TVBO 13

Chapter 13

The door opened, and my nanny came in carrying food and a shawl.

“Your Highness, it’s time to eat… Wait, why are you sitting on the cold floor?”

“Oh? It’s nothing.”

I took the shawl she handed me, draped it over my shoulders, and sat down to eat. But my eyes kept catching on the bouquet of purple hyacinths.

“Nanny?”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“What’s that?”

I had clearly told her not to accept anything from the Duke!

That bouquet was definitely the same one the villain had been holding earlier.

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you bring that bouquet here?”

“If I didn’t take it, His Grace the Duke would’ve stayed out there forever. And I thought you wanted him to leave quickly, Your Highness.”

The moment she said that, I jumped up from my chair and ran to the window.

But there was no one outside where the villain had been standing.

“Your Highness, shall I put the flowers in a vase…?”

“Throw them away.”

“But—”

“Throw them away! I don’t want to see Duke Zikbert or anything that belonged to him ever again!”

“…Yes, Your Highness. I’ll remove them at once.”

I didn’t even want to look at them. I never wanted to see him again.

“I want to be alone.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The nanny took the empty dishes and left the room.

I opened the window wide. The cold wind brushed my cheek.

In the distance, a bird flew across the sky.

“…Huh?”

It almost felt like the bird was coming toward me. And soon I realized it wasn’t my imagination—

The large bird was flying directly to my window.

It stopped right in front of me, and I saw a piece of paper tied to its leg.

“Paper?”

I carefully untied it and unfolded it.

I’m sorry, Yulia. I miss you.

I crushed the note in my hand.

“…Liar.”

I already knew who it was from. There was only one person who would say something like that to me.

It had to be the villain. Which meant this bird must be his trained messenger pigeon.

“He’s not sorry at all.”

Writing something he didn’t mean—how typical.

In fact, it was probably easier for him to write those words on paper than to say them to my face.

Someone incapable of feeling guilt or remorse sending such a note—how ridiculous.

Still, the bird itself hadn’t done anything wrong. I could at least give it some water.

I pulled the cord to summon a maid.

“Bring some water for the bird.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

As soon as the water was placed in front of it, the bird drank eagerly, clearly thirsty.

Well, of course—it must’ve flown quite a distance from the Zikbert Duchy to the Imperial Palace.

“I don’t like your master,” I muttered to the bird.

It was fine to complain to it—it wouldn’t understand anyway.

Even if the bird belonged to him, there was no way it would tell him what I said here.

“He’s selfish, completely unkind… Without his looks and his body, there’s nothing left.”

The one I was really waiting for… he must’ve grown into a gentle, kind man by now.

He’d always had such a tender heart.

Back then, even when his parents died, he was like a small puppy who couldn’t bring himself to cry.

“…I’ve been waiting for someone for so long. But I’m starting to think maybe he’s forgotten me. Maybe it’s time to give up.”

I wanted to find him, but back then, because of the side effects, my vision had been so blurred I couldn’t even remember his face.

All I remembered was his jet-black hair.

But now… I was just tired.

So I only wished to stay here, with the family who loved me.

“I wish your master would just give up on marrying me.”

The bird flew out the window.

Up until now, I’d never really longed for freedom.

As a princess, I already had what others could never touch—status, wealth, affection from my family. I lacked nothing.

But still, I longed for love.

Not the twisted kind I once had, but the warmth I’d known in my past life.

Now, though, I only wanted a calm, peaceful life.

“Nanny.”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

When I stepped out into the hall, I saw my nanny standing at the end of the corridor.

“Na…nny?”

Why were the purple hyacinths placed in a vase I’d never seen before?

Why did those flowers look exactly like the ones the villain had brought earlier? I desperately hoped my eyes were deceiving me.

“What are those flowers?”

“Ah… Your Highness, that’s…”

“Nanny, you may be my nanny, but I told you to throw those away.”

“Your Highness…”

“Are my words meaningless to you? You belong to the Imperial Family, not to Duke Zikbert.”

I threw the vase to the ground.

