Alicia left the palace and searched for Ivan, who had yet to show his presence after lunchtime. They had spent every minute, every hour, every day together after the competition. His disappearance left a large gaping hole in her heart, oddly enough.Looking around the places he’d likely be at, she suddenly found herself in the garden where she and Ivan first met when they were but innocent children who knew nothing of the intricacies of the world.She stepped foot inside the garden and saw his graceful figure resting on the grass and sleeping peacefully. He developed a habit of scaring off his caretakers when they got near while pretending to sleep as a small child. The habit seemed to have continued on to his adult life.Alicia approached Ivan with precise wariness and sat next to his sleeping figure, wondering whether to let him be or wake him up. But a hand suddenly stretched out and grabbed her.“Ah!”The small shawl wrapped around her shoulder fell to the ground as her small body
Alicia gazed into his purple eyes, prodding for any hints. His unexpected response surprised her. It was the first she heard Ivan viewing Dimitri in a positive light.“…Do you really think so?”Ivan did not reply and made a somewhat vexed face. He traced his hand around her neck and lightly pulled her face toward his chest.He had no plans—or what seemed like one—to work anytime soon, and so Alicia said with slight hesitancy, “Basil left the documents with me before leaving. If you don’t finish your work, the blame will fall on me.”“…Why did you take it from him?” Ivan clicked his tongue.A fit of slight meager anger crossed Alicia’s face sensing that Ivan was blaming her for taking the responsibility.“You’re the one exploiting and overloading Basil with piles of work! Why do you continue to overwork him like that?” Alicia criticized.“Actually…” Ivan quickly pulled out an excuse card, “Alicia, part of that… well… Basil brought it upon himself.”“What do you mean?”“…In the past, wh
“…Alicia, I won’t let you…”Ivan’s growling voice soon turned to one of deep moaning, the pitch of his voice a little higher than normal. It was a strange feeling. The more he satisfied his own desire, the more his affection toward her grew deeper, so much so that he could never possibly measure the depth of his love for her.When their lips finally parted, his expression looked similar to that of a defeated man.“…Come back as soon as you can. I don’t like being alone…” he mumbled while out of breath.“You make it sound like I’ll be gone for several days. I’ll only be gone for a day,” Rihnannan laughed, her voice a melodic rapture.“And that’s precisely why I’m letting you go. If you don’t return the night after, I’ll create a big fuss and commotion… more than when you visited my mother,” Ivan said playfully.“…I-I understand,” Alicia stuttered.Seeing her stutter in reply, Ivan smirked. Alicia tried to escape his arms of embrace, wiggling a few times, but it was to no avail. After a
“My goodness… this is…”“As I thought. I knew you’d understand the value of the book right away,” smiled Alicia, cheerfully so. “That’s right. It’s the first version of Professor Rahman’s critically acclaimed book. They say there are only a few prints left in the world. Since the duchess loves books so much, I thought you’d enjoy this book more than anything else I could ever give you.”The duchess’ eyes shone brightly, the pools of her eyes gazing into Alicia’s icy–blue eyes. The look in the duchess’ eyes was akin to rapture.“Your Majesty… I’m… I don’t know what to say… is it alright for me to possess such a valuable object?”The invited nobility noticed Duchess’ Saphia’s genuine voice of surprise and raucous happiness. They quickly fixed their expression of disappointment and awkwardly congratulated the duchess for the valuable gift she received.“Congratulations, Duchess Saphia. The gift must’ve sent you to the heavens.”“Yes. Of course. To the duchess, this book has more value th
The figure’s red flaming hair swayed beautifully under the moonlit night. Her beauty was overwhelming, enough to make one think that she was a goddess, that she belonged to the heavens. Her smooth luscious skin put the beauty of the red flower to shame. No mortal could compare to her splendor. It was as if everything around her dimmed a little to make way for her presence.The red-haired beauty stood in front of Alicia with a deep smile.“It’s been a while, Alicia,” said the beauty.Patricia… her younger sister had appeared in front of her again after six years.Alicia looked at the curvaceous figure who stood close to her. She was as beautiful as ever—red luscious hair and big eyes… rose-tinted cheeks and features that reminded one of a blooming flower. She looked no different from the girl Alicia knew in her past life.Alicia stared back, eyes in disbelief.Patricia lowered her gaze and bowed deeply.“I apologize,” she said humbly, “I forgot. You said never to call you by your name.
“Have you been well?” Alicia regained her calm and returned Patricia’s question to her.Patricia’s face frowned slightly in opposition and said, “Have I been… doing well?”“It would seem so. You’re married now.”Patricia gripped her hand to a tight fist.“Do you know how old my husband is? Do you know that… that he’s forty years older than me?”Alicia stared blankly. “Is that important?”“Of course it is! What sort of woman would willingly want to live with an old, sick man? Or perhaps… since Her Majesty is living with such a young and handsome man, you care not what happens to others?”Alicia sighed. “I don’t understand you. Why do you argue with me? Was your marriage not of your own choosing or something?”“No, it was of my own volition. It was the only way I could rise through social ranks and become a noble!”Patricia’s flaming red eyes flower with fervent passion.“But… why do you think I ended up with that decision? Was it not because Her Majesty casted me and our father out? Be
Alicia was silent, but it only lasted a moment’s breath.“Your name wasn’t on the guest list.”A cunning smile remained on Patricia’s lips. “One of the noblewomen I know personally was in great pain and unable to participate in the competition so I came in her stead. It’s why you didn’t see me on the list.”Alicia wanted to know, wanted to ask why she needed to go so far as to attend a mere Kiritte Competition, but she did not. Her lips had trouble moving. It was the same then and it was the same now—Alicia couldn’t understand Patricia’s unconditional hatred towards her.…Was it fate?“I was curious. I wanted to see how Her Majesty’s doing these days, to see how well you’re living life after you cast me and father aside. And…”The corner of her lips lifted to a devilish grin.“…More than anything, I wanted to see His Majesty up close. Though I saw him once before, he was far away in my area to see clearly. And just as the rumors speculate, His Majesty is quite the handsome man. His ch
Mrs. Cessley’s voice trailed off at the end, voice full of worries and it was then that Alicia realized what the duchess meant.Her expression hardened. “I’ve made it clear before that you shouldn’t have any hopes of a successor…”“My Queen, that’s not it. I was just thinking that…”“Perhaps you take my words as a joke, enough to simply ignore it?”Hearing the queen’s cold and unexpected response, Mrs. Cessley’s expression flustered. She bit her lower lip and lowered her head.“I apologize, Your Majesty. I acted out of line and made a mistake. This won’t happen again.”“…Just don’t say anything to him… or who I met and that I vomited because I was feeling unwell.”“But My Queen, that’s…”“If you are my lady-in-waiting, you wouldn’t hesitate to ascend to my request. If that’s not the case…” Alicia pursed her lips together, “…then do whatever you want.”She turned her head and closed her eyes thereafter, blocking out any outside noise. Mrs. Cessley’s worried face made her heart break an