Chapter 37

After hearing Railin’s advice, Annette paused and pondered for a moment. ‘It would be better to use the back door’ What the hell does that mean? It would have been better if Railin had given her more details, but he just stood there smiling with his mouth tightly shut.

Annette rebelled by raising her chin proudly. She straightened her body to show a perfect aristocratic figure, something that had been imprinted into her bones.

“It isn’t good to avoid the problems in your life. Sometimes there are things that we have to face in person. So I’ll go out from the front door. No matter what’s waiting there, it’s a challenge I have to face.”

“Please do as you please.”

With a short reply, Railin bowed and showed her out. He knew Annette would surely regret it, but he didn’t want to give her anymore hints. When he listened to her say, ‘Sometimes there are things that we have to face in person’, Railin’s bewitching lips held a nasty smile.

Annette pressed her hat firmly to cover her face and then headed towards the front door with confident steps. Whatever was waiting there, she had intended to solve it herself. However in less than five minutes, Annette regretted not listening to Railin’s words.

‘I should’ve just gone out from the back door!’

She wanted to hit her five minutes ago past self. Of course, avoiding the problems didn’t solve them. But sometimes there were problems in the world that were better to avoid. For example, the Crown Prince Ludwig, who was now standing in front of her.

“Annette.”

Ludwig, who had tied his long silver hair together, carefully called out her name. His graceful face, which seemed to be molded out of silver, was distorted as if he would cry any moment. Annette, who saw this, also wanted to cry with him. Even after having Celestine as his fiancee, why did he keep on running into her?

“Annette, I’m sorry… I’m so sorry!!”

As Crown Prince Ludwig was approaching her with a sad face, he bumped into a roadside tree and grabbed his forehead in pain. Ludwig was a man with luscious silver hair, tall height, and beautiful features. Sometimes seeing him, she even  wondered if he was a prince who had come out of a fairy tale. However, unlike his perfect appearance, Ludwig had an amazing skill that could make him break his nose even if he fell backwards on a bare floor.

Annette found it ironic that Ludwig, who was so clumsy, was actually the half brother of Raphael, who was about to become a Sword Master. Even though she thought like this, she still gently put her handkerchief on Ludwig’s forehead.

“Your Highness, how did you get here? Did you follow me?”

Annette’s voice speaking to the crown prince was soft, but her eyes and tone were quite firm. Annette was wearing a veiled hat to visit the Secret. So, let alone her face, even her neck was completely hidden.

Nevertheless, as soon as Ludwig saw her, he called out her name at once. Seeing that he could recognise her even without seeing her face, someone would have thought, “Amazing, this is the power of love!” But Annette knew people wouldn’t believe this. They would rather most likely think that she had followed him from the time he went out.

Her identity had already been exposed today, so Annette was quite wary of him. As she was a married woman, there was nothing good in getting involved with Ludwig. Seeing Annette’s reluctance, Ludwig didn’t come closer and looked very lonely

“Annette, I know this would be a nuisance to you. I’m really aware of it. But…. I couldn’t stand it. It’s so painful. There’s no one to whom I can bare my heart to. Annette, there’s no-one except you.”

Ludwig wistfully lowered his silver eyelashes. A terrible loneliness and pain passed by his blue eyes. It was such a sad sight that any woman on seeing it, would want to comfort him. But Annette gently refuted Ludwig’s words without any agitation.

“You already have a fiance. Not only that, there are also many people who want to consult with Your Highness regarding Deltium. You’re like this only because you don’t allow it. Please open your heart and make new connections. Relationships are important, Your Highness.’

“You’re saying this because you don’t know! Celestine, she’s really… so different from you that I can’t even compare. I, Annette…. I can’t even think of her as my fiancee…”

While Ludwig was speaking, his emotions were all over the place and he burst into tears. With a disposition similar to that of a musician, he basically had a sensitive and uneasy personality. So, Annette would always try to cheer him up whenever she was by his side. In a good sense, she was like a pillar to him providing him with emotional support but actually, if seen in a straightforward way….

She was nothing but his emotional trash can.

Annette calmly judged. What if Ludwig had gotten along well with his new fiancee, Celestine Keers? He probably would not have clinged to her like he was doing now. Annette wondered if Ludwig really liked her as a woman or if he was just relying on her to seek some sort of maternal love. Well, either way it didn’t matter anymore.

“Annete, please. Don’t push me away so coldly. If you also do this to me, I really…….”

Tears flowed down from Ludwig’s blue eyes, which were wide open, as if in agony. With trembling hands, he carefully grabbed Annette’s hand and placed his forehead on the back of it. The gesture seemed as if he was praying and begging to her. His beautiful appearance made it further look as if he was reverently worshipping her.

