The Reason Why the Forsaken Fake Returned Chapter 61

“Milady, are you alright?” Doris, who had been watching Shailoh stare blankly out of the carriage window, looked at her with concern. “You’ve been spacing out lately. You’re not sick or… wrestling with something serious, are you?”

 

Shailoh silently shook her head and drew the curtain over the window. “I’m just a little tired. A lot’s happened.” She didn’t mention Evan, whom she’d run into on the day of the event. The last thing she wanted was to become a hindrance to Caleb at such a crucial time. Just in case, she hadn’t breathed a word of it to Doris either.

 

That didn’t mean she’d done nothing. She’d quietly put someone on Evan to keep an eye on him, and even when she was at the townhouse, her guards were always on watch.

 

The carriage left the busy streets and slowed as it entered a residential district. Though he wasn’t confined to the royal castle, Caleb, now returned as a prince, had moved his residence from the townhouse where he’d been living to a royal villa on the outskirts, famed for its strict security. It was one of the properties that had originally belonged to him.

 

Before long, the carriage rolled to a stop before a massive iron gate carved with the royal crest. Two gatekeepers who recognized her swung the heavy doors open. The coachman, who had pulled on the reins to halt the horses, cracked his whip again.

 

“Queen Ingrid will probably send an official invitation sooner or later. I’ll have to ask His Highness to take me with him then.”

 

“That’s a good idea. It’ll give you a chance to look around the palace.”

 

But the first person Shailoh saw when she stepped down from the carriage was not Caleb, but a woman. A man and a woman standing close together turned their heads toward her almost at the same time.

 

“Say hello, Shailoh.”

 

“This is…”

 

“Octavia Perus, Duke of Cornwall’s fiancée.”

 

Octavia looked at her with an innocent smile. Shailoh couldn’t bring herself to smile back.

 

“I’ve heard so much about you! I’ve even seen your performance.” The bright peal of laughter broke the silence. Octavia, who approached her without the slightest reserve, suddenly took Shailoh’s hand in both of hers. “How can your voice be that beautiful? I feel like I could listen to you for hours and never get tired of it!”

 

The precious niece of the powerful lord of the south. No one would have been surprised if she’d been haughty and stuck-up, but the woman in front of her was open and sunny.

 

“Miss Griche.” Instead of using the pet name he always had, Caleb called her the way everyone else did. His gaze rested on her with a faint smile.

 

A beat late, Shailoh slipped her hand free, gathered her skirts, and dipped a small curtsy. “It’s an honor to make your acquaintance, Lady Octavia. I’m very pleased to meet you.”

 

“Oh, no, the honor’s all mine!” Giggling like a child, Octavia turned her smiling face toward Caleb. “I wish we could talk more. It’s such a shame.”

 

“We’ll have other chances to meet.”

 

“You’re right. Next time, the three of us should sit and talk at leisure. Promise!”

 

The moment Octavia reached for Caleb’s hand, Shailoh, before she knew it, caught Octavia’s arm.

 

“Miss Griche?”

 

The air froze in an instant. Octavia looked at her, clearly puzzled.

 

“The carriage.” The movement had come out of her without thinking. Flustered now, Shailoh fumbled for an excuse. “The carriage’s been waiting a long time.”

 

“Oh. You’re right! It has, hasn’t it?”

 

Without a second thought, Octavia withdrew her hand and, with Caleb’s assistance, climbed into the carriage. Before the coachman could flick the reins, she opened the window and called out warmly, “Then I’ll see you often from now on, Your Highness. We’re family now, after all.”

 

“Of course.” Answering in a manner beyond reproach, Caleb rapped twice on the carriage door. At the signal, the carriage started forward at once. He watched it go until it dwindled to a dot in the distance, then turned back.

 

To Shailoh, who stood frozen like a statue, he said, “Let’s go inside, Sasha.”

 

* * *

The fragrant scent of black tea tickled the tip of her nose. The cup in her hand was warm, but inside she felt as cold as midwinter. She’d already heard that Caleb was acquainted with Octavia and that it was because of what was to come. She’d heard it all before and accepted it. But watching the two of them look so close right in front of her was a different matter entirely.

 

Even after the refreshments were brought in and she sat in silence for a long while, Caleb didn’t say a word either. He only went through the stack of documents that had piled up, and the silence stretched on. For some time, the only sound in the sitting room was the rustle of turning pages. The first to open her mouth was Shailoh.

