Chapter 17
Clyde’s head, which had been held high, gradually lowered. In that moment, a clear, melodious voice, higher in pitch than Clyde’s, resonated from nearby, like the dawn.
Edith instinctively pushed his hand away, distancing herself from Clyde and turned to the one calling her.
With a face made of transparent skin like clear water, she couldn’t hide her surprise as she gazed at the two.
“Artie…,” she uttered, meeting like this was unexpected. No wonder her steps felt slow.
Although Adrian had gone to fetch Adrian, who had been left behind as they left, they were caught up in the moment of hesitation.
It ended up putting the original intention and counteraction in the worst situation. Perhaps the slight distortion of Adrian’s lower eyelids was due to the feeling. The flesh that had thickly adorned his beauty now appeared thinly drawn. His bewildered gaze alternated between Edith and Clyde. Still, he recognized Clyde’s status through his sophisticated sleeve decorations and attire.
“Adrian Raymond, Viscount Lianne III, greets Your Excellency. It is an unexpected honor to meet you.”
Bowing respectfully with one knee and arm folded, his purple hair loosely tied back, Adrian lowered his head at the appropriate angle. Clyde received Adrian’s greeting with an imposing demeanor.
“Thanks to Edith, I have the pleasure of meeting the Raymond family in the palace.”
“Your Highness, I’m honored.” Adrian’s complexion remained somewhat grim.
He may not have viewed the relationship between Edith and the prince as particularly special. The atmosphere was chillingly formal.
“Thank you. I will take the liberty to visit Edith frequently.”
Clyde’s formal statement was directly grasped by Adrian. It was nothing short of a declaration to meet her often.
As Edith took a step back and removed Clyde’s touch, his gaze turned fierce this time. His dazzling golden eyes resembled those of a wolf.
“What’s wrong, Edith? Hold my hand,” he insisted, approaching again to escort her, as if he didn’t understand English.
Something was off. Their meeting wasn’t going as planned. She had hoped that with just a greeting, things would somehow fall into place, but it unfolded entirely differently.
Shouldn’t there be a magnetic attraction between the protagonists of the original story? But no.
Despite her best efforts to observe, there was no sign of any special feeling between the two men.
Adrian looked sharp while maintaining decorum, and Clyde behaved possessively towards her like a lover. She needed to change the atmosphere. The plan was originally to bring them together and sneakily withdraw herself.
Pretending not to see Clyde’s outstretched hand, Edith casually asked, “Your Highness, where is the South Point Bench? Is it far from here?”
“If you take the shortest route, you’ll get there quickly. The maze adds some fun twists to the path, but in terms of distance, it’s not far,”
Clyde replied. “Great, let’s go then,” she said, lining up behind him as an indication to move on.
In fact, she had wanted to do this since earlier. If the path is narrow, why not walk in single file?
There was no need to stick close together unnecessarily. Clyde clenched his outstretched hand into a fist, showing clear displeasure, but he couldn’t refuse her request and led the way forward.
During the walk with Edith between them, no one spoke. She was the only one feeling awkward in the difficult atmosphere. The situation of relentlessly shattering the secretly held expectations continued.
When she glanced back discreetly, Adrian gestured to talk separately, and Clyde kept reaching out his hand ahead. The problem was, they didn’t even look at each other.
Even if they were to argue and reconcile following the typical storyline, they should still show some interest while disliking each other.
But they only seemed to dislike each other without showing any interest. She couldn’t figure out why. What could be the reason for the stark difference from the original story?
By the time they finally arrived at the point, she was sweating profusely from the efforts of racking her brains and keeping up with the pace.
A vast circular space covered with grass appeared in the distance. Flowers bloomed abundantly around the central garden, captivating her gaze with the quaint marble sculptures adorning the bench set.
However, she momentarily failed to properly see beneath her feet due to a sudden gust of wind, causing her to trip over a rock.
“Oops!” She staggered and bent forward.
The clear sky spun rapidly. A sudden rush of wind beside her ear felt like riding a roller coaster. Her vision blurred white, and she felt a sense of emptiness in front of her eyes.
It was different from just falling over. The moment she realized something was amiss, a scene from the original story overlapped with the marble statue and the screen.
“[Clyde slowly approached ==. Like clouds gathering, the distant hum of the banquet hall faded away, leaving only Clyde in ==’s swaying vision and deafening ears.]”
What’s going on? Why is Clyde’s counterpart’s name erased? It was supposed to be Adrian. She distinctly remember this passage from the limited content she’s seen.
“[The serving cart prepared for hall serving bumped into == from behind. There was no room to retreat. ==’s foot froze between the closely approaching Clyde and the food behind.]”
