Chapter 16

Annette struggled to overcome her embarrassment. She knew better than anyone that Rafael wasn’t a sodomite. To say he was gay…. it was too ludicrous. Once caught by Rafael, she could only be released after gasping underneath him until she was too exhausted. Annette, who remembered this, quickly denied.

“No, Claire. My husband is… he likes women.”

“Are you sure? How do you know that… Ah.”

Claire, who had been asking thoughtlessly, suddenly fell silent. ‘How do you know that?’ As Claire herself thought about it, the question was too ridiculous.

‘Of course they’ve slept together since they are married. I’ve been swinging my sword so much lately that my brain seems to have become rusty.’

Claire had no intention of questioning her sister-in-law’s sex life, so she was very embarrassed. Claire swept her short hair in an awkward way. Then suddenly, she came up with another question and asked Annette very carefully.

“So, now he knows? Annette, that you…. That nothing happened between you and the Crown Prince?”

“That’s right.”

Annette’s cheeks flushed as she recalled her first time. When she remembered Rafael’s shocked face that night, she laughed a little. Claire breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Annette’s answer.

“Yeah, of course he should know! Annette, is there any girl who is as diligent and kind as you? If your husband had neglected you because he believed in those vile rumors or whatever, I was going to ask for a duel.”

Claire’s eyes were sincere. Annette, in a cold sweat, held her back and dissuaded her from thinking so. Though Rafael had a poor character, he was a brilliant and talented man, enough to win the Marquis title with his sheer swordsmanship skills. Although Annette loved Claire, she was convinced that if the two fought, Rafael would definitely win.

Claire, after calming her excitement, lowered her deep blue eyelashes and immediately fell in thought. Her pink lips, with nothing applied, posed a sharp question.

“Your coachman who framed you back then, was his name Ivan? Has it been revealed who’s behind it yet?”

“Yes, it’s probably not that easy.”

Ivan was a name that made Annette’s heart beat faster every time she heard it. Annette wasn’t able to become the Crown Princess only because of the false accusation of one coachman. Claire, biting her lips, muttered in an angry voice.

“Honestly, it was that big jerk’s doing. How dare he put such a terrible charge on you?”

“Sure.”

Annette answered calmly. In her previous life, when she heard this story, she felt so bitter that her heart collapsed and heat surged through her body. But, perhaps because of her regression, she was able to maintain a more objective attitude this time.

‘Actually, the false accusation of lobbying with the prince’s body now seemed cute.’

It was nothing compared to Annette’s ‘real’ charge. There was a useless custom of having more than one candidate when selecting the Crown Princess. It was literally just a formality.

Annette’s contender at that time was Lady Celestine Keers, daughter of Marquis Keers. However, her family was very weak to even compete with Annette and crucially, Ludwig liked her more. It was obvious to anyone that the next queen would be Annette.

However, the world was a place where one never knows what to expect.

One day, Celestine, who returned from meeting the prince, suddenly went missing, and everything was turned upside down. The contender Celestine was kidnapped by some rascal on her way home.

Fortunately, the kidnapped Celestine returned safely in a day. But the real problem was the identity of the person who kidnapped Celestine. As expected, it was Annette’s personal coachman, Ivan.

Ivan, who was interrogated, pretended to hold on a little and soon accused Annette being all behind it.

“It’s not fair! I was just following Lady Annette’s orders. How could a coachman like me dare to disobey a noble’s command? I just did what I was told to, so please take my injustice into account!!”

Ivan’s acting skills were truly outstanding. He cried so desperately that even Annette wondered if she had ever done that. ‘Was it as persuasive enough for others?’

What followed was an obvious downfall. To her surprise, Ivan took the royal servants as his accomplices. Annette was familiar with those servants as she had seen them quite a number of times when she entered and left the royal palace. Together, they all testified against her by saying, “The Princess of Bavaria did this.”

Thanks to this, Annette became a terrible evil woman who was blinded by jealousy and tried to kidnap and kill her rival. The Marquis of Keers was very furious and insisted on Annette’s punishment. However, the power of Annette’s father, the Duke of Bavaria, was so great that it was all suppressed down very quietly. The king sided with Bavaria, saying, “Let’s pass this quietly.”

‘And then he married me off to Rafael.’

Annette sighed as she recalled the painful memories for the first time in a long time. Ivan was her personal coachman who had driven a carriage for her for nearly ten years. She wanted to ask him why he did it, but it was impossible at this point. Annette slowly opened her mouth.

“I don’t know who’s behind it yet. There is no way to even know if Ivan is dead or alive. Someone took him out of the royal prison. Maybe he was already killed in silence.”

Claire also guessed Ivan might be dead. Even if he was behind it, he still wouldn’t have been left alive. It was fortunate that the terrible false accusation on Annette was not known by anyone at all. Thanks to the thorough silence, only the involved parties knew about this.

Well, in fact, it was also good for Celestine, the victim. As she was kidnapped for not more than a day, it was difficult for this to be known to the outside world. If people came to know Celestine had been kidnapped, how much would they have to say? Some of them sure would have spread malicious rumors about her. Then, even if she became a queen, her future would be a thorny road.

“I thought about it, Annette.”

Claire suddenly lowered her voice as she lowered the teacup. Her intelligent eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Couldn’t all this be a self-made play done by Celestine Keers?”

