Episode 20. What were your true feelings?
“Count Weiss!”
People shouted in screams.
Christine grabbed the Empress’s whip that was flying towards her. The long whip fiercely wrapped around his hand, causing blood to spurt out.
“Could you explain the situation, Your Majesty?”
However, he asked politely with an indifferent face.
Instead, the Empress, who was standing in front of him with a horse whip, was terrified.
“I was talking to the Marchioness. It’s none of your business.”
“I don’t think you’re talking.”
Christine had an indifferent expression, but his blue-gray eyes were chillingly cold.
The atmosphere of Zimmer and his dozen or so subordinates standing behind him was also fierce. They were all from the White Ghost Knights, who would not hesitate to give up their lives for the Count.
“Do you dare question me now?”
When the Empress, unable to bear the pressure, shouted,
Chuck!
At the same time, Christine’s men all stood in front of the Empress, forming a wall. It was as if they were warning her not to harm him again.
“All right. Everyone, back off.”
However, everyone backed off silently at Christine’s command. This was enough to overwhelm the Empress.
“If you’re done speaking, can I take the Marchioness?”
The Empress had no choice but to let Adele go.
“Be careful. Even the heroes of the empire can be destroyed by that woman’s cup of tea.”
However, she did not forget her last harsh words.
“Thank you for your concern.”
Christine bowed his head politely.
***
“Are you okay? Where is the palace clinic? Let’s go there quickly.”
As soon as the Empress left, Adele urged Christine.
“Don’t make a fuss. It’s no worse than a mosquito bite.”
He looked down at his hand indifferently and sat down on the flowerbed in the garden. Zimmer, who was quick-witted, had already made everyone else back off.
“Look here.”
Adele, who approached and examined Christine’s hand, was startled.
His large palm was covered in blood. It seemed like he had already been hurt somewhere else rather than being whipped.
“Did you hurt your hand before you came here?”
“I was practicing swordsmanship.”
He answered nonchalantly.
“Then why did you interfere? It’s about me and Her Majesty the Empress.”
Adele took out a handkerchief and wrapped it around his wound with a face as if she were about to cry. But she didn’t know. That alone was enough to make it worth it for Christine to interfere.
“If I hadn’t interfered, you would have ended up like this.”
“No way. I would have gotten away quickly.”
“So I helped you for nothing?”
“Of course, I appreciate your help. But that means I’ll take care of tomorrow.”
I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.
Adele swallowed the words inside her mouth.
“Come to think of it, this handkerchief is mine. Did you always carry it with you?”
Christine asked, holding up the handkerchief tied to his hand. It was the one he had used to tie up her injured hand at Madam Hans's party.
“I brought it with me to return it.”
Adele quickly made an excuse.
“You can just give it to me when you’re home.”
When Christine stared at her, Adele felt embarrassed. At times like this, his eyes seemed to read her mind.
“I forgot. Do you think I only think about returning your handkerchief? I have so much to do!”
“But why are you angry?
“When did I get angry?”
The more she said this, the more mischievous Christine laughed.
“Your voice keeps getting louder. Now that I see it, your face is red... Ah!”
Adele had stepped on his foot.
“What are you doing?”
Christine raised one eyebrow and frowned, but Adele warned him sternly.
“I won’t let you off easy if you keep teasing me!”
He laughed in disbelief.
“Anyway, you have a temper. If you attack the Empress with that kind of temper, this is what happens.”
“It was the first time, so I let my guard down and got hit. I promise I won’t get hit next time!”
Adele clenched her fists and made an ambitious resolution, but he looked incredulous.
“You can’t do it against the Empress.”
“Seriously. Do you think I’ll get beat up again? I gave Seira a nice beating today.”
“Seira Oswald?”
“Yeah, that happened a while ago.”
Considering how close she had come to being beaten up at Madame Hans’ party, today’s incident was out of the question. However, she felt a little relieved when she recalled Seira, clutching her stomach and groaning as she dragged Madame Hans along.
Thanks to the Empress, there wasn’t much time to enjoy that exhilarating feeling.
“Anyway, I’ll cheer you on.”
“Then I’ll go now. Tanya will finish the delivery and wait.”
“I’ll take you.”
Christine got up from the flower bed, but Adele waved her hand.
“Go quickly and get your hand treated first. If you leave the wound as it is, it’ll be a big deal. We’ll see you at home later...”
Adele stopped talking. The idea of seeing him at home came out too naturally.
He was going to go home soon, and she shouldn’t get any closer, but she kept forgetting that.
“What’s wrong?”
Christine was puzzled when Adele suddenly became depressed.
“No, nothing. I’ll go now.”
He grabbed her as she hurriedly went back.
“You’ll apply the medicine when you get home, right?”
“There’s a clinic in the palace, right?”
“I don’t think I’ll have time to get treatment because I’m busy.”
“No matter how busy you are...”
“You’re the one who got hurt, so you’re responsible.”
At times like this, he seemed to be the same boy he had been a long time ago. The boy who had been following her around and making a fuss to the point of being annoying. Adele smiled and nodded obediently.
“Yes. I’ll get you some medicine.”
“As expected, there’s no one else but you, Adele.”
He smiled prettily with his eyes, making Adele feel weak. Just like when he was a boy.
“Don’t smile like that. That’s why people misunderstand us.”
“With this much?”
