CH 27

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“I told you…you have to be careful, Millie.”

Rubert said, finally relaxing now that Frederick was gone.

“His Majesty is showing interest in you. That’s really dangerous.”

Again he looked a little sad.

“Anyway, I have to go back to the stands for now, because I have to protect the moment of His Majesty’s triumph.”

Then he hurriedly disappeared after Frederick.

I’m tired. Millicent thought as she stood there alone. The incomprehensible feelings of others always make her tired.

So Millicent took the wine, which had cooled to lukewarm. She gulped down the entire bottle.

She was in no mood to pretend to be a maid. She slipped out unnoticed. She moved around the edge of the stadium, looking for a secluded corner that was as empty as possible.

But today was a bad day.

“…you, maid.”

Because she suddenly ran into Adriana.

She was alone. There were no crutches, no servants to support her. She was just looking at the stadium with eyes full of smudge makeup. In her hand she held the handkerchief that Frederick had stepped on earlier.

“Is that wine?”

Adriana showed interest in the bottle Millicent was holding.

“Give me some of that.”

Before Millicent could respond, she took the wine and drank the entire bottle without even pouring it into a glass.

“I hid up here because I wanted to be alone…'”

Adriana pointed to the secluded shade where she perched.

“When I’m actually alone, I don’t even know what to do.”

It was no surprise, since she had been spending her life as a flower  in a greenhouse, surrounded by servants waiting on her hands and feet.

“What do commoners like you do when you are alone?”

Adriana asked curiously.

“We will think about why we wanted to be alone.” Millicent answered vaguely. “…Why did you want to be alone?”

Adriana murmured as if she had been asked a really crude question.

“Because of His Majesty the King, of course.”

She gave an obvious answer.

“Yeah, I spend almost all my time with my family.”

Surprisingly, however, she added a half-drunk story.

“My family is very close to each other. We have joint goals.”

“What is it?” (Milllie)

Millicent asked, partly to phase, but Adriana only rolled her eyes.

“You don’t need to know.” (A)

Then don’t bring it up. Millicent was stunned at her answer.

“Something that can change the world, something that no one can touch. It’s like an ambition to get those things.”

When the words finally exploded, Adriana couldn’t stop, as if she had wanted to unravel them all along.

She continued, “Anyway, that’s why our Beasley family routines are so difficult and challenging at times.”

She buried her face into her knees.

“It’s especially complicated with my father.”

Millicent couldn’t hear her voice clearly because of it.

“But my father was convinced. He told me that I just have to work a little bit harder.”

Adriana mumbled meaningfully.

“So I can have everything I want in the end.”

Suddenly she raised her head.

“I was so young when I first heard that. I had to believe blindly.”

Adriana stared into space.

“But I am no longer a child who believes in unattainable dreams and fairy tales.”

She tousled her hair.

“…I’m too tired.”

As she did so, she looked up again. This time she seemed to be gazing at an enchanting illusion.

“If only His Majesty the King would save me…… I would have reality and freedom instead of dreams and fairy tales.”

Desire flickered from Adriana’s eyes.

“Hey, you look drunk already….”

Millicent, who had no idea what she was talking about, tried to retrieve the wine bottle.

“Do you want to go and rest now?”

Millicent’s spirit was already drained after dealing with Frederick and Rubert, and now she had to deal with a drunk.

“I’m not drunk.” Adriana raised her eyes. “…The card you picked at that time.” Then she suddenly asked.

“What did I pick?” (Millie)

“The death card you gave His Majesty the King!” (A)

Barely had Millicent remembered the woe that she had laid out to Frederick when she did card fortune telling.

“What in the world am I supposed to interpret that to mean?”

Adriana complained.

“I really don’t know how His Majesty feels.”

Her gaze relentlessly followed Frederick, who circled before the match to the cheers of the crowd.

“When escorted me home, I thought he loved me. When he smiles at me, it’s like he wants me. But when he stepped on my handkerchief, I think he hated me.”

Adriana wept as she mumbled.

“I even let His Majesty know clearly why he should choose me…”

“The death card…”

Millicent said.

“It symbolizes an end and a new beginning at the same time. In a way, the card is both hopeful and despair.”

“So why are you confusing me like this?”

Adriana snapped.

“Fine. See what happened to Charlotte Brennan, who was neck-deep in card readings, astrology, and the like. You’re just a fraud.” (A)

She took another gulp of wine.

