Episode 89. The Final Event (2)

My serious warning made Julius scrunch his brows together in mock annoyance. Without warning, he reached out and pinched my nose tightly.

“What nonsense are you spouting, you silly girl?”

Pinching my nose like I was a child! I swatted his hand away and replied.

“You’re the one who keeps saying weird things! I’m not going to misunderstand, so stop creating those awkward moods.”

“Haha.”

Julius laughed cheerfully, rubbing the corner of his eyes as if wiping away tears.

“If you know the truth, why don’t the rest of the world get it? Are they all even dumber than this fool?”

“See? You get too comfortable when someone is nice to you.”

“Ow, ow, ow,”

Julius pretended to wince, even though I hadn’t even touched him. I pouted and lowered my hand, realizing that Julius shared some of the same thoughts I did.

I liked Julius, but it was different from how I felt about Percy. When I was with Percy, my heart fluttered, and I felt a deep affection. But with Julius, I only felt a comforting familiarity. It was because he was family.

‘But then there was the Empress Dowager, spewing such vile words earlier.’

Julius mentioned that “the world” thought that way, which made me wonder if there were rumors circulating outside the palace as well.

‘I’ll have to check on that later.’

It would be troublesome if strange rumors spread when I was supposed to marry Percy. While I was silently contemplating, Julius must have mistaken my silence for something else. He took the cold glass from my hand and spoke.

“Don’t worry. Mother won’t be returning to the palace. It’s better for her mental health to stay in the secluded palace. There are no good memories for her here, anyway.”

I hadn’t been thinking about the Empress Dowager, but I was relieved that she was being removed from the palace. I had a feeling that seeing her again would only lead to more trouble.

Julius pressed the glass of ice water to his swollen cheek. My gaze naturally followed his movements, noticing how he kept his gloves on even though the glass was surely sweating with condensation.

‘This is similar to why Percy wears gloves.’

Julius hadn’t always worn gloves, but ever since he became emperor, he rarely took them off, even during meals.

‘Percy’s gloves were to cover the barcode on his hand.’

So what was Julius hiding under his gloves? Why had he suddenly started wearing them?

Without thinking too much, I decided to ask directly, “Julius, what’s the mark on your hand?”

“What?”

Julius’s body tensed at my casual question, and after a moment of hesitation, he asked in a suspicious tone.

“…Have I ever shown it to you?”

‘So Julius has one too.’

His reaction confirmed it for me.

‘What does it mean?’

If it was something new that hadn’t been there before, it had to be significant. I frowned, deep in thought, and Julius reached out to gently pat my head.

“There’s no need to worry about it. It has nothing to do with you.”

“…”

Did he think I was concerned about getting a barcode on my own hand?

‘Still, it’s strange for such a young emperor to have a barcode. In most otome games, he’d have the qualities to be a main love interest, wouldn’t he?’

As I pondered this, I tilted my head.

‘Did Julius appear in the original story? He wasn’t in the part I played, at least.’

While there might be hidden characters in the game, I couldn’t recall any mention of Julius in the main plot. I tried to remember the cover of *Victorian Love*. There were only three male leads on the cover: Daniel, Count Bohan, and Daniel’s younger brother.

If I didn’t overcomplicate things, it seemed these three were the only main male characters. Percy and Julius might just be side characters who only showed up briefly during the villainess’s downfall.

Thinking of them as minor characters made the barcode on their hands seem more mysterious. I widened my eyes.

‘Could it be that the barcode marks characters who aren’t in the original story? But the maids didn’t have barcodes.’

While I was deep in thought, Julius lightly pressed his finger to the furrow in my brow and asked playfully.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“I’m just thinking how annoying all this is,” I replied.

This was all because I ended up in the palace. Back at the Stewart estate, I used to sleep in as much as I wanted, and when I woke up, I’d eat and bathe at my leisure.

The only way to solve my problems was to escape the palace. I grabbed Julius’s shoulders and shook him.

“Just marry me off already. Isn’t it a brother’s role to send his sister away as soon as a suitor appears?”

“Send you off quickly? Why?”

“We’re real siblings. Real siblings are supposed to do that.”

