I remembered the first time I met 'An'.
The letter that said we'd meet in the secret garden that only we knew, where we played with Cowan.
That day, just like now, I could hear the music of Artichad Hall from afar, and it was midwinter.
"Adrienne... Is that Adrienne? Adrienne!"
That day, too, this man was in front of me.
Noevian stopped at the entrance to the garden and walked over with brisk strides. He cast a dark shadow over me.
I looked at his trembling, thin hands and slowly raised my head.
Dark ripples formed under his eyes as they met my dry eyes.
"You came to see me... Me? Me."
That day, too, this man was in front of me.
Noevian stopped at the entrance to the garden and walked over with brisk strides. He cast a dark shadow over me.
I looked at his trembling, thin hands and slowly raised my head.
Dark ripples formed under his eyes as they met my dry eyes.
"You came to see me... Me? Me."
"Yes."
His clean-shaven face, which was coming to meet the Emperor, had a sharp chin. It was the thinnest and most unattractive face I'd seen in the past few years, but it was still a handsome face. Of course, I wasn't impressed.
"I've always wanted this opportunity. Even if it sounds like an excuse, I have to say what I have to say.”
“No, don’t.”
The words that were pouring out in a hurry suddenly stopped.
“If it’s about loving me, then don’t say it.”
He couldn’t hide his eyes, surprised by my firmness, and moved like a broken clock.
“Why, why? Adrienne. You have to listen. You have to know the truth. You have to know how much I love you and want you.”
“Your ridiculous love stories are not what I want to hear.”
“You waited for me. If you stay with a sinister guy like Rhodnes, you’ll become someone’s target someday. No matter how much I’m cornered right now, I’m afraid I won’t be able to take responsibility for you. If you’re Adrienne, you know what kind of person I am!”
His clean-shaven face, which was coming to meet the Emperor, had a sharp chin. It was the thinnest and most unattractive face I'd seen in the past few years, but it was still a handsome face. Of course, I wasn't impressed.
"I've always wanted this opportunity. Even if it sounds like an excuse, I have to say what I have to say.”
“No, don’t.”
The words that were pouring out in a hurry suddenly stopped.
“If it’s about loving me, then don’t say it.”
He couldn’t hide his eyes, surprised by my firmness, and moved like a broken clock.
“Why, why? Adrienne. You have to listen. You have to know the truth. You have to know how much I love you and want you.”
“Your ridiculous love stories are not what I want to hear.”
“You waited for me. If you stay with a sinister guy like Rhodnes, you’ll become someone’s target someday. No matter how much I’m cornered right now, I’m afraid I won’t be able to take responsibility for you. If you’re Adrienne, you know what kind of person I am!”
His face, which had been soaking in emotion, gradually grew more excited at my indifferent reaction.
His pale face, which had been bloodless, gradually turned red, and his hands trembled as if he was holding back the urge to grab my shoulder and shake me at any moment.
“You’re mistaken, I wasn’t waiting here for you to see your twisted face.”
“...”
“Give it to me.”
His pale face, which had been bloodless, gradually turned red, and his hands trembled as if he was holding back the urge to grab my shoulder and shake me at any moment.
“You’re mistaken, I wasn’t waiting here for you to see your twisted face.”
“...”
“Give it to me.”
I held out my hand from a distance of only a step.
“Give it to me, my mother’s necklace.”
Ah. The face I had longed to see once again was distorted in front of me.
It was the expression that had given me a very dirty thrill the moment I had broken him down.
As he said, I knew the man Noevian Trovica too well. I immediately understood what that expression meant.
As he watched me talking about my mother’s necklace, he had clearly blown away the suspicion that had been lingering in his mind,
“But surely...”
The last doubt about this absurd situation was where Adrienne Pireta was in Blie Acacia’s body.
The veins on Noevian’s long neck bulged and disappeared repeatedly. Soon after, his cold hand landed on my hand instead of the necklace, and he pulled me towards him.
“Adrienne!”
I was held in his arms. The moment our bodies collided, my side, which had not fully recovered, throbbed and hurt.
“Adrienne, Adrienne, don’t leave me. I love you. The world without you is hell.”
The crown of my head, my earlobes, and then my neck. The cold breath from the winter wind sank down one by one.
My body was noticeably thinner than before, but there was no way I could handle the strength of the man who had never neglected his training.
The dry lips that had been teasing my neck moved up the tip of my chin just before touching my lips.
I mercilessly lifted his cheek.