But Annette wasn’t really unnerved on seeing this. She had come to the smuggling guild with the intention of leaving Raphael. Even though she had made up her mind about it, she was still Raphael’s wife. If she now accepted  Ludwig’s affection out of pity, she would end up hurting Raphael later. If she had to hurt either of them, it would be the right choice to hurt Ludwig, rather than Raphael.

“Your Highness, I really feel sorry for the pain you’re going through right now. I sincerely hope Your Highness would be able to find some peace of mind and be happy. But I can’t be what you want. I am already married to Raphael.”

Annette pulled out her hand from Ludwig’s grasp in a gentle but determined manner. And then took a step back from him, drawing a line between them. She only just listened to Ludwig’s complaints, and didn’t go forward to comfort him. She didn’t want to cause any misunderstandings between her and Raphael later. She was not that kindhearted to entertain such immature behavior.

Seeing Annette withdraw her hand, Ludwig slowly looked at his empty hand. His breathing gradually faded, and his beautiful face distorted into an expression of crazy despair.

“Raphael, that damn Raphael! Everyone only just talks about him. It would have been better if he was the Crown Prince. Even father thinks so!”

Ludwig’s bloodshot blue eyes looked terribly similar to that of Raphael’s. Ludwig was a person who always stayed quiet. So, it was quite rare to see him shout like this. Seeing him clutching and pulling his beautiful silver hair, it was clear that the pain in his heart was much more than in his body.

“Then what the hell am I born for? What is the purpose of my existence? If I hadn’t been born, Raphael would have been the heir to the throne!! He took everything from me. My Father’s acknowledgement, reputation, even you Annette, even you….…!!”

[T/N: Ludwig calls his father Imperial father. I’m just keeping it to father because imperial father, to me, doesn’t go with the flow. ]

Listening to Ludwig wail, Annette sighed inwardly. It seemed that King Selgratis compared Ludwig to Raphael. King Selgratis was a good king, but he had never been a good father.

King Selgratis had always been displeased with the fact that the kingdom’s only prince was terribly unfit and was a musician who liked to play lute. Perhaps that was why he would often insult Ludwig by comparing him to his illegitimate son, Raphael. Ludwig was very sensitive, so he was deeply distressed by his father’s attitude towards him. Still, he longed for his father’s acknowledgement. This was the main factor that drove Ludwig to madness.

“Tell me, Annette. Do you also think Raphael is more capable than me? Is that why… you’re cold-heartedly pushing me away? Compared to that great Raphael Carnesis, I am now not even a man in your eyes!”

From Ludwig’s blue eyes, a drop of tear slowly flowed down his face. He had come to seek some comfort for his broken heart, but he ended up becoming even more hurt. It was all because Annette had rejected him. Since childhood, from the time they first saw each other, Annette had always been Ludwig’s only companion. At least it had always been like that for Ludwig. So Annette’s rejection only drove Ludwig to the extreme.

Annette, listening to his wails, silently closed her eyes. Ludwig was actually not a bad person. However, he was very weak and tended to become somewhat mentally dependent on others. Annette had always kind to the people who wanted to lean on her, but now she couldn’t. It was because Ludwig repeatedly picked on Raphael.

Raphael also did not have a life full of comforts. To everyone, he looked like a man who didn’t lack anything except for a pure lineage. He was protected by the king, had outstanding swordsmanship skills, was well-known among people and even had a Marquis title. But all of this was obtained from Raphael’s hardwork. Unlike Ludwig, he had to grit his teeth and grind his bones to reach till here. Annette, who knew this well, coldly looked at him.

“Your Highness Ludwig.”

For the first time in his life, he had heard Annette call his name out in a cold voice. The moment he met her eyes, Ludwig was stunned. It was as if he looking at a stranger. Annette had changed the atmosphere of the whole conversation just by calling out his name once.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t understand this situation very well. As you know, I was falsely accused, and your Highness at that time let go of my hand. Of course, I know very well that the situation at that time was unfavorable. But no matter what, Your Highness should have protected me, if I was as precious to you as you say. Am I not right?”

“Annette, that… Listen to me, then I…….”

“No, Your Highness should listen to me. At that time, Your Highness was afraid of His Majesty’s wrath, so you just gave up on me. I was not only removed from the list of candidates for the Crown Princess, but also ended up getting married as if I was being sold. It’s obvious that I’m the biggest victim in this situation. But instead of blaming Your Highness, I tried to understand you. But why is Your Highness trying to blame me now?”

Annette’s tone was neither exactly woeful nor was it filled with anger. She made her argument in a calm tone, as if she was reading from a book. But with her every word, Ludwig felt as if he someone had punched his stomach. It hurted like hell.

But Annette didn’t stop there. Her silent rage had just begun now.