Chapter 72

Chapter 72

I couldn’t possibly forget all the abuse and unfair treatment she had been subjected to.

“Shuelina?”

He called me once, but when I didn’t answer, Lucas waved his hand in front of me, puzzled. His eyes were purely worried. It really felt like the original Shuelina was only fictional when I looked into those eyes.

Seriously, I wondered if someone so full of pure goodwill for me could do such a terrible thing. After that, I felt like a bad person for having such a weak thought.

In the end, I bit my lip and turned away from Lucas’s face.

“Shushu, should I lift you again if you don’t feel well?”

“No, it’s okay. Thank you, brother. I just want to go back to my room.”

Wyndert saw me turning my head and immediately stretched out his hand to Lucas and pushed him away euphorically.

Then he tried to look at my complexion. He seemed to be worried that I was having a high fever. I grabbed Wyndert’s hand and got up again, then we walked slowly toward our accommodation.

‘Please, control your heart.’

The sensible Wyndert and my beloved family. Thank you Lucy, cute Nina and Franc. My lovely Miya and Kaiden. My beautiful room and delicious foods. The excitement I had on the way to the Imperial Capital. I tried hard to think of only pleasant and lovely people I met and things I gained after possessing this body.

With such a subdued mood, it was difficult to respond flexibly when an unexpected accident occurred. Above all, I didn’t want to make Wyndert or the Grand Duke worried. If possible… even Lucas, who was looking at only me from over there.

I was able to smile softly again after I suppressed everything. It was only when we were near to our accommodation.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better. If something made you feel bad… please tell me. I will fix it somehow.”

Lucas spoke carefully to me as if he was paying attention to me who was suddenly cold and didn’t look good.

I shook my head, remembering his handkerchief, which I had not returned, in the pile of luggage I had brought from the Grand Duchy. Because I can’t tell him that I was reminded of the time he did something wrong to his younger sister.

‘Let’s see for sure, Shuelina. The Lucas in my memory is very different from the one here now. But only one person is the same in both versions. If you focus your observation on the Empress, you’ll be able to decide what to do with Lucas.’

What changed was the attitude of the Emperor and Lucas. On the other hand, Azuela and the Empress stayed the same, who still used me to commit evil acts. I decided to focus on them and then I decided to do whatever I wanted about everything else that was causing me conflict.

As I swore to do so, the whispering voice from afar came closer and closer.

“…..right? …Oh, brother!”

It was Azuela, coming with her nanny and three maids walking behind her. She was gently walking towards Lucas.

A gentle and soft voice, a smooth and silent walk without any sound, paired with a seemingly kind smile. Surely, as Teacher Rima had said, no as the criminal Rima had said, Azuela was still young but she looked like a perfect and elegant lady.

‘Azuela…!’

The one who tormented Shuelina, I probably could have guessed that her childhood was like this. She had a bright and clear face and wore luxurious outfits while receiving plenty of love. I looked closely at Azuela’s entourage and saw that she was leading them all properly.

‘She surpassed what I had imagined so far…’

The beloved princess of the Empire, a lady as gorgeous as a rose – she was also a six year old like me but I felt like she was very mature.

It was then that I realized that all I knew was how much Azuela had taken away from Shuelina’s life. The young Azuela looked so bright that it seemed as if she was unrelated to such crimes.

‘I don’t understand, I am so angry right now for what Shuelina has been through…’

Up until now, I thought they were just memories left in my body and covered it up, but it was still kind of awkward often now that I arrived at the palace. I could feel the fear, disgust and a strong sense of dread that was intense building up inside of me.

All I could see was Azuela’s face when she would grow up that would be full of scorn.

‘Isn’t it possible that… all of it wasn’t just inside the book but I’ve possessed a body that went back in time to before the story started?’

If these distinct senses of déjà vu remained in the body due to the regression, it was understandable that the scenes that came into my mind were vivid enough for me to even recall the scents. The real Shuelina may have gone back in time after going through everything and I may have come in after that.

“Brother, I’ve been dying to see you after hearing that you came back after a long trip.”

I was staring blankly at the floor, lost in thought, when I suddenly heard a gentle voice.

Azuela smiled, swaying her body a little in a charming and cute way. At that moment, the jewel on her chest gleamed – it was the Brilliant. I instantly felt like heat was rising from the bottom of my stomach. I was dizzy and barely held myself together. Don’t faint here or show any emotions in front of Azuela.

I bit my lip, clearing my mind a little with the pain, and then looked at Azuela.

“Who are these people with you?”

“Azuela, I’m receiving a very distinguished guest right now so talk to me later.”

Lucas spoke coldly to Azuela who was wearing a gentle smile. He even shook off Azuela who came near him.

‘It was indeed strange.’

Lucas was originally a character who couldn’t live without Azuela…. I felt it when I met him in the Grand Duchy, but his attitude was definitely different from the original.

Have you had a fight recently? However, even Azuela and the maids behind her seemed to be very familiar with Lucas’ attitude. Azuela’s big eyes were filled with tears.

‘She doesn’t look sad… at all.’

I can definitely feel it as I was crying every night. Sure, Azuela looked a little heartbroken, but she didn’t look genuinely sad enough that tears would well up in her eyes. But there were suddenly tears in her eyes, so my mouth gaped open blankly in surprise.

“Ah… I’m sorry, I haven’t been considerate enough towards older brother.”