It was a thud, not a slap because I had pushed it away. Instead of avoiding Noevian, who seemed to have come to his senses for a moment, I grabbed his disheveled clothes as if I was grabbing them by the collar with a look of contempt on my face.
“There’s no necklace.”
I had messed up his clothes enough to reveal his bare chest, but nothing was hanging on.
The thought that a man who came to this garden on a day like today, guided by his feet, might come wearing my mother’s necklace was shattered.
“...You know what?”
The necklace that I had felt as if it was in my hand had turned to ashes and disappeared, so I grabbed his collar tightly as if I was holding onto a necklace that had already disappeared.
“You’re so useless.”
The man’s face, hurt by those sarcasm-tinged words, made me even angrier.
I mercilessly pushed him, who was standing there blankly, as my anger rose.
“If you’re not going to tell me where the necklace is, get out.”
Noevian’s eyes, which had been obediently pushed away, flashed with a strange gleam for a moment.
“I don’t want to.”
“Don’t ever show up in front of me again without the necklace.”
“I was serious.”
He grabbed my wrist, which I was trying to push away, and held it against his chest.
“Even if the beginning was a lie. I was sincere! It was love! I still love you. Even now, I am every day... every day...”
And then, he hugged me tighter than before and buried his rough lips on my exposed shoulder.
“I am the one who is going crazy from thinking about you every day.”
As he spoke while lightly biting my shoulder, his breath scattered across my skin. I got goosebumps.
“I promised to make you happy, and I gave you happiness that you could never receive from Rhodnes. Things like stability and respectful gazes. I am a man who keeps his promises. I can make you happy.”
“Let go of this!”
Noevian finally broke down.
His dry, withered face quickly became wet, and he knelt on the grass while hugging my legs and begged.
“Again... Love me again, please. Choose me. Leave Rhodes. Come to me. Please. I can’t live without you. Adrienne, Adrienne...”
Regret and despair. Tears poured down ceaselessly from his maddening eyes filled with frustration and anger, and a strong force shackled my two legs.
I felt myself being drawn into those eyes, which were so deep that they were filled only with despair.
It must have been when I started to feel for the dagger in my bosom.
“...Uncle, what is this?”
Crown Prince Bardenaldo appeared in disheveled attire and reeked of alcohol.
The reason why Bardenaldo couldn’t help but get drunk was quite simple.
“Your Highness is not the star of the party, so please be modest and come to the Crown Princess Palace today.”
It was because Doris announced the annexation date, which had been somewhat quiet.
Doris became enraged at Blie’s seemingly innocent smile and began to vent her anger on Bardenaldo, ruminating on the indifference of those who had not even a single bit of interest in her.
The drinking that started with Doris’s relentless encouragement was uncontrollable, and he, who always looked neat, staggered for a moment.
And then, strangely, his body felt hot.
Empress Grace, who had been serving more guests than the Emperor, looked at the Crown Prince and his wife with concern.
“Empress. Your son doesn’t look very well.”
“Oh my, it seems that your son is more excited than the party for His Majesty the Emperor.”
While the Emperor was going to meet Noevian Trovica, Doris affectionately supported the Crown Prince and led him to her bedroom.
It was so natural that it seemed like she had been planning on this day from the beginning. Doris slapped the guards on guard around the palace and even the servants.
Clap!
And she mercilessly pushed the drunk Crown Prince’s cheek. She pushed Bardenaldo, who was absentmindedly holding his cheek, onto the bed and climbed on top of him.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Do you think you could have become the Crown Prince if it weren’t for me? What on earth do you believe in? Huh?”
Bardenaldo was already drunk from the drugged alcohol and complaining of the heat.
As soon as he entered the bedroom, she took off his uniform jacket, and the remaining shirt buttons fell off with a snap in Doris’s hands.
Doris hysterically threw off her clothes. She took off the petticoat that had puffed up her skirt, and even her hair ornament, and threw them on the marble floor.
Her black hair, which had been modeled after Blie Acacia, poured down.
Bardenaldo’s gaze, which followed the tiara that fell with a clanging sound, turned to Doris, who was practically naked.
And at that moment. Doris felt a sense of humiliation from the depths of her heart.
Even though he had taken the aphrodisiac, and even though he was in this state, Bardenaldo’s front, which she felt beneath her, did not swell at all.
Bardenaldo’s naked upper body even tilted under the bed and began to retch.