It shattered into pieces, the crash echoing sharply through the corridor. I stepped on the fallen flowers, crushing them beneath my feet.

“Your Highness! You’ll hurt yourself!”

“Nanny—don’t you dare choose him over me.”

I was terrified. What if my trusted nanny wasn’t really my person, but his?

“Your Highness, I have always been on your side.”

“Then why did you put his flowers in a vase? Why do you keep disobeying me? You’re on my side, right? You’ll never leave me, right?”

“Yes. I will stay by Your Highness’s side until the day I die.”

“You must never break that promise.”

I threw my arms around her, and hot tears began to stream down my face.

I wouldn’t let the villain take anything from me. I would protect everything I had—

My family. My nanny. My title as a princess.

“Your Highness, please don’t cry.”

My nanny’s gentle voice whispered in my ear as she softly patted my back to comfort me.

Her embrace was so warm. I wanted to protect that warmth forever.

After dinner and a bath, I came out wearing only a robe. The same bird from earlier was outside my window again.

I let it in. And again, there was a note tied to its leg.

I was a little afraid of what might be written inside—but curiosity won.

I’m here now.

“…You came?”

It didn’t take long to understand what that meant.

A dark silhouette was moving beyond the terrace curtains.

So, he’d really come. I’d thought he wouldn’t dare visit my room in broad daylight—but I hadn’t imagined he’d show up at night.

Anyone with a shred of decency wouldn’t have the nerve to face me after what he’d done.

“Why… are you here?”

A faint silhouette showed through the curtains—it had to be the villain.

“I missed you, Yulia.”

“You know I don’t want to see you, Duke.”

“Yulia.”

“You know better than anyone that I can’t even stand to look at you!”

The bird flapped its wings, trying to fly back to its master.

Through the small gap in the curtains, I caught a glimpse of his face.

Even that sorrowful expression—was that just another act?

“Take your bird with you. Anyone can tell it belongs to you. And don’t send it here again.”

“Yulia.”

“And an outsider has no right to enter a princess’s room without permission.”

The only people allowed to enter my chamber without knocking were my father, the Emperor, and my brother, the Crown Prince.

Only he would have the audacity to come in uninvited.

“Chester Zikbert, Duke.”

“…”

“This is the end between us.”

Please—let this be the end.

“The person you’re looking for… isn’t me.”

It was the only path forward—for both of us.
Or maybe it was only for me.

Because I wanted to protect my family, preserve the Empire, and live differently from the foolish, self-sacrificing Yulia in the novel.

“…Say that again, Yulia.”

“I said it’s over. From now on, pretend you don’t know me.”

“…”

I just wanted an ordinary love—something normal that could lead to marriage.

“I don’t like you, Duke.”

“…”

“The person you’ve been looking for all this time is Lady Chloe, the Marquis’s daughter…”

“Who I’ve been looking for,” he finally spoke, breaking his long silence.

His tone was cold, emotionless, yet heavy enough to make the air tremble.

“…No one can know that.”

He wasn’t wrong. But I knew.

Because I knew the story—
Because I knew that the one he was searching for was Cecile.

As a reader of this novel, I knew the ending better than anyone else.

I never intended to change the story entirely.

I just wanted to avoid my tragic ending—
To live a simple, happy life with my family.

Where had it all gone wrong?

Was it because I changed small details from the original plot? Or… because of my own selfishness?

“Yulia, allow me to correct you,” he said quietly. “The person you mentioned—the one you think I’m looking for—is not the one.”

“…”

Liar.

If it’s not Cecile, then who? Someone I don’t even know? Then fine—he can go find her.

At least now, I could finally be free from this twisted connection.

But why did I feel empty instead of relieved?

“Yulia, I’ll come again tomorrow.”

“Don’t come.”

“I’ll come again and again until you show yourself to me of your own will.”

“I said don’t come!”

“…Very well. Until you approach me first, I won’t come to you at night again.”

The bird fluttered its wings and flew back toward the terrace, disappearing with him into the night.

I ran to the terrace to check.

No one was there.

It was as if everything I’d just seen had been an illusion, or a dream.

“…Monster.”