Chapter 22
“The Grand Duke’s eyes are healed.”
“Ah! That’s a relief. I’m glad to hear that.”
Rona clasped her hands tightly and was excited for a moment.
“How did you find out?”
“The Grand Duke’s health improved. He’s not going to return to the social world or politics anymore. They are hiring a lot of people.”
Laurie said that her friend’s boss is very picky and she wants to go to work at the Grand Duke’s mansion.
She also said that the salary was quite high.
“But how did my Lady know about this? My Lady was always in Hadunsha.”
Laurie, who had just turned 17, was still an innocent maid.
Rona chose a relatively young Laurie from among the more experienced maids.
Laurie wanted to attend Lady Elysia. She was lucky and honored that she was chosen.
She was a girl who would cry if Elysia cried, laugh if she laughed, and roll if she rolled.
“It’s hard to explain.”
Rona laughed awkwardly.
Laurie was euphoric to see her face.
“Ah, my Lady. Does it have anything to do with the revelations of the Five Lords?”
“Well… That’s a little too much for me to say.”
As she laughed in embarrassment once more, Laurie said passionately.
“My Lady, can’t you just do that expression one more time?”
Rona looked embarrassed and vaguely convinced.
She smiled with a complicated expression but was unwilling to speak.
Laurie let out a scream.
“Ah, I’m glad to be your maid.”
Laurie exclaimed that she was so pretty, no matter what expression she made, when Rona let Laurie out of the room, there was finally silence.
“Phew. Eleon… Eleon can see now.”
I suddenly left without leaving a single word.
「“I will go quickly. Sir Eleon.”」
What would he think of me when I disappeared after saying that?
“What do you think? You might have no idea.”
Rona muttered to herself.
Eleon relied on her because he couldn’t see.
If he were the Eleon from before, he would be second in the line of succession to the Imperial throne.
Besides, the best knight of the Empire.
He is a person who has nothing to regret.
Eleon no longer needs to listen to her read a book and wonder about the scenery she describes.
Now he can read it with his own eyes and see for himself.
“I wanted to see Eleon get his sight back.”
The last image of Eleon in Rona’s memory was of a miserable man who had been forcibly tied to the bed, groaning in pain and running wild like a wounded beast.
Perhaps it was her greed to see him again in his most glorious and splendid appearance. She stayed by his side through his darkest days.
Is it her stubbornness to think that she might be a little special to him, that made Eleon, who fell into the abyss, live like a human?
“Maybe you never want to see me again.”
Eleon showed his buttocks too much in front of ‘Rona’.
As if she had tamed a beast whose shame had been castrated, she always said to him, ‘It’s okay, it’s okay. You don’t have to be shy.’
She also told him that she was hired for that.
“If you meet me, you may feel bad if you remember about that time.”
Rona looked in the mirror.
Her hair was shiny and her eyes looked deeper.
She always wore maid clothes and often tied her hair, and although she was only wearing soft clothes made of muslin, she was a graceful beauty.
Her beauty seemed to have been inherited from her mother, Mariela.
“I’m glad you don’t know what I look like.”
Because he’s never seen her once.
KNOCK KNOCK
Laurie called her with a wobbly smile.
“Lady Elysia. The Duchess is looking for you. The etiquette teacher is here.”
“I’m coming.”
Rona was a person who didn’t exist in this world.
“From now on, I have to live as Elysia.”
Looking in the mirror once more, she fixed her hair and straightened her back.
“Let’s go.”
Thus, Elysia returned the name of Rona to the drama.
* * * * *
Karina stared at the tasteless, burnt coffee.
It’s been three days since she started marking her daily attendance at Cafe Cardinal.
She came here just in case, but she couldn’t even see Rona’s nose.
What! It was she who first asked me to meet at Café Cardinal.
She couldn’t remember when that happened, but Karina blamed Rona for nothing.
Karina burned the letter and couldn’t remember the date Rona was going to wait for her.
There was no other way for her to find her than to endure suffering like this.
It’s difficult for a lady of a noble family to walk around in person.
There are errand boys who do it for them for a little bit of money, but Karina had not yet received her personal funds.
Count Harrington was worried she would be swindled because she grew up with commoners in the countryside.
Instead, if Karina needed anything, the Countess would follow her, choose what they wanted together, and pay for her.
Karina had no complaints when she received dresses, hats, parasols, perfumes, and even small jewelry, but in this case, she didn’t have enough money to maintain her dignity.
She had to wait for Rona herself, who might or may not have come.
Karina didn’t feel very good.
“I thought a happy future was waiting for me.”
