Chapter 49

A well-trained man’s body is always pleasing to the eye. Especially if he has a fine skeletal frame. The line from the nape of the neck to his broad shoulders and from the firm back to his slender waist was too beautiful to look at. Whenever the body moved a little, the elastic muscles wriggled accordingly, creating sensual expectations in the spectators. But every time Annette looked at this back, she wondered.

‘Why do I see his back often these days?’

Whenever she looked down from her bedroom window, there was that back. Whenever she looked out, while drinking tea in the drawing room, there was that back again. Even when I’m reading in the garden, with a turn of my head,  I can….. I don’t think I needed any further explanation.

Annette wasn’t very pleased with this situation where she had to constantly encounter Raphael’s back. Their relationship was quite different from other couples, so even if a small conflict arose between them, it could not be resolved through simple conversations. To be precise, Raphael just stubbornly refused to communicate. In this situation, there was nothing good in bumping into him again and again. So Annette took her eyes off his back and walked away. Somehow, it feels as if his shoulders drooped a little more than before, but I guess it’s just his mood.

Annette returned to the room and spread open several books on the table. All were books related to religion and temples. She read each and every line of the books very carefully.

‘If I go to the Temple of Odessa Louis, I may encounter Celestine.’

Last time, she couldn’t meet Celestine at the garden party of the Marquis of Eloque. It was because she also hadn’t attended the party that day. It was actually considered very rude to suddenly cancel attendance on the very day of an event. Especially if it was done by a ‘distinguished guest’ who will soon become the Crown Princess. This behavior was highly looked down upon. Celestine knew this too, then why did she do this?

Nevertheless, since Celestine did this, many nobles resented her, as they had attended the party only to meet her. Annette had no idea about this and naively thought that she couldn’t meet her because she ran into her father on the way and fainted from the shock. Annette, who now learned of Celestine’s absence, suddenly came up with a question.

‘Is Celestine avoiding me now?’

If Celestine was really the real culprit behind that little self-made play, it was understandable that she was avoiding Annette. When she got what she really wanted, it seemed that she felt guilty. If not, she would not have avoided Annette or been afraid of being found out for what she had done. After all she wasn’t the type of person who could manage her facial expressions.

Well, either way, Annette wasn’t very happy. It didn’t matter if Celestine was really trying to avoid her. She would somehow meet her and confront her. Even though she was satisfied for not becoming the Crown Princess, it also didn’t mean that anyone could trample all over her. And that too, to the extent that she was forced to walk down a path in which she didn’t want to step her feet on.  Annette’s eyes, as she looked at the books on the table, became more sharp.

~Whoosh!

Annette took her eyes off the book and looked outside the darkened window. Because she was so focused, she even lost track of time. As she stood up, rubbing her dry eyes, Annette suddenly found an invitation on the sofa.

“Hmm? Was there something like this here earlier?”

Curiously, Annette picked up the invitation and looked around. It was an invitation to a party held by Count Lucini. The party who had sent this invitation and the content of the invitation were quite ordinary. But there was one peculiar thing in it.

“Couple attendance party.”

After reading the last line, Annette harshly  wrote ‘not attending’ on it and put it on the table. Later, if Mary, the maid, found it, she would convey her rejection to Count Lucini. Believing so, Annette lied down on the bed with a relaxed mind. There won’t be many days to sleep here now.

* * *

Raphael leaned over the glass, nestling in the sofa with a dark look. Every time his bent neck moved, a strong liquor flowed down his throat. A generous gentleman, looking at it from the opposite side clicked his tongue.

“Drink slowly. If you keep going like that, it might go through the wrong pipe.”

“Just leave me alone, old man. I just want to get drunk right now.”

Raphael rubbed his wet lips with the back of his hand and replied harshly. At first glance, it could be seen that he didn’t really want to get drunk. It seemed that there was a big problem. Well, if it wasn’t for that, Raphael wouldn’t visit him in the first place. The old gentleman shrugged his shoulders, stroked his chin and then asked.

“What’s wrong? I thought you were doing well. You’re just about to become a Sword Master and you even got a beautiful wife. Do you know how popular Princess Annette Bavaria was in Deltium? Everyone thought she was going to be the Crown Princess, so they all were eager to suck her fingers. But you ended up being the one who actually snatched her. Haha, you lucky bad guy.”

The old gentleman deftly tiptoed towards Raphael. There was an unpleasant furrow between Raphael’s thick eyebrows. After seeing this, the old gentleman quickly noticed the problem with Raphael. He wondered whether he was troubled with something related to his marriage. As soon as he realised this, the old gentleman’s mouth rose in a graceful smile.

‘Oh my Goodness, this arrogant brat is worried about his marriage! ‘

It was truly awesome. The old gentleman had been watching Raphael since he was young, but he never thought he would have such a fun time. It was a matter that he had to himself unfurl and see. However, there was also a high possibility that Raphael would immediately kick him in a fit of anger if he caught what he was thinking. So the old gentleman subdued the rising corners of his mouth and asked solemnly.

“Why? Does your wife hate you?”

“Who hates me…!!”

Raphael’s bellowing voice didn’t finish what he was going to say. He was aware that he was in a position where he was hated by Annette. Their marriage started pretty badly, but it still went pretty well. And all this was purely because of Annette’s efforts. Raphael was not really aware of this. No, he just pretended not to know.