“Why do you want a title?” (M)

Since this was happening anyway, Millicent decided to try to get more of Adriana’s honesty out of her.

“I was told  if I become a Royal Mistress, even a woman can hold the title alone, and that it would be worth it to risk anything else.”

Millicent chose her words carefully. “That’s what you said earlier. . . about reality and freedom?”

“There was once one large, good territory.”

Adriana said.

“It was called Wind Whistle Rock.”

Millicent’s head whipped around as the unexpected words.

“The Lord there died early and had no son. So his wife inherited it and ruled in his stead. But that was a right only allowed as long as the widow did not remarry another man.”

Adriana continued to tease her shameless lips.

“The problem was that Windwhistle Rock was the most delicious red meat in the kingdom. Every noble wanted it from the moment its master left.”

She shrugged.

“And as they did, they all gradually started thinking of the widow who couldn’t grasp her subject as an enemy of their eyes.”

Millicent’s heart thudded.

“In the end, the window couldn’t protect herself, her estate, or her only child….”

She could see the sympathy in Adriana’s eyes.

“It is a pity that Wind Whistle Rock was never owned by anyone, only its ashes remained.”

But her sympathy was very shallow.

“I too will later marry someone and become his wife.”

Even that was brushed off with aplomb.

“But that’s not very safe, is it? Mine belongs to my father and husband, but theirs is not mine. So there must be a title, a fiefdom, and a pension in my name.”

She bit her lip.

“…I just want out. A king’s mistress would be better than a puppet lady.”

Indeed, it was an unscrupulous lesson learned through the ruins of Wind whistle Rock.

“…Now we begin.”

The proclaimer retreated from the stadium. Two men faced the arena to fight each other. Like a sunflower chasing the sun, Adriana’s attention naturally turned to Frederick.

“His Majesty will win. It’s how it is.”

In spite of her repeated disappointments, a longing emanated from her that never faded. Now. Millicent suddenly realized.

For weeks now, she had been trying to kill Adriana Beasley, but it had not been easy. She had been unable to break through the security of the fortress and  servants who swarmed all around her.

But she was alone with her at this moment. Adriana was defenseless. The attention of the others was focused solely on Frederick, that sun-kissed man who captivated everyone with his mere presence.

Millicent looked around calmly. This spot, where Adriana had chosen to hide in her heartbreak, was horrifyingly good. There was no one to witness it.

Millicent slowly searched her pocket. A knife touched her fingertips. It was a gift that Frederick had given her along with a nonsensical note. It held its place more naturally than the heart.

An opportunity she really didn’t want to miss.

Suddenly her mouth went dry from excitement and her heart pounded in her chest. There was no need to chill it anymore.

Millicent untied her chinstrap. She took off her hat. Her messy hair cascaded over her shoulders. A feeling of liberation shook in her gut.

“By the way, it’s…”

Adriana looked back at Millicent, wondering what was the rustling sound that had caught her attention or if Millicent was trying to come up with something silly.

“You took off your hat?”

She gazed admiringly at Millicent’s dark hair. She also saw the unusual sparkling eyes and the lips that were tightly closed to subdue the feeling of excitement from overflowing.

And finally, she looked into Millicent’s bright blue eyes.

“Wait a minute, you ….”

Then, not even knowing what this situation meant, Adriana hardened like a stone.

“… Did you die in a fire?”

No, Millicent’s conclusion was wrong. Adriana knew what this meant.

She made a fuss about the Wind Whistle Rock tragedy as a life lesson, but surprisingly, she learned Millicent’s true identity.

“Yes. It was you all who kindly set me on fire.”

Millicent replied as a ghost from the past.

“But I told you that death is a new beginning, Adriana Beasley.”

The tension in the distant arena exploded. Two knights on horseback clashed. Large lances pointed at each other.

At the very moment when everyone’s attention could only be focused on that, Millicent got rid of Adriana.

She plunged the knife between her ribs, into that space where her heart should have been beating. It was just one smooth motion. She had practiced aiming at the exact spot so many times at the butcher shop that she got tired of it.

Adriana was very tall. If she had been brave and resisted, she would have been hard to subdue, but she didn’t even have time for that.

Thanks to that, it was a merciful death. Adriana died instantly without a scream. Millicent savored her eyes, which were gradually draining of life. She didn’t miss a single moment.

And she thought that those eyes were exactly the same as the eyes she had seen that day at Prince Frederick’s birthday dinner as a child.

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