CH 13

I was dazed for a moment, embarrassed that I didn’t think things through. Right, what made me think Callian would let me in?

‘Ah, my head.’ 

I grabbed my throbbing forehead and turned to the servant, “Then at least give him this,” I took the letter of the former Empress and handed it over, “If he sees this, he’ll grant me permission.” The servant looked at me suspiciously and carefully examined the letter. It looked like he was inspecting it for poison—well, if I wanted to poison him, I wouldn’t have done it this way.

‘That’s so mean.’

Although I didn’t mind since the letter I held in my hands contained words the Crown Prince wouldn’t be able to read without tears in his eyes, so I was sure he’d let me in soon. I nodded gently when the servant asked me to wait. 

Soon, I realised an hour has passed by and the servant still had not appeared from inside the room, leaving me to wonder by myself outside, “Why isn’t he coming out?” My legs were starting to hurt from all the waiting, so I tapped my heels on the floor and punched my calf until a voice speak up.

“I apologise for making you wait.” The servant appeared! After an hour! I tidied up my dress with pleasure, making sure I looked presentable for the the Crown Prince. 

“Will you show me to the drawing room?”

“I’m sorry, but you’re not allowed in.”

“What?” I said with surprise. The servant bowed his head, showing some signs of embarrassment. “Why? Did you not deliver the letter to his Highness?”

“I did.”

“Did his Highness see the letter?”

“Yes, his Highness saw the letter.”

Well, that was strange. He saw the letter and yet he still refused to let me in? 

‘I feel sick.’ 

“I will relay exactly what his Highness said.” The servant bowed his head at me and I answered with a squint.

“Yeah, tell me.”

The servant took a deep breath and uttered two words, “Get lost.”

******

I trudged my way to the carriage. Maybe Callian really despised me; I couldn’t believe he refused even after I gave him the former Empress’s letter! “Get lost, you said? Say it to my face!” I shook my head hard, “No matter how much you hate me, you should still know how to express gratitude, no?”

‘Crazy b*stard.’ 

“It shouldn’t have been like this!” I slapped my forehead. It was my idea to try and solve my relationship with the crown prince through a letter and yet it turned out to be a huge failure.With no backup plan in mind, I was utterly confused on what to do. “Should I build a nursery and have them know I’ve changed?”

‘But will Callian acknowledge me through that?’

‘Ah, I don’t know!’ 

“Callian, you b*stard!” I took a step back while cursing to Callian, but then I noticed a woman not far away from where I was standing. She greeted me quickly as soon as she saw me.

‘Who is that?’ I squinted and approached the woman. ‘Oh my.’

The woman I saw up close was beyond beautiful—soft silky blonde hair, glistening as if i it had been doused in gold powder; round, lovely, pink eyes beautifully adorned with deep double eyelids; a sharp, high nose; and pink tinted lips. Not to mention her beautiful clear skin that contrasted with the blush staining her cheeks.

Only one woman in this world possessed beauty as great as the woman in front of her—Fleur William.

“The female lead…” I muttered with my mouth half open.

Fleur tilted her head to one side and opened her eyes wide, “Pardon?” Even her actions were beautiful, to the point where it made me frown unconsciously from how dazzling the sight was.

“D-Did I do something wrong, ma’am?” Fleur hurriedly put her hands together. I could see the fearful expression on her face and I shook my head in a hurry.

“No, the sunlight was just hurting my eyes,” I put my hands up to my face mechanically and only then did Fleur relax a little.

I looked at her and exhaled as long as I could so that I wouldn’t get caught. I was very nervous, too. In the past, Ophelia tormented Fleur which was one of the reasons why she was so hated by Callian, leading up to her execution.

‘I shouldn’t that.’

I didn’t want such a future. I wanted to survive.

With that in mind, I knew I shouldn’t mess with Fleur.

‘I have to look good.’

I wasn’t ordered to stay away from Fleur anyway. Originally, I didn’t even say hello, but Fleur talked to me first, so I thought it was okay. I greeted her with the sweetest smile I could procure, “It’s been a while since I saw you. How have you been?”

“Yes, thanks to the Madam I’m doing well. How about Madam?”

“I’m doing well too, thanks to you.”

“Thank you for saying that. You’re always so sweet.”

Even though she must have been harassed by Ophelia countless of times, she still managed to be so eloquent, she really is the perfect heroine. 

“But may I ask where you came from?” Fleur asked carefully. 

I answered casually, “I asked the Crown Prince for an audience, but he refused, so I was on my way back to my carriage.”

“Ah…” I could see the corners of her lips rise up ever so slightly. Was it an illusion or did it seem like she laughed at me?

“No way, that can’t be true.” Fleur was said to be the nicest person in the world. No matter the evil Ophelia committed, Fleur always tried to forgive her at the end. There was no way. 

I felt sorry for doubting Fleur for a moment, so I softened my expression. Fleur stared at me. “I was on my way to see his Highness. When I see him, I’ll tell him I met the madam,” Fleur said with a smile.

‘Huh, what’s this weird feeling—?’

******

On the way back home, I couldn’t shake off that odd feeling the whole time.

I was on my way to see his Highness. 

Didn’t I just say I was rejected when I went to see Callian? If you knew how much Ophelia liked Callian, wasn’t it rude to say that? So why would she say that?

When I see his Highness, I’ll tell him I met the madam.

Of course you knew of my relationship with Callian, so, again, why would you say that?

“It’s weird,” I muttered, crossing my arms, “maybe I’m reading too much into it.”

‘Crazy, you never noticed it?’ It felt strangely like that—like she was trying to screw around with me. “No way, are you?” But Fleur was the heroine, I couldn’t imagine her doing anything bad.

‘Maybe I was just in a bad mood?’ 

“That’s possible.” Fleur could really have just said it as it was; there are lots of people who talk like that without any bad intentions, which may be the case with Fleur. She was the main character of the novel! She was the heroine who would always say “It’s okay”, “I’m glad I was able to help”, “Forgive me” and anything the typical nice person woul say. There were even dozens of times when I cursed at her while reading the novel, despising how much of a pushover she was, therefore, I could not doubt Fleur’s character.

“I’ll know more when we meet again later,” I muttered and looked out the window, already seeing the mansion of the Duke of Ryzen—I’ve arrived.

I left a message to Sylvester, saying I was going to meet Callian. 

[I’ll melt his Highness the Crown Prince’s heart.

Are you nervous? 

If you are, prepare the money!] 

Why did I write it like that? I would never have left a message if I knew how he would just leave me standing outside only to tell me, not even through his own mouth, to get lost. I was so proud of myself, but all I can feel at this moment was my face burning in shame. 

‘What should I say to Sylvester?’

I stepped over the open carriage door, pondering over what to say to him, but the more I thought of it the more I felt like just avoiding him entirely. ‘Should I just stay in my room and pretend I’m sick…’ 

And then I noticed something strange—Sylvester was outside waiting for me! He wore a white coat, and despite the fact that the snowstorm that plagued the country has stopped, looking at him felt like I just travelled back in time to that snowstorm; he was so cold and I was so scared. I was sure he waited for me after seeing my message.

Badump, badump. 

I approached Sylvester calmly, “Why are you—”

“Why are you so late?”

‘Huh?’ I looked down.

“What the hell have you been doing today?”