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Chapter 18
If something like a cerebral haemorrhage had happened, there would have been no one to discover me living alone, so death was a hundred per cent certain.
‘If I had known I would end up possessing this place, I should have read every single sentence more carefully.’
Of course, regretting it now was pointless.
I closed the book and stood, moving toward the window.
Then, by chance, I saw someone hastily vanish from the window across from mine.
I dismissed it as nothing much, when suddenly there was a knock and the door opened.
It was Vivian.
“My lady, today’s lunch is sandwiches.”
At first, Vivian had looked at me with nothing but fear, but now she treated me with a fair bit of ease.
Anyway, the neatly plated sandwiches somehow made me think of a picnic.
Yes, a picnic.
Why hadn’t I thought of that?
The weather was so lovely.
“Vivian, let’s pack those sandwiches nicely into a basket.”
“Huh?
Sandwiches in a basket?”
“Yes, we’ll eat them outside.”
The crown prince’s central garden had a well-kept lawn and a large tree that cast plenty of shade.
“Oh!
Since the weather is good, that sounds wonderful.
I’ll bring a mat as well so we can sit outside.”
Vivian scurried out with the plate of sandwiches, while I put on a wide-brimmed hat to prepare for going outside.
Derek, stationed at the door, immediately followed.
“Where are you going?”
“A picnic.”
We went straight down to the first floor and out into the central garden.
This was the largest garden in the crown prince’s palace, enclosed on all sides by the building, so from there every window of the surrounding rooms was visible at once.
After a short wait by the grass, Vivian came back carrying the basket.
She spread out a mat on the fresh green lawn, setting down sandwiches and a bottle of juice.
She had also brought a few cookies.
Before I took a bite, I lifted one sandwich and offered it to Derek.
“Would you like one?”
“I’m fine.”
“Did you already eat lunch?
Or is your superior so strict that even mealtimes aren’t guaranteed?”
“I take care of my own meals.”
I pulled the sandwich back.
Somehow, I had known he would refuse anyway.
I’d only asked out of courtesy.
“Vivian, you eat some too.”
“Can I really…?”
Vivian had been staring at the food with such desperate eyes, she might have drooled if I’d made her wait longer.
Well, she was at that age.
She was fifteen, after all.
“Of course.
There’s too much for me to eat alone.
Besides, a picnic isn’t fun if I’m the only one eating.”
I personally handed her one sandwich, and Vivian’s eyes sparkled as she accepted it.
“Thank you, my lady.”
With warm sunlight, a cool breeze, shade beneath the tree, and delicious sandwiches, it truly felt like paradise.
If only days like this could last forever.
What an idle, pleasant thought.
Soon the sandwiches were all gone, and the two of us devoured every last cookie and drop of juice as well.
Rubbing my full stomach, I lifted my gaze and saw someone standing in the window across from my room, the same one I had noticed earlier.
‘Ah, our eyes met.’
Derek followed my pointing finger to the window, then spoke firmly.
“I cannot tell you.”
“That’s His Highness the Crown Prince’s office!”
Vivian blurted it out instead, and Derek turned to her with a startled look.
She blinked innocently, as though she had said nothing unusual.
“…Were we not supposed to tell her?”
“Exactly, Derek.
I’m the Crown Prince’s fiancée.
His office shouldn’t be kept a secret from me.
I’m rather hurt, you know?”
My words of disappointment left Derek visibly flustered.
He chose his words carefully.
“That is… not included in my orders.”
“How loyal of you.”
That loyalty was precisely why he had remained the steadfast sub-male lead in the novel forever loving the heroine, but never crossing the line.
‘Hmm, so that’s the Crown Prince’s office?’
Then the person I had seen at the window earlier must have been…
The corners of my mouth lifted slightly.
I rose, brushing the dust from my skirt.
“Vivian, we’re done eating.
Let’s go.”
“Yes, my lady.”
After waiting for Vivian to tidy up, I left with her.
It had already been a week since I came to the Crown Prince’s palace.
Vincent had not sought me out, and I had not sought him either.
It wasn’t hard to predict which of us was more restless.
‘Not because he likes me… but because I’m on his mind.’
Before stepping back inside, I stole one last glance at the Crown Prince’s office window, then leisurely walked in.
‘Why did I hide?’
He had no reason to be wary of Amelia.
He was the Crown Prince of an empire.
In fact, he ought to be actively confronting her, searching for weaknesses or suspicious behaviour.
The truth was, though, he hadn’t visited her in days, claiming to be too busy with work.
But he knew himself it wasn’t busyness.
It was his conflicted feelings about her.
Whenever Amelia came to mind, he remembered the past before his regression, when she had killed him.
Rage would surge, and sometimes even murderous intent.
And yet, after regression, the Amelia he faced seemed different somehow.
Being in her presence wasn’t as revolting as he had expected.
If anything, it made him avoid her all the more.
For revenge, he ought to despise her.
‘Still…’
A week was far too long to avoid her.
He needed to show his face at least once.
If Amelia started complaining she was neglected and once again spoke of breaking off the engagement, it would be troublesome.
‘She would feel… hurt, wouldn’t she?’
Before, he would have been certain of that.
Now, though, he wasn’t sure.
Because the Amelia he knew would never have endured a week without seeing him.
When he brought her to the palace, he had actually worried she might pester him daily, demanding his company.
Yet to his surprise, Amelia had not been in his way at all.
For her to be bothersome, she would have had to appear before him first.
That realisation made him uneasy.
If he left his office now, he might catch her.
“Oscar.”
“Yes, Your Highness?”
Oscar was at the side desk reserved for aides in the Crown Prince’s office, going over paperwork.
If he wanted a walk, why drag him along?
Oscar grumbled inwardly as he hurried to follow Vincent.
When he saw the Crown Prince heading toward the central garden, he spoke up.
“If it’s a walk you wish, wouldn’t the rear garden be better?”
The central garden was broad, with grass, a fountain, and a few trees, a refreshing sight but not the best for strolling.
Vincent, however, ignored him, continuing on as if in a rush.
Near the entrance, he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.
“Whoa!”
Oscar nearly crashed into his back.
“Your Highness, what is it?”
“She’s gone.
She left…”
“…Your Highness?”
Muttering to himself, Vincent stared blankly at the now-empty garden.
His plan had been to use a stroll as an excuse to run into her by chance, but it hadn’t worked.
He had clearly locked eyes with her just earlier.
Surely she would have waited.
“Ha… Haha… Heh, unbelievable.”
At that thought, Vincent suddenly let out a laugh, half sigh, half chuckle.
He realised how ridiculous he looked like a man rushing out to see a woman he secretly adored, only to arrive too late and feel regret.
Whatever h
is true feelings toward Amelia were, this behaviour was nothing like him.
“Y-Your Highness…?”
Watching him laugh to himself, Oscar edged backwards nervously.
It was starting to seem certain that His Highness had indeed hit his head too hard in that recent fall.
