I was on cloud nine after seeing the notification that I received 500 XP and Dynastic points.
My throat was getting ready so I could hit the soprano note when someone slapped the wall with all his might, enough for me to flinch.
Did this dude kabedoned me?
I dreamt of this scene because of my anime addiction. However, I never imagined that a despicable man crushed my dream in an instant.
“Thanks for your help, but it’s getting late, and need at least eight hours of sleep.”
She nodded and meandered while avoiding the Duke’s ominous stare.
When my attendant’s silhouette became smaller as she moved further away from us, it was at this moment that I had to activate my facade.
Reyner told that he was sick to the point of skipping the banquet earlier. It turned out that the Crown Prince’s words were a bluff.
“Your Grace, what brings you here?” I asked.
He shook his head, produced squeaking gecko noises, started crossing his arms, and shoved his face on me.
“If you will analyze the situation, I should be the one who’s asking your question.”
For seconds, my eyes became fixated on this beautiful creature standing in front of me. Being an awkward girl who had no experience with guys, I pushed him away from me, but I was the one who moved back. Why did this body have 0% strength?
“I apologize, Your Grace, it was just your face that was too close to mine, my reflexes...”
“Maybe you don’t know the fact that the strongest man in the empire is right in front of you.”
Someday, I’ll get enough Dynastic Points, so this incident wouldn’t happen again and maybe the Duke wouldn’t know this, but since I read the novel, I knew what is his weakness besides from Miuerella.
He asked for my hand, drew a shape of a heart on my palm using his fingers. Why would he exert his effort to transfer his mana just to warm me up?
What an impulsive decision, this poor man wouldn’t get a wink of sleep tonight.
“Why do you always forget to bring your coat whenever we meet? A concerned woman about the freezing weather gifted me handmade heat packs. Therefore, I conclude that you handed out those elsewhere.”
Oh, shoot! This gentleman was unnecessarily observant.
“Yes, I gave it to someone who needed it the most,” I answered.
Let’s gave him a vague answer for the second time.
“Lady Bethany was a kind-hearted person, it touched me. You did two heroic deeds today. I can’t help but admire you.”
What was happening to this guy? He mentioned two great deeds, so there was a high possibility that Madeline Ruby’s incident was one of those.
I guess Count Viscar had a collection of enemies, to think that even Duke Frederick loathed him showed how despicable he was.
“Please, receive another gift from mine.”
“Of course, Your Grace. It’s my plea…”
My cheeks turned as red as a tomato when I suddenly felt his lips on my forehead. I can’t explain why I also closed my eyes when that unfortunate event happened. This person has a habit of making my blood pressure rise.
“Your Grace, what was the meaning of your action?”
“I gave you my blessing,” he said.
What blessing was he talking about?
“Your Grace, could you please explain why you were teasing me like this? I admired you because I had this impression that you were a man of principles, yet everything was an illusion.”
I was serious. While reading the novel, I suffered from the second male lead syndrome. It infuriated me when the author neglected his welfare as they didn’t give him the happy ending that he deserved.
“I was not teasing you. My bad I did not inform you about the process beforehand.”
Oh, shoot! I remembered it now! The royal family could give blessings, the story mentioned that it was a protection. Before going to war, Reyner kissed Miuerella on her lips, imparting this gift.
Why would the Duke give me his blessing?
“I understand it, but why did you give me a priceless gift, Your Grace?”
He picked strands of my hair and smelled it. I’m thankful that I took a bath earlier.
“Who knows, maybe it would become handy in the future? You should be thankful I’m given you that. Many women would kneel just to receive my special gift.”
I would just brush off what this philanderer said.
If we would analyze things carefully, it was not bad to receive his blessing. Even if someone harmed me, there was a higher chance that I won’t die easily!
“I’m very thankful, Your Grace. Uh, it is getting late. I should go to bed now,” I said.
He nodded, so I walked, but when I glanced at him, he was doing the same thing.
Maybe he would go to his solar as well. There is only one path to reach our rooms. Being paranoid won’t help me ignore him and pray that he would not start any weird conversations.
This charming man had a shining aura when he smiled. An aura that was even brighter than my lamp, it could make the dim surrounding lively. He used his charisma smartly. Even though I wanted to refuse his idea, my feet moved on their own before my mouth enunciated words.
I flopped onto my bed once I locked the door. Why do I feel exhausted when we just walked together?
********
The next day, my father called me to their room. It turned out that Count Viscar planned for an event where he would reveal Madeline’s Ruby. Unfortunately, I saw it before the big reveal. The Prince wanted to ask more questions, but Duke Frederick whispered something so everyone accepted the Count’s explanation.
Duke Frederick, what have you planned?
“My father, you were hiding something from us.”
Mother held on to Father’s arm. He just patted her hand.
With a shaky voice, the Marchioness asked, “My dear, what were you talking about?”
“I know Father is one of them.”
Luna, a secret group Reyner and Frederick formed to destroy Marquess Gustav, their wicked grandfather. I guess Count Viscar was one of the Marquess’s underlings.
“How did you know about this? Did His Highness tell you?”
Oh, shoot! There was no way a woman would know about that confidential information with ease.
“I saw the maps of this manor on your study.”
He took a sip of his coffee, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.
“I do not want you to get involved in this complicated mess. As your father, what I wanted was for you to live your life happily.”
This warmth that I felt was the reason I didn’t feel lonely in this world. However, what they feared became a reality when I passed out while heading to my room.
