Chapter 14……………………………………………………………….
— English Translation
You were looking at me. Asking me to talk to you just one more time.
I swallowed my last words, but the moment I saw Elian’s expression harden, my face was covered with a mask. I was probably smiling—wearing a victorious smile.
Silence settled between us. Elian, who used to be so lost in her own flower-filled world that she couldn’t hear anyone else’s voice, now looked cold and stiff.
To be honest, I hadn’t wanted to pick a fight with her in such an artificial way. My plan had been to raise the issue clearly—so clearly that no one could object—and then slowly separate each point one by one.
But there was no need to respond rationally to someone who was trapped in her own world and utterly incapable of conversation. If she couldn’t hear my words, then I’d just have to force them through.
“…What did you say?”
Elian’s once endlessly cheerful voice dropped sharply. So you can sound like this too?
“You heard me. Why ask again?”
I perched on the edge of the table, sitting at an angle as I looked at her. Elian met my gaze, her eyes wavering.
“Should I say it again? It’s simple. I was with His Highness the Crown Prince last night. That’s all.”
“Why would you be?”
“Why do you think?”
The real reason was simply that he had saved me when I was in danger, but I didn’t bother explaining. There was no need to, and I didn’t want to. I hoped she’d misunderstand on her own.
If she nitpicked and made a fuss, all I’d have to say was, ‘He just helped me, that’s all.’ I had more than one way out.
Elian bit her lip hard. As if feeling stifled, she removed the mask she was wearing, hung it from her hand, and stepped closer. In this noisy hall, she came so close I could hear her breathing. With a rigid expression, she spoke.
“Don’t lie, Rudia.”
“Do you really think I’m lying?”
“Why would His Highness look at you?”
“Then why would His Highness look at you?”
I paused for a beat, exhaled, and continued.
“The two of you have no relationship whatsoever.”
“……”
“Don’t misunderstand, Elian. Wake up. His Highness treats all people equally. Someone like him—do you think he’d fall for someone he’s barely even spoken to? Absolutely not. That’s just your delusion.”
“Rudia…”
“It’d be fine if it stayed a simple misunderstanding, but knowing you, I’m worried you’ll only charge in harder because it’s him. That’s why I’m warning you in advance. Don’t reach out to His Highness—for your own safety.”
And for my safety, too.
I hoped my words would reach her, but Elian was stubborn enough that I didn’t expect them to fully get through.
Honestly, I’d rather she hated me. Despised me. I wanted everything she did to have nothing to do with me. If she drew the line first and showed open hostility toward me, it would be different from me drawing the line first.
If I drew the line, public sympathy would flow toward the stronger side, and criticism would fall on me. But if Elian did it, it would be the opposite. I could play the victim—say I was just trying to stop her excessive fixation on the Crown Prince, and things somehow escalated like this… I could even shed a few fake tears.
Besides, judging by how Lord Ashirun and the young lady of House Schubernia had shown interest in me earlier, I could probably ask for help if things got bad. I wasn’t exactly cornered. In fact, I found myself wishing Elian would just slap me across the face right here.
Her blue eyes simply stared at me. Beneath our masks, our true feelings hidden, our gazes locked in midair.
What broke the stalemate was Elian’s laughter.
“Heh.”
“……”
She’s laughing? In this situation?
“Rudia, you’re really amazing. How do you even come up with lies like that? You usually don’t joke much, so how did you manage to joke like that now? Fascinating. You’ve really changed, haven’t you?”
“It’s not a joke—”
“If it’s not, then go over there and say it.”
“What?”
Elian extended her finger, pointing toward where the Crown Prince stood. Gesturing toward the still-crowded group, she spoke again.
“Go on. Tell them all about what happened between you and His Highness last night—loud enough for everyone to hear. Then I’ll believe you.”
She smiled sweetly.
“You can’t, right? Of course. That’s because it’s a lie. And if it turns out you lied about something that could inconvenience His Highness, you’d never escape the blame. Isn’t that right?”
No—it’s because I’d be embarrassed.
When I looked at Elian steadily, she laughed again, clearly convinced she had the upper hand.
“Rudia, no matter how jealous you are of me, you shouldn’t say things like that so casually. That His Highness spent the night with you? If someone else heard, they’d be shocked! They might even believe it. I’m only understanding because it’s me, you know?”
Her long fingers reached out and lightly brushed my cheek. I frowned at the chillingly cold touch.
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone, so please refrain from making jokes like that in the future, okay?”
Listening quietly, I felt utterly dumbfounded.
Is this crazy woman seriously toying with me right now?
To be fair, I hadn’t harbored any ill feelings toward Elian from the start. In the novel, Rudiа ends up destroyed because of Elian, but that hadn’t happened yet. And Elian hadn’t directly harmed me either.
I’d thought of her as just a girl with flowers blooming in her head. A girl like that. I even tried to understand her rampages over the Crown Prince as the high spirits of an infatuated adolescent.
But as time passed, her increasingly dismissive tone toward Rudiа, her behavior—so infuriating to watch that it made me angry even when it wasn’t directed at me…
She was exactly the type of person I despised.
If we were just friends, I’d cut her off coldly. But turning away like this somehow felt like losing.
I shifted my gaze toward the Crown Prince. He wasn’t looking this way, but he seemed busy exchanging words with people one after another. Go talk to him? Go there? For someone like me, who hated being the center of attention, doing something like that sober was nearly impossible.
And I didn’t want to.
But the moment I heard Elian’s provocation and her contemptuous words toward me, I realized that the impossible could easily become possible.
I stared at Elian’s smug smile for a moment, then stood up.
When I moved, Elian’s eyebrows twitched slightly. I smiled back at her.
“You never trusted me to begin with, did you? There’s barely any trust at all.”
“How could I believe something like the Crown Prince being with you?”
“Then how am I supposed to believe that the Crown Prince likes you?”
“……”
“That selfish thinking—where you’re allowed but I’m not—makes me sick. Do you see me as a friend, or as a maid?”
“Rudia…!”
“And don’t misunderstand.”
I reached out toward the table and picked up a glass of pink, sweet-looking liquor. I’d promised myself not to drink today… but at least it didn’t seem very strong. I glanced over the glass once, then lifted my eyes.
“You have no evidence. But me?”
I curved my lips into a smile and brought the glass to my mouth, taking a small sip. A rich peach scent spread as poorly matched alcohol seeped in. Alcohol was still alcohol.
Even if it was weak, finishing a glass would probably be enough. I drained it and set the empty glass back on the table. Then I looked again at Elian, who was staring blankly, and smiled.
“I do. I’ll show you.”
Honestly, it was a gamble. I didn’t need to prove that I’d spent the night with the Crown Prince—only that he had helped me. My steps toward the crowd felt heavy, but I couldn’t turn back now.
“Rudia…!”
Just as I forced myself to move, a hand grabbed my shoulder. I twisted at the waist. Elian was biting her lip.
Oh. This is fun.
“What? Nervous? I said I’d show you.”
“Are you insane? What if this goes wrong?”
“Why would it go wrong? What’s there to go wrong?”
“You told such a lie—”
“God, I’m so tired of this.”
I knocked her hand away with the back of mine and replied curtly as I looked at her startled face.
“Just watch from there.”
Leaving Elian behind, unable to withdraw her hand, I stepped toward the Crown Prince—toward Van.
Was this really the right thing to do?
I didn’t like attention much. The reason was simple: there was nothing to gain from attention in this world.
I hadn’t mastered this world yet, nor fully adapted. One small mistake could completely ruin my image. My misdeeds would be plastered across newspapers and newsletters. In a world without celebrities, nobles were the easiest targets to tear apart.
And would the Crown Prince even acknowledge me? He’d probably answer me, sure—but would that be all? Could that alone explain what happened last night?
Would this create unnecessary misunderstandings? Was it right to fabricate a scandal for a man who’d never had even one before? Was I blowing something trivial out of proportion? I asked myself dozens of times, but found no answer as I pushed through the crowd toward him.
It had been nothing more than simple help. Not kindness born of affection—just curiosity, like that shown by Lord Ashirun or Lady Riana. Was it really right to call that “interest” and expand it into something bigger?
But one thing I was certain of.
Red eyes turned and locked onto me. Even amid the bustling crowd, he was looking straight at me. Yes—this man was watching me. Earlier, and now.
I passed through the people and approached the Crown Prince. As others kept talking to him, preventing me from speaking, his hand lifted lightly. After silencing the man in front of him, he stepped toward me.
I, too, stepped closer and bowed.
“I apologize for approaching you so abruptly. I was worried I might be taking up your time.”
“That’s not the case. But what brings you here?”