Azuela took the handkerchief handed to her by the maid as if she was accustomed to holding it, and gently wiped the tears away from under her eyes. Then she smiled very softly, and her eyes that looked filled with regret looked down at the ground. She also seemed really used to that way of faking a resolute attitude.

“I just missed my older brother so much…”

I could only faintly hear her voice and it almost made it seem as if Lucas had made a big mistake and pushed her away deliberately. Lucas swallowed as if he was holding back something.

“Who is this person?”

At that moment, Azuela’s gaze turned to Wyndert. It didn’t look like she was asking for an answer. She smiled at Wyndert and held out her hand.

“Hello.”

She held out her hand for a kiss, and then I realized that this was the first meeting between Wyndert and Azuela like in the original story. I thought it would be much later that these two would meet each other, but their first meeting was the same.

Will Azuela and Wyndert’s relationship eventually become the same?

“I am Wyndert William de Vaillot.”

But unexpectedly, Wyndert reacted differently from the original, in which he shook off Azuela’s hand in embarrassment and introduced his name.

‘Maybe, brother.’

After meeting me, Wyndert got used to expressing emotions a lot. Maybe that’s why he developed feelings for Azuela as soon as they met?

What should Wyndert do if, as in the book, he ends up falling in love with Azuela and turns into a real villain? What if he really falls for Azuela, the girl who wants to ruin my whole life?

‘Huh?’

But when I calmed my trembling heart and looked closely at Wyndert’s eyes, I could tell that I was just overthinking. His eyes were just as cold as if he was dealing with every other person he didn’t care about. Besides, he still didn’t touch Azuela’s outstretched hand.

It was basically rude of a gentleman to ignore a lady’s outstretched hand for a greeting.

‘If he only glanced at her without introducing himself… she would’ve misunderstood him.’

I’m certain that he wasn’t forcing himself to pretend that he didn’t like her.

However, it felt strange because he introduced himself but ignored the outstretched hand. Azuela, too, seemed to be surprised, and with a slightly red face, removed her hand.

“Then who are you?”

Azuela asked, this time looking straight at me. It was different from the twinkling eyes she had when she looked at Wyndert, but she still had a soft and gentle expression.

‘Finally, we have bumped into each other.’

I gulped and opened my mouth to relieve my tense mind.

“I am Shuelina de Vaillot.”

Azuela’s eyes widened slightly at my words.

Was it because she knows my name? No matter how reluctant I am and dislike Azuela, I hoped that she is not a villain that knows everything about her and her mother’s evil deeds from such a tender young age and that she willingly steals other people’s abilities….

“Were there any Grand Princesses in the Vaillot family? Weird, there was obviously none last I checked. You two don’t look alike at all as well.”

“I….”

“Ah, are you an adopted daughter? Where did you originally come from?”

Azuela asked me, tilting her head – pretending that it was her mistake, and deliberately cutting off my words and openly revealing that I am an adopted daughter. It was a remarkable collection of words full of malice meant to dig into my humble life. Her words were noteworthy. I didn’t know if I should be sad for the words that came out of her mouth, or happy that I didn’t think she recognized me.

If I don’t answer that question properly, my evaluation will probably drop from that moment.

‘Are you a commoner princess? Nonsense.’

In fact, that’s what Shuelina heard in the original story. Some said it was unfortunate of an Imperial Princess to grow up as a commoner, and that she should’ve been killed so that there would be no more talk about her in high society.

That was the beginning of Shuelina’s hellish life in the Imperial Palace.

‘I’m glad this is not a crowded place.’

There would have been a greater effect if she had said those words at a party like in the original story. Even now, most people wouldn’t recognize the malice hidden in a six-year old’s words. I bit my lip slightly and opened my mouth to answer.

“Azuela, I already told you to go back.”

If Lucas hadn’t intercepted my answer by blocking my way, I could have answered right away. Azuela’s eyes widened when she saw Lucas acting like he was protecting me.

“Ah… I’m sorry. Was I rude just now? I was just so glad to meet my brother’s distinguished guests….”

At Azuela’s words, the nanny behind her opened her mouth cautiously as if defending Azuela.

“Your Highness, it seemed like Her Highness made a slip of the tongue because what she learned about noble genealogy was different. Please ease your anger.”

It was an attitude that seemed to talk with sincerity. She bowed her head and asked Lucas not to blame Azuela in a desperate voice. He just scolded her for her rudeness, but I didn’t know why she (nanny) was talking as if Lucas had been extremely cold-hearted.

She only seemed a good person when she was covering for the child (Azuela), but I was a little startled when she looked at me. It was because I saw her mouthing the word ‘commoner’. It looks like she was blaming me for having Lucas protect me, a former commoner, rather than his younger sister Azuela.

“Grand Princess, I’m sorry if it was so wrong to ask where you came from. Next time, we will meet and talk in a good atmosphere.”

Azuela looked back at Wyndert and me once with a sad face, then bowed her head to Lucas and turned back. I alternately glanced at Azuela’s back, which was moving away, and Lucas and Wyndert, who stood tall as if they were trying to protect me.

‘Why……?’

Obviously, to Lucas, Azuela must be his most precious little sister…

Why did you block me as if you wanted to protect me? It feels almost as if you didn’t want me to stand out in the eyes of Azuela, that can’t be it right?

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