♛
‘It’s like a transparent ice flower.’
I was mesmerized by Grandiel, thinking that even a piece that the craftsman put so much effort into sculpting could not be better than this, and he found me.
“Welcome.”
There was warmth in his cold face. It was a smile like a sun on a night. I looked into Grandiel’s eyes, folded into a pretty crescent shape, and came to my senses. I didn’t come here to just be possessed by his face.
“Sorry for coming late at night.”
Grandiel, who had put down the documents he was reading, got up from his desk and asked, “What happened?”
I took a deep breath and uttered the lines I had prepared, “Things got a little messed up.”
I told him that I couldn’t keep an eye on Stella. He stared at me and listened to my story to the end.
“It’s okay. I was expecting some kind of backlash. Please build the trust of others at Stella’s Palace first.”
You put me in Stella’s palace because you knew I’d be bullied! He grabbed the corners of his trembling lips and wrote an argument to endure. This wasn’t the point at the moment anyway.
“There’s another problem and I need your help.”
Finally, I brought up the main point of why I came here. Grandiel’s golden eyes rarely fell off from staring at me.
It was embarrassing, but I didn’t avoid it. Because I didn’t want to leave any doubts.
“What is it?”
“My benefactor is in danger.”
“Benefactor?”
Grandiel’s eyebrows twitched slightly. Was there something strange? While closely observing the change in his expression, his mouth did not rest.
“Yes, the Crown Prince knows her too. Do you remember the red-haired woman you met in the alley two days ago? Her name’s Radiata!”
Radiata didn’t tell me her name, but that would be a rough kiss later.
I exaggerated a lot about what happened to Radiata. The conclusion was reached after much consideration because I couldn’t create a contact point that didn’t exist.
Just to magnify what happened! If Grandiel doubted my words and investigated separately, it was true that I was threatened on the street, so there would not be a problem.
“If it weren’t for her, I might have been kidnapped or killed by the scary people that day.”
While earnestly praising Radiata, I gently raised my eyebrows and spoke as if confessing with a sad expression.
“In fact, it was a lie when I told the Crown Prince that I was lost that day. I went after her to give my respects to her.”
The nonsense of getting lost that day became a blessing in disguise. Because it was a plausible story even when you look back and forth it, and it enhances the validity of my reasons.
‘It was also true that I followed Radiata.’
Maybe it was because I had thoroughly prepared for it, so Grandiel believed it.
“Did something like that happen? You must have been very shocked.”
A pleasant low pitched voice penetrated my ears. Grandiel, with a worried face, strode up to me and reached out.
“It’s okay. I’m not scared anymore because she saved me.”
Grandiel, who was about to touch my cheek, slipped his hand and laughed.
“Today, the princess told me the story of what happened on the last day of the New Year’s party. And I found out. My benefactor was going to be sold to her uncle.”
I don’t think Stella knows. There were only me, Erica, and Stella in the room.
Unless Grandiel had an assassin waiting in the room, he wouldn’t know the conversation we had in the room. That’s why I acted passionately with a gloomy face.
“I was surprised to hear that Radiata was the illegitimate child of Count Ricoris, but it doesn’t change the fact that she saved me.”
In an aristocratic society that valued bloodline, illegitimate children were a stain.
It was a world so cruel to illegitimate children that, unless it was a special case, it was impossible to even step into society.
Therefore, nobles usually don’t like to associate with illegitimate children.
“I’m embarrassed and ask the Crown Prince because I don’t think it’s right to stay still when my benefactor was in danger. No, I’m asking for a deal.”
“…”
I said it was a request for a deal, but why wasn’t he responding?
Grandiel’s gold eyes fixed on me flickered strangely. But I couldn’t figure out what it meant. Naturally, I thought he would ask for something in return or what kind of deal it was.
‘Or you could refuse instead.’
I looked at Grandiel’s face with an anxious look. The eyes that kept staring at me fell for the first time. Grandiel, who was thinking deeply about something, smiled and opened his mouth.
“Okay.”
What? You’re just agreeing so easily? What kind of dream was this? Without asking for a price? I managed to keep my expression from collapsing.
“But there’s nothing I could give you right now, are you sure you’re okay with it?”
Of course, I had something to give later. In the novel, the whereabouts of the object Nepenthes was searching for.
I knew the location of the sword used by the first Emperor. However, it was a card that couldn’t be taken out yet because it was only in the novel.
Because I couldn’t say, ‘I know the location of the object that the Crown Prince was looking for.’
“Yes, Miss Mayerie’s benefactor was also involved with me, so I was trying to take action separately.”
