Chapter 46
“What, what? This…”
“Or did you mean to tell me that I am about to die at the hands of the Emperor? If that’s the case, then I must not have grasped the magnitude of your meaning.”
A sharp click rang through the air, and there was silence for a few seconds. Sylvia’s head turned, breathing heavily, and then her hand slowly moved and cupped her rapidly swelling cheek.
As if his daughter’s slap hadn’t done enough to calm him down, the Duke of Joubert breathed heavily, his face a mask of anger. Then he exploded, shouting.
“How dare you pass judgment on me? You just do what I tell you to do. I never once asked you for your opinion!”
“Ha…”
“You’re mine anyway. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be here in the first place, and you wouldn’t have the life you have. Don’t be so presumptuous.”
His harsh voice was punctuated by the sound of grinding teeth. Sylvia, who had been staring down at the ground, swallowing hard, looked up, her eyes narrowing.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do that. I think your judgment is very much clouded. Drugging that monster and ordering me to crawl into his bedroom. I’m as good as dead the moment I try that, and even if I’m lucky enough to pull it off, I’ll be found out and killed.”
“Sylvia!”
“Oh, I’m sure my orphaned father doesn’t care about my life, but the family name he’s so proud of? The moment I am caught, my father will have a hard time escaping, won’t he?”
Unlike the Duke of Joubert, who had lost his cool, Sylvia’s tone was sarcastic.
“Do you even think I know how much the Emperor annoys my father?”
A cold smile tugged at the corners of Sylvia’s mouth. It was obvious mockery. The Duke of Joubert was furious to the core at Sylvia’s fearless mockery of him, after all the time he had spent behaving like a doll. His head was white with rage.
His face contorted with rage, he threw his hands up in the air again.
“… You ungrateful wench, you dare to dodge?”
As if for the first time, Sylvia stepped back without hesitation, then turned on her heel and stalked off into the bushes. She listened to see if anyone was coming out for some air, and the sound of horses began to draw nearer.
“Hey…!”
Thankfully, this restored some sanity to the Duke of Joubert, who was about to grab Sylvia by the hair and run after her. Gritting his teeth, he stared deadly in the direction Sylvia had disappeared, then turned back toward the hall.
And Alicia, who had been watching them from a distance, stiffened.
***
I glared in disgust in the direction the Duke of Joubert had disappeared.
‘… To attack Thierry, and with drugs? Are you insane?’
I couldn’t hear all of the conversation from the distance, but I could make out enough of it from the muffled sounds.
I think the ‘pochi’ made her nervous and she did something unreasonable, but I was surprised that she did it in such a forbidden way. I wondered why Sylvia was the villain in the original, and it was understandable since she grew up with parents like that. I’m glad that Sylvia rebelled against the Duke of Joubert and didn’t obey his wishes, because the situation was different from the original.
I wonder if that’s enough to make her want to break away from the Duke?
Yesterday’s enemies became today’s allies, how can Sylvia once…
“Princess, what are you doing there?”
The sudden voice made me jump out of my crouch.
“Hmph, Your Majesty, uh!”
“Princess, are you okay?”
“Ugh, my leg…”
“What’s wrong with your leg, did you hurt it?”
Thierry urgently closed the distance. I almost fell back down, but he caught me with amazing quickness and wrapped his strong arms around my waist.
“Ugh, my leg is…”
For a moment, my vision went white, and I didn’t have time to realize what was happening. I leaned into Thierry’s arms, clutching desperately at his chest, not realizing that my body was trapped in his arms.
“It’s tingling… Hmph.”
For the briefest of moments, patheticness flashed in Thierry’s eyes, his gaze skimming over my legs as if he’d forgotten all about his kindness.
“… Here, sit down.”
He put one knee on the floor and propped up the other to sit me on top of him. I sat down on his thighs and stared up at his sideways face in bewilderment.
I almost gasped at the handsome face in front of me. My lips curled inward, my eyes rolled, and I felt a gentle hand gently squeeze my calf.
“Ah, Your Majesty, it’s okay!”
“Hold still.”
Now I’m confused by the pain. My thighs struggled to break free of his grip, but it was no use; as if that wasn’t enough of a struggle for him, he tightened his grip on my waist and calves, pressing himself closer.
