Episode 20: Turning Point (5)
I was fed up, but I had to make a choice. It was painfully regrettable. I didn’t want to choose either of the two options. But fearing that I might just stand there vacantly and end up slapped by Daniel, I swallowed my tears and made a choice.
“I don’t need your sympathy.”
Perhaps because I uttered words that didn’t come from the heart, my voice sounded awkward even in my own ears. Nevertheless, Daniel’s face contorted into a mess.
“Fine, you’re that kind of person.”
No, I’m not that kind of person! Percy seemed to effortlessly understand that it wasn’t my intention, so why don’t you get it?
‘Ugh, frustrating.’
When I was so annoyed that I wanted to pound my chest with my fist, suddenly, two large hands grabbed my shoulders. It felt like there would be a cracking sound due to the force, but there was no room for such a sound. It was because Daniel stared at me as if he were hurt, and I couldn’t even blink.
“What’s going on now?”
It was a gaze that felt like it was squeezing my heart tightly. I stood there frozen, unable to blink, with my gaze fixed. Then, Daniel spoke with a pained voice.
“But if you had told me earlier, I could have…”
You could have what?
I thought something poignant and affectionate would follow.
“Step aside.”
As if enchanted, Percy abruptly interrupted Daniel’s story. Daniel raised his head, his expression annoyed. Percy’s finger lightly tapped Daniel’s hand.
“The princess might get a bruise on her shoulder.”
“Ah.”
Acknowledging Percy’s point, Daniel finally released his grip on my shoulder. He lowered his head deeply.
“I’m sorry.”
I wanted to reply, “No problem,” but I couldn’t respond. I couldn’t help but feel the deep marks left on my round shoulders from how hard he had gripped them.
‘Why is he so ignorant and strong?’
My arms felt tingly, almost as if they were paralyzed. I was naturally frowning and looking at my shoulder when Daniel’s body trembled as if he were about to reach out to me again. But Percy blocked his path. He asked with a stern tone.
“What are you doing here, Daniel?”
“Commander.”
Percy, facing Daniel, seemed a bit taken aback but soon raised his head and answered decisively.
“I hurriedly followed when I heard that Commander had taken my fiancée and left the palace.”
“Your fiancée?”
“Princess Sienna is my fiancée. We’ve been engaged for four years.”
“Hmm.”
Percy only made a sniffing sound and didn’t say a word. Since Daniel was staring straight at Percy, the two naturally engaged in a stare-down.
In the meantime, as if casually draping a jacket over my shoulders, Julius pulled me back. He whispered in my ear.
“Hey, what’s going on? Is this a love triangle?”
A love triangle!
Surprisingly, it seemed like that was the situation. With Percy and Daniel squaring off on either side of me, it looked like they were in a standoff.
Julius, as if completely forgetting his status as the nation’s crown prince, chuckled and playfully poked my side.
“You’re quite skilled. How did you manage to create this situation?”
However, from my perspective, it wasn’t a love triangle at all. I was irritated because I had to go from here to the imperial palace, and in the midst of it, these two men were acting completely oblivious to the situation, only making it worse. Julius even had to chuckle, which just added to my annoyance. Unconsciously, I whispered a warning to Julius.
“Be careful, Julius.”
In response to my somewhat threatening warning, Julius raised an intrigued eyebrow and then awkwardly whispered.
“…You’ve become quite savage in my absence.”
His words made me realize that my thoughts had slipped out again.
To speak freely, I had to loosen my lips, as I had done before. Oh, I’m about to burst.
‘Why does the system always favor such savage lines? The system administrator must be a strange character too.’
I was shaking my head, imagining an unknown system administrator, when Percy, who had been sharply confronting Daniel, suddenly turned toward me.
“You seemed quite unhappy about the engagement. Maybe now is a good time to break it off. His Highness the Crown Prince can be a witness.”
“Huh? Me?”
Julius, who suddenly found himself in the spotlight, jumped in surprise. Then, he coughed belatedly and pretended to consider the weight of the situation while meeting Percy’s sharp, blade-like gaze.
“Well, if that’s what the parties involved want, I’m willing to assist. No, of course, I should be the witness.”
Oh my. You can see how nervous he is.
As I watched Julius with a pitiful look, I suddenly realized this fact and widened my eyes.
