Chapter 47
Thierry’s words were a whisper, as if they were about to die.
‘Huh?’
It was the last thing I expected to hear. I looked up at him, wide-eyed.
‘Why, are you looking at me like that?’
He frowned slightly, as if he were suppressing something, and the corners of his mouth turned up in contradiction, and the smile that forced itself to form was fleeting, but it stuck with me.
I was speechless at how unfamiliar he looked.
And a great shock hit me like a giant boulder at the guilt-inducing vulnerability.
I felt my vague prejudice that he was selfish and wouldn’t be hurt by it crumble.
Our gaze met in the air, but was soon broken when he lowered his head. His face, hollowed out by our height difference, was unobstructed and fully visible to me.
“… I’m not coming with you. But make sure you take Oscar with you.”
My heart lurched in my chest. My stomach felt tight and my mouth went dry, like I’d swallowed more than I could handle.
‘Oh… This is bad.’
It’s driving me crazy that Thierry keeps making it seem like he really cares about me.
***
Thierry let me go, as promised.
The only problem was me. I had to fight back the urge to stare at his long, lonely back as he walked away.
‘You’re getting into the spirit,’ I thought, ‘come on. Get a grip.’
I headed for the entrance foyer, trying my best to ignore my mood.
“Princess, are you out already?”
The foyer was manned by maids who couldn’t follow me to the hall, so I saw Marie right away. I nodded slightly and held out my hand to Marie.
“I’m going for a walk. Can I have your shawl?”
Marie took the shawl she’d packed and draped it around my shoulders before quietly following me out of the palace. I’d gotten used to having Oscar and Marie following me, so I just let it happen.
I scanned my surroundings, wondering if I should take a walk in the nearby gardens.
‘Now that I think about it, this is near where Sylvia and the Duke were arguing earlier. Where did she go?’
I turned in the direction Sylvia had disappeared, realizing that if I cut through the bushes to the garden, she wouldn’t have gone back to the mansion yet unless she walked.
‘If there’s anywhere in the garden that could be there, it’s the gazebo… Why don’t we go there?’
I immediately thought of a place where I could go to see if it was worth my while to wander around. Oscar and Marie followed quietly behind me, probably thinking I was just going for a walk in the garden.
I headed in the direction that would lead me through the bushes, and luckily, I ended up in the middle of the trail. I scanned the well-maintained paths of flowers and trees, looking for Sylvia.
‘Oh… She’s really here?’
As I approached the gazebo in the distance, I recognized the silver hair from earlier. I had expected her to be in the gazebo, but it was a bit of a surprise to see her there.
‘Where’s…?’
I half-impulsively searched for it, but when I found Sylvia, I didn’t know what to do.
I signaled to Oscar and Marie to stay quiet and stay where they were, and then slowly walked away. I braced myself for the possibility that she might be crying and approached the gazebo.
“Damn old man!”
But no. It wasn’t crying, but a small growl that pierced my ears. The anger in her voice was palpable, and I cringed.
I ducked behind a tree and looked in the direction of the hissing.
It was Sylvia, breathing heavily in exasperation, and her eyes looked as if they might burst into tears at any moment.
“This is what I’ve had to put up with all this time? Being treated like a doll!”
As she buried her face in her hands and shouted as if she couldn’t bear it anymore, Sylvia’s appearance was suffocating, with her shaky breathing, her back heaving, and her wandering steps. She looked so nervous that the original portrayal of her as a wicked woman was completely forgotten.
“I’m going to end up in the hands of a dying old man… When I can do so much better than those incompetents, and all I’m worth is conception.”
There was silence for a moment, and a cool breeze rustled the bushes. Sylvia tilted her head back, muttering to herself in a weak voice, as if the wind were carrying the heat away with it.
At that moment, a rustling sound cut through the silence. I stumbled back for a moment, staring at the pitifully grief-stricken face, only to realize it was me.
“Who is it?!”
Sylvia’s expression quickly turned sharp as a hedgehog’s spikes.
‘I’m screwed…’
I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. I was embarrassed that I’d been caught at such a bad time, and that I looked so grim.