Doris, who had heard the sound of vomiting, glared at Bardenaldo with a face that was all bruised.
He crawled, quickly put on a nightgown, and ran out of Doris’s bedroom.
The last doubt about this absurd situation was where Adrienne Pireta was in Blie Acacia’s body.
The veins on Noevian’s long neck bulged and disappeared repeatedly. Soon after, his cold hand landed on my hand instead of the necklace, and he pulled me towards him.
“Adrienne!”
I was held in his arms. The moment our bodies collided, my side, which had not fully recovered, throbbed and hurt.
“Adrienne, Adrienne, don’t leave me. I love you. The world without you is hell.”
The crown of my head, my earlobes, and then my neck. The cold breath from the winter wind sank down one by one.
My body was noticeably thinner than before, but there was no way I could handle the strength of the man who had never neglected his training.
The dry lips that had been teasing my neck moved up the tip of my chin just before touching my lips.
I mercilessly lifted his cheek.
It was a thud, not a slap because I had pushed it away. Instead of avoiding Noevian, who seemed to have come to his senses for a moment, I grabbed his disheveled clothes as if I was grabbing them by the collar with a look of contempt on my face.
“There’s no necklace.”
I had messed up his clothes enough to reveal his bare chest, but nothing was hanging on.
The thought that a man who came to this garden on a day like today, guided by his feet, might come wearing my mother’s necklace was shattered.
“...You know what?”
The necklace that I had felt as if it was in my hand had turned to ashes and disappeared, so I grabbed his collar tightly as if I was holding onto a necklace that had already disappeared.
“You’re so useless.”
The man’s face, hurt by those sarcasm-tinged words, made me even angrier.
I mercilessly pushed him, who was standing there blankly, as my anger rose.
“If you’re not going to tell me where the necklace is, get out.”
Noevian’s eyes, which had been obediently pushed away, flashed with a strange gleam for a moment.
“I don’t want to.”
“Don’t ever show up in front of me again without the necklace.”
“I was serious.”
He grabbed my wrist, which I was trying to push away, and held it against his chest.
“Even if the beginning was a lie. I was sincere! It was love! I still love you. Even now, I am every day... every day...”
And then, he hugged me tighter than before and buried his rough lips on my exposed shoulder.
“I am the one who is going crazy from thinking about you every day.”
As he spoke while lightly biting my shoulder, his breath scattered across my skin. I got goosebumps.
“I promised to make you happy, and I gave you happiness that you could never receive from Rhodnes. Things like stability and respectful gazes. I am a man who keeps his promises. I can make you happy.”
“Let go of this!”
Noevian finally broke down.
His dry, withered face quickly became wet, and he knelt on the grass while hugging my legs and begged.
“Again... Love me again, please. Choose me. Leave Rhodes. Come to me. Please. I can’t live without you. Adrienne, Adrienne...”
Regret and despair. Tears poured down ceaselessly from his maddening eyes filled with frustration and anger, and a strong force shackled my two legs.
I felt myself being drawn into those eyes, which were so deep that they were filled only with despair.
It must have been when I started to feel for the dagger in my bosom.
“...Uncle, what is this?”
Crown Prince Bardenaldo appeared in disheveled attire and reeked of alcohol.
***
The reason why Bardenaldo couldn’t help but get drunk was quite simple.
“Your Highness is not the star of the party, so please be modest and come to the Crown Princess Palace today.”
It was because Doris announced the annexation date, which had been somewhat quiet.
Doris became enraged at Blie’s seemingly innocent smile and began to vent her anger on Bardenaldo, ruminating on the indifference of those who had not even a single bit of interest in her.
The drinking that started with Doris’s relentless encouragement was uncontrollable, and he, who always looked neat, staggered for a moment.
And then, strangely, his body felt hot.
Empress Grace, who had been serving more guests than the Emperor, looked at the Crown Prince and his wife with concern.
“Empress. Your son doesn’t look very well.”
“Oh my, it seems that your son is more excited than the party for His Majesty the Emperor.”
While the Emperor was going to meet Noevian Trovica, Doris affectionately supported the Crown Prince and led him to her bedroom.
It was so natural that it seemed like she had been planning on this day from the beginning. Doris slapped the guards on guard around the palace and even the servants.
Clap!
And she mercilessly pushed the drunk Crown Prince’s cheek. She pushed Bardenaldo, who was absentmindedly holding his cheek, onto the bed and climbed on top of him.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Do you think you could have become the Crown Prince if it weren’t for me? What on earth do you believe in? Huh?”
