TESL 20

Chapter 20

It was finally my turn. I still didn’t understand why His Majesty had barged into my matchmaking meeting, and it was shocking—but for now, I had to at least show my face to the two of them.

I clenched the hem of my skirt tightly and was about to speak again when someone spoke up.

“But, you know… if the royal family didn’t allow this to be reported, doesn’t that mean they don’t actually consider Aira to be the fiancée yet?”

“Eh?”

“Well, think about it. If His Majesty was just annoyed at Aira for all the trouble she caused and was simply planning this as some kind of petty revenge, then…”

Revenge?

“No, that’s really impossible.”

Elphine groaned as she refuted, but Bianca shook her head, not yielding.

“Although it’s not completely impossible. His Majesty may not be the type of person to do something like this—but honestly, it’s also true that Aira has been pestering him for twelve years. Couldn’t this be revenge? Look at this. He acknowledged Aira as a fiancée and even had Shoden-ga Yeongsik’s shoulder broken—but why hasn’t it been announced in the papers or the news? He’s meticulous. Isn’t this just a way to bother Aira?”

Right.

It was true.

Suddenly, my mind went blank, and dizziness swept over me. My heart pounded violently. It felt as though my pulse was louder in my head than in my chest.

There was no way His Majesty would have mentioned me as a fiancée out of pure affection. If he had cared enough to call me his fiancée, if he had loved me, he wouldn’t have humiliated me like that in front of everyone.

Twelve years. I had lingered by his side for twelve years. If he had feelings for me, even once in twelve years, he should have looked my way. Only then could I have believed this absurd incident.

But… revenge?

From His Majesty? To me?

Out of dislike for me?

Tears threatened to fall. My unrequited love had ended, and I had thought that he would quietly support me from afar.

Now that I think about it… the last time I saw His Majesty in the Grand Royal Forest, his reaction had been strange.

It was when I told him I would cheer him on, that my feelings were resolved, and that I would be discreet.

Back then, he treated me very formally. He called me Lady Wildenbiston…

Could it be that from that moment, he had planned to make me suffer like this?

My entire body trembled uncontrollably. I had never been this angry in my life.

I clenched the hem of my skirt tightly with both hands.

Rubellus A. de Zahard, even so, you didn’t have to go this far to take revenge.

Sure, I had been a little clingy, but I tried not to interfere with him. I avoided doing things he disliked, and whenever I made a mistake, I apologized and accepted the consequences, just like with Timothy.

If he disliked something, he could have confronted me beforehand. He could have demanded an apology first.

But instead, he barged into the matchmaking meeting…

It was too much…

Now, I had resolved my feelings, and I was trying to find someone decent at the matchmaking meeting to love and be loved by.

And now… revenge?

Elphine’s eyes widened as she saw my severely distorted expression. She immediately stood up.

“No, Aira. Whatever you’re thinking… it’s definitely a misunderstanding. No, it must be a misunderstanding—”

“I’m fine, really, sister, brother.”

I cut her off abruptly. I didn’t hear what Elphine was trying to say, nor did I want to.

I just wanted my sister and brother to know I was okay. And…

“I’m fine. I know what day it is. I remember everything that happened.”

…I wanted to storm into the royal palace immediately.

I would go there, see his handsome yet infuriating face, and hear the explanation myself.

After humiliating me this much, he would at least explain why he made me suffer while claiming he would quietly cheer me on from afar!

I clenched the hem of my skirt and gritted my teeth.

“Wait, wait right there!”

Elphine called after me from behind, but it was too late. I had already darted out of the Ducal Mansion.

I must have run along the alley behind the mansion toward the palace.

She was fast.

Elphine bit her lower lip and then released it. At that moment, she couldn’t help but resent Aira’s natural quickness.

She shouldn’t have taught her exercises during training and made her run around the training grounds five times a day…

“No… how did she disappear already?”

Bianca exclaimed from behind Elphine. She had expected Elphine to catch Aira. She held the coat, likely intending to give it to her.

“This is serious.”

Elphine pressed her forehead in despair. Bianca’s face was full of confusion.

Elphine quickly rang the call bell at the end of the corridor four times.

One of the footmen would bring her formal attire from her room.

“I must get ready and follow Aira immediately. I’m entering the palace.”

Bianca’s face grew even more bewildered.

“Entering the palace? You mean… Aira is actually planning to enter the palace right now?”

“Sister, have you forgotten? Aira has been going to the palace alone since she was four years old, for twelve years. She only rode in a carriage when officially invited. So when she wasn’t invited, how do you think she went?”

“No way…”

Suddenly, the color drained from Bianca’s face. Elphine nodded heavily, confirming what Bianca had feared.

Bianca had adored Aira, but she was eight years older. While Aira ran around getting her hands dirty, Bianca attended debutante balls and social events.

She knew Aira’s personality and preferences, and that Aira had long admired the Crown Prince—but she had no idea Aira could infiltrate the palace like this.

“Please understand now. Aira knows all the secret paths in the palace. She even boasted to me once that it takes exactly twenty minutes from our home to the Crown Prince’s room in the palace. I still don’t know the way. She must have gone using the route she knows. If we delay, it’ll be too late.”

Bianca opened her mouth so wide her jaw nearly dropped.

“Good heavens… how could Aira possibly know? Unless she’s a spy, a regular noble couldn’t possibly know the palace’s layout! If that information got out, she couldn’t even travel abroad! That’s impossible…”

“His Majesty taught her.”

“…!”

“When she was very young.”

Bianca looked like she might collapse on the spot.

“This makes no sense. Why would His Majesty personally…? Wait. Could it be… could it be that—”

Bianca herself was a Wildenbiston.

She immediately grasped the hidden meaning.

“His Majesty… had harbored feelings for our Aira for twelve years? And kept it completely hidden?”

“Then your earlier guess was wrong. His Majesty doesn’t refuse to acknowledge Aira as his fiancée. He’s just been waiting all this time.”

“What… what do you mean? You—ah…”

Bianca was utterly speechless.

Elphine quickly supported Bianca and called a maid down the corridor. One ran over immediately.

“Please… sit somewhere, sister. I must hurry to the palace. And I trust you will keep what you just heard a secret. Very few people know this. Even Aira herself doesn’t.”

“What about father and mother? Does mother know?”

“…Probably. I must go now.”

There was no time. Elphine, with a resolute expression, pressed the call bell next to the front door and hurried toward her room.

Once the footman brought her horse to the door in three minutes, and she mounted it, she could reach the palace in less than twenty minutes if she rode at full speed.

Could she stop Aira in time?

“Please… let me be able to stop our youngest.”

Elphine muttered earnestly, closing her eyes.