♦Chapter 101: A Small, Sentimental Gathering♦
For once, I have thought of how my days would actually become when I finally reached my goal of living my life not as a noble, but as a commoner.
Would I really be happy out there, all alone? Could I really be capable of forgetting the past that tormented me for so long?
Such questions often pestered me during those times.
While it was true that I longed for what people referred as 'Happiness', I was doubtful whether I would really be able to obtain such a thing, the moment I've set my foot on that boundary. In that place, where only I would remain in solitude, not having a single person by my side...
The dead doesn't rise again. And those who disappear shan't come back. Everyone I wished to be with always went far away. And next, it was my turn to leave those whom I poured my affections before.
Once that's done, would I really be... less miserable that I am right now?
Amid those thoughts, I noticed how I slowly opened my eyes along with the sight of a blurring surrounding.
It was hard to look at, to the point that I ended up closing my eyes again as I lifted the wet cloth out of my face a bit and touched my forehead with my left hand.
How on earth did I caught a fever when it's literally the end of summer...?
As soon as I woke up, I recalled how things became like this the first thing in the morning that has passed. It was an illness that came out of nowhere, resulting me to get bedridden for the rest of the day. Though it might've helped me for I was given of an excuse to not respond to the summons of the Imperial Palace, it didn't change how annoying its effects were.
In a different way, it might've represented the saying, 'no pain, no gain'.
"I feel sick.", I muttered, deliberately saying my literal state to nobody.
"Would you like me to call for a maid, Lady Melissa?"
"Please tell Viola to bring me some refreshments..."
"I shall retail what you said."
I remained silent for a second or two, until...
Hmm???????????
I swiftly opened my eyes and got up the upper half of my body from the bed. The next thing I knew it, I found myself witnessing a very shocking yet partly frightening sight.
"W-wait...!!", I shouted, stopping the woman from doing what I've requested.
The female of my age, whose hair was a stunning blonde, gently looked back at my direction, and so did the attention of the other person that seemed to have come to my place as her company. No, it was rather likely that it had been the other way around.
The moment I was ascertained of their faces, I questioned the duo with formality.
"...May I ask why the two of you are here? Your Imperial Highness...... and Lady Natasha."
A new occurrence that contradicts the previous timeline. Whenever such events come to be something offset from the future within the range of my knowledge, I get a little scared since what could lie beyond the actions that I present were unknown. It must've been an after-effect of being overly reliant to my consciousness over the destined experiences.
How inconvenient. I thought, brazenly exposing my greed internally.
"I'll do the explanation so go deal with the ill's request first, Natasha."
"Please leave it to me.~"
Just like that, the lady from the Yreles Family momentarily left the setting, leaving me alone with the Crowned Prince that laxly sat on the left seat that faced toward my bed.
With a boastful smirk on his face, he began to speak of an irritating remark to me again, the first thing of our conversation.
"Rejoice! The astounding, one and only Prince of the Empire has come to check on your condition!"
"I see. So, you were pressed by His Imperial Majesty to visit me. That explains it well. Thank you very much.", I said in a consecutive manner with an expressionless demeanor of a kind.
"So then, how did it so happen that Lady Natasha of the Yreles Dukedom is with you as well?", I straightforwardly asked not long after.
"I can't just leave her back at the palace when she just came to visit me, can I? It's impolite."
"......I don't disagree with that.", I sighed.
Soon, the door opened once more and there, Natasha came back to the room with her usual, tender smile.
"Luckily, she's been on standby right outside. She'll arrive later, it seems.", uttering those words, she carefully closed the entrance and walked back to her chair, which was placed beside Noah's seat.
Strange enough, meeting her for the second time has been nothing more than a surprising event rather than something that'd make my face go pale, almost like in an instance where a ghost got reflected on my eyes. Perhaps, it's because she has that comforting atmosphere around her, which makes her easy to approach and talk to. She didn't seem to have much differences from the adult version of herself that I frequently assisted from time to time.
"I apologize for causing you inconvenience, Lady Natasha. The same goes to the fact that I showed the two of you such an embarrassing sight of myself."
"The lady isn't faring well, is she? Therefore, it's a natural for us to lend a hand right when we just inconsiderately barged ourselves inside this room.", Natasha replied and continued.
"Isn't that right, Your Highness?", she smiled to the Prince that didn't seem to mind their sudden intrusion as much as she did.
"Y-yeah.", the silver-haired juvenile stuttered.
