MFTR 76

Chapter 76

 I Thought I Was Something

For a moment, Anette almost said, “Then I’ll leave it to you,” in response to his gentle tone, but she quickly snapped out of it and refused.

After all, she had been born a royal, yet had never once posed as a model for a painting. It was far too embarrassing.

However…

〈I promised the Empress Mother…〉

〈……〉

〈She must be anxiously waiting even now…〉

〈…All I have to do is sit still in a chair, right?〉

Since the Empress Dowager, who had accepted her as a daughter, was waiting, Anette couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

After confirming several times that Cardin wasn’t just making excuses but had truly promised the Empress Dowager, she followed his advice and sat comfortably in a chair in a posture that wouldn’t be difficult to maintain for a long time.

After sitting still in that same position for hours, she naturally began to feel drowsy.

Her stomach was full, and the air in the greenhouse was warm.

As her heavy eyelids fluttered and her vision blurred, a stray breeze blew from somewhere, and a petal landed softly on the bridge of her nose.

When she wrinkled her nose at the ticklish sensation and tried to move, Cardin quickly approached.

Smiling, he gently removed the petal from her face with an easy, natural touch.

Apparently, there were more petals stuck in her hair, because Cardin kept fiddling with her hair for quite a while, but Anette—already overcome by drowsiness—said nothing.

Before she even realized her eyes had closed, she was thinking hazily:

In the past, she would freeze up whenever Cardin came close or brushed against her, but now neither this closeness nor his sudden touch bothered her at all.

If he were to suddenly pinch her cheek right now, she might be annoyed at the act itself, but she wouldn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable just because he touched her.

When had she gotten so used to him?

Little did she know that this was the result of Cardin’s long-term planning and effort.

Anette drifted to sleep, wondering if Cardin might be as glad about her growing comfort with him as she was—and having no idea that he would laugh if he knew what she was worrying about.

〈Princess, wake up. It’s already evening.〉

〈Mmm.〉

〈Let’s enjoy a good meal and then watch the fireworks.〉

…Fireworks?

Anette blinked awake, wondering if she’d misheard in her half-asleep state—but no, she hadn’t.

Who would have thought they’d prepare fireworks just for her birthday?

When she asked if it wasn’t a bit too much, Cardin scoffed and displayed his status as one of the wealthiest men in the Alkhan Empire—Grand Duke Harzent—before escorting her to a grand banquet hall prepared especially for this day.

The surprise party in the dining room that morning didn’t even count as a real party compared to this. The hall was filled with everyone in the ducal household—servants, knights—laughing, chatting, and sharing tables heaped with food.

When she entered, everyone greeted her warmly.

Anette felt something indescribable.

‘This is… a party. No, it’s like a festival.’

She had never experienced one before, but the sight of so many people laughing, talking, and having fun matched exactly what she had imagined a festival to be.

Caught up in the excitement, she held Cardin’s hand and wandered from place to place, eating her fill of delicious food. When she saw the knights urging Cardin to drink golden champagne, she swallowed hard.

But in the end, she picked up a glass of cranberry juice—the same deadly crimson as her own eyes—because Cardin firmly forbade her from drinking alcohol.

She didn’t usually like sour flavors, but she had chosen it for the color alone. She sipped at it as the night deepened toward midnight.

On an ordinary day, Larisa and Cardin would have been fussing over her bedtime by now.

But thanks to her long nap earlier, Anette was wide awake when she noticed preparations for the fireworks. She tugged lightly on Cardin’s sleeve.

〈What is it, Princess?〉

〈Let’s watch from the castle. From the fifth-floor balcony, we’ll have a perfect view.〉

〈…The fifth floor?〉

〈Is that not allowed?〉

〈…It’s allowed.〉

In hindsight, she wondered if this decision was what made the night’s ending so precarious.

But at the time, she was thrilled—because Cardin, never one to miss an opportunity, offered to carry her up to the fifth floor since he’d injured his ankle earlier and didn’t want her to tire herself.

