Tell me you like me. I didnât even ask if you love me
Anakinâs mouth slowly opened. The moment he tried to answer something. I suddenly came to my senses. What did I just say? What if he likes me? I was going to leave anyway. Nothing could be returned to Anakin. I shouted urgently.
âDonât say it.â
ââŠBut.â
âI told you not to!â
I quickly closed Anakinâs mouth by covering it with my palm. Until just now, I had reprimanded Jason not to be trash and use other peopleâs emotions, but now I almost used Anakin like that.
Iâm his master. He canât refuse me, so I shouldnât have gone this far.
Funny. People are so deceitful. Other peopleâs flaws looked bigger than anyone elseâs, so we struggled to fix them. Even if they could be our fault, we would search for excuses first.
Iâm disillusioned with myself.
When I stopped him, he pulled the palm that covered his mouth to his cheek and just looked at me silently. That was a good look.
I liked that he waited for me. Amid all the commotion pouring towards me, he alone was quiet, so that was good.
I wanted to show only a cool and strong image to you who liked that. I didnât want to be a burden even if could get help from you.
Iâd rather die than look weak to you.
I thought, stroking his cheek. If Anakin likes meâŠâŠ. Was that really âmeâ? Could it not be that the causality of this novel made him fall in love with âErisâ? With suspicion, fear grew.
No, come to think of it, it wasnât a life that I was really afraid of. Even if I loved you and stayed here, I could never be happy. In the end, it will be filled with regrets and I will resent myself and you who made me remain. I am afraid that I might become the type of person I despise the most.
âItâs okay, you can go out. About⊠thank you.â
I got out of his arms and laid quietly on the bed. He wrapped the blanket up to the end of my neck and turned his head away. Anakin didnât leave for a
moment, then looked at me. But in the end, I heard the sound of walking away.
Donât go. As the door closed, I suddenly became caught in that thought and hurriedly turned my head,
And I made eye contact with Anakin who was still looking at me. My face was burning up. What if I was being impatient? Several excuses passed through my mind. But Anakin only asked me quietly.
âAre you in so much pain that you canât sleepâŠ?â
âYes.â
âCan I stay by your side?â
ââŠ..Yes.â
Anakin quietly knelt next to me. I looked at Anakin like that and closed my eyes. Then he carefully grabbed my fingertips on the blanket. To confirm his existence even if I couldnât see him in front of me.
Finally, letâs make one more excuse today. Iâm sick. All humans will get sick so that doesnât mean I look weak.
Tomorrow is the debutante ball, and I am now entering the palace as if I am revising everything at the last minute.
Helena was a sincere student, so she had thoroughly reviewed even without me. At this rate, if she studied a little more after the debutante ball, she could become a crown princess without difficulty.
In the first place, there was not much to teach except for court manners.
Political sensibility and state administration were tasks that required some sense, and it was not something I could teach.
Still, I gave Helena a brief word of praise for her obedience to my instructions.
Now, for tomorrowâs sake, I was going to go there, but suddenly, there was a commotion outside.
Before his attendant could even say his name, the crown prince suddenly opened the door and entered
As soon as he saw us both, he scrunched up his face, grabbed Helenaâs wrist and hid her behind him.
âItâs been a long time, Your Highness. Itâs a dazzling afternoon. Is there any reason for you to come in a hurry, even breaking the etiquette?â
âWhy are you with Helena?â
It doesnât matter if I tell you the truth because the training is already over, but somehow I was reluctant. Itâs not that Iâm nervous because Iâm not.
Come to think of it, breaking up with me and Helena becoming the crown princess are all good things for the crown prince, so I didnât want to nicely tell him that. Helena, who was alternating her gaze between the two of us, slipped in between.
â1, 1, I caught Lady Miserian for a cup of tea, right, Lady Miserian?â
âYou⊠have no fear! What would you do if that harmed you?â
The crown prince, who referred to a person using a direct pronoun and not a personal pronoun, carefully checked to see if Helena was injured. As I watched, asked in annoyance.