Hah! So this was what Ms. Heart meant when she bragged about how immersive this game was.Inside this cramped and somber place where the chains on my feet made restrictions to my movements, a chilly air brushed my skin, which made my hair stand up.Even if I could only see my roommate’s back, those silky yet curly silver hair was one of her assets. If I could not recognize my target from afar and even in the dark, what kind of player am I?“I didn’t know that your father has a habit of caging pretty ladies. Did he mistake us for dolls?”The girl with a heart of gold crawled as if she was a six-month-old baby — slowly but surely. With trembling rough hands, she held mine.A beam of moonlight coming from the window with grills shone on her, enabling me to confirm my hunch. Those apologetic eyes were a gateway to her complex inner world.“Do not blame yourself, my dear, especially with the fact that the deran
“Dang! The baby I trained became a ferocious bear!”This opponent of mine gave a triumphant smile as I wiped the blood on my right cheek, so I immediately chanted a spell because it might leave an ugly scar on my fair, blemish-free, seductive face. We should take care of our best assets.“Thanks to you, I got better every day however, this new skill of mine would be only helpful in dire situations.”Every day is a dire situation, my dear cousin! The adrenaline ran through my system now I found a decent sparring candidate.I stood up and thrust the pointed tip of my sword was in his stomach. One wrong move to kiss him goodbye forever.“Wouldn’t you think it is already time for us to head inside the manor unless you thought that the actual battle is just getting started?”In a confident tone, I said, “I’m happy that someone knew myself better than me,”I pulled back my sword, a
The poor turtle stumbled when she bumped into me, so I guess I had another inspiration to be buff.“Your Grace, I apologize for my slowness. Expect me to speed up the pace.”I shook my head when she said that she would speed up her space. What a great joke because if she can, then why would I return?I put my cloak on her because she was as pale as a sheet of paper. Giving fan service and carrying a lady in a bridal style way was never this fun!“Your Grace, you could put me down, the woman and the man ...”How dare you nag me as if you’re my Mom? Wrong response, it should be: “Your Grace, what an incredible strength you have!”“Tell me that fucking rule, and I would not show any mercy to you.”This woman had to know that I’m not the type of person who would resist being put in a box.Did I become too hard on her? Carrying a rock made time slower, but when I glanced, I
Why do people hate darkness? All of my life, darkness fostered me, gave solitude to my wounded soul. Light for me was often short-lived.I am a deformed cub, so my parents only saw me as a competitor for resources. Why not erase my existence in this cruel world? Why would you always hit me with your leather belt when you could have strangled me with it?If the sight of me made you puke, then why not behead me? Please end my suffering now.Yes, I’m an unlovable child, but why am I still longing for warmth that would thaw my frozen heart and let me grow as an individual?Was it because of my dream that an angel would knock on my door on an unexpected day?“I’m Lady Bethany Grimaldi and, I want to be friends with you.”The Almighty God, was she the angel you’ve sent me?I made sure that the sleeves of my dress w
When someone’s life turned a complete 360 degrees, that’s when everything became shaky just like this carriage. I completely understood why Miuerella’s been acting like she lost her mouth.For sure, there were lots of questions inside her head and answers would arrive soon. I’ve been in her shoes before, that’s why I was in this kind of predicament.I held her hand, and that’s when she glanced at me.“I don’t know what would be the right words to say to erase your pain, but I will make sure that everything will be alright, Ella.”A sweet smile lit the spirits of people riding in this carriage that forced me to give one as well.“Thank you, Beth, I didn’t know how would I repay you for all the help you’ve given me.”Words left me. The muscles in my mouth hardened like a block of cement. At first, she meant gratitude for the “real
I got out of the bathroom and bent my body to check if he hid under my bed. My wardrobe creaked, but the figure of the Duke wasn’t there. A shadow resembled a human figure which made me unhinged, turned to be shadows of a coat and hat hanging on the coat rack near vanity table. Heavy tread of someone’s boots outside my room gave me false hope only to find those belonged to the maids.“Your Grace, please tell me where you are!”This endless pursuit needed to stop. I sat on my bed while rubbing a cotton towel onto my damp Rapunzel length hair that would take a lot of time to dry.“I’m still in Larson when I met a mage and told me a secret about the gift. I couldn’t believe it at first because Empire’s archives didn’t have any scripts mentioning the extra perks, so I gave it a shot and Voilà!”“Wow!”Phew! An image of a twisted man hidden in the bushes holding binocul
The dimples molded on my cheeks upon learning the glorious news.No one beats the careful plan paired with great execution! I stepped backwards because if someone might see me eavesdrop, missiles of nags would blast my ears afterwards.I guess sleep was still the best medication for boredom.“Lady Bethany, what a coincidence, I need your help right now!”His disheveled hair, heavy breathing, and unbuttoned wet shirt backed up his statement. What happened to this man?“Of course, this humble lady lends her hand for Your Highness.”Crown Prince Reyner invited me to his colossal VIP room, decorated with crafted furniture and golden embellishments. Whenever I stepped on the Venetian Red woolen carpet, it was like murdering the beauty of this exquisite material which costed half of my eternal soul.“Please wait for me, this won’t take long. I prepared everything on the dessert platter for you.&rdqu
“How about me, give me a task!”He even pointed to himself and raised his hand like a student who wanted to get called by his teacher. Do I really need to include him? But he flooded the discussion with his outrageous ideas about this love-friendship operation.“You killed her Father, do you think she would befriend you?”Before the debate ignited, I told them we need to be friendly and cautious about every word that would come out from our mouths because it might scrape her vulnerable heart.Like what I wrote in the script, I greeted Miuerella when I saw her sketching Mingming. She immediately dropped her graphite pencil when she saw me holding a tray.“Beth! Look at our Mingming, isn’t she cute?”I applauded at her artwork, then stroked Mingming’s black fur. Yeah, maybe the other reason Ella empathized with her was because no one wanted an animal that would bring misfortune.