‘This is a turning point!’
A crossroads that could completely change the course of events leading to the future. A real turning point.
Despite the precarious situation I found myself in due to the steward, a turning point naturally presented itself before me. I clenched my fists.
‘If I break off the engagement with Daniel here, I won’t have any further entanglement with him.’
So, the choice I had to make at this turning point was crucial. I waited anxiously for the options to appear.
And I waited.
▶ It’s all just trivial stories. I’ll go to sleep.
▶ It’s all just trivial stories. I don’t like either option.
‘Ugh, seriously!!!’
In this crucial moment, the options were like this, and it infuriated me. If it were reality, I would have thrown my phone and shattered the screen.
But now, I couldn’t throw my phone, and I couldn’t uninstall the app to escape from this game. Despite my frustration, I made a calm choice.
‘Let’s think of it as choosing a politician. It’s not the best choice, but it’s the better one.’
I tried to suppress my growing frustration.
‘If I say I dislike both options, maybe they’ll both let go of my hand and disappear?’
Thinking that way, if both of them disappeared, or if some kind of emperor ending came about, my life would be ruined. In the end, I chose the first option.
“It’s all just trivial stories. I’ll go to sleep.”
In response to my answer, Julius exploded and shouted.
“Sienna! This is not the time for such talk!”
However, an unexpected figure stood up for me. It was Percy.
“It can’t be helped if she’s tired.”
“Lord Stewart!”
Julius looked at Percy, who was nodding in agreement, with an incredulous expression. Percy took a step closer to me, as if he were approaching a child, and patted my head gently.
“It seems you have finished eating. That’s considerate.”
‘What’s with this guy?’
In this world, nobody cared whether I ate or slept, so why was this man so insistent on invading my inner thoughts?
‘Why are you making that face again?’
Meanwhile, my fiancé, who should be glaring at me as if I were a wayward woman, was looking at me with a gaze usually reserved for a cheating fiancée.
* * *
Thanks to Percy, I was able to return to my room. Opening the door and entering my room was all I needed to do. I simply turned my back to the front and walked into the room.
Exhausted, I quickly collapsed onto the bed.
‘Oh, I just got up and now I don’t want to get up again.’
I shouldn’t be sleepy since I just woke up, but when I lay down, my eyes started to droop again. The reason was obvious for some reason.
‘This weakling.’
At first, I thought it was a delusion, but my thoughts were correct. My body was excessively weak, and I had no strength.
‘She skipped meals, so it’s only natural.’
I also understood why Sienna hadn’t eaten and had stayed in her room.
‘She probably thought the whole place was filled with enemies.’
In reality, that’s exactly how it was.
Only three days had passed, but Sienna’s life, which I had experienced firsthand, was incredibly tough. I let out a sigh as I lay on the bed.
‘Why can’t I meet a single intact human being?’
Shouldn’t there be at least one ally or follower?
Even the most wicked villainess has followers, right? So why do I have to fight alone?
As I thought about finding an ally, the face of the only person who had shown me kindness in the past three days came to mind. It was Percy.
‘Can I trust him?’
I pursed my lips. The system hadn’t given me any hints. Frowning, I shook my head.
‘No, even if I can’t trust him, it’s the same. There’s no one else.’
Although three days seemed short, in a women’s game, it was the time when various events unfolded. If he was the only person who had been kind to me during that time, then I should cling to him with all my might.
‘As far as I’ve confirmed, Beth was already employed by Count Bohan, right? Even if he was hired on the day itself, it would have started setting flags within three days.’
In “Victorian Love,” Beth’s targets were Count Bohanan and his sons. On the third day, flags would be set as Lucas, Daniel Bohan’s younger brother, saw Beth and Lucas passionately kissing in the study.
‘Then Daniel will find out about it. Daniel, who is severely germophobic, will think that the student he’s teaching and Beth, who kissed him, are dirty.’
In the process, he will also feel a strange attraction towards her. That was the event that would occur on the third day.
‘No, wait! Today is the third day, right? So Daniel came running here after seeing Lucas and Beth’s kissing scene at Count Bohan’s place, didn’t he?”
Did he look at me as if I were a wayward fiancée in such a situation?
‘Even though he probably had feelings for Beth too!’
Isn’t this double standards?