âAm I a monster?â
âYouâre more poisonous than a monster. If I had been with a monster, I wouldnât have been so concerned.â
âYour HighnessâŠâŠ.â
When Helena stopped him, he stopped staring at me and looked down at Helena. Those were the eyes that saw the most adorable thing in the world. The prince whispered as he carefully tucked her hair behind her ear, as if he was afraid of breaking Helena.
âI have something to tell you.â
âYes? What do you have to sayâŠâŠâ
âWould you like to come to Young Lady Kazarâs debutante ball with me? As my partner. Donât you know the lady too?â
Helena looked at me for a moment. I nodded my head slightly as a sign of permission.
âOf course I have to go, Your Majesty. Itâs the Young Ladyâs debutante ball, how can I miss it?â
âAlone, without a partner?â
The nobleman, who should have been my partner, was laughing at me after he requested for someone else to be his partner right in front of me. I knew from our first meeting that the crown prince was shameless, but I just smiled and accepted it. In the first place, itâs more annoying if you treat these things casually.
âWhy donât I have a partner? Isnât there Anakin?â
âAnakin?â
âYou probably saw him last time. My escort knight, Your Highness.â
The princeâs expression hardened.
âIsnât he⊠a commoner?â
âYour Highness, with all due respectâŠâŠ Lady Antebellum is still a commoner.â
Youâre taking a commoner partner too, is this something I canât do? If both of us take a commoner partner, it will be worth seeing peopleâs faces. I didnât bother to say that. He asked with a cold face.
âDoes your father know this?â
âIf my father doesnât know, are you going to be my partner then? Youâre not going to do thatâŠ..â
âAre you going to pretend to lose the imperial family?â
Even though I was struggling, the crown prince hit the nail on the head with a serious face. So I answered seriously with a thin expression.
âYes, Your Highness. Iâd like to break ties with the imperial family this time.â
âThe MarquisâŠâŠâ
âMy father may be able to re-establish the connection, but it will never be through me.â
Why is your face so shocked? You didnât think that âYour Erisâ would ever say something like this for the rest of her life? No matter what you said, did you think she wouldnât let you go?
âI will have to go through a number of formalities.. but I will tell you personally first. We will break up our marriage in the near future, Your Highness. If we break up, we will become strangers so we wonât have to face each other anymore.â
âThe affairs of the imperial family are not at your disposal. Didnât you say at first that it was the marriage between the imperial family and the marquis?â
The crown prince must really know nothing.
All of this broken engagement, broken marriage, just knew how to sing in line, but what did I do with my own handsâŠâŠ (PR/N: sheâs likely referring to herself as a puppet.)
âIt was approved by Her Majesty the Empress. Is that an answer?â
âOh, my mother?â
I bowed my knees slightly to greet the prince and just before leaving the room, I opened my eyes wide and as if wondering, I added to the crown prince who was still looking at me.
âYour Highness, didnât you want it as much?ââ
Finally, the day of the showdown has come. Somehow since it was the day of the showdown, I looked determined.
In fact, itâs an adult ceremony at someone elseâs house. Still, it was like an implicit declaration of the breakup so I had to work hard to decorate.
The dress that Madame sent me was so pretty that there was a possibility that my face would be pushed back.
After this pretty dress arrived, I decided to match all the jewellery to the dress.
I also matched my makeup using a soft coral tonel didnât normally wear and untied my hair which I had always kept neat in a half ponytail. Instead of a gorgeous jewel necklace, a ribbon was tied with black silk, and the earrings were instead crafted with large emeralds.
The fluffy and soft dress looked just like cotton candy. I wore lace gloves of the same colour as my dress and had a crafted pink diamond flower on my hair.
Hmm, I donât look like a villain who came to harm someone.
However, even if I dressed up like this, I might want to f*ck with someone again when I go to the debutante ball. Because people never know how to act. And thereâs nothing that can be done. I have no choice but to instill a lesson to not judge people by their appearance. (QC/N: the author literally used f*ckâ, in this case, meaning âto mess with or annoy.)