CH 9

3. Cordelia Hinch

The past. In her second life, Yulia came to learn that there was inside her a part of herself that wanted to believe Vasily’s ridiculous excuses.

It was not because she loved him, but rather that she was scared. She was scared of the sense of shame that would arise with mistaking his feelings for love. That’s why she thought that she would rather believe his excuses.

However, declaring his love for her while saying that he would marry the princess was quite a sight to behold.

"Yulia, this is out of my control. My heart is fully yours… But I was born as the son of Marjoram. I have to bear the burden and responsibility of my name. You understand, right? The princess will only be married to my shell. Nothing will change between the two of us."

It was risible. After asking him if he was serious, she understood that he meant everything.

He was a genius at rationalizing his behavior. On top of that, he was awfully selfish.

Only then could Yulia admit to herself that she had made the worst choice possible.

"You, marrying the princess? Don’t make me laugh. I will reveal that after playing with a pitiful commoner and throwing her away, you tried to get rid of her in order to marry the princess."

"Yulia!"

"I became a monster because of you… "

"Please, don’t do anything stupid."

"Why don’t you try to kill me then!"

Vasily couldn’t kill Yulia himself. But he could lock her up to prevent her from running away.

He believed that his love for Yulia was real. He was truly suffering. But he didn’t love her as much as his honor and pride.

Yulia was detained at Vasily’s orders, and died shortly afterwards at the hands of the hyenas.

*****

"My feelings are dead."

That’s what Yulia replied to Bavaslov who asked her how she could stay so calm in front of the man who abandoned her.

"I think that in this world, I’m the person who can torture my heart the best. That’s what happens when you keep looking away even after getting hurt again and again, pouring out blood and letting your flesh fall off."

Bavaslov was bewildered.

"It’s only because that guy is a bastard, that’s all, you idiot. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re the one who’s been hurt, so why do you torture yourself?"

“Because it makes me comfortable?”

"What are you saying? Cry and curse as much as you want, and then get a new and better man. After changing lovers about four or five times, let’s talk about this again."

"I am just wondering whether what we had was truly love. It might be that it was a fantasy imagined by my young and foolish heart."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, like unicorns and devils with corns, something that doesn’t exist in this world. I thought that my love was special but, in reality, it was a very common and boring tragic play."

‘A bitter story but a smiling face. And even though it is my own story, I don’t feel any self-pity.’

"You…"

While listening to Yulia’s story, Bavaslov had a lot to say, but after mumbling a few times, he eventually couldn’t say anything and stared at Carus to ask for help.

"What?"

"Why don’t you try saying something nice?"

"Why do you want me to do something you can’t do yourself?"

"Yulia!…You know that I am not good with words."

"I am even worse than you." 

‘That’s true.’ Bavaslov muttered to himself. Carus glared at him and then said to Yulia.

"It’s just that you don’t have an eye for men. But to an extreme extent."

"How can you always sound rude no matter what you say… That too is a talent, I guess."

Bavaslov took a furtive look at Yulia. Of course, she had an indifferent face as usual.

"Thank you for worrying about me. Bavaslov, I think you’re really warm and kind. When you get married in the future, you will definitely receive a lot of love from your wife."

"You think so?"

At Yulia’s compliment, Bavaslov didn’t know what to do with himself and felt embarrassed.

After the graduation ceremony had ended, the day passed just like that. Carus and his men were sitting in the inn’s restaurant and preparing to leave.

Carus, who was looking at the menu as if he wasn’t interested in Yulia and Bavaslov’s conversation, glanced at Yulia and said in passing.

"About what happened yesterday… The Marquis of Marjoram must have heard about it, what do you plan to do?"

"For now, nothing."

"Why?"

"Because there is no proof that Marjoram sent assassins. The only thing I can do is to spread the rumor that Vasily is a bad guy, but it wouldn’t be good for the Marquis to come forward just because of that."

"I should’ve captured all the hyenas."

Carus put down the menu and called a waitress. The waitress who had been waiting for his call approached quickly and wrote down his order.

"This and this, and also this. No drinks, just a lot of beer and water."

"Yes, understood. Anything else?"

"We’re leaving today so I’ll pay in advance."

After he had handed money to the waitress and finished paying, Carus turned to Yulia once again.

"Last time, if I had caught the hyenas and let you deal with them, would your complicated revenge have been completed at once?"

"What? No way."

Yulia laughed in a small voice.

"If that had been the case, Marjoram would have sent his actual soldiers. Then, let alone taking the graduation exam, my corpse would have been thrown in the southern sea and I would have become food for the fish as we speak."

"Is that so?"

Carus nodded because he thought she was right.

This time, Bavaslov asked.