Christine ran his fingers through Adele’s hair and lightly kissed her forehead.
“...!”
When Adele looked at him in surprise, he winked.
“It’s less frustrating to be misunderstood.”
He waved his hand vigorously and walked away.
***
‘Really, what are you going to do...’
After Christine left, Adele stood there blankly for a while.
Her heart kept pounding.
Every time she saw him, she became greedy.
In her head, she thought she should wish for things to go well with April, but her heart couldn’t let him go.
The thought of him marrying another woman made her heart suffocate, and all she had were twisted thoughts.
She wanted him. She wanted to stop his marriage.
“No matter what...”
Adele muttered, then shook her head in surprise.
What a stupid idea!
She turned around in a hurry and ran into Seira coming from the other side.
In an instant, Seira seemed to have aged by about ten years. It was funny how she staggered along, holding her stomach and being supported by Madame Hans.
“What did this evil thing do to the dessert?”
When she saw Adele, she ran at her as if she was going to tear out her hair, but then grabbed her stomach again as if she felt an abnormal signal.
“Ugh!”
In the meantime, Adele approached her calmly.
“What did you do, Seira?”
“Ugh, what are you talking about!”
“Who sprinkled a lot of strange powder on the Princess’s dessert instead of sugar powder? I just switched it.”
Seira's face hardened. Adele had caught her doing what she did.
But she wasn't the type to just turn a blind eye and walk away.
"Don't be stubborn! You poisoned the dessert. I'll tell them everything!"
Adele shrugged calmly.
"As you wish. Everyone else is fine, and you're the only one who's like that, so I don't know whose words to believe. And I'll tell them everything I saw."
Seira couldn't say anything else.
Until recently, no one believed what Adele said. No matter how much Adele told the truth, a few words from Seira and her remnants would make it the truth.
But things were different now. Count Weiss was behind Adele. If he took Adele's side and investigated, everything Seira did would be revealed. If Count Weiss wanted to, he could even make Seira seem like she didn't do it. After all, he was the most powerful person in this palace, second only to the Emperor.
"Dirty woman! How long do you think you can hide behind the Count and laugh?"
“I never hid behind the Count. It was you who hid behind the family name and committed evil deeds.”
“This is the real thing!”
However, Seira could no longer bear it and clung to Madame Hans, making a groaning sound.
“Again... go... here... ahhhh...!”
“Again?”
Seira shouted nervously at Madame Hans’ blunt question.
“What kind of vulgar talk are you talking about! I left something behind!”
“Oh, I understand.”
Mrs. Hans supported her again and went back the way she came.
Adele smiled bitterly as she watched them.
Until recently, she would cringe when she saw Seira. No matter how confident she was on the outside, the Oswalds always felt threatened. When they disappeared from her sight, Adele would feel tense, and her whole body would tingle.
But now, it was different. It must be because she unconsciously trusted Christine, her strong support. Like Seira said, she might be hiding behind him and showing off.
And she was greedy for him without knowing her place.
'Adele, you're really shameless.'
But wouldn't it be okay if she didn't let this feeling get out of her mind?
Wouldn't it be okay to just stay by his side and watch him like a good older sister? So that no one gets hurt, so that no one gets hurt...
"Young lady, were you here? I've been looking for you for a long time."
At that moment, Adele heard Tanya's voice. She was panting, her breath coming up to her chin, as if she had been searching for Adele here and there.
"I'm sorry. I've been waiting for you for a long time. Let's go back quickly."
"By the way, where did you put the ribbon?"
Wasn't Adele the one who had been paying attention to that the whole time in the carriage?
“Yes?”
Adele was surprised and quickly touched her hair. When she did, the green ribbon that had been tied around her head was gone.
She had definitely had it on until she went to see the Empress...
She must have dropped it after she had parted ways with the Empress. If so, it must have been lost somewhere in the palace garden.
“Just wait a moment. I’ll come find it right away.”
“Miss!”
Tanya called, but Adele had already run away.
It was a gift from none other than Christine.
Something she wanted to keep for her whole life, not just for ten years.
***
“You’re really relaxed, Your Majesty!”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you going to leave Count Weiss and the Marchioness?”
Adele, who had been retracing her steps to find the ribbon, stopped in her tracks.
She could hear the conversation between the imperial couple from behind the tall shrubbery in the garden. There was no one around them, as if they were having a secret conversation, and their voices were lower than usual.
But Adele couldn’t leave. They were talking about her and Christine.
“Don’t you say we’re like siblings?”
“Ha, siblings? If they’re siblings, then Your Majesty and I are siblings too. I heard that the atmosphere with the Marchioness was unusual.”
“Hahaha!”
“Stop laughing and tell the Count to come out of that house. What if he loses his mind because of that horrible woman?”
“Actually, I was the one who told him to become close to the Marchioness.”
“Your Majesty?”
“I have something to look for.”
“Looking for?”
“Hmm. There’s a document left by the dead Marquis, and I think the Marchioness has it.”
“So does that mean the Count approached her on purpose to look for that document?”
“Yes. So pretend you don’t know. In a month, he’ll find the document and have a grand engagement ceremony with April.”
“Ah, I didn’t know that and I...”
Thump! Thump! Pitter-patter!
At that moment, raindrops suddenly began to fall.
The sound of the Emperor and Empress hurriedly leaving the place could be heard.
However, Adele’s pale face remained frozen in place.
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