“Who are we going with?”
“Well, Carol and me,” I answered casually, accepting my fate as Carol despondently clung to my arm.
“Alright. When do we leave?”
I looked at the clock tower in the distance.
“We should head out now. They said they’d be here by 11.”
Julien beckoned to a far-off maid.
“Please take this to my room.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
As the maid left, carrying the candy pouch, Julien stood up. He didn’t say anything, but his face was clearly excited.
A picnic.
It was a word that made one’s heart flutter.
“But… mother…. No, it’s nothing.”
I sighed as I saw his expression turn cloudy.
It was just a picnic…
I felt as if I had been stabbed as I saw how Julien was so troubled over this little break from the norm. It was pitiful to see how he was still excited to come with us, in spite of his mother’s anger.
Carefully, he held my hand.
He wasn’t reluctant to touch hands anymore. I squeezed his hand back.
Carol watched this happen with wide eyes, then clung onto my forearm even harder as if she didn’t want to lose.
Can you let me go, both of you?
But I held myself back and didn’t say that out loud.
Instead, I said something to put the prince’s mind at ease.
“It’s fine. We already received permission from the Empress.”
With Carol, the heiress of the Gratoni duchy, on our side, the Empress folded immediately. Also, I had asked the butler to send a letter to the Imperial Palace to ask for permission.
“Really?”
“Of course. So nothing is going to happen.”
The last part was said quietly, like a whisper, so Carol probably didn’t hear it.
“Then, let’s go quickly.”
The prince stepped forward first. Then, Carol quickly followed suit.
“Sharon, you should be next to me!”
“Haa… How childish.”
“What? You, what did you say?”
They started bickering right away.
With the support of the Gratoni duchy, the Empress allowed Julien to do things that she normally would not allow into his schedule.
So for Julien, Carol was his only chance to slack off and have fun.
And as for Carol, she was thankfully “ignored” by the Duke as she was his tie to the Empress. Since ladies from high nobility and the empress did similar things, Carol had to learn the basic refinement.
Dance, decorum, history, management, art, etc.
However, Carol did not have to study how to do needlework nor how to make light refreshments like the other young ladies because she was going to be the Empress.
For the Carol who hated studying, this was a really good result.
Anyways, the point is that the relationship between Carol and Julien is a win-win for both of them.
So… why won’t they just get along?
They say people become fond of each other by fighting, but that’s only if they make up.
I pulled my hands out of Carol’s and Julien’s grips, who were pulling me like they would split me in half.
“Both of you, follow me. I’ll take the lead.”
By the look of it, that was probably for the better.
***
A total of six people came to this picnic.
Madame DeJoue, Madame Berna, me, Carol, the prince, and lastly, Madame DeJoue’s younger brother.
I was fascinatedly observing the boy that was Madame DeJoue’s brother.
The boy, who was 8 years older than me, was currently studying law.
His name was Huran.
He was much younger than Madame DeJoue, who was 25 years old. However, he had a very adult-like attitude.
A neat mouth, straight nose, and black eyes. And Huran also had black hair, which was unusual for this world.
Madame DeJoue looked at me meaningfully as I stared at him.
“Hmm. Lady Sharon, have you caught a fancy to Huran?”
Pabababak.[1]
Did I really just hear that?
Everyone except Madame DeJoue and Huran turned to look at the boy at the same time.
Huran became flustered and flushed at the situation, but their stares were relentless.
And at my sides, Carol and Julien who had obstinately held my hands tightened their grips.
Ah, Madame DeJoue. Why did she say something so unreasonable?
“It’s not like that. I have no thoughts of dating yet.” I said, taken aback. I closed my lips.
Darn.
That wasn’t something an 8-year-old would say.
But nobody paid mind to my words. It was as if they didn’t even hear them as they looked at Huran as if they were going to dissect him.
I feel bad for him. What could I do?
But it wasn’t as if I was comfortable either, since my hands felt as if they were encased in armor.
Really, these kids.
The only person who heard me was Madame DeJoue, who was smiling amusedly.
Agh, seriously. She did it on purpose. She did it on purpose!
“I apologize, Huran.”
I didn’t know if he even heard my murmur. The two jealous kids at my sides were practically snarling, so it was difficult to even attempt a proper conversation.
I didn’t really mean anything like that.
I had a different reason for being unable to take my eyes off of Huran.
I couldn’t help myself. He looked too much like my ex, who I was forced to break up with because of unfortunate circumstances, and it made my heart ache.
Chan Lee.[2]
We had been together for about 10 years.
Our relationship was so close that even after we broke up, we remained good friends.
Chan’s mother could not accept me because I was poor, so I broke up with Chan first as he did not want to let go of me.
But I was selfish. I couldn’t forget how he stayed by my side, and I took him back as a friend.
Hiding our feelings in our hearts, we couldn’t get married and continued to grow old with each other up until I was 35.
One of the good things about entering this world, I thought… was that Chan would have the chance to get over me.
He wouldn’t waste his life tied down by this horrible relationship.
His dream of having a home with a wife and kids could come true.
Thinking that, one part of my mind was put at ease.
The thoughts that I had buried in my mind were all brought out when I saw Huran’s appearance.
It was like I was looking at Chan again, the first year when I had met him.