It was.
Karina wasn’t pleased right now.
「“You will soon start a new life. A strong fate awaits you. You are going to have a very fateful and passionate love. The man was tall and had dark hair. His eyes… … cough cough cough.”」
She thought that she had met a person who was guided by a strong destiny while living a new life.
But her fated lover betrayed her.
Sabiel.
The thought of him made Karina grind her teeth.
She couldn’t believe that a few sweet words had fooled her.
In the Empire, aristocratic marriages were divided into arranged marriages and love marriages.
In general, nobles had wide networks and were revered as role models, and noblewomen would take the lead.
In addition to the circumstances of both families, is to build a relationship that can be beneficial to each other.
In love marriage is to ask both families to meet each other in order to get married.
It usually leads to good results if the intentions of both parties are firm unless there is a strong reason to oppose them.
The problem was that women’s chastity was very important in arranged marriages.
If the bride was not pure on the first night, it would be a reason to break up the marriage.
In a love marriage, if the parties understand and remain silent, that is the end of it.
Karina couldn’t believe she had made such a reckless and foolish choice a few weeks ago.
She went crazy just thinking about Count Harrington and his wife, who had a beautiful foster daughter, and expected to receive a bunch of courtship letters from good families.
「“Your destiny has two routes. Two men can make a big difference in your life. Both are noble. If you feel that something isn’t going your way, be sure to look around. You can have everything you want.”」
Karina wanted to ask Rona one thing.
Looking back, her prediction was right, but she was seduced by the Crown Prince.
And now all she had left were regrets.
Then, who was the second man? Didn’t she say that if I looked around I could have everything I wanted?
Karina was lost.
Whenever she thinks of Sabiel, she gets angry.
She doesn’t know where she will find a good relationship, so she wants to meet Rona again and get a hint from her.
“Hah ha ha ha!”
“If you say it like that… … .”
Seeing the people talking loudly, Karina frowned slightly.
It’s noisy.
Café Cardinal was a low-quality shop.
Most of the customers are commoners or poor aristocrats, aside from the fact that their tea tastes bad because they use cheap tea.
The shop was also messy and dirty.
If the seats were so dirty, it was good not to see how filthy the kitchen was that was hidden by the curtains.
If I couldn’t meet Rona today, the thought of coming back tomorrow annoyed me.
Karina was originally a bold and free spirit.
She went to the mountains to gather edible wild berries.
She could sit comfortably on the ground, kicking her feet, even if there were centipedes or spiders.
But the luxury lifestyle and her shocking dating experience changed her completely.
When Karina first came to the capital, she felt stuffy.
She thought if she had encountered such a crowded and lively cafe at that time, she would have been happy to have a cup of tea while resting her legs.
Karina’s big problem now is that she didn’t know how mundane she had become.
She was drifting away, not knowing that her own change would change the course of her destiny.
It was then.
“Hey, lady.”
Three strangers approached her, touching her.
“I’ve been watching you ever since you came. Did you come alone?”
“A friend is coming.”
“Friend? You don’t seem to have any friends.”
Karina got angry.
She was offended, by pointing at them.
“What are you guys? You better get lost.”
“What? You? How can you talk so rude?”
“Do you know who I am? Just go quietly.”
The men’s eyes changed.
“I was trying to be friendly with you because you are so pretty.”
“Come here.”
Karina, who was sitting on the terrace waiting for Rona, was half-drowned by the men’s hands.
“Let me go.”
“Stop Arguing.”
“He..help!”
However, the customers who had been listening to Karina all the time, unintentionally disparaging the level of the cafe like she was talking to herself, turned away from her.
Karina trembled in fear.
“Put that hand away.”
“What else are you… … .”
The men who looked back widened their eyes.
At the same time, Karina’s eyes widened.
It was the first time she had seen such a handsome man.
He was very tall and had a great physique.
Red eyes were set under his dark hair, like Oder, the myth’s hero.
“You guys are being rude to the lady.”
The men were outraged.
“This woman started first!”
“Yes. We were just wanted to invite her to have a cup of tea together.”
“That’s right.”
One of the men said.
“But if she says she doesn’t like it, you have to step back like a real man.”
He was dignified, and every word he spoke was intimidating.
The thugs eventually let go of Karina’s arm and backed away.
“I’ll cut you some slack this time.”
“Wretched b*tch.”
Karina internally cursed that they were cowardly bastards.
“Are you hurt?”
“Yes.”
The moment she raised her head and met the man’s eyes.
BA-THUMP BA-THUMP.
Karina’s heart began to pound.