Bardenaldo was already drunk from the drugged alcohol and complaining of the heat.
As soon as he entered the bedroom, she took off his uniform jacket, and the remaining shirt buttons fell off with a snap in Doris’s hands.
Doris hysterically threw off her clothes. She took off the petticoat that had puffed up her skirt, and even her hair ornament, and threw them on the marble floor.
Her black hair, which had been modeled after Blie Acacia, poured down.
Bardenaldo’s gaze, which followed the tiara that fell with a clanging sound, turned to Doris, who was practically naked.
And at that moment. Doris felt a sense of humiliation from the depths of her heart.
Even though he had taken the aphrodisiac, and even though he was in this state, Bardenaldo’s front, which she felt beneath her, did not swell at all.
Bardenaldo’s naked upper body even tilted under the bed and began to retch.
Doris, who had heard the sound of vomiting, glared at Bardenaldo with a face that was all bruised.
He crawled, quickly put on a nightgown, and ran out of Doris’s bedroom.
“Are you really a swindler?”
What the hell is this?
A sense of despair and a faint sense of liberation flashed across Doris’s collapsed face.
Noevian, who had resisted going all the way, was dragged away by the knights who had followed the Crown Prince.
“No, no! Adrienne! Adrienne, Adrienne!”
It was noisy and desperate until the very end. The sound of metal, which seemed even more raw than the day they were driven north, resonated through the tunnel entangled with vines.
The Crown Prince pressed his pale hand to his temple.
I sighed deeply and bowed my head deeply to hide my frown.
“Thank you for coming when I was in trouble, Your Highness.”
What the hell is this?
A sense of despair and a faint sense of liberation flashed across Doris’s collapsed face.
***
Noevian, who had resisted going all the way, was dragged away by the knights who had followed the Crown Prince.
“No, no! Adrienne! Adrienne, Adrienne!”
It was noisy and desperate until the very end. The sound of metal, which seemed even more raw than the day they were driven north, resonated through the tunnel entangled with vines.
The Crown Prince pressed his pale hand to his temple.
I sighed deeply and bowed my head deeply to hide my frown.
“Thank you for coming when I was in trouble, Your Highness.”
“Someone who was almost kidnapped... Even though it’s the palace, you have to be careful. I heard that my uncle often takes medicine, so I think he mistook you for the late Grand Duchess.”
He didn't scold me.
Even asking where Ephero and Victor are and why he met Noevian alone in the dark.
The Crown Prince, who was so drunk that I could smell it clearly even though I was two steps away, shook his head. It seemed as if he was trying to come to his senses in the cold wind.
“I am always sorry to Madam, and I am also grateful.”
His voice was full of emotions. Perhaps he also saw Grand Duchess Adrienne in me.
‘I wish you were innocent, just like Rhodnes said.’
That might not be all wishful thinking.
Look at that shining saint’s face!
When I think of Doris’s face, who had done cunning behind my back and had forced a smile at me, wasn’t the Crown Prince a saint?
‘It would have been better if Doris had killed me.’
If Doris, who was clearly my enemy, had killed me...
‘Then you, who are so upright. Me. Rhodnes...’
‘Then you, who are so upright. Me. Rhodnes...’
I felt a selfish desire to think that everyone would be happy.
“Your Highness is my lord now, so don’t say such things.”
Perhaps because he was drunk and disheveled, the Crown Prince, who was staggering a little, smiled and bowed his head to me neatly, as usual, even in his unconscious state.
I held him back as he seemed about to fall, and bowed my head even deeper.
“...Ah.”
And then, my breathing stopped.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the Crown Prince’s bare chest in front of me.
No, I couldn’t help but look.
On the crown prince’s bare chest, barely wearing a nightgown, a very familiar gold chain was shining.
Ah.
My cold, frozen hands were not circulating blood.
Ah.
Why does the Crown Prince have my mother’s necklace?
“Why...”
“Ah, embarrassing... It’s embarrassing to be in such an embarrassing outfit, I’ll go first.”
I stretched out my trembling arms toward the Crown Prince, who blushed as if he was sincere and turned around briskly.
“I...!”
An old, raspy sound that didn't seem to be mine came out of my throat.
My hand covered my mouth, which was about to scream to the Crown Prince.
Instead, my legs moved on their own.
I followed Bardenaldo, who was going through the winter wind like a madman, with my mouth also covered.
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