I glanced at my feet in frustration, then sulked and cautiously stepped out.
“Are you… Princess Ashtad, and what are you doing there now?”
“I’m sorry, the mood seemed serious, and I couldn’t help but hide.”
Sylvia opened her mouth as if to say something, then flinched in slight surprise when I immediately apologized. My quick admission of fault was strange to her, as pride and honor are usually a matter of life and death in aristocratic society.
Fortunately, I had done my homework, and Sylvia glanced at me, her anger abated.
“Where were we?”
“Um…”
I had a feeling that if I spilled the beans here, Sylvia’s anger would flare up again. I just rolled my eyes in embarrassment and stuttered.
“I guess that’s all you heard?”
“I don’t know if it’s all, just a little bit…”
I arched my eyebrows, trying to look as pitiful as possible. At first, Sylvia looked at me in disbelief, then her expression faded. She stared at me with deep, thoughtful eyes, and then she took a step forward.
Sylvia’s piercing blue eyes shone with a gleam.
“So, I’m going to ask you outright what happened.”
Her posture was unnervingly confrontational. Sylvia, who had walked up to me with an overwhelming force that made me feel like I should call her big sister, looked down at me defiantly.
‘No, why are you approaching me? Isn’t it okay to ask me there…’
I followed her out of curiosity, but I couldn’t help but cringe as I hadn’t anticipated this turn of events. I clasped my hands in front of my chest, as if to reassure myself that I hadn’t been so bold as to chase after Sylvia.
“Does the Princess intend to marry His Majesty?”
For a moment, I thought my body had turned to stone, frozen in place, whether from cognitive dissonance or a desire to back away from the question so out of the blue.
‘… What?’
I pursed my lips in a dumbfounded expression. The words didn’t come out of my mouth right away because I didn’t know how to react.
“Princess?”
Sylvia called me through clenched teeth. Even though she was calling me by my proper title, I could clearly feel that she was suppressing my emotions.
“Ah, yes. First of all, Monsieur Joubert, I’ve met you once before from afar, but here we are.”
“Well, it’s not the best time to be polite anyway, so why don’t you just make it easy on yourself?”
“If that’s what you want… So, I take it you’re asking about my marriage to His Majesty?”
“Yes.”
“Out of the blue?”
“You weren’t supposed to ask?”
“No, no, no, I didn’t mean that, I meant why I’m marrying His Majesty, because Hus Majesty and I are not like that!”
“Not even a little bit?”
“No!”
I wondered if she meant to ask if I was trying to seduce the Emperor since I’d been dragged into this mess, but whatever it was, it wasn’t, so I answered firmly.
“Ha? I shouldn’t hear any rumors.”
“What rumor?”
“That Princess and the Emperor are having an unusual relationship.”
“No, that’s…”
“If that’s the rumor, you’re responsible!”
“It’s…?”
“Well, you’re so close, it’s a rumor, and it’s only right that it should work out for the best, so why not!”
It was a huge jump. I stared at Sylvia, my eyes wide with surprise. What is she talking about?
The more she talked, the angrier she got, and she even got in my face with a snarl.
It was almost ridiculous that she was trying to get rid of a rival, but what she was saying was the exact opposite of what she was doing. I guessed it was because she had been insulted by the Duke of Joubert earlier, but I was still puzzled.
“… Rumors are inherently inflated, aren’t they? His Majesty has taken an interest in me, but it’s hard to believe it’s directed solely at me.”
“You mean, by any chance, the maid who disappeared?”
Sylvia was quick to catch on. I nodded once, knowing that I didn’t have to deny it. Then she looked at me with a pensive look on her face, as if she was thinking about something, and slowly shook her head.
“Did His Majesty say anything about the resemblance between the maid and Princess?”
“He didn’t say that, but I’m guessing that’s the only reason he’s interested in me.”
“Then they are being sarcastic, because I know he is not the kind of person to take an interest in someone for such a thing in the first place. If anything, the mere fact that you’re making such a guess suggests that Princess is being given special treatment by His Majesty, doesn’t it?”
