/
Chapter 18: His Fate Was Inevitable
Linzel glanced over at the woman.
A petite figure that appeared even smaller as she crouched, her pink hair swaying in the wind.
A high bridge of a nose that stood out even more when viewed from the side, red lips that contrasted with her white face.
She was a perfect beauty with strikingly fair skin. She was prettier than any flower.
Linzel called her name out loud.
“Letty!”
Letty’s head lifted from its lowered position.
She looked directly at Linzel. The look on her face was gloomy.
Linzel took quick steps and got right up to her nose.
“Don’t run away this time! I’ve walked a long way to get here!”
The desperate cry made Letty stop running.
Linzel squatted down across from her and made eye contact with her.
Mini, done supporting me, walked away so we could talk in peace. As expected, she was observant.
Looking at her twin sister, Letty’s two eyes were moist. They were filled with tears.
But Letty was holding back the tears with a frown.
Linzel wanted to tell her it was a misunderstanding, that there was nothing to worry about, that Izekiel was just patting me on the back

.
There were a million things she wanted to say. But the words didn’t flow out of her mouth in coherent sentences.
Linzel was never good at comforting others. Especially not someone she cared about.
Her hesitation was compounded by the fact that she didn’t want to damage their relationship.
But that didn’t mean she couldn’t break the uncomfortable silence.
Linzel spoke to Letty first.
“Why aren’t you crying?”
Letty answered with a straight face.
“Because I feel sorry for 

.”
Linzel grabbed her arm to keep her from pulling away. She could feel Letty’s bones; her arms were so thin.
“Sorry for what?”
Linzel didn’t mean to be interrogative, but she must’ve sounded a little harsh when she said it out loud.
She blew out a slow breath. Linzel didn’t want Letty to get the wrong idea again.
A single, translucent tear slipped from Letty’s green eyes and landed on the tip of her chin.
Linzel tried to be gentle this time.
“I’ve never seen such a pretty girl cry so much.”
Then she stroked her cheek. Letty flinched at the touch of her sister’s fingertips.
With a pitiful face, tears streaming down her cheeks, Letty asked seriously, “Don’t you hate me

?”
“For what?”
“For misunderstanding you, Linzel. I know you’re not the kind of girl to do that, and I know best

.”
‘Ah. Good. Letty knows I wouldn’t do that, too.’
Linzel began to recount the events of the day.
“Now, listen to me, Letty.”
“

Yeah.”
“I didn’t invite him, but His Highness Izekiel paid me an unexpected visit.”
“Mmh.”
“And just before you showed up, I was coughing so badly that His Highness Izekiel just patted me on the back!”
It was no secret to anyone in the duchy that she often coughed. Letty did not doubt Linzel’s words.
“Then

 Why did His Highness Izekiel come to see you?”
“Reason

.”
Linzel knew the reason.
Having misunderstood, Izekiel had come to her to ask about something related to the “abuse”.
“Nonsense. He thought I was being abused in the Duchy and came to ask me about it.”
“What

? Abuse..? Not that you are looked after?”
“Supposedly, he saw the bruises on my body and thought I was abused?”
“We were abusing you, Linzel?” Letty repeated as if she couldn’t believe it.
It was clear she thought it was a ridiculous misunderstanding.
Letty’s face had lost all trace of her tears as she let out a sound. It was like she was relieved.
“Yeah. He assumed so. I told him it wasn’t, but he wouldn’t listen to me!”
“Hmm. That’s right, His Highness Izekiel has a single-minded side.”
The answer was typical of Letty, who had a crush on Izekiel.
“Perhaps we can clear up his misunderstanding later.”
“I will.”
Linzel told her about her encounter with Izekiel at the palace, and the way he had changed his behavior.
Letty listened to the story in silence.
“I’m sorry, though. He’s a man you like, and I was being careless. Next time, I won’t cause you to misunderstand. I promise.”
Letty nodded and said, “Yes,” over and over again.
“Linzel. I’m sorry, too. It’s just that I like him so much

. I must have been blinded by jealousy.”
This time, Linzel nodded. Jealousy could blind a person.
It can cloud your judgment.
As someone who had been unrequitedly in love, Linzel understood where she was coming from.
It made her realize how much Letty liked Izekiel.
It wasn’t fair that Letty, who was so lovely, had been hurt by Izekiel. She deserved to be loved by everyone.
“We’ve reconciled then!”
Linzel smiled broadly, and Letty, who had stopped crying for a moment, burst into tears again.
Tears that meant she was sorry for Linzel, that she hated herself for being jealous and suspicious of her beloved sister

