Total Eclipse of the Heart (Royal AU Wally x reader)

Chapter Four

"Lady (Y/n)!" Lady Catherine shook her awake.
"Huh?!" she sat up, panicked, the blanket sliding off her shoulders and back. "What is it?!"
"I'm sorry, we wanted to let you rest, but you have to see this!"
Despite not being fully awake, she quickly followed her to the lounge area and gasped when she saw bouquets of flowers of every color on every surface of the room. There was a big pile of letters on the coffee table, being sorted out by Lady Gwendolyn while Arnold was drinking a cup of tea, sitting back on the couch opposite to her.

"Lady (Y/n)!" Gwendolyn stood up when she saw her. "How are you feeling?!"
"All good, thank you." she smiled, showing her healed hands. "What is all of this?"
"They're for you."
"Excuse me?" she blinked twice.
"All these flowers and..." she separated the two piles of letters she's made and gestured to the biggest one. "All these letters are addressed to you."
"...What?!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide open.

"Yes!" Catherine beamed. "Not one person wasn't talking about you after what you did at the ball last night."
"Your popularity skyrocketed overnight." Gwendolyn added.
The Lady was too stunned to speak, she covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers. She looked at Arnold, who avoiding looking at anyone. She could easily figure out at what cost her reputation improved.
"Arnold, how-?"
"I gotta go." he mumbled as he stood up, grabbing the couple of letters that were addressed to him.
"Arnold."

He ignored her and left without another word. She felt a twist in her heart. This wasn't what she wanted. She cursed herself, her mind telling her that she should've came up with an alternative solution. Something that wouldn't have required anyone to get the short end of the stick. But she knew that, even if such a plan existed, she wouldn't have changed what she did. For she let her feelings take over her, and she would do it again if it was to stop this futile duel. Then should Arnold and the count be blamed for this? She didn't want to, she didn't want to blame anyone.
"Oh don't mind him." Catherine waved a hand. "He's been like this since this morning."
She sighed. There was no use thinking about it now. This was the present situation and she now had to work around it, along with working to put the young marquis in people's good graces.

"He left the ball early, didn't he?"
"Why yes, a bit after you did actually." Catherine nodded. "We tried to cheer him up, but he lashed out at us too and left."
(Y/n) pursued her lips.
"But don't be too troubled. You know him, his ego is just hurt because he's not getting all this attention, he'll calm down eventually just like always."
"But this is of an entirely different level..." she whispered before asking. "Did you hear from the servants?"
"Yes!" she nodded with bigger eyes, like she's been waiting for this question. "Like I said, everyone talked about what you did- Positively, of course! About half of the people believe it was all just for show, that you weren't actually injured. But the other half was awestruck!"

"A nickname that often came up was Brave-Bloody-Bare-Hands." Gwendolyn added. "A mouthful, but they liked the rhyme."
(Y/n) frowned, her gaze wandering.
"You don't like it?" she tilted her head.
"That's not exactly the image I wanted people to have of me." she rubbed her face with a light groan. "I didn't want anyone to have an image of me! A simple noble Lady like me isn't supposed to be in the spotlight!" she groaned, letting herself sit back on the couch. "But I suppose I only have myself to blame."

"There is also a rumor..."
She looked at Catherine, who was now hesitating to speak.
"Please, you know what I think about rumors."
"I-I know, but we thought you should know about this one..." her and Gwendolyn exchanged a look.
"Is this about dark magic and witches?" she frowned.
"No- Well, there was some of that too. But it's not what we're talking about! Some have called you, and I quote, 'the real new Ruler of Spades'."
(Y/n)'s eyes widened. She stared at the two ladies with such intensity that they looked away.
"Those are just rumors- As a joke! They said it as a joke."
"Then I shall not bother myself to even acknowledge them." she sternly said with a huff.
The two ladies were worried. They knew that a rumor could easily grow into something bigger.