmm?”

Instead of being angry, Annette gently grabbed Rafael’s hand clutching her cheek and in a calm voice, she demanded him to let go of her. Her face, which was strongly held by Rafael, was uncomfortable. Being a former War General, his grip was unusually rough and strong.

Of course, Rafael did not let her go so easily. Rafael hated his half brother, Crown Prince Ludwig. That’s why he loathed Annette more, who tried despicable means to marry him. His eyes filled with cold hatred felt like a needle piercing into her skin.

But Annette was not afraid of him. Rafael had never raised his hand against Annette in the last five years anyway. Annette, unlike before, decided to be more clever this time. Fortunately, she had a little idea of how to deal with Rafael.

“Let me go, Rafael. It really hurts.”

Annette, who whispered faintly, quivered her lips slightly. She really looked like she was in extreme pain. The sight of her was so pitiful that it unconsciously invoked a sense of distress in him. At that moment, Rapel was startled and quickly removed his hand from her face.

“Are you really hurt?”

Rafael was a little dubious at Annette’s fox-like actions. His gaze swept over her slender jaw and neck.