I felt like my heart was going to explode. I wondered if Thierry could hear my heartbeat.
“I’m really okay now…”
I stuttered and glanced over at him, but my attention was soon drawn to the delicate eyelashes, half-lowered and moving languidly. His touch on my calf was soft, unlike his hard body, and his body next to mine was hot, melting the chill in an instant.
“…”
I stared blankly at my sculpted side.
“What do you think?”
His question crashed into my ears like a clap of thunder.
“Wow, I love it!”
I jumped up in my seat, almost as if I were competing. The arms that had been so firmly wrapped around my waist a moment ago released me with surprising ease.
‘What’s with the pose? Isn’t that raunchy? You’re crazy, man, why are you sitting there?’
While I was ranting to myself, Thierry remained in the same position, staring at the spot where I had been sitting a moment ago.
There seemed to be a genuine regret in his eyes, as if he was in a bad mood. I couldn’t look away, wanting more of his gaze, which tickled my chest in a strange way. But then he squeezed and unclasped his hand around my waist and stood up, and I quickly looked away, pretending I hadn’t seen him.
“You’re so cold. Have you been out here too long?”
“Oh… Yeah, I was just feeling a little stuffy inside, so I thought I’d come out for a minute, I didn’t realize how long it was.”
I rolled my eyes as I crossed my arms and rubbed my forearms lazily. I glanced over at him, then quickly looked away when he tried to make eye contact. For some reason, I felt like if I made eye contact, I’d feel weird again, like I did earlier. I couldn’t help it if he looked at me suspiciously.
“Princess.”
“What?”
“Why aren’t you looking at me?”
“Oh. I’m just, uh, looking at the beautiful sky… Haha, it’s a beautiful day.”
I glanced up from looking at the garden a moment ago and looked at the sky.
His voice sounded like he was in a bad mood. Yeah, I can’t keep avoiding it. I thought to myself, and slowly lowered my gaze to look at him.
‘Oh, why am I doing this, please stop…’
His red eyes looked complicated as they scanned my awkwardly smiling face. As if they were filled with mixed emotions.
His pensive mood made me forget that I had been avoiding him all this time, and I turned to face him.
“You don’t have to stay. Let me know if you want to go back to the palace.”
He tilted his head at an angle and mumbled something incoherent.
“Is that okay?”
“Yes. Come with me.”
I jumped at the unexpected and welcome sound, but the reply made the corners of my mouth twitch again.
“Oh… With you? His Majesty is already on your way?”
“Yes.”
I was surprised at how quickly he answered, and how firmly he said it, as if I could stab him and not draw a drop of blood.
‘No, that would be…’
If I left the party with Thierry, I was sure that strange rumors would follow.
I was already nervous about what people would say if they were seen out on the terrace together, but the Emperor disappearing from the hall with the princess he’d escorted? Whatever rumors were circulating were sure to be the worst.
‘Haha, damn…’
I looked at him through cloudy eyes, the corners of my mouth twitching upward.
“… Come to think of it, it’s still Debutante, so I think I can stay a little longer. I’m going to go get that shawl.”
“Do it.”
“Oh, I just wanted to take a walk, I’ve been staying in one place too long…”
“Are you avoiding me again?”
His low voice interrupts me, and I sigh. The slight crack in his voice sounded strangely hurtful, and for a moment all my thinking stopped.
I stared at him blankly, not even bothering to close my open mouth in shock. He stared at me, unblinking, and then slowly reached out his hand.
“… Am I bothering you?”
A languid hand swept the disheveled hair over my shoulder.
“Yes, me? How dare I, Your Majesty, how dare I!”
For a moment, I panicked and almost blurted out my true feelings. Luckily, my last shred of reason held me back from spewing out the raw, unorganized words in my head, but I couldn’t help but feel nervous.
‘Did he notice, he’s staring at me nervously.’
The loose grip of his fingers on the ends of her hair was unnerving. The sound of the wind tickling the bushes and the sweet music from the hall beyond the door barely filled the silence between us.
‘I wish you could say something at this point…’
I rolled my eyes, feeling choked up, before Thierry spoke.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