 well, something like that.
The tears that fell from her beautiful face were like pearls.
Linzel wanted to gather them with her own two hands and put them in a secret box for collecting precious things.
Linzel hugged her tightly and waited for her sobs to stop, but Letty’s sobs would not stop easily.
It was no secret that Linzel ended up shedding as many tears as Letty did.
* * *
After making up with Letty, Linzel went back to her room.
She went straight to bed.
She was utterly exhausted. She didn’t have the strength to move a muscle.
As she lay still, she remembered Izekiel’s words.
‘And where is this misunderstanding? The fact that you have so many bruises all over your body because you were abused, or the fact that you ended up going to marry Hernan
 in place of Lady Letty?’
The hell. What in the world was he thinking to cause such a misunderstanding?
Now that she’d cleared up Letty’s misunderstanding, Linzel needed to clear up Izekiel’s.
‘Let me help you. I’ve developed some sort of sympathy for you.’
She didn’t know what he meant by help, but his misunderstanding might lead him to do some strange things.
Was there a way to make things better between Letty and Izekiel, and still clear up Izekiel’s misunderstanding?
Rather than Linzel being the middleman

.
“Face to face.”
Linzel was hoping for the best. She vowed to arrange a meeting between them in the not-too-distant future.
It was Hernan who would be the bridge.
* * *
“Mini, good morning.”
Linzel felt refreshed after spending most of yesterday in bed.
The bruises on her legs from the fall in the palace had faded.
Mini brought breakfast to the bed where her mistress was sitting. Due to Linzel’s poor health, she usually ate breakfast in bed.
“I’m glad to see you look healthier today than yesterday.”
“Yeah. Yesterday I thought I was going to die.”
“My miss, I hope you get well soon

.”
“I’ll get well when I have a full stomach.”
Mini giggled as Linzel smirked.
Linzel picked up her spoon and started scooping up soup. Mini began to recite the day’s schedule as if she were Linzel’s aide.
Nothing major was scheduled.
A quick walk after eating, a look at the dress that was ordered a few days ago

. And then came the most special event of the day.
“I have a message from His Highness Hernan that he will be at the ducal residence today at 3pm.”
Hernan, who had been absent yesterday, was coming today.
Linzel began to get excited. Her heart fluttered in anticipation.
How handsome Hernan would be today.
If he used the oil she gave him, his face would glow. It would be so radiant, in fact, that if he ever went to war, he would blind the enemy with it.
And so, Hernan builds a graveyard of enemy eyeballs

.
‘Anyway, can’t I stop Hernan from making the eyeball grave?’
Linzel thought about it, but what a futile idea.
* * *
Today, she dressed up more than usual.
Hernan had been taking care of his appearance, so she wanted to show him the same attitude.
When Linzel was choosing a dress to wear with Mini, she thought to herself.
‘What kind of style would Hernan like?’
Most people would assume that Hernan would like a more formal style. After all, Hernan was known to be a blunt and static man.
But the more he is like that, the more he is vulnerable to outward stimuli.
Linzel couldn’t help but wonder if there was a savage side to this quiet man. What if his emotionless eyes were filled with heat?
‘Okay, I’ll bring it out of him!’
And so, the dress she chose was one with a slit down one side along the line of her legs.
The point was to show off her smooth legs through the slit.
She thought about wearing an off-the-shoulder dress that would show off her collarbone, but she remembered Izekiel’s comment about the bruises on her shoulders and decided to keep her legs bare instead.
If he saw the bruises, Hernan could get the wrong idea. Linzel didn’t want that to happen (again).
Before leaving the dressing room, she put one foot up on the round chair in front of the dressing table.
As she did, the slit in her dress slid down, revealing her calves. It was perfect. 
‘With an angle like this, I could seduce 99 out of 100 men.’
Linzel turned to Mini as if to inspect.
“Mini, what do you think of my legs? Are they hot?”
Mini clasped her hands together and looked impressed.
“They’re amazing. They’re the perfect legs to win the hearts of everyone in the world.”
Ah, not enough praise.
Linzel tilted her head. It was her cue to ~go on~. Mini’s eyes sparkled and her voice rose in pitch.
“Miss. If you see a puddle on the road ahead, say hello!”
“Why?”
“Because that’s me, melting at the sight of your perfect legs.”
Mini squirmed as if her body was really melting.
( E/N : Everybody needs a hype man like Mini in their lives )
How hilarious and cute that was. Linzel couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Pwahaha, Mini! You’re so cute.”
Linzel slid her legs off the chair and walked over to Mini before kissing her innocently on the forehead.
“Mini. I’m going to really make you melt.”
Linzel grinned like a villain.
Mini’s face flushed like a cherry tomato.
“Oh, Miss

 I’m already melted and gone. Amen.”
Linzel smiled happily and wished Mini well.
“Amen.”