DYBAR - Chapter 14 < Jade Was Bad, Mean, And Nasty, But Still Waited >
Do Your Best And Regret It
".... I do not know what you mean, Jay,"
"I'm sick of it, so stop calling me and tell me why such nonsense is being spread, like the Grand Duke offered an oath to you."
I bit my lip reflexively. It's been a year and a half. It's been a year and a half since I reunited with Jade, who never came back after going to war with Heferti. I had a lot to say. I wanted to complain about why there was no reply to my letter and why the relief goods were sent back.
I thanked him for returning safely. When I said that, I hoped he would smile at least once. But in reality, Jade hasn't changed at all from a year and a half ago when he always ignored me.
Jade's eyes softened slightly.
"You're lying, right? I knew it. But, who would have rejected swearing an oath to a Lady, especially the from beauty like a Grand Duke."
"Really."
"What?"
Jade looked at me with an expression of disbelief and then snorted. I slowly opened my mouth to Jade's habit of telling me not to lie.
"His Highness the Grand Duke swore an oath to me. Jade, as you know, it was an oath as a knight to the Lady"
"No way!"
"Why do you talk like that?"
"What!"
Jade suddenly screamed at my mumbling words. His stomach was boiling and it felt like it was going to explode. Clearly, he should have sworn to the Princess, so why Olivia? Does that idiot even know what that means?
After fussing for a while, he suddenly became very quiet. Jade looked at me, forgetting to even breathe for a moment.
Come to think of it, what did I say?
Moonlight shone on me through the window above the door. Under the cold, cold moonlight, I quietly lowered my head.
His silver hair, just like mine, sparkled as if he would disappear at any moment. Jade's heart sank. Olivia never once lowered her head.
(Jade Pov)
Even when she was ten years old, Jade found out that Olivia wasn't his real sister.
"Was it because of you? Because of you, my mom!!"
Jade, who had been taking care of Olivia without his father and Conrad knowing, hated Olivia more than anyone else from then on.
She was dressed in shabby clothes and her lips were pursed. He thought Olivia had said something, but he didn't want to hear her excuses. Even two years after his mother's death, Jade thought Olivia was his younger sister. He regretted desperately that he had taken care of Olivia during that time.
From then on, Jade steadily harassed Olivia. Even if he leaves a bunch of frogs under her bed, even if he leaves her outside and locks the door when it rains on a cold autumn day, even if he tears up her favorite book and pushes her around for no reason. Even though she was alone in the social circle.
Despite it all, Olivia held her head straight. She doesn't lower her head like that.
While Jade was speechless, Olivia lifted her head. Her face was smiling like always.
"Why? Are you talking as if no one will swear to me?"
"That..."
"I can get it too. Of course, I am also an adult who made my debut."
(Olivia Pov)
As if was joking, I smiled rolled up the hem of my dress, and pretended to be polite. Jade's eyes narrowed as he stared at the scene.
"That. These are Heferti gloves."
"Uh?"
I unconsciously hid my hands behind my back. Jade let out a suppressed voice between his teeth.
"Did you get it from the Grand Duke?"
"...Huh?"
"Did you know him before you saw him today?"
"Huh..?"
"What a stupid thing!"
A voice like a thunderbolt fell. While I flinched for a moment, Jade, who was glaring at me, screamed at me and ran up the stairs. Soon there was a sound of the door closing. I glared a little at the top of the stairs. His harsh words usually were directed at Conrad, but perhaps because he returned from the battlefield, Jade's words became worse.
How can I pick out only the words that hurt me?
I clenched my fists harder as his words of disgust and immediate denial of the oath came to mind.
It was only now that I remembered the imprints of my fingernails on my palms beneath my gloves. My feet started to hurt again as if they were on fire.
I climbed the stairs with a limping step. Was the road to my room this long?
As soon as I entered the room through the long hallway, I made sure to close and lock the door before I collapsed onto the floor.
My smile disappeared, leaving a bruised look on my face. It's been a while since I have been there. Such a messy reunion.
Bad Jade. Naughty Jade. Nasty Jade.
Nevertheless, Jade, who I've been waiting for so long. With a mix of joy, regret, affection, and just a little bit of disappointment, I barely muttered one word.
".....I'm glad you arrived safely, Jade. I really waited."
The words I wanted to say to Jade so much swept through the room I was alone and disappeared.
***
When I fell asleep, exhausted, I dreamed of the day Jade gave me his doll. Eight years ago, it was the festival of Madeleine's estate. I was twelve years old when I was awakened by a presence outside my room. I also wondered if Jade had come to put his frog or something in my room. If he was going to be grumpy, he'd be better off being a gutter rat.