 

“You must have met Lady Octavia often.”

 

“Not all that often. This makes the fourth time.”

 

Four times. Four whole times. Shailoh did her best to keep her expression under control. “She wasn’t what I expected. I thought she’d be more like Claire.”

 

“Arrogant, self-centered, and selfish?” Caleb set down the papers he was holding and looked at her with interest. “Why?”

 

“She must have been raised like the most precious thing in the world, and I’m sure everyone around her fawns over her.”

 

“Being raised preciously doesn’t make everyone another Claire Diponz, Sasha.”

 

The way Caleb indirectly spoke in another woman’s defense made Shailoh’s chest ache, as if someone had jabbed a thorn into it.

 

“Sounds like you don’t like her. Am I right?”

 

His words hit the mark, and Shailoh bit the inside of her cheek. He was right. She didn’t like Octavia. This was only the second time she’d ever seen her. And this was the first time they’d actually faced each other and spoken. Even so, she disliked her, irrationally so.

 

That innocent face, that guileless smile, that bright, sunny air. None of it sat well with Shailoh. It was the look of someone who had never, not once in her life, known frustration or betrayal or despair. Someone whose life hadn’t been steeped in hardship and treachery from the moment she was in her mother’s womb.

 

From birth, she and Octavia had been two entirely different kinds of women. She didn’t like how at ease Octavia seemed with Caleb either, but even if they’d met under completely different circumstances, she suspected she would have felt much the same.

 

“Sasha.”

 

At the look demanding an answer, Shailoh didn’t deny his words. Instead, she asked back. “Is it wrong to dislike her?”

 

“So you do dislike her.”

 

“There are people you like for no reason, and people you dislike for no reason, aren’t there? Lady Octavia feels like the latter to me.”

 

“…”

 

“It even surprises me. I guess I have at least one person like that too. Does that make me a bad person?” She faced the situation head-on instead of avoiding it.

 

Caleb studied her with an unreadable gaze, then shook his head. “No. That’s your right. Everyone has someone like that.” He reached out and brushed a finger along the bridge of her nose.

 

Shailoh caught his hand and drew it to her cheek, pressing his palm against her skin. She only had a moment to take comfort in his warmth before he pulled his captured hand free.

 

“But letting it show in front of the person in question is another matter entirely.”

 

“…Was it that obvious?”

 

“Obvious enough that you were uncomfortable with her.” Rummaging through the documents, Caleb pulled out an envelope and held it out to her. “Even if you dislike her, you’ll be seeing her fairly often for a while.”

 

The envelope bore the royal seal. Shailoh carefully broke the wax and checked what was inside, then looked up in surprise. “This is…”

 

“Albert invited us to his birthday banquet.”

 

“Not just Your Highness, but me too?” Her name was clearly written on the invitation alongside Caleb’s.

 

Caleb explained, step by step. “Everyone knows I’ve been sponsoring you ever since I was Baron Cal. He’ll want to see your face at least once.”

 

Shailoh swallowed dryly. There was a chance she would have to face Evan and Duke Yesiol again there.

 

“Sasha?”

 

She only sank into thought for a moment. When he called her name, Shailoh lifted her head. “I’ll go.”

 

Even if she ran into Evan again, there was nothing he could do to her. It would be a place with too many eyes watching, and Caleb would be by her side the entire time.

 

“It’s a formal introduction, so you should be in something custom-made, not an off-the-rack dress.”

 

Caleb picked up the cane resting beside him and tapped it twice on the floor. As if by magic, the door swung open and a woman in an extravagant dress swept in, followed by a small crowd who looked to be her assistants. They must have been waiting for some time. They filed in with practiced precision and bowed to her.

 

Shailoh, dumbfounded, wrapped both hands around her teacup.

 

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness.”

 

“Are the preparations ready?”

 

“We’ll take her measurements, then you can choose the dress and fabric you want from our templates. All the preliminary work is already done.”

 

“I see.” Rising from his seat, Caleb took Shailoh’s hand and drew her up with him. “No matter what it costs, indulge yourself as much as you like, Sasha.”

 

“Your Highness, I—” Startled by how suddenly everything was happening, Shailoh reached out a hand, but he was already moving away, just out of reach.

 

The seamstress approached with a bright, brisk smile. “We’ll need your measurements. Would you come this way, Miss?”