Chapter 51

It felt really strange to follow a woman who was much smaller than himself. Raphael looked at the dazzling sunlight as the sun sank over the top of her round head. ‘It would be nice if I could stretch my arms behind that back and hug that slender body. And then rub my lips against those golden hair which held the warmth of the sun.’ However, Annette suddenly stopped walking and turned around, making Raphael stunned.

“What do you have to say?”

Raphael bit his lips. He was prepared to some extent to reveal his secrets, but when he faced Annette, his mouth refused to open. After considering it very much, he decided to speak out what he wanted to say first.

“Annette, I…I didn’t know. I didn’t know Ben was working as your coachman and that he was the one who framed you.”

Raphael was worried that Annette would suspect he was an accomplice of Ben. After all, it was true that he was the only one who benefitted from this false charge.

There was no princess in the Deltium royal family, so Annette Bavaria became the most noble woman in the kingdom of Deltium. Taking her as his wife, the flaw in Raphael’s lineage was compensated. So, he was worried that Annette might suspect that this was a fraudulent marriage. Annette, who listened quietly to Raphael, replied,

“I thought so, too. That you won’t have anything to do with the case. The fact that Ivan, no… Ben shares his blood with you was quite shocking. But now I don’t doubt you or anything.”

“Do you trust me?

The intensity of Raphael’s hard-spoken words softened with a little hope. Unfortunately, Annette didn’t say this because she trusted him, as Raphael thought. Annette, with her golden eyelashes lowered, calmly expressed her thoughts.

“It would be too much to call you an accomplice….. since you were reluctant to marry me. You hated me so much, so you couldn’t have been involved in it to marry me. Unless you have some strange likeness for enjoying sufferings.”

Raphael’s wicked mouth was effectively sealed with this. There were too many misdeeds for which he had to be accountable now. He had nothing more to say because it was true that he didn’t want to marry Annette. If his biological father, King Selgratis, hadn’t forced him by saying, “This is all for you,” he would never have married Annette on his own will.

While Raphael was sweating and couldn’t say a word, Annette raised her head and looked at him. Her face looked a little tired. The gentle smile and warm consideration had all disappeared.

“Is that all you have to say? Then I’ll get going.”

Annette turned her back slowly. Her thin blonde hair fluttered in the air, and her pink eyes, which looked lonely under her eyelashes, turned away from him. Raphael couldn’t just let Annette go away like this.

“Wait a minute.”

Fortunately, Annette, as usual, did not ignore him. Annette turned her back and looked at him gently as if there was still nothing left to say. The moment his eyes met her pretty ones, Raphael’s mouth suddenly moved on its own and so a  request for a date popped out of his mouth.

“Well, hmm… If it’s okay with you, would you go to the party next week? Umm, that couple party at the Count Lucini’s.”

Annette said nothing, but tilted her head slightly to the side. Maybe she was thinking ‘Why me?’ As soon as he met Annette’s reluctant eyes, Raphael instinctively felt that he would be rejected. His heart sank feeling a sense of crisis. At that time, Harold’s words suddenly came to his mind.

‘Don’t hold to your pride and pretend to be pitiful!’

Yeah, anyway the dice had already been thrown. He had to get an answer from her and for that he would go by any means possible. Raphael unknowingly lowered his eyes and muttered, avoiding Annette’s gaze.

“You must attend the party Annette. My benefactor will be there. He couldn’t attend our wedding for some reason, so he asked me to introduce him to you. He’s a very important person to me…..”

It was a blatant lie. Raphael actually did not know whether Harold was going to attend the party or not. To be honest, there was a high probability that he wouldn’t. This was because Harold was unmarried and it was a party which you had to attend as a couple. However, since Harold himself had advised him to act pitiful, he should not complain about it. Raphael decided to think as he liked.

“Your benefactor?”

Fortunately, Annette was interested in this clumsy excuse. This was because it was the first time that Raphael had revealed something about his past to Annette. Although Raphael himself didn’t realise this, Annette’s interest encouraged him to speak more. Naturally, Raphael’s chatter became a little more convincing.

“Yeah. As you know I…Because my birth… is a bit complicated, I can call only a few people as family. But his position in my life is just like His Majesty,…he’s kind of like a father figure to me. I wouldn’t be here by now if it wasn’t for him. So I really want to introduce you both. He’s one of the few people who really cares about me.”

Originally, the most persuasive lie was a lie with 50 percent truth added in it. As he talked about his actual situation, a slight lonesome look appeared on Raphael’s face. Annette hesitated when she saw it. Raphael instinctively realised that this was the opportunity and quickly grabbed her hand.

