Chapter 25

Rafael was genuinely curious about what was going in Annette’s head. She was so small and dazzling, that he couldn’t help but look at her with a frown.

When Annette saw Rafael’s frowning face, she became anxious. Perhaps it was because he couldn’t sleep well last night. Annette tried to advise Rafael as calmly as possible, even though she knew he would just dismiss it cold-heartedly.

“If you don’t mind, why don’t you have a cup of tea with me? I’m drinking herbal tea, and it’s good for headaches and fatigue.”

Rafael shrugged and didn’t say anything. As expected, he ignored her words and left without saying anything. Annette’s shoulders, after being rejected, slumped a little.  At that moment, Rafael urged her in a harsh tone without looking back.

“What are you doing? Let’s drink tea.”

Unexpectedly, Annette’s eyes widened and she looked at his broad back stupidly. Rafael quickly strode forward as if not wanting to wait for her. He went to the sofa near the window where Annette had just been sitting and sat down.

‘Why am I doing this?’

Rafael was confused by his own actions. She was the daughter of the Bavarian Duke who always looked down on him, but he couldn’t understand why he felt sorry for hurting her and coming home drunk.  He decided to have a cup of tea with her to fulfill a husband’s duty. He wanted to quickly get out of this uncomfortable situation as soon as possible.

Annette, who was not aware of Rafael’s internal conflict, smiled and poured him a cup of tea. She was just happy to spend time with him after a long time, without having any quarrels. She was going to ask Rafael if he knew what her father wanted from him.

A fragrant tea flowed from the pretty antique teapot. When he smelled the strong scent of the herbal tea, he felt refreshed. Rafael savored the warm tea and enjoyed the feeling of relaxation as his taut nerves became loose. He casually looked at Annette who was reaching for the book she had been reading earlier.

“You seem to like books, right?”

Rafael asked, recalling the time when Annette was reading in the garden before. Annette replied with a soft smile.

“Yes. But I don’t like it that much… It’s just I don’t have a lot of hobbies to do indoors. You know, in Deltium, white skin is preferred, right? That’s why I haven’t gone out much in the sun since I was young. Whenever I went outside, everyone would become nervous about my skin getting tanned or me falling and hurting myself. It was uncomfortable, so I couldn’t go out much.”

Rafael’s eyes gently glanced over Annette. The slender limbs, snow-white skin, and delicate face made her look like a high end porcelain doll crafted by an artisan. However, Annette, who talked about her past memories with a sad face, was clearly a living person.

‘I guess it must be tiring to live upto the Bavarian family’s expectations.’

Rafael, who was casually thinking about it, soon hardened his expression. No matter how she lived in Bavaria, Annette would not have experienced starving or freezing in the cold. Rafael clenched his teeth, recalling his ugly past, filled with filth and misery. The sufferings he had to go through because of his dirty birth, was something that the prideful Rafael would never reveal to anyone, even if he died.

Fortunately, his father, King Selgratis, did his best, so nothing was known about his mother’s side. If it becomes known, the nobles of Deltium who still despised him, would surely jump at this opportunity to tear him apart.

Rafael’s masculine, angled chin became stiff. To shake off this filthy feeling, he spit out an insincere remark.

“I don’t like white skin because it looks sick.”

“Is that so?”

Annette’s gentle eyes drooped as if she was disappointed. She bowed her head and looked down at her pale arms. Because of this, Rafael became nervous as he couldn’t see her face.

‘Why do you keep saying nonsense like this?’

Somehow, he always managed to stir a disaster. Rafael, who was unhappy with himself, clicked his tongue and turned his head away. Looking at Annette’s depressed face, he strangely felt guilty.

Just then, Annette with her arms outstretched, gently grasped his hand. Then she asked him with shy and quivering eyes.

“Then Rafael, if I tan my skin… Will you then like me a little bit?”

Annette’s rose-like pink eyes, surrounded by golden eyelashes, blinked and looked up at him. At the innocent yet provocative question, Rafael felt his heart sink.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Rafael couldn’t remember what he said last night. So, he didn’t know why Annette, who was bothered by his “I hate you,” asked such a question. She knew she would get hurt again, but she still desperately gathered her courage to face him.

When Rafael saw Annette’s quivering eyes, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart. He hated to admit it, but it felt like some kind of fear. He felt a strange anxiety at the thought of him collapsing in front of this little woman, one day. It was a very strange feeling.