The Master, who couldn't even touch a mouse, went out of his way to harass me. No one knew that Jade, who gave me a flower crown, made me laugh, and even gave me a puzzle from the age of eight to ten, would turn out to be such a mean 14-year-old.
Even though I always tried my best, Jade didn't notice anything and was only grumpy at me. It's as if he hates me so much that he's dying.
Swallowing bitterness, I waited for Jade to become grumpy. Still, I didn't think it would be better to torment me like that. Rather than a father who doesn't even look at me like I don't exist. But no matter how long I waited, Jade did not come in.
I, who had been waiting with bated breath for my room to open, eventually opened the door carefully. Jade was in a dimly lit hallway. The smell of the alcohol was strong as if he had secretly stolen his father's alcohol and drank it. Jade, his blank face slowly looking back at me.
For a moment, I became nervous. Jade was a good three spans taller than me, and as he learned to use a sword, he grew closer to the size of an adult than a boy. I have never been hit, but I have seen a lot of how drunk adults turn when I am on Bell Street.
But Jade didn't do anything. He stood there, holding a large rabbit doll and a small rabbit doll in his hands. Slowly, he seemed to notice me, and his young face slowly distorted.
After a while, a mumbling sound was heard. I listened to him and unconsciously took a step forward. And for a moment, I couldn't breathe.
"You are my sister, why are you not my sister?...."
"..."
"I thought you were my sister."
"..."
"Why aren't you my sister...".
Tears filled his eyes as he stared at me. For a moment, I saw Jade, who was younger than I was now, layered over him. Jade, who always made flower crowns and argued with puzzles, eventually gave me the puzzle. Jade smiled happily as he was showered with kisses from the Duchess.
"My father and older brother did too much. You haven't even eaten, right?"
Jade secretly brought bread and a doll to comfort me without knowing why his father and Conrad were doing this.
"Was it because of you? Because of you, my mom!!"
And ten-year-old Jade, who knew all the facts and was evil. I bit my lip. It was me who had always stubbornly said that I was his sister too, but I couldn't say anything to Jade now.
With his unsteady steps, Jade went to Ethella's door and put down his large doll. He then threw a small bunny doll in my direction and disappeared into his room. Only then did I slowly walk towards the doll. A pretty rabbit doll. The doll I held tightly felt cozy. Just like the doll Jade brought me when I was little.
That night, I couldn't fall asleep easily. Something about him pricked my chest. The happiness I had experienced briefly in my childhood came back to me. Maybe Jade also thought of me as his younger sister. If only I tried a little harder.
"Olivia is the Emerald Princess."
I thought that happiness would come to me again.
***
Bang!
The closed door rang. Jade caught a glimpse of Olivia lowering her head. Jade, who was shaking his head to get rid of her afterimage, cursed.
"That crazy guy said his head was spinning. What is this?"
I waited for today. I waited for a year and a half thinking that the day would come when I would go to the victory banquet. Intelligence came in that there were remnants of Heferti.
The crazy Grand Duke pinned me down and told me to solve the problem and come back. The intelligence was false. I didn't know why I waited for the victory banquet. Banquets like that were widespread. Still, the person who poured cold water on the rising expectations was one of the knights I met after entering the system.
The driver, who had already gone to a banquet and was on his way back to the mansion, said something strange. The Grand Duke swore an oath to the Lady? Jade snorted.
It seemed that the Emperor had used an ingenious trick to tie up his dog. He must have sworn to the Princess.
"Your Majesty the Emperor is very determined. It looks like a national marriage is still possible."
"No, Vice leader. The opponent is not Her Highness the Princess! The person to whom His Highness the Grand Duke gave the oath......."
The knight, who was talking feverishly, suddenly looked at me and trailed off.
"...... Come to think of it, Vice-Captain, She's the Vice-Captain's younger sister."
"What?"
The sight before his eyes became completely white. The only Princess Madeleine who could attend the banquet was Olivia. When he returned to the mansion in anger, Olivia was not there.
Jade, who had been sitting on the first step, biting all his men, stood up as soon as Olivia returned. And he asked, holding back his wheezing heart. The person who received the Grand Duke's oath was Olivia.
That stupid thing. Jade knows what kind of guy the Grand Duke is. he was so angry that it reached his head.
Jade picked up any of the presents next to him and threw them at the wall. As the box fell, the gloves inside it fell off. It was the same glove Olivia was wearing. Jade took a deep breath and looked at the gifts piled up next to him.