"That Vasily or Parsley, why is that bastard acting like that? If that were me, I would feel so guilty and apologetic that I couldn’t even show up with my head high."

"That’s because he is not like you… And also because, it was probably the truth."

"What truth?"

"When he said that he loved me. He probably thought that he was really going to leave and run away with me, but he couldn’t do anything because he was being watched. That if we had had more time, we would have been happy for sure."

"He must not be in his right mind."

Bavaslov said that he couldn’t understand Vasily at all and Yulia agreed with him.

After the meal, everyone packed their own bags. Since Yulia was going to enter the royal palace, Carus and Bavaslov also planned to leave the inn and move towards their original goal.

"I am sad."

"Me too."

Bavaslov sniffled and sluggishly moved his thick fingers while glancing at Yulia.

"Listen well. The palace isn’t just a place where high-ranking and glamorous people hold banquets every day. It’s a place where you can get your nose, ears or tongue cut off. Understood? Always remain careful."

"Yes, I will."

Yulia had barely any belongings, so she was packing her bags along with Bavaslov, but he kept following her and nagging her without a break.

"Most importantly! Be careful of men, okay? Don’t ever get involved with an idiot who doesn’t care about anyone but himself like that jerk, Vasily or whatever. Understood?"

"I will keep that in mind."

"If he comes to find you and makes a fuss again, just target between his legs and kick him there."

At his words, Yulia laughed out loud this time. But then he said that she could go to prison for assaulting an aristocrat if she did that.

"I know you’re a smart kid, but I feel anxious about separating from you…"

"Why is that?"

"I just feel a little restless…"

At that moment, they heard a buzzing sound and a man with a nice voice shouting from outside the inn.

"I am delivering the order of His Highness Lewicia Ortega, the second prince! Yulia Arte, prepare to enter the palace as the prince’s maid of honor!" 

Yulia jumped up from her seat and checked out the window. There was a sophisticated carriage and six soldiers, and in front of them, an attendant was unloading a huge box at the entrance of the inn.

"What is that?"

"Oh my god…"

"Why, what’s happening?"

"It looks like His Highness the Prince has sent someone to bring me to the palace. Both of you stay on the second floor. I’ll go down alone."

Yulia moved hurriedly. As soon as she left Bavaslov’s room and entered the corridor, she ran into Carus who was coming out of his room.

"Sir Carus."

"I know."

She didn’t know what he was thinking as he was staring at her for a moment without saying a word. Then, he came close and whispered in her ear.

"Yulia."

"Yes."

"If you need anything, go look for Maxwell. He will be able to help you."

Yulia looked at Carus with round eyes. There were a lot of things she wanted to ask but the prince’s attendant downstairs was looking for her.

"Go ahead."

Carus gently pushed Yulia from behind. Then, he stood with Bavaslov at the top of the stairs and looked at her.

"Lady Yulia?"

From the bottom of the stairs, the prince’s attendant held out his hand to Yulia.

She slowly went down the stairs and held the attendant’s hand, then stood in front of the box that the prince had sent.

"This is a present from His Highness the Prince Lewicia to Lady Yulia."

Inside was a dazzlingly beautiful cream-colored dress.

It was not a banquet dress, but his sincerity was evident. There were no loud ornaments or jewelry but the lace, as pale as the moonlight, moved like waves. It was a graceful, elegant and luxurious piece of clothing.

Yulia inhaled deeply and put both of her hands on her stomach. Then, she slightly bowed and said.

"I will get ready."

The innkeeper, who had witnessed the honorable moment when a commoner girl became the prince’s maid of honor, smiled brightly and led her to an expensive room.

Yulia entered the room and changed by herself.

There was a dress in the big box, shoes in the small box, and a brooch in the smaller box.

She was a plain and ordinary girl when she entered the room, but had become an elegant court lady when she came out.

"Let’s depart now."

Yulia held the attendant’s hand once again and walked towards the carriage.

Carus, who was looking at her from the top of the stairs, nodded at her slightly. She blinked slowly in his direction. The two people’s eyes grazed each other then moved away like two magnets repelling each other.

"Waaaaaaaaa!"

There was already a large crowd on the street.

Being a maid of honor was a distinguished position. Daughters of high-ranking aristocrats had spent much time and effort in order to become a maid of honor of the royal family. Since a commoner had confidently taken that position, it was an event that was on everyone’s lips for a while.

The fancy carriage’s door opened and Yulia entered.

- Pearl’s notes: I can’t get over Bavaslov calling Vasily ‘Parsley’… I love his and Yulia’s friendship so much, they are so cute. Also, is it me or Carus and Yulia’s interactions felt strangely intimate this chapter?