In This Life, I Will Protect You

-Chapter 8-

I kept a blank face as we walked to the dining room. Unbeknownst to Mila, who was happily walking with me, I was having an entire internal crisis next to her. My mind was filled with the happenings of the Original Novel. However, I was also focused on the Female Lead. I had a certain hunch I wanted to clear.

"Mila," I said. "How old is Catherine right now?"

Mila stared at me. "Lady Catherine? She's currently 12 years old, but will turn 13 in a few months. Is there a reason you're asking?"

"No, it's okay."

Hmm. So I was correct. The events of the main novel hadn't started yet.

It began on Catherine's 13th birthday, when her elder brother, Noah, came back from war. Catherine, who had no idea he was back, burst into tears and ran into his arms upon seeing him. From an outsider's point of view, this was the perfect family reunion. But later that night, Noah called an emergency meeting for members of the Royal family only and revealed that the only reason the war had stopped was because of a peace treaty signed by both parties. In the first place, the nation they were fighting was skilled in weapon making, and was located in the harsh North mountaneous region, where it snowed throughout April. The soldiers had a hard time with the cold winds, and the enemy had the upper hand, taking the higher ground of the mountains. The leader of the nation, the elusive King of the North, had signed the treaty as he was suffering as well, with the imperial knights being a force to be reckoned with. The treaty promised the start of a good relationship and trades with the North. However, the King wanted a price. The Female Lead, who was known throughout the land for her achievements was to marry the leader.
That is where the story started, and their love bloomed, blah blah blah. The Villainess, who had admired the King from a young age was enraged that her sister was marrying him instead, and started tormenting the Female lead in hopes that she would run away, leaving the position free for her to claim.

Told you it was cliche.

Anyways, everything would start in a few months, which made things a lot harder.
See, the villainess had always had an inferiority complex towards the female lead, and had missed no opportunity to degrade her near-perfect reputation. The details aren't that important, but Atalanta had died because of her extremely bad relationship with the female lead.

So I needed to drastically improve my relationship with Catherine in order to survive, and with the events of the main novel starting in 3 months, that made things quite difficult.

"My lady, we're here," Mila said.

I looked up to see a huge pair of double doors. Sighing, I turned the handle.

                                 ~◇~

"Oh my sweet heavens," I mumbled in between bites.
My taste buds were practically screaming in happiness. I stuffed more food into my mouth as I tried not to moan.

"You eat like a pig, are you sure you're Atalanta?"

I ignored Catherine's rude remarks as I chewed. Mila stifled her laughter.

When I had first sat down to eat, I noticed 7 different forks and spoons next to my plate. Mila must've seen my look of confusion as she immediately gave me a small lesson on table manners as Catherine looked on. I spent the next 10 minutes trying to remember everything and failing miserably.

I felt kind of bad for Catherine because one of the basic rules were that you had to wait for everyone to start eating before you ate. But that feeling faded as I noticed that she was trying not to laugh under her hankerchief.

Finally, after what felt like ages of trying, I picked up the right spoon and we both started eating.

"Catherine," I said, trying to start a conversation. "What are you going to do for your birthday?"

"We're planning on hosting a party in the main ballroom. I've already hired the planners and my dress preference has been turned into the royal tailor," She replied.

"Oh, haha, I see. What gifts would you like?"

She stopped eating and stared at me in surprise.

Mila flashed a strained smile and leaned down to whisper in my ear. "My Lady, you've never given Lady Catherine a gift before, let alone asked what she likes."

The atmosphere was tense.
Damn you Atalanta!

"Oh, uh, ahaha, I'm sorry, um," I desperately tried to backtrack.

"It's okay," Catherine said putting her palm up. I remained silent, for fear of saying the wrong thing again.

The rest of lunch continued in strained silence, with the occasional Clink of the utensils.

Catherine got up first. "I'll be going now. Thank you for accompanying me here."

Mila bowed.
As I stared at Catherine's retreating figure, I was sure of one thing.

Atalanta may have made things difficult for me, but I promise I'll find out your interests, and get you the best birthday gift of all Catherine!