“Please, Annette, come with me. You’re my wife, aren’t you?”

Raphael’s words informing her about her wife’s duties were effective. Annette, who had grown up surrounded by duties and responsibilities from an early age, became weak at those words. But the reason why she hesitated was not just because she had to fulfill her duties as a wife.

Annette was really surprised at seeing Raphael look at her with desperate eyes. She couldn’t believe that words like ‘please’ could come out of those wicked lips that only knew how to spit out mean words. Annette realised that this benefactor was indeed really important to Raphael. So she nodded eventually.

‘Well, since I would be leaving Raphael soon, I’ll do him a favor for the last time.’

In fact, there was only one thing that Raphael did wrong in the current tragedy that Annette was facing. And that was his refusal to communicate with her regarding his past. However, she did not also want to force him to do so. How could he do something that he detested and tell his secrets to someone who he didn’t believe?

The rest of the problems were too vague to blame Raphael. However, all these problems would only be solved if Annette left Raphael and Deltium. To do that, she had to meet Celestine Keers as soon as possible.

‘I don’t know when all this will be over, but I think I can do you a favor before that.’

“Thank you, Annette!”

With a wide smile, Raphael held her up and turned around. He easily lifted her up as if she was a paper doll. Surprised by this, Annette’s eyes widened and she clutched his shoulder tightly. Finally, after hugging Annette tightly, Raphael put her down on the floor and said,

“Thank you very much. For coming with me.”

“You’re welcome.”

Annette, who didn’t know Raphael would like it this much, answered vaguely. At this point, she wondered who this benefactor was for whom Raphael would behave like this. It seemed she would have to pay attention to her dress at the ball.

* * *

“That’s what happened, so please cooperate.”

“Huh, look at this shameless bastard!”

Harold, who was dragged out to the party on Raphael’s sudden notice, was really irked by his request. Harold didn’t really want to attend the party in the first place. Harold, who attended a couple party alone, was sad and upset.

‘You’re such an ungrateful bastard.’

If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have given him any advice. In the meantime, Raphael’s face as he was smiling all alone waiting for his wife, made him even more angrier.

“Just wait and see how I deal with you later! When your wife comes, I’ll tell her all your dark history.”

“Try it if you can.”

Raphael stood in front of Harold with his arms crossed like a huge barrier. The comparison felt more so because of his tall and muscular build. Seeing that Harold was about to say nonsense, it really took all his will to not drag him out of there. Feeling the transient flow of time*, Harold trembled softly and gently stepped on Raphael’s shiny shoes.

*[I don’t whether this makes sense to you, so I’ll make it a bit clear. It’s that feeling when you reminisce about old memories and suddenly feel as if time had quickly passed.]

“What the hell are you doing old man? It’s a new pair of shoes!!”

Raphael frowned. He quickly took out his handkerchief and wiped his shoe clean. His intention to quickly finish grooming himself before Annette’s arrival was really apparent. Harold, who had been watching this with an amused look, suddenly asked as he had remembered something.

“But why didn’t you come with your wife?”

“I don’t know. She told me to go ahead because she had some work to do. She would follow soon.”

Raphael, who was still checking his shoe, responded dully. Harold realised something from the words and began to laugh. When Raphael heard his laughter, he raised his head wondering what was wrong with him. Harold, who had been waiting for this moment, tried to suppress his laughter.

“Anyway, you’re really an idiot. She didn’t want to go with you, that’s why she told you to go ahead.”

“It’s not like that! She said she really had some work to do.”

“Oh, believe whatever you want. She must have made up some things to do so that she wouldn’t have to ride the same carriage with you.”

“Fuck! “

Raphael unknowingly spit out curses that he had learned during his days as a commoner. Harold had only hit his sore spot, and a billion curses came out of his mouth on its own. Meanwhile, the smile returned on Harold’s face, who had finally taken his revenge for being dragged to a couple party. Such retaliation was the best way to teach an ungrateful black-haired beast.

Raphael frowned at seeing the nasty smile on his face. He was about to say something to Harold, but a familiar face caught his sharp eyes. Unfortunately it wasn’t Annette’s pretty face.

‘Why the hell is he here?’

Raphael’s face was sharply distorted. The man who was greeted by everyone from afar was a very handsome man. With his tall body, white face, sculpture like delicate features, and his long silver hair, he looked like a prince who had come out of a fairy tale.

‘Prince Ludwig……!’

Raphael’s blue eyes sank coldly when he unexpectedly ran into his half-brother.