“[Who is the undisclosed person? It should obviously be Adrian, but if it’s replaced with ==, should I consider the possibility of someone else? ]”
Moreover, the timing of this illusion appearing was exquisite. It was right after the original story changed for the first time according to Edith’s plan.
Perhaps the timing of the first meeting between the two protagonists has changed, leading to alterations in the original story. But even if that’s the case, how can names be erased when the background or situation changes? As she struggled to recover from the shock, the text continued to scroll up.
“[Crash! == clumsily overturned the plate, spilling its contents. Stains appeared vividly on the sleeves. As strawberries were pressed into the palm, the white lace gradually marked with stains.]”
“Clyde grabbed ==’s hand, stained with sweet juice. The strawberries squished heavily.”
So, who is the person who overturned the plate?
“The scent of fruit sweetness mingled with Clyde’s beast-like alpha aroma. A closeness that made one lose their mind.”
“== trembled, fingers intertwined with his.”
Meanwhile, the novel was transitioning into a gradually heating scene, continuing to entice her to read on. Edith focused on the hologram-like text, trying to find hints about ==’s identity and wanting to reread what happened while squishing the strawberries.
But Edith was in the midst of falling.
In a brief moment, the original story passed by. Just before her head hit the ground, Adrian, who had been following behind, quickly grabbed her elbow.
“Careful, Edith.”
Thanks to him, she narrowly avoided a crisis. Adrian not only pulled her elbow but also swiftly wrapped his arm around her waist. His long, slender hand spread widely as he embraced her, exerting unexpectedly strong yet reassuring force.
It was random, but she recalled the moment when Adrian emphasized his strength. It was as if he was confident in using his stamina. There was also an implied meaning that he didn’t want to be seen only as a delicate omega.
She exerted strength in her toes to stand up straight and glanced back at Adrian.
“… Thank you.”
“Thanks. You could’ve been hurt.”
Although his arm around her waist soon loosened, he didn’t release her elbow. Clyde’s expression turned grim as he stepped forward.
He hesitated to grab her outstretched hand reflexively, then clenched his fist belatedly.
“Let go of that hand.”
Clyde intervened with a chewed tone.
“A stone was sticking out in the middle of the path. I will escort Edith.”
“Then I’ll assist.”
“How dare you accept His Highness’s help? I will do it.”
Honestly, Edith found these moments somewhat amusing when reading the original. Why should I be assisted? I’m healthy and uninjured.
Just because I stumbled for a moment, the two men offered to take care of her.
“I’m really fine. And isn’t that the South Point right there?”
She deliberately avoided the two men who seemed to be competing to look after her and headed towards the bench alone.
However, she felt a slight wobble in her shoe not far ahead. It seemed her shoe broke when she tripped over the rock.
This time, Adrian was quick again. He hurried after her and observed her unsteady steps.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“I’m not hurt, but I think my heel broke.”
“Oh no. Shall I take a look?”
Suddenly, her body jerked. Clyde had unexpectedly lifted her from behind.
“Oops!”
Almost like she was being abducted, she screamed in panic.
Clyde supported her knees and lower back, effortlessly bringing her close to his chest. Carrying the weight of an adult woman seemed meaningless to him, as the motion flowed so smoothly.
“Since you can’t walk, there’s no choice. I have to carry you.”
“Please, put me down.”
“We’re almost there. Just stay like this for a moment.”
Though she wanted to squirm out of his embrace, fearing it might increase the burden visibly, she dared not move recklessly. She had to avoid the worst-case scenario of Clyde dropping her because she felt heavy.
She gathered her stiffened toes neatly and placed her hand on his shoulder to distribute her weight.
“Your Highness, I can still walk even if my heel is broken. My steps may be awkward, but I’ll manage.”
She couldn’t bring herself to voice her inner thoughts.
Being embraced in the strong scent of a male, her mouth felt frozen.
“Your Highness, I’ll take care of Edith.”
Clyde was too preoccupied making eye contact with her to even acknowledge Adrian, who was following closely behind.
Why did passing through the last corridor of the maze feel so slow? Anxious, Edith tightly gripped the shoulder of his coat.
But somehow, the embrace felt natural. His arms and torso enveloped her body as if they had hugged like this before, but she couldn’t recall any such memory. Logically, she had never been embraced like a princess by Clyde before.
“Your Highness, have I ever… experienced something similar?”
He nodded without hesitation.
“No, of course not. Why would I have ever held you like this?”
Suppressing his amusement, Clyde inwardly enjoyed the situation.
On that overtime night, Edith had no recollection of being held by him and moved to the bed. Only Clyde remembered that night.
A smile crept onto his face involuntarily, revealing a loose mouth and exuding a charmingly magnetic aura.
As he reminisced about the previous night, Clyde’s expression concealed the new plan forming in his mind.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is Sid. I hope you liked it <3
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