Chapter 48
Come to think of it, Abel had been speaking informally to the young lady from the start, was he out of his mind?
But Anais ignored Judy’s eyes, now wide as saucers, and grumbled to her escort knight.
“What should I do, then? It won’t open anyway. You said this was made by Count Rezaie.”
“That’s what they say. Should we call that nasty wizard? You said he was disgusting.”
“Disgusting or not, we have to call him. What else can we do?”
Abelard smirked.
“Hey. How much will you give me if I make sure we don’t have to call him?”
“There you go again. Why on earth would His Highness the Crown Prince need money? I don’t even know how much to offer you.”
Once again, Judy doubted her ears. Crown what?
That girl lost her memory, and was she now going mad, or… Ah.
Just then, Judy realized.
That girl had done strange things with that wizard last year. Some kind of role-play.
Mostly it was the wizard who made the suggestions, and the girl just went along halfheartedly, but those bizarre scenes were still burned into Judy’s memory.
So they’re doing some kind of role-play again.
At the same time, anger rose within her. This time, it was directed at the man in front of her.
That bastard! Fooling around with the young lady and making a joke out of me?
Abel, who had seduced her last night and left her out in the morning dew, then came right back to Anais without a second thought, he was utterly shameless.
This is why they say never get involved with men.
Meanwhile, the two continued their conversation, hovering somewhere between playful banter and serious discussion.
“Think about it. If Her Majesty the Empress only packed some measly snacks for the Dragon Knight Commander, do you think she’d have given me, someone being exiled, any proper travel expenses?”
“A son and a guest are different, you know.”
“Whatever. How much?”
“Sigh… I really don’t have money, I told you. Weren’t you just boasