Chapter 18
Edith was feeling awkward under the heavy atmosphere. When Clyde sat down on the bench while still holding her, she ended up being gently placed on his lap.
His legs were thick and solid like a warhorse’s thighs, the firm muscles unmistakable beneath her.
“That’s enough now. I’ll sit somewhere else.”
But the arm wrapped tightly around her waist did not loosen. She was completely stuck, seated squarely on Clyde.
Adrian looked as though laser beams were shooting from his eyes. The way he glared at the crown prince bordered on outright insubordination.
She had tried so hard, in her own way, to set the protagonists up, yet the mood was beyond chilly—it was like ice arrows were flying back and forth. There wasn’t even the faintest sign of affection budding between the two.
Trying to twist the original story had seemed like a good idea, but the flow of events was veering off in an absurd direction. What troubled her most was how the scene from the original story earlier had displayed not Adrian’s name, but “==.”
“Sir Raymond, raise the signal flag and summon an attendant. Edith will need replacement shoes.”
Following the order, Adrian raised the flag to call an attendant.
Then, without hesitation, he knelt down in front of Edith, lowering himself fully. His hand reached toward the foot peeking out from beneath her skirt.
“Edith, is your foot hurt?”
The way he gently brushed over the top of her foot was kind and careful—completely at odds with the sharp tension crackling between the two men.
“I’m fine. You can just leave it—”
Without giving her a chance to refuse, Adrian removed the shoe from her limping foot.
Her bare foot came to rest in his hands.
No matter how many times she insisted she was fine, it made no difference. Whether being carried by Clyde or having her foot held by Adrian, this was a situation she had no control over.
To make him stop, she would have to harden her expression and scold him outright—but she simply couldn’t bring herself to do that.
He cradled her foot in both hands as though wrapping a gift. His palms, delicate in texture, fully enveloped her instep. Compared to her feet that had been walking around all day, his clenched hands were much warmer.
“My foot is—”
His fingers moved slowly, massaging the center of her sole as though playing piano keys. His thumb pressed firmly along the top of her foot.
A ticklish sensation crept up her calf.
“What about your foot?”
“It’s cute.”
As he carefully straightened her curled toes one by one, Edith had no idea where to put herself. She was mortified and utterly flustered.
“S-Stop touching it.”
He had insisted on checking her perfectly fine ankle, yet after removing the shoe, Adrian was now completely absorbed in fussing over her foot.
One hand supported her heel while the other slid up to her ankle. As his fingertips gently traced the hollow beneath her inner ankle bone, he lifted his head.
His beautiful eyes curved into a smooth arc, and a smile—soft and melting like soft-serve ice cream—spread across the most devastatingly handsome face in this world.
“…Yeah.”
Even his voice was sweet.
Edith forgot to pull her foot back, utterly captivated by the beauty in front of her. When it came to men, her standards were simple: looks first, looks second.
But the radiant softness on Adrian’s face vanished the instant his gaze met Clyde’s. His expression froze, turning abruptly cold.
From beside her came Clyde’s equally icy voice.
“By the way, Sir Raymond, what brings you to see Edith today?”
A dangerous glint lurked beneath Adrian’s lowered violet lashes.
Adrian was thoroughly displeased. He had come expecting a private meeting with her, only to find himself saddled with the crown prince as an uninvited guest.
His tone remained polite, but only just.
“I happened to hear some urgent news. Apparently, the head of the Ketsmorris family has been replaced.”
Edith exclaimed in surprise.
“That only happened yesterday. You already heard?”
“I stopped by the Ministry of Administration for unrelated business and overheard people talking. Everyone was whispering about it. I was worried something might have happened to you.”
Still kneeling, Adrian spoke warmly to her.
Beside them, Clyde’s golden eyes burned with fury.
This is bad. How was she supposed to spark romance between them like this? Edith hurriedly tried to salvage the situation.
“Let’s talk about me later. His Highness is here right now.”
She forced a merchant’s smile and addressed Clyde as well.
“The truth is, Adrian doesn’t get many chances to come to the palace, so I told him to visit me whenever he had time. Thanks to that, he got to meet Your Highness—so it worked out nicely.”
Please let it have worked out nicely, she prayed inwardly.
After confirming there was nothing wrong with her ankle, Adrian carefully put her shoe back on. The attentiveness with which he smoothed her foot and aligned her legs neatly caught Edith’s eye.
He had always been gentle by nature, and with his fondness for her added in, even his smallest gestures felt unusually considerate.
Meanwhile, Clyde was simmering. The way he struggled to hold himself together while her shoe was being adjusted was obvious.
The seat beneath her felt strangely warm. Was it because he was angry?
The moment Adrian stood up, Clyde finally let his pent-up irritation spill out.
“Unfortunately, Sir Raymond, Edith had important work she was responsible for today.”
At most, she had only been writing letters to creditors, but Edith kept her mouth shut. This was not a situation she could step into.
“So I’d prefer you take another opportunity. I’ll arrange a special occasion next time so you can enjoy yourself properly.”
It was the crown prince’s decision—one no one could defy.
“…I see. That’s unfortunate, but I will follow Your Highness’s wishes and take my leave for today.”
Adrian answered bitterly, lowering his head as if deliberately avoiding Clyde’s gaze. Having been effectively dismissed, he turned and walked away. Edith couldn’t even call after him out of guilt.
Forget romance—the meeting hadn’t even made it halfway. How was she supposed to clean up this mess?
Edith stared blankly at the maze garden as Adrian’s shadow disappeared.
The emerald trees forming the thick maze walls exuded the fresh scent of the forest. The garden, rich with phytoncides, was quiet and cozy at its center.
An attendant stopped by briefly, changed her shoes, and quickly withdrew, leaving the two of them alone.
Clyde spoke now and then, making idle conversation—what the garden looked like in other seasons, what kinds of flowers bloomed. Edith responded halfheartedly, lost in thought.
When she didn’t rise from the bench, Clyde simply waited without comment.
Instead of conversation, they listened to the occasional sound of the breeze.
At least it’s certain that the original story can be changed.
At first, she hadn’t even been sure of that—especially when she’d been transferred to the crown prince’s palace from another department. She’d tried to alter the story and quit being a servant, only to fail.
But it had changed, somehow. She’d moved the protagonists’ first meeting up by two years.
That doesn’t mean things will go the way I want.
Things were tangled beyond belief. At this rate, the two weren’t becoming lovers—they were becoming enemies.
What she hadn’t expected was the excessive attention directed at herself.
She couldn’t tell what Clyde truly felt about her.
Sometimes it seemed like he treated her as an amusing toy under the guise of favoring a trusted attendant. He’d even implied she wasn’t suitable to be crown princess. And yet, at other times, he watched her with unsettling intensity or behaved obsessively.
As for Adrian, his distance during all three years at the academy was suspicious.
If he’d truly liked her, wouldn’t he have shown something back then? Why the sudden change now? Was he just testing the waters?
Either way, Edith wasn’t particularly keen on being a world-class star’s girlfriend—or the First Lady. Unless she fell madly in love, neither option appealed to her.
She didn’t feel like she’d fallen for anyone.
And then there was something even stranger.
This was supposed to be a BL novel—so why didn’t it feel like one?
The two protagonists seemed very different from their original versions. She had no idea where the divergence had begun.
Adrian, at least, had plenty of male alpha partners in the original story. But Clyde was another matter entirely. Though surrounded by men, they were all professional contacts. He showed no romantic interest in anyone. Frankly, he didn’t seem interested in dating at all.
“Your Highness, there’s something I want to ask.”
Sunlight turned Clyde’s hair a deep blue-black. He slowly brushed back the fringe falling over his forehead.
“Ask anything.”
“Weren’t you originally inclined toward men?”
Saying it outright made her feel oddly relieved.
“What?”
He looked genuinely startled—unlike when she’d tried probing indirectly.
“You’re an alpha, so I assumed you’d like omegas, and that your preference would naturally be men.”
As he processed her words, his expression twisted. The exposed half of his forehead tightened with clear displeasure.
“Why are you deciding my preferences for me?”
“W-What? Well…”
She trailed off.
“Who says I like men?”
Despite his sharp tone, she bit her lip and couldn’t respond. She couldn’t exactly say I read it in the original novel without sounding insane.
He pressed the back of his hand to his forehead, as if feeling heated. The crown prince was clearly irritated—again.
“And alpha instincts can be controlled with medication. Having an omega partner would make things easier, but it’s not essential.”
He muttered the words, almost petulantly.
Turning fully toward her, Clyde lowered his head to meet her eyes. A low, animalistic growl slipped from his throat, and his flashing golden eyes evoked the image of a predator.
His tightly restrained voice sounded strangely rough—almost like someone in pain.
“Do you know what that means?”
He leaned closer.
“It means I’m even considering a beta as my crown princess.”