“I’ve finished drinking tea, so I’m leaving.”

Rafael jumped out of his seat and coldly shook off Annette’s hand. He quickly turned his back away as if he was eager to escape out of here. Even though she expected this, still his cold-hearted attitude hurt her again.

Annette, who was left alone in the empty place, dejectedly lowered her eyelashes. A pure white hand trembled in the air and then fell down powerlessly. Having lost all courage, she slid down in front of the empty table all alone.

There was still a light steam rising from Rafael’s teacup. The steam fluttered in the air, swaying as if it was laughing at Annette. Looking at this, she finally decided to accept the painful reality.

‘I guess we can’t… Rafael,…. he hates me.’ 

In fact, she felt sorry for Rafael. He was forced to marry her to compensate for his illegitimate origin. Because of this, he was also caught up in the bad rumors about Annette who could not become a Crown Princess.

Still, it must have been a really unpleasant marriage from Rafael’s point of view. His own in-laws looked down upon him because of his birth. How disgusted he must be to see such people trying to take something from him. That must be why Rafael looked at her so coldly.

‘If Rafael was a bad guy, I could have hated him now as much as I did when I didn’t know anything.’

Annette’s face was distorted. Her face reflected in the tea was both crying and smiling, which was truly bizarre. She was well aware that Rafael’s nature was not so bad. However, in order to survive in the harsh environment, he had to become a beast.

When Annette was bedridden and abandoned by her family, only Rafael was willing to stay by her side. He took care of her until she died. Although he might not have loved her, he faithfully kept his loyalty to her until the end.

After all, the problem wasn’t Rafael. The enmity around him constantly tormented him, feeding fire to his sharp temper. No one believed in him and most of the enemies used Annette as a bow to fire at him. Annette finally decided to admit that Rafael could only be happy if she left him. After deeply contemplating for a while, she slowly got up from her seat.

From now on, she would find a new path and there was a lot of work to do for it.

* * *

The beauty with luscious colorful purple hair hanging long down behind her back, tapped the table with her fingertips. White skin, cat-like provocative eyes, and the little mole around her mouth were all very enchanting. But surprisingly, this beauty was not a woman, but a man.

The man’s red eyes, which looked like rubies, glanced gently over Annette sitting across him. Although Annette had covered her face with a long veil, she could not deceive his eyes. The man immediately noticed that Annette was a very precious person.

“Hmm.”

Railin, the head of the smuggling guild “Secret,” eventually cleared his throat with a couple of false coughs. He then started off with a soft voice.

“You’re looking for a reliable foreign job? Have you thought about which kingdom you will go to?”

“Yes. If possible, the Kingdom of Osland would be good. I heard it’s a good place to live.”

Annette answered in a calm voice. Osland was a kingdom having a fairly stable security and well-organized legal system. She hadn’t made up her mind yet, but there was nothing wrong with looking into it beforehand. Annethe was a thorough person, so she liked to be prepared beforehand.

“Osland… it’s a nice place. It’s safe because the legal system is very well established. Well, border crossing is a bit tricky, but it’s not impossible. What can you do? In order to find a job for you, I have to first figure out your ability.”

Railin asked, curving his eyes in a beautiful smile. It was a question that would be offensive enough if she was a noble, as there was no word or proof to know what she could do without the status. But Annette didn’t get agitated and calmly listed the things she knew how to do.

“At first, I can read and write in four languages: Deltium’s language , the Continental’s Official language, the Chapelle’s Imperial language, and the Austrian language. So I can do translation or ghostwriting.”

Annette brazenly said this, without considering her bad handwriting. Well, her handwriting wasn’t pretty, but it wasn’t uncomfortable to read. Annette completely believed in the readability of her handwriting. But for some reason, she thought it would be better to appeal with her other strengths.

“I’m also good at embroidery. I can do flat embroidery, three-dimensional embroidery, and Hardanger embroidery, Cutwork, and Smocking. I heard Osland’s fashion is quite high standard, isn’t it? And, um, I’m also familiar with management and accounting documents. That’s why it would be nice to work at the top. Of course, if there is a willingness to hire me there.”

“Huh.”

Railin stared at her with his chin up. That didn’t mean he could see the face behind the veil. But Railin found the mysterious woman quite attractive. Unlike the extravagant aristocratic women, he thought she might be quite clever.