I became gloomy.
If Chan hadn’t met me at that time, by now, he would have been living as he wanted.
And Madame DeJoue had labeled my complicated thoughts with one just one word—‘fancy.’
Honestly.
I opened my mouth to rescue Huran, who still couldn’t lift his face because of all the stares.
“Please stop. Huran isn’t my type. Ah, but of course it isn’t that Huran is unattractive.”
It was the best excuse I could give. The boy breathed a sigh of relief as their gazes moved away from him.
Really, just one word caused him such a nuisance.
The problem now was that everyone, including Huran, started staring at me.
“Why… Why are you all looking at me?”
“Well, it’s just that you seem to have high standards. How much would it take for someone to catch your interest? Though, it’ll be a shame no matter who you end up with.”
The one who just spoke was Madame Berna.
As if everyone agreed with her, nobody else spoke.
Hey, my standards weren’t that high.
“Is that so.”
I just wasn’t attracted to people of this world in that way.
I was a stranger here, and all the people around me were characters in a novel.
Of course, I did like them, since they were my favorite characters.
But it wasn’t to the extent that I could point to one and imagine some sort of deep, romantic relationship with them.
I felt more like I was looking at them through a CRT TV.
But I had no way to explain all this, so I just spoke vaguely.
“Our lady will have a hard time getting married. Only an outstanding man would be able to take you.”
Geez… I didn’t actually want to get married.
***
Julien clenched his fist.
After getting on the carriage, Sharon’s eyes had been focused on the man named Huran, and his previous excitement had been shattered.
Unexplainably, he felt displeasure, like he was being stabbed in the chest with a thorn.
‘Did I eat something wrong?’
It was like having breakfast with his mother every day.
With her, the meals always began with tension and he only felt relieved at the end.
However, the woman named Madame DeJoue made Julien’s heart feel heavier with her unnecessary words.
‘Marriage?’
For Julien, marriage was just a tool to gain power, or a sort of alliance.
That was how it was for Julien’s parents, his relatives, and even his relationship with Carol, who was chosen as his fianceé without his consent.
But… Sharon’s marriage.
He didn’t like it. Strangely, his heart was bubbling over, like a boiling pot of soup.
‘I hate it.’
He thought that he stopped having tantrums a long time ago, but he felt the urge to lay down on the floor and kick and scream that it wasn’t allowed.
Thankfully, Sharon said she wasn’t interested in that Huran kid.
But if he thought about Sharon and Huran being together in a relationship, he felt heated, as if he drank some hot water.
‘I hate it, Sharon.’
Julien swallowed his words and followed Sharon with his eyes. She was staring indifferently out the window.
‘I wish she would look at me…’
But he knew that Sharon didn’t care about anything other than what was necessary.
If Julien asked her to look at him, she would just agree mechanically, like a machine.
To hide his impatient heart, Julien held Sharon’s hand tightly. It was soft, like cream.
He didn’t want to let go.
***
“Sharon, come here!”
I refused with a wave of my hand. Carol, who was playing in the water, already soaked her dress through and looked like a water ghost.
It was as if she was beckoning me to come with her. I had the eerie feeling that if I went to hold her hand, we would cross the river into the underworld together.
“Do you think she knows how she looks right now?”
“I’m not sure…”
Madame DeJoue also looked reluctant to join in.
Of everyone here, only Julien exchanged water bombs in the river with Carol.
Like that, he looked his age.
However, the reality was a little different.
“Hey, you want to die?”
“Ha. What about you?”
The two of them were really fighting with all their might.
It was funny to look at them because they were both soaking wet, but they were quite serious.
‘I don’t want to lose to him!’
‘There’s no way I can lose to someone like Carol.’
They both had that sort of mindset.
They didn’t know why, but they really didn’t want to lose to each other!
***
“Ha-am.”
I was starting to get tired. I kept yawning as I looked at the stubborn Carol and the crown prince in the water.
Huran was reading a book, and Madame DeJoue and I were talking.
Only Madame Berna was nervously watching Carol and Julien fight.
“The Duke said that I could choose a lawyer to serve you.”
“Yes, I remember.”
It was something he said as soon as he saw my face; I couldn’t forget it.
“So I’ve been looking for the right person, but I could not find any whom I trusted. Most of them have been dirtied by the world.”
“I see.”
“So, what if we entrust this matter to Huran?”
“To Huran?”
Wide-eyed, I looked at the awkward-looking Huran.
“Um…”
“Though he looks like that, he’s the top law student at the academy. He’s also quite sensible. Of course, he still needs another 3 years to become certified.”
“If you trust him… then I agree. Then, in the meantime, who will be our lawyer?”
“Why don’t we request the Duke’s lawyers? They are talented people. Although… they do smell a little.”
“Aha. So they’ve done many suspicious things?”
“Yes. Well, it’s true that all the adults in the world are like that.”
“Madame DeJoue, you’re also an adult.”
Madame DeJoue naturally rolled her eyes at me.
[1] I’ve no idea what this onomatopoeia stands for, but I’m assuming it has something to do with how shocking Madame DeJoue’s words were to Sharon.
[2] Same last name as our main character, Nara Lee, but nothing to be freaked out over. Lee is one of the most common last names in Korea, after all.