After she heard and was satisfied of his response, she shifted her gaze back to my side again and asked about my well-being, unlike the indifferent guy on her right.
"How is Lady Melissa's condition by now? Are you gradually getting better after some rest?"
"Unfortunately, I still feel dizzy sometimes."
"I hope you can recover soon. Lady Melissa should know how hard it is for me to hold myself back from talking to you about many intriguing stories right now. I advise you to be prepared for our next meeting, at most.~"
"Ahahahaha... I'll make sure to keep that in mind.", I laughed, politely.
Afterwards, I quickly made a brief eye contact with Noah with doubts filling my thoughts.
Hasn't he told her about the issue between us three yet?
Without beating around the bush, trying to assess his decisions by creating a bunch of unproven theories, I directly went ahead to examine his reasoning for concealing this from Natasha only to make things inconvenient to our side.
"Why didn't you tell her about 'that'?"
While it seemed as though a question mark came out of Natasha's head, she observed our mystifying chattering, trying to follow.
"Did you really have to bring that up here?", he complained with a slightly larger voice.
"The earlier she knows it, the better.", I solidly claimed, partly mentioning a matter of truth.
"That was my initial intention, but the timing is...!"
Timing? What does he mean by that? I wondered in sync to Natasha's phrase in the middle of my argument with the Crowned Prince.
"Your Highness is hiding something from me?"
"That's......"
Seeing the reluctance on his face, there seemed to be a clear yet deeper reason behind the secrecy that he's committed. Thankfully, I was considerate enough of a person instead of being cheaply malevolent to them, for the sake of a revenge from the suffering that I've experienced.
"Lady Natasha, would you mind if I am the one to confess it all to you in another day?"
"Of course, I wouldn't mind. It's just a bit upsetting to have learned that the two of you hid something that seems to hold importance from me."
"I apologize to the lady again."
"It's alright. Everyone has their circumstances. And that inevitably applies to myself at times, too."
Just as how she was described as a saint among the rumors surrounding the nobility, I praised that understanding attitude of hers to be of a Goddess'. I'd daresay, the behavior of the person next to her couldn't even be enough to be compared to her own.
It was then that someone began to knock the door two-to-three times, then a familiar voice reached my ears.
"It's Viola, milady. I have brought you refreshments, as you've instructed."
"Come in.", I replied, then to my surprise, the two visitors that came to check on my condition gradually stood on their positions all of a sudden, and started to speak.
"Then, we'll be excusing ourselves here.", Natasha formally informed me of their leave. Yet in comparison, the Crowned Prince merely made his stretches and boldly murmured of how much he wished to withdraw from the sight of me, till now.
"Finally, it's time to set off.~"
"Don't be rude, Your Highness.", she scolded him.
The flow and fitting atmosphere within the two's interactions proved the compatibility and closeness between themselves. It struck me hard, staring at the fact that I really dealt no chance from the very start of that unrequited love that slowly developed within my heart. Though I got drunk by a portion of lingering, bitter emotions, it was heart-warming to have been reminded of a similar, small gathering between the three of us, during the times that there were still no lies and twists between our relationship.
Ahh... it was truly regrettable that I've made such a grave mistake. If I hadn't done that, I'm sure-
We could've made literal, good companions.
As they were about to exit themselves in the meantime that Viola made some preparations over the bed, they lastly mentioned something that was almost forgotten to be told.
"Oh right, I've brought the lady some confectionaries from a newly-opened shop. That makes a good topic so please let me hear your thoughts about the taste, in our next meeting.~", the blonde waved her hand to me and smiled.
"I may have also brought you a bouquet but while it might seem romantic to your perspective, I ask you not to misunderstand, okay?", the silver-haired lad made his final statement, suitable enough to his narcissism.
Then in one moment after the door got closed thoroughly, peace came as the place quickly went so tranquil.
"So, Lady Natasha is a friend of milady. Looking at her in the flesh, she really doesn't seem to be a person to do something like 'that'...", Viola unexpectedly shared her opinions to me.
"We just became friends, but... what are you referring to with that manner of speech?"
"Didn't you know, milady? Just about a few days ago, Lady Natasha..."
"She was rumored to have tried to kill herself in front of a load of witnesses."
It was simply too perfect- The timing of the deafening silence was. There was no doubt that I couldn't have missed a single word of what she just said.
At that time, I never knew......
That this fact was but another lead to another series of events that happened, behind the scenes; That the meaning behind the evil smirk that I briefly saw from Natasha in the last timeline... was destined to be unfolded.