However, now Annette stopped trying. She neither smiled at him anymore, nor did she ask him how he was doing in her sweet voice. Raphael couldn’t accept it and kept hovering around her. But no matter how much he lingered around Annette, she never spoke to him like before. She even turned away the invitation to the couple attendance party that he had secretly sneaked in!

‘I really liked it when you asked me to go to a ball with you.’

This time Annette seemed determined to completely turn her back on him. As soon as he realized this, his heart sank. He even felt a profound sense of despair as if he was sinking down into the deep sea.

So he was very confused. He was confused about so many things; why he was so desperate now, what Annette meant to him, and how to unravel these tangled and twisted threads. This was why Raphael came to find the old gentleman standing before him.

“Tsk. Tsk. It’s pretty obvious why your wife hates you. You must have again lost your temper at her. Especially since she’s the daughter of the Duke Allamand Bavaria whom you hate so much. I’m sure you must have done everything to hurt her. Well, let me guess what you must have said. A woman like you must have been really upset because you couldn’t be the princess, or you Bavarians are so cunning.”

“Harold!”

Raphael, who was stabbed in the sore places, shouted in a fit of temper. If it was complete nonsense, he wouldn’t have been this angry. But he couldn’t ignore Harold’s age and his words were all correct, so Raphael felt more crazy.

As Raphael’s blue eyes glared murderously, the old gentleman named Harold shrank back as if he was scared. However, the corners of his lips gave him away as he couldn’t hide his smile filled with joy.  In the first place, Harold was one of the few people who Raphael couldn’t scare.

Raphael knew this very well, so he eventually slackened his shoulders and sat down. There was a look of distress on his indifferent face. Then Harold, with a little cough, asked in a serious tone.

“Okay, have you apologized to your wife?”

“Not yet.”

“Huh? You haven’t apologized yet? Tsk, tsk, you’re still full of arrogance. I don’t have any advice for a birdbrained person who can’t even apologize to his wife.”

Harold looked at Raphael with a pathetic look and shook his head. Then Raphael became furious, but soon that anger was replaced with distress. A weak murmur came out of his lips.

“That’s not the problem, old man. It’s really complicated. If I want to apologize to Annette, I have to tell her everything about my biological mother.”

Raphael’s jaw, as he pronounced the word mother, became strained. He looked pained, as if he was holding back his nausea. Annette was a clever woman and Raphael wasn’t confident to come up with an excusable story in front of her. Eventually, he would have no choice but to bring out the story of his mother, who was connected to his uncle.

Raphael vehemently hated his mother and his maternal lineage, to the point If anyone found out about it, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill that person by any means possible. This was why he couldn’t tell Annette about it. He would rather keep his mouth shut, even though he knew it would make her sad.

‘I could have been more honest with Annette if it wasn’t for my damn bloodline.’

Wait a minute. But why do I care so much about her? Raphael realized something was wrong. Come to think of it, it wasn’t the first time he had thought like this. The insignificant thoughts, that came every time, were piled up in one side of his mind and kept on piling up, to the point he felt like a complete new existence. He also felt as if his body had become bigger than before.

In the first place, he had never thought about all this in his own initiative. Just in time Harold asked Raphael a question in a heavy voice.

“What about you, then? Do you love your wife? Are you willing to take the risk and tell her your secret someday?”

“Love? That’s not gonna happen…….”

Raphael’s words, as he laughed cynically, suddenly stopped. I love that Bavarian woman? What ridiculous bullshit! But why can’t I say no? Raphael closed his eyes tightly and tried to open his mouth.

T/N: (Long review/rant whatever idk what to call this. So if you don’t want to read it you can skip this).I really do enjoy reading your comments and take on the characters. So I thought why not put mine too.

What I really love about this novel is that none of the characters are perfect like how main leads should be in a novel. They have flaws that I can relate to, which makes them more than characters of a novel to me. And there is no cheating or anyone getting in between the leads in the novel. It’s a story about two flawed people and how they ruined each other because of their misunderstandings.

Annette is one of my favorite protagonists. Even though she has been used and discarded, she still stays strong and is a kind hearted person. Someone said she hasn’t tried enough. Well I would like to disagree with that. What I really like is that author kept her character constant even after her regression. For a person who had lived her whole life passively, it’s difficult to suddenly change yourself. She did try her best as you can see in this chapter. Even though her efforts were small but I think that’s the best one can do towards a person who does not respond to your affection or efforts. She knows Raphael doesn’t love her, but she still tried her best to improve their relationship. When she got her second chance, she gave her relationship with Raphael another try because of their last moments in her previous life. But seeing that their marriage was going down the same path, no matter what she did, she gave up. She just wanted to live her second life peacefully with her loved ones. So why should she waste her second chance tormenting herself in a loveless marriage. And I really like her for that.

Well it’s really interesting to read everyone’s take on Raphael. Many may not like him but I really like him as a character. Though I don’t really like the way he acts but I can see why he does what he does. Till now we got much of the events from Annette’s perspective and I’m not gonna spoil much but in the next chapters we’ll get to see how Raphael thinks and what all he has been through. It would explain why he doesn’t trust anyone and why he has so many insecurities. But still yeah it doesn’t justify his shitty behavior towards Annette.

Wow I wrote quite too much, so I’m gonna stop here. Do tell me what you think of them. Or you can ask questions, if you have any regarding the story. I’ll be happy to answer them.