OVHC Chapter 19

Chapter 19

 

 

 

Tears fell from Anette’s eyes. If someone saw her, they might think a fairy had appeared—she looked so pure and beautiful.

Edwin couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Is she crying?

He had assumed that Anette cried when she was kicked out of the mansion, but thinking back, she wasn’t the type to cry. He had even thought she was pretending.

Is she someone who can shed tears?

Seeing her cry left Edwin confused.

“Oh…”

Anette looked up at him in a daze.

He seemed familiar.

But she couldn’t quite remember where she had seen him before.

Grey eyes, grey hair.

Even in this situation, she found him so handsome that she couldn’t help but notice his cold yet striking features.

A man this good-looking saved my life?

Anette thought it must be fate. A destined romance for sure!

But there was no time to think about that now.

She was so tense that she could barely breathe.

“Th-Thank you for helping me,” she said softly.

Edwin doubted his ears.

Anette Etheled… thank someone in such a gentle voice?

He must have misheard.

“Sorry, but… could you help me stand up?”

She reached out and grabbed his arm as if it were her lifeline.

By her standards, this was the filthy, lowly arm of a mercenary—one she wouldn’t even want to look at.

And yet…

Now, she was clinging to it, using it for support.

Her grip was so desperate that Edwin instinctively held onto her fragile arm.

“Tha—”

Before she could finish speaking, Anette suddenly collapsed.

The overwhelming tension had drained her strength.

The stress of the dangerous situation had been too much for her weak body to handle.

“…Why… why?”

Edwin muttered as he caught her small, unconscious body in his arms.

She had always treated him like an insect.

And yet, now… why?

He couldn’t understand what he was feeling.

But one thing was certain—

He could never kill Anette Etheled now.

The resolve to end her life crumbled like a lie.

He didn’t know why.

“…Anette Etheled.”

For the first time, he said her name out loud.

If she heard him say it, what would she do? Call it disgusting? Look at him with disdain. Or would she react in some unexpected way again?

“….”

Holding her delicate body in his arms, Edwin began to walk.

He was heading to the Duke of Royce’s mansion.

The Royce mansion was in chaos.

Anette Etheled—the infamous troublemaker—had returned.

The woman who had once tried to kill the kind Lady Heine Royce, got caught, and was thrown out… was back.

For the servants of the mansion, this was a nightmare.

They were all on high alert.

Anette had been a tyrant before she left.

Only the Duke of Royce and Berndt Royce had been able to scold her. For the servants and knights, she had been untouchable.

The male servant who had last received a beating from her was so terrified that he nearly collapsed.

The female servants were just as scared.

Everyone had a story about suffering under Anette’s wrath.

They were too afraid to even whisper about her.

Anette had sharp ears. If someone talked about her behind her back, she always found out.

But something even more shocking had happened.

“What? Sir Carte? Is he insane?”

“He carried her back here?”

The servants weren’t even speaking out loud. They were lip-syncing their conversation. Thanks to Anette, they had become experts in silent communication.

They were in disbelief because of Edwin Carte.

Edwin was Lady Heine’s most loyal knight.

And he hated Anette.

He never seemed afraid of her, but he disliked her.

Many servants had seen Anette hurling insults at Edwin before.

After all those humiliating words, how could he not hate her?

Lady Heine’s maid and Edwin had suffered the worst of Anette’s temper.

But Heine’s maid had endured it like a saint.

And Edwin…

No one could tell what he was thinking. He never showed emotion.

Heine, her maid, and Berndt—these three were considered legends among the servants for their patience.

Still, it was obvious that even they despised Anette.

Yet now, Edwin had carried an unconscious Anette back to the mansion.

And not just carried her—he had held her like a princess.

Some servants were skeptical.

“Her dress was covered in dust. What if Sir Carte knocked her out first, dragged her here, and only picked her up when he reached the mansion?”

“Oh! That makes sense!”

That explanation seemed much more realistic.

So, the servants agreed that was what had happened.

But the servants weren’t the only ones shocked.

“Hand Anette over. Now.”

Berndt Royce’s temper flared the moment he saw Edwin holding Anette.

Why?

Because he hated Edwin.

He couldn’t stand the lowly mercenary-turned-knight.

Berndt snatched Anette from Edwin’s arms.

The thought of a filthy mercenary holding her infuriated him.

As Anette’s warmth left his arms, Edwin’s expression twisted slightly.

It was a small change—his face was usually expressionless—but it was enough for Berndt to notice.

It annoyed him.

But what annoyed him more was how Anette looked.

Her fine dress was tattered and covered in dust.

There was even a small wound on her ankle.

A noble lady in a filthy maid’s dress? Ridiculous.

“What happened to her?”

“She was surrounded by thugs in an alley. I brought her back.”

An alley? Thugs?

Those words didn’t belong anywhere near Anette Etheled.

She was above such filth.

Berndt clenched his teeth in anger.

He hated himself for allowing her to be thrown out.

“Go back to your quarters.”

“Yes, sir.”

Berndt glared at Edwin before heading up the spiral staircase, carrying Anette.

“Bring warm water and clean towels! Now!”

He barked at a passing servant.

The man ran off in a panic.

“Anette Etheled… what are you planning this time?”

He carefully placed her on the luxurious bed.

Her sleeping face was so calm, so beautiful.

That made him hate her even more.

He wanted to see her broken and afraid.

But now, seeing her like this, something in his chest felt… strange.

He had said so many cruel things to her.

Not all of it had been true.

He just wanted to hurt her, the way she had hurt him.

To prove that his words mattered to her.

To make her feel something.

But now, he wasn’t sure anymore.

He thought of the insults he had thrown at her before she left:

“You? A crown princess? Don’t be ridiculous. 

Heine is the only true lady of this house. You’re nothing but the princess of a fallen kingdom. 

A slave—that’s what you should have been. A slave, not a princess. 

And yet you dream of being a queen? How laughable.”

She hadn’t reacted.

She had just looked at him with empty eyes.

Maybe it was all his fault.

Maybe that’s why she had run away to the temple.

And that damn temple knight, Lucas Roiental.

Berndt still remembered what Lucas had told him:

“She belongs to the temple now.”

Berndt had vowed at that moment—

Anette would never leave the Royce mansion again.

No matter what tricks she played.