Annette almost laughed out loud. She was actually suspicious of Celestine too. Celestine lost nothing in this case. The kidnappers didn’t touch a single hair of her, and the ‘silence‘ was so good that her honor was also not lost. Crucially, she even took the place of the prince’s fiancee, which would not have been possible with her family status.

On the other hand, Annette lost everything. Having endured all sorts of rigorous education to become a Queen, she fell into such a pit and was quickly tossed aside. On top of that, some people, including Rafael, believed in those false rumours and harshly criticized her.

‘It’s so unfair.’

Annette made up her mind. Although she couldn’t get rid of the charge in her previous life, this time, she will prove her innocence at any costs. Just then, Claire reached out and hugged to comfort her.

“Don’t worry, Annette. It doesn’t matter who’s behind it. I’ll make sure I catch those who have accused you of such kinds of stuff. If they dare to ruin your future, wouldn’t it be fair to break their limbs too?”

Claire smiled ferociously, revealing her teeth. But Annette, who had planned to catch the person herself, hugged Claire without a word. Thanks to Claire, who treated Annette like her own sister, she felt relieved. She believed in Annette’s innocence.

‘I hope that someday, Rafael could also trust me.’ 

Annette thought to herself. In her previous life, she didn’t get along very well with Rafael, so she had no way of knowing his thoughts. The only conversation they had were arguments and fierce criticisms. It wasn’t until Annette was dying because of her illness, that Rafael became kind to her. But by that time, it was already too late.

‘But still more than Ludwig…. I like Rafael.’

Annette’s cheeks flushed a bright red. She herself was surprised at her own thoughts. ‘I guess Rafael and I have been married for too long. I’ve come to think about things I’ve never had in my previous life.’

Prince Ludwig was also a handsome man with a delicate beauty, but Rafael was so sensual and manly that any woman would turn her eyes twice to look at him. Even Annette, who knew his dirty temperament thoroughly well, sometimes became nervous around him and her heart would flutter for no reason whenever she saw him laugh.

At first, she thought it would be a marriage in which she would only cry and eat ginger* at the king’s recommendation, but it was not always bad. Anyway, Rafael didn’t abandon Annette even when she was dying of illness. In that respect, Rafael was a very responsible husband. Atleast, he was much better than Ludwig, who turned away from her because he could not go against his father’s order.

[T/N: Eat ginger means to face difficulties]

“So how is elder brother Arjen doing these days? Oh, is he still addicted to his work?”

Annette decided to stop thinking about her husband. So, this time, she asked about Claire’s husband. Of course, Claire’s husband was Annette’s elder brother, Arjen Bavaria.

Claire’s face frowned when her husband was mentioned. She complained, wriggling her eyebrows that were more handsome than a man.

“Don’t say it, Annette. I haven’t been home for three weeks. Apparently, I heard he washes and sleeps in the royal palace’s office. Someone might think he’s a homeless man.” 

Annette laughed as she recalled her elder brother, Arjen. He was recognized for his extraordinary brain early and went to study at the Academy of the Chapelle Empire. And after completing all his courses, he was taken to the office as a high-ranking official of the Chapelle Empire. Arjen’s talent seemed to be too exceptional to be limited to the Kingdom of Deltium.

Of course, her father, Allamand did not like it very much. As soon as his studies were over, Arjen was supposed to return and receive his education as a successor to the Bavarian family. But Allamand couldn’t do anything about it as the opponent was the Chapelle Empire! Even though Allamanda did not like it, he had no choice but to let Arjen go.

‘It was probably the first thing that didn’t go according to my father’s will.’

Annette was envious of her great elder brother. The Chapelle Empire was much larger than the Kingdom of the Deltium, and Arjen was always busy thanks to it. So he couldn’t come to Annette’s wedding, which was suddenly held.

Unlike Claire, the valiant Knight commander, Arjen was a weak and nervous civilian-type of handsome man. Claire and Arjen, who filled each other’s shortcomings, were a very well-matched couple. At least that was what Annette thought.

‘Can Rafael and I ever be that kind of couple?

If it had been her previous life, she would have shook her head and said that it was absolutely impossible. But now, Annette could not be too sure. Rafael had changed as much as she had changed herself. It was truly a wonder.

Claire glanced at Annette who was deep in thoughts, and eventually put something out on the table. It was a small box wrapped in a rustling golden wrapping paper. Annette blinked as she saw the item, Claire smiled brightly with an expectant look.

“Ta-da! It’s a late wedding present, Annette. Although it’s not the marriage you wanted, I still hope you live well and happily. This is my sincere wish for you.”

Claire, holding Annette’s hand, smiled affectionately like Annette’s real sister. Claire’s family was actually full of haggard men so she found her new sister-in-law, Annette very cute and pretty. Annette, who smiled happily at her congratulations, picked up the present and asked without thinking.

“Thank you, Sister Claire. But what’s in here? It’s very light.”

“Oh, that?”

Claire suddenly smiled sordidly. She lowered her voice and whispered secretly as if she was spewing state secrets.

“Don’t be surprised. that’s…. It’s a tremendous thing that will make even the gay men horny.” 

… It was absolutely impossible not to be surprised after hearing such words.