He bought the same things for Ethella, but they were gifts he had never given Olivia. He couldn't throw it away or send it away, so it kept piling up. That stupid thing he thought was his sister, but it wasn't his sister.
Jade closed his eyes. He became distant because he didn't know why he was so angry.
Olivia was visible beyond the pitch-black field of vision. She is ten years old. Jade, who was hostile to Olivia after learning about his mother's death, and eight-year-old Olivia, who hovered around him.
The anticipation in her green eyes made Jade gasp even more. It was a wish that could never come true, he thought. Why did he pile up the gifts like that? If he had thought just a little more, it would have been an easy path.
At this time, Jade couldn't think much more about it.
***
The first floor of Madeleine's mansion. I watched the sunrise. The green juice I made for my father ended up being thrown away again.
I waited since dawn. I thought anyone would come and ask me, whether it was my father or Conrad. Whether it's the Grand Duke's oath, my relationship with Leopold, or anything else.
But the morning was actually quite like this.
"Miss, the meal was ready. Give this to me and eat."
Sally said as she took the juice. Jade said he had been out since dawn. There was only one person eating in an empty restaurant. Eating alone was not tasty.
When did Ethella, who went to her mother's family, the Marquis of Haelquin, come?
I continued to struggle to think of anything else on my mind. It was the only escape I could make now.
Sally, who was standing behind, came over and spoke carefully as she poured juice into an empty glass.
"My Lady, can I ask you one question?"
"What?"
"Miss, did you really receive the Lady's oath from His Highness the Grand Duke yesterday?"
"How do you know that?"
Sally smiled brightly with a flushed face.
"It was true! I thought so too! Miss, you were so beautiful yesterday! You can see in the newspaper how beautiful you were."
"Newspaper?"
"Yes! There were articles about you all over the newspaper!"
My fingertips felt cold and hard. A newspaper? Who dared to spread what happened in the imperial palace?
Sally asked with excitement on her face.
"Shall I bring it?"
I nodded and Sally quickly left the restaurant. I closed my eyes for a moment. Everything that happened in the Imperial palace, especially at banquets, was treated as 'unofficial". At most, there was gossip about who Leopold's partner was at the banquet. There were two stories about me being on the front page of the article.
"Someone intentionally leaked the article."
I muttered lowly and opened her eyes.
"Yes?"
Sally brought me a few copies of influential newspapers. The big title in the headline was really Olivia, my story.
- Hero Archduke Vikander gives his oath to Princess Madeleine?
- Breaking News! War hero finally takes his oath to the Lady?
I quickly scanned the newspapers. The Grand Duke gave me an oath, that was all.
For the time being, I was going to live an unplanned secluded life.
I calmly thought about the things I would do. I will stay at home except when entering the palace, and I will call someone to take care of the finances of the Crown Princess's palace.
While I was organizing my thoughts, I suddenly thought of Leopold. Did Leopold see this article? What does he think?
I'm sure he'll pay attention. I was smiling bitterly and flipping through the newspaper.
"I received a lot of letters from you this morning. I left everything else in your room and brought only this one, My Lady."
Sally held out a letter with a face full of anticipation. I, who had been guessing whether it was Ethellaa or Leopold, blinked when I received the letter.
The seal stamped on the luxurious letter envelope is unmistakable.
"Someone came directly from the Grand Duchy!"
Vikander. A sword decorated with colorful roses and sharp thorns. I carefully opened the letter, seeing the pattern that I had only seen in the noble yearbook.
The moment I read the elegant handwriting, my eyes widened.
You didn't take the sword. I will prepare a more precious gift for you, so give me a chance. I'll be waiting for you anytime.
-Edwin R. Vikander
Is this really all there is?
I, who was reading his letter over and over again, burst into laughter at some point.
Oh my God. Why are there people like this?
I had clearly heard that the Grand Duke was dangerous and cruel. The letter told a different story despite the noisy articles.
What a strange person.
I muttered to myself. As the depression that had enveloped me since early dawn seemed to have been washed away, I suddenly regained my appetite. Strangely enough, everything seemed to be okay, so I called out to Sally lowly, lifting my fork again.
"Sally."
"Yes?"
"Let's go out for a while in the afternoon."
I also wrote a bunch of letters to Ethella. It would be okay to send at least one of them. If time permits, I thought it would be a good idea to send a reply to the Grand Duke.
For some reason, the sunlight coming through the window felt warm.
***
Same time. Ethella left her maternal home, the Marquess of Haelquin, in her carriage. Her destination was the Princess's palace of the imperial palace.
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