Anette hesitated briefly, but when he warned they might miss the fireworks otherwise—and after confirming no one was around—she quickly let him carry her.

Then, suddenly, forgotten memories began to resurface.

She recalled how she once envied siblings chatting happily as one carried the other on their back—and the mercenary standing not far from that scene.

And then she remembered their first night camping on the way to the duchy—their casual conversation that now seemed suspicious.

Especially when she’d asked if monster parts fetched a high price and whether individuals like mercenaries could trade them in the Alkhan Empire—questions Cardin had seemed to avoid answering!

She had long suspected the mercenary’s true identity beneath his disguise, and now she was sure.

Her heart was already floating, and now it raced with the excitement of a major discovery.

As soon as they reached the fifth floor, she tapped Cardin’s shoulder to let her down. Then she said:

〈Can you show me that room at the end of the hall?〉

〈…What?〉

〈I’ve explored almost all of the castle, but I haven’t seen that one yet.〉

Cardin’s eyes flickered violently.

Anette thought she’d never seen him so flustered and felt an odd sense of satisfaction—along with a determination to uncover his secret.

Not that she planned to ask outright, “Are you the mercenary who hovered around me and gave me the purification stone?”

She wanted him to tell her himself.

To encourage him, she casually added:

〈I heard Your Grace has a hobby of collecting things. Is that room where you keep your collection?〉

She said this, convinced there must be something related to her in that room.

But in that moment, Anette sensed something was wrong.

Cardin’s face had gone deathly pale.

As she scrambled to say something, he spoke firmly:

〈I’m sorry, but you can’t go in there.〉

〈Your Grace…?〉

〈Please pretend you know nothing about that room. Don’t show any interest in it.〉

Anette froze. She had never seen him so cold.

All her life, she had endured the harsh gazes and cruel treatment of people who didn’t even regard her as a person.

Maybe because she’d resigned herself so long ago, she had learned to endure without too much pain.

But now… it hurt. It hurt so much.

Was this betrayal?

She had thought he would always be on her side. Now it felt like he had let go of her hand.

The feeling was like a sharp blade slicing into soft flesh. Even as fireworks exploded behind her and their dazzling reflections danced before her eyes, Anette couldn’t move.

Then came a voice above her head—so tender, she almost wished it weren’t.

〈…I’m truly sorry.〉

“Ha…”

Anette let out a deep sigh.

The time of excitement and lost reason had passed, and now she was clear-headed again.

‘I really thought I was something.’

She had gotten far too full of herself.

She didn’t even remember how she made it back to her room that night.

She just stayed awake until dawn, then finally crawled into bed when daylight broke.

She couldn’t sleep, but she couldn’t face Cardin at breakfast as if nothing had happened, so she forced herself to close her eyes.

She kept pretending to sleep until noon had passed, then asked Larisa to bring her lunch to her room.

Larisa, sensing something had happened between her master and mistress, tried hard to find out—but only ended up making Anette relive the hurt.

So she ate dinner in her room too, never once stepping outside all day.

And now today, mustering what courage she could, Anette went down to the dining room after waiting in vain for Cardin to come braid her hair like always.

And she found the exact same scene as the first night she’d come to the duchy.

“…I guess I should be the one to apologize.”

No matter how much she wanted to know Cardin’s true feelings, she shouldn’t have acted that way.

She shouldn’t have demanded to see that room or sulked and holed up in her room when he refused.

Thinking about it now, she felt childish and rude.

“But still… he’s acting the same way toward me, isn’t he…”

Making her eat breakfast and lunch all alone.

Anette pouted.

She knew she shouldn’t feel hurt, but she did.

She knew better than anyone how bad she was at relationships—especially deep, close ones like this.

That was why she had tried to be so careful, so thoughtful—always thinking twice before she acted.

Even when she wanted to ask him to take off his mask, she’d held back, afraid it might burden him or hurt him.

And in the midst of all that, she had come to trust him.

She had started to believe that with him, it would be okay to show the ugly, dark sides of herself.