Not only send them off quickly but also warn the suitor with something like, ‘Have you really thought this through? She may be my sister, but she has her quirks,’ while showing embarrassing childhood photos. That’s what brothers are supposed to do.

Julius tilted his head and chuckled at my response. “Since when were we such close siblings?”

“Exactly. Until just recently, I disliked you almost as much as I disliked Father.”

“That’s harsh.”

Did he hate the emperor that much? I didn’t know that. Sorry, Julius.

‘But back then, I really did dislike Julius.’

I never imagined we’d get along so well now, and it was still one of the most unbelievable things to me.

As I recalled the first time I met Julius, I shivered slightly. Julius looked at me with a strangely nostalgic smile and said, “It would’ve been better if you were a truly wicked person.”

“…?”

What was that supposed to mean? He always grumbled about how mean I was.

‘Julius, is something wrong?’

I wanted to ask, but before I could open my mouth, Julius waved his hand, signaling me to leave.

“Go on, now. I’m really tired.”

He genuinely seemed like he wanted to be alone, so I had no choice but to leave, albeit reluctantly.

* * *

I had been grumbling and cursing Julius under my breath as I worked, but as the banquet drew nearer, my complaints began to decrease. The workload naturally lessened as well.

‘Ah, I can finally breathe a little,’

I thought with relief.

The preparations for the banquet were mostly complete, and it was now up to the staff to handle the remaining details. After finishing my dance and etiquette lessons for the day, I decided to skip the office and instead lounged around in my room, sprawled out on my bed.

‘This is the life.’

I mused with a chuckle.

Just as I was enjoying my peaceful moment, there was a soft knock on the door. A maid, avoiding eye contact and keeping her head bowed, spoke to me.

“Your Highness, a gift has arrived for you.”

“A gift?”

Her hesitance to enter the room indicated that I should see it for myself. I reluctantly got up and followed the maid to the dressing room adjacent to my bedroom.

In the center of the dressing room stood two mannequins, each adorned with a different dress. One was a striking red lace dress, as vibrant as a blooming rose, and the other was a pristine white dress, elegant and simple in design.

The maid pointed to the red dress and said.

“This dress was sent by Duke Stewart.”

“Oh my.”

I murmured, reaching out to touch the fabric of the red dress. It was so soft that it felt as though it was slipping through my fingers like water.

“Not something I’d expect from him.”

I couldn’t easily imagine Percy picking out a dress. Although I knew he was more attentive than his stoic appearance suggested, this still seemed out of character.

As I gazed at Percy’s dress, my eyes naturally drifted to the white dress beside it.

“And what about this one?”

“This dress was sent by His Majesty.”

“Julius?”

What were the odds of them both sending dresses on the same day, at the same time? It didn’t seem like a coincidence.

The maid, expressionless, bowed her head slightly, but I could sense that this was weighing on her mind. I turned away with a haughty remark that fit the role of a villainess perfectly.

“Ah, men always seem to need to assert their dominance over the smallest things.”

Though I pretended not to care, I had already memorized every detail of the white dress. It was a high-necked, fully covered, and very dignified design.

‘It looks just like a wedding dress.’

I had warned him not to give people the wrong idea, yet here he was sending me a dress with such an obvious implication.

Clicking my tongue in disapproval, I started to walk out of the dressing room but stopped short when I noticed the maid still standing there with her head bowed.

“What is it? Do you have something you want to say to me?”

“No, Your Highness. Once you’ve made your choice, I will show you the matching jewelry.”

“Alright.”

It was a normal conversation, yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

‘She’s acting a bit strange.’

Her body language seemed to scream that there was something she wanted to tell me. I took a step closer to her and lifted her chin gently with my finger.

“Hey, you.”

“Yes?”

“I’ve been in the palace lately, so I’m out of the loop. If there’s any interesting news in the marketplace, would you let me know?”

“Well…”

I gave her a scrutinizing look as she hesitated, then casually reached out and grabbed a random piece of jewelry.

— Clink

A large necklace with a gem the size of my thumb caught on my hand, and I draped it around her neck.

“This necklace seems like it would suit you better.”