“Episode 17”
“You said it was for my sake, but it wasn’t without selfishness on my part either,” I knew it was true, and you knew it too. When I chuckled nervously, his gaze lowered. “I’ve been feeling a bit anxious, you know, seeing you getting hurt all the time. Well, to be honest.” He tried to avoid sugarcoating his words. “I didn’t like you continuously misunderstanding me. I…” He hesitated for a moment. I found his demeanor both strange and intriguing. If he were truly selfish, he wouldn’t bother apologizing to me. You’re His Highness Joshua, you didn’t need to feel sorry for me from the beginning, as childhood friends. Even amid my tangled thoughts, I felt as clear as day how much I had distorted Prince Joshua’s image. ‘He really wasn’t the person rumors made him out to be.’ I learned that he had a much more genuine and unadorned side. I waited for his next words as if awaiting a verdict. For a moment, his eyes saddened. I wondered why, and before I could express my confusion, Prince Joshua opened his mouth. “I was alone, but memories of our childhood were very precious to me.” I chuckled softly at his words. “…You really suffer too much, Your Highness.” His slightly pointed words seemed to reassure him instead, and he smiled faintly. * “If you ever need help, feel free to contact me,” Prince Joshua said, and I nodded as if understanding. “Your Highness, you don’t have to worry too much about me since we were children. You’re busy.” I thought I had repaid him for the kindness he showed me when we were young. But at that moment, he shook his head seriously. “Please don’t say it so cruelly.” “Yes…?” I tilted my head slightly at the unexpected expression. “Were you hesitant to continue our friendship after today’s conversation?” “That’s not it…!” I’m just a noble lady. Of course, there was the option of being a spirit mage, but… In that moment, I decided to ask him honestly. If it were this morning, I wouldn’t have chosen such a straightforward approach. I just wanted to. I didn’t want to complicate things in my head. “Do you know that I’m a spirit mage, is that why you said that about Lucas?” I hope you didn’t deceive me like that about Lucas. Prince Joshua’s purple eyes seemed slightly saddened for a moment. He hesitated for a moment before speaking quietly. “That’s also a part of you, so it would be a lie to deny it. But Miss Blanté.” His voice lowered a bit. There was a strange urgency mixed in his whispered voice. “But more than that, I’m thankful for your words, allowing me to escape with a clear smile. I went to see you every year because of that.” He took my hand and gently kissed the back of it. “And I couldn’t tell you to contact me anytime…” He escorted me all the way to the carriage. Opening the door and helping me in, he said as if to reassure me, “I have to leave the capital for a while, as you know, I can’t refuse His Majesty’s orders.” “Ah…” It seemed that His Highness the Emperor was planning to send Prince Joshua back to the border region again. How petty! Even though there was barely any difference between when Prince Lucas and I came to the capital. But Prince Joshua bid me farewell with a familiar, faint smile. “So please stay healthy, and I’ll come back as soon as possible to listen to your complaints.” “Complaints?” “It seems like I’m running away from you using His Majesty’s orders as an excuse.” I hadn’t thought of that. Rather, because of this conversation, I felt like he was in a hurry, or I understood the reason why he made plans with me today. After Lucas rejected our meeting, I lost enthusiasm even for gathering information. So I didn’t notice that Prince Joshua’s departure was imminent, nor did I anticipate what would happen to me soon. I simply smiled and bid farewell to him, trying to control my complicated feelings and showing consideration for him. “I don’t think that way, Your Highness. Please take care.” Prince Joshua showed the brightest smile I had seen today in response to my customary words. * The feeling of liking someone was truly stubborn, and even though I had already heard such stories from Prince Joshua and convinced myself, it didn’t just disappear at once. I still felt hurt when my childhood friend, who I liked, didn’t answer my calls, and I felt upset every time I found him spouting nonsense in the newspapers. Love really is foolish. But even so, I consciously stored away my feelings for him, like leftover scraps, and began to clean up the mansion interior. “Miss, you’re thinking wrong. Who will take care of you if we get fired?” “That’s right! Even though Prince Lucas promised to employ you.” However, the maids came out with a rather mocking tone in response to my words. They subtly laughed at me and even pitied me. Of course, I just nodded without feeling much of an impact from their words. I knew it would be like this, hell from the start. ‘It’ll start after leaving this mansion.’ The Blanté family members were generally indifferent, and they rarely bothered or criticized others as long as the servants did their job properly. They were all busy with their own affairs, and since the servants did their jobs properly, there was no need for them to intervene. However, they would swiftly dismiss anyone who was negligent in their duties or made similar mistakes. ‘When I was a child, I thought my parents or my uncle were like knives during my previous job, but…’ That was true.
He had let the maids go unpunished all this time just because I asked him to. Gerald even made sure not to forget a word, as if warning the maids with that refreshing smile.
“Providing recommendation letters to those incompetent individuals, the Blanté family’s name should not be used so casually!”
Not long after that, the back entrance of the townhouse became noisy.
“Miss, miss! We were wrong. Please forgive us!!”
“You’ve been employing us for over 8 years, we’ll do better. We’ll fix everything!”
“If we go back to the Blanté residence like this, my father will scold me severely, please, miss…!”
They shouted desperately to me, and the commotion didn’t last long. Gerald quickly ordered the faithful new maids he had hired to silence them and promptly chased them away.
“It’s because there’s no one trustworthy that you trust Lucas…”
Even though I didn’t trust him much and even I, who was suspicious, had been betrayed by him several times.
I took solace in peaceful novels or flipping through magazines instead of the newspaper, enjoying the tranquility that soon came.
However, it was always my favorites who stirred up trouble in my quiet life.
“Look at this, miss. There are so many letters for you!”
The maids Gerald had newly employed were efficient and often struck up conversations with me.
Although our tea service was not yet perfect, it was gradually improving.
And whenever letters arrived, they would always make a fuss like this.
Regardless of the quantity.
“…There are so many today.”
However, there were truly an unusual number of letters this time, far beyond their usual ceremonial greetings.
I puzzled over the signatures on the letters.
“These people didn’t even exchange proper greetings…”
Why were these people writing letters to me?
I wondered as I opened the envelopes.
“Gaaah!”
I couldn’t comprehend what was happening to me.
As I opened the envelopes, strands of thread, resembling my hair, spilled out.