I really couldn’t control my facial expression this time. I felt like I was tearing my hair out all day long worrying about such a thing and then it became a piece of paper in an instant.
‘Grandiel was going to take care of it, but did I worry for nothing?‘
My stomach ached. Come to think of it, Nepenthes first met Radiata in the novel and became interested in her. I heard you found something interesting after a long time.
It was bittersweet with a belated regret, but Grandiel whispered with a smile on his face.
“Instead, please grant me one request later.”
“Please?”
“Yes, let’s do each other a favor fairly.”
“I’ll do what I can.”
I feel like I’m digging my own grave. I rationalized that it ended in a good way anyway.
If Grandiel moves, Radiata won’t be sold to her uncle.
The tension was relieved. I was about to go back with a sigh of relief, but Grandiel caught me.
“Are you sure everything went well today, Miss Mayerie?”
I remembered Stella slapped me on the cheek, but it wasn’t a big deal. It was the first time I had been slapped in the face by another person, so I was just shocked. It was frankly weaker than when I lightly slapped my cheek to cheer myself up.
“Yes, nothing happened.”
“But why do you have a wound on your hand?”
It was a scratch I got while pulling weeds during the day while working. I had a slight cut, so I applied for some medicine and forgot about it. I smiled admiringly at Grandiel’s eye for finding a small wound in the dark room.
“I did some rough work today. It’s okay, I already applied for some medicine.”
“It’s a tough thing to do when you’re a maid. Was there a lot of bullying?”
Now you’re acting like you’re worried. The sadness that I had forced myself to endure came back to me, but I couldn’t be angry at Grandiel, who looked at my hand with a painful expression on his face.
“It’s really okay.”
I tried to pull my hand out, but Grandiel wouldn’t let go.
“I’ll apply for the medicine.”
“I already applied some earlier.”
“Still, it could be fun doing so, I’ll apply it one more time.”
He was so resolute that I couldn’t refuse. I sat quietly on the sofa and held out my hand to Grandiel.
He meticulously applied medicine to my wounds, and I stared blankly at Grandiel. The silence felt awkward in the room where not even sounds of insects could be heard.
Starting with the idea that his body temperature was higher than I thought, I began to have some frivolous thoughts.
I’m bored of staying still. I wanted to say, ‘No to this marriage.‘ That’s too bad.
Because Radiata was the heroine, he didn’t marry her.
‘Why does this guy keep touching me anyway. Was it because of the lack of affection?’
Do you miss the warmth of people because you grew up lonely since childhood?
“Miss Mayerie.”
“Yes?”
I was thinking about Grandiel and suddenly I felt embarrassed when my name was called. I didn’t have any bad thoughts, but my heart was pounding.
Grandiel, who called my name, asked, letting go of the hand he had held.
“Why are you calling me Crown Prince?
“What?”
No, I call him the Crown Prince because he’s the Crown Prince. Then what should I call him? It was a ridiculous question, so I gave a stupid answer.
“You promised to call me Diel.”
Because of the silver hair, seeing his handsome face gave me a pure feeling, but now the colors are flowing one after another.
The synergy between the smooth raised corners of the lips and the nicely folded eye, this smile was no joke.
“W-well, I did.”
I stuttered without realizing it. Please calm down, my heart!
Thinking that he was a sub-male who was also in a languid, decadent position, I calmed my pounding heart.
“Call me.”
“Diel.”
“Yes, Miss Mayerie.”
Why does it feel so sexy when you’re just calling my name? I thought it was all because of Grandiel’s smile, but then his dimples caught my eye.
In my previous life, I remembered a metaphor that a poet said when he saw a dimple.
‘It was an angel’s mistake.’
♛
It’s been three days since I lived in Stella’s palace.
Erica, who was supposed to share the same room with me, was assigned a new room near her bedroom where she roasted and boiled Stella.
Thanks to this, I had a relaxing time in what a supposed to be a two-person room like a single room.
‘It’s a nice day.’
Today was the day of the tea party. It was noisy outside, but I felt relaxed. It was because Stella warned me not to stand out at the tea party.
It’s been a while! I lay in bed, leaning on my back, trying to take a nap.
Knock, knock—
‘Was there anyone that would come for me?’
Knock, knock, knock—
Don’t someone usually knock and go back thinking that no one was there if there’s no response?
However, the owner of the tap on the door knocked harder as if that person knew everything inside and told me to come out quickly.
When I opened the door and tilted my head, Daphne, the maid who moved the vase with me, stood with a desperate face.
She said as she grabbed my wrist, “We’re short of people. Help me.”
“I was ordered by Princess Stella to wait here quietly.”
Daphne tried to drag me with her, but I didn’t move a single step.
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