Chapter 024
The story in the book went into great detail about the fairytale.
It went like this:
One day, an orphan appeared in front of a prince. The orphan fell in love with the prince at first sight and followed him every day.
But the prince, being of noble birth, ignored the orphan because of their low status.
Still, the orphan didn’t give up, believing that love could overcome all obstacles.
The orphan did everything they could to help the prince, and surprisingly, the orphan ended up helping him a lot.
The orphan stayed by the prince’s side when he was lonely, made him laugh, and gave him unconditional love.
Eventually, the prince began to fall for the orphan.
But they could not overcome the barrier of status.
“Prince, I’m fine. Just watching over you is enough for me.”
That was the line the orphan said when they saved the prince from danger.
When the prince thought he might never see the orphan again, he became filled with anxiety and realized he couldn’t live without them.
In the end, they broke down the wall of social status and got married, living happily ever after.
“Honestly, it doesn’t make sense. How could an orphan meet a prince, stay by his side, and expect him to love them?”
Well, that’s why it’s a fairytale.
Anyway, I know this story because it’s Joanna’s favorite fairytale book.
“It had a good amount of description because she was an important villain in the story.”
Joanna dreamed of fairytale-like love.
For her, the prince was Dedrick, but the orphan was her.
In the end, Joanna became the villain, not the orphan from the fairytale.
That’s when she tore up her favorite book and cried.
“I kind of liked that scene!”
Joanna, facing the fact that she had become a terrifying monster instead of the beautiful heroine she dreamed of, was devastated when her childhood fantasy turned into a nightmare.
“Don’t you like it?”
Since I didn’t speak, Dedrick asked cautiously. I shook my head and replied cheerfully.
“No! I love it. The story sounds interesting.”
“It’s fun. It’s about the orphan and the prince breaking down the wall of status and getting married happily.”
I nodded eagerly as if I was hearing it for the first time.
Dedrick, offering his own thoughts, said:
“A wall of status isn’t really that important, right? As long as they love each other.”
“Right.”
I lightly agreed with him.
The next book was “The Vampire and the Human.”
This one was about a vampire and a human falling in love and living happily ever after. Why are all the books about romance?
Did Dedrick like stories like this?
He carefully shared his thoughts and then asked me.
“…I don’t think there’s a rule that monsters or humans must love only their own kind. What do you think?”
“I agree. I don’t have any prejudice against that.”
At my straightforward answer, Dedrick sighed in relief and, looking a bit excited, opened “The Orphan and the Prince.”
“Let’s read it carefully, and then try writing it down.”
“Sounds good. I’m ready…!”
Bang!
The door opened violently, and Dedrick and I quickly stepped apart.
Somerset walked in with a fierce expression and grabbed Dedrick by the collar.
“Hey, you…!”
“Didi!”
Dedrick raised his hand to stop me from approaching.
“What did you do to Joanna?”
“…”
Joanna? Why is she mentioned?
Seeing my confused face, Dedrick seemed to guess what was going on and tightly shut his eyes.
Then, hurried footsteps could be heard as someone quickly entered the room.
It was Joanna, giving off a faint floral scent. She was breathing heavily and quickly walked into Dedrick’s room. Then she covered her mouth while looking at Somerset and Dedrick.
“How rude of you…”
Somerset flinched and quickly released his grip on Dedrick’s collar.
“J-Joanna. How… did you get here?”
Somerset looked at Dedrick while still uneasy but forgot to stop glaring at him.
What is going on here?!
Seeing my confused expression, Dedrick looked guilty, lowering his head as if he had done something wrong.
Before I could say anything, Joanna gracefully walked up and stood in front of Somerset, blocking his way.
Somerset looked at her with disbelief, but Joanna appeared slightly angry.
“I thought it was strange. After breakfast, you didn’t come to see me, and I wondered if something was up!”
Seeing Joanna’s angry face, Somerset looked hurt.
His face twisted, and he spoke with a voice full of emotion.
“But Joanna! What you’re saying doesn’t make sense…”
“I told you I would seriously consider the engagement. What doesn’t make sense about that?”
“So, not me…?”
Somerset bit his lip and pointed at Dedrick.
“That guy…!”
At this unexpected comment, I made a confused sound.
“…Huh?”
What’s going on?
Did Joanna say she wanted to get engaged to Dedrick?
I was surprised by the flow of events since it wasn’t in the original story.
It was expected that the plot would change because I was involved, but what really surprised me was Joanna’s attitude.
After she became an adult, she suddenly fell for Dedrick…?
“Did they have any connection before this?”
When? Joanna just arrived yesterday, didn’t she?
Seeing my confusion, Dedrick looked like he was about to burst into tears. He quickly shook his head, trying to deny it.
“No… no!”
He was so panicked that he turned his head toward Somerset while shaking his head.
Dedrick’s eyes, filled with distress, briefly flicked toward Joanna before quickly returning to their usual calm state.
“No, brother. There must be some misunderstanding… Miss Primrose, please explain.”
Joanna gave Dedrick a glance before blushing. Then, she changed her expression completely and glared at Somerset.
“I never said I would get engaged! I just wanted to hear Dedrick’s opinion about the engagement! I’m not foolish enough to go ahead with things without proper discussion!”
Somerset shouted as if he wouldn’t back down.
“Isn’t it the same thing?!”
Joanna flinched at the loud voice, her long eyelashes trembling.
“Did you just yell at me?”
Somerset bit his lips in frustration.
“Isn’t that because of you? When things don’t go your way, you barge in like this and put me in a difficult position.”
“Joanna…”
As I watched Somerset struggle to keep his anger in check, one thought came to mind:
He’s done for.
He and Joanna would never get along again.
She looked at Somerset and firmly said,
“Please leave now.”
This is Dedrick’s room, too.
You should leave as well.
In response to my unspoken thoughts, Dedrick spoke up.
“Miss Primrose, please leave.”
“Ah…”
Joanna turned around and looked at him.
Seeing the obvious regret on his face, I was struck by how sweet and innocent he looked.
Is this what it feels like to see a girl in love? It was fresh and lovely, and there was an irresistible charm in it.
No wonder Somerset couldn’t make sense of things.
“I’m sorry, Dedrick. I didn’t mean to interrupt your studying…”
But then, Joanna’s gaze dropped to the desk where the book The Orphan and the Prince was.
Oh no.
I had forgotten to put it away in the rush of things.
I didn’t expect Joanna to fall for Dedrick this quickly and come looking for him.
I anxiously watched her.
“The fairytale book…”
“…?”
Dedrick quickly moved away from Joanna, as if not wanting her to get too close, and subtly stepped beside me.
He whispered softly, covering his mouth,
“That’s a mistake. I’ll explain everything later…”
I nodded and scratched my cheek.
That’s not the real issue right now…
The way Dedrick was looking at me so intently made me uneasy. I was worried we’d get caught, and then Joanna’s voice rang out with even more excitement.
“The Orphan and the Prince! Have you read this book?”
I quickly shouted at Dedrick,
“No, no! Say you haven’t!”
He looked at me curiously but obediently followed my instructions.
“No.”
“Then why do you have this book… Oh! You brought it to read!”
Joanna was desperate to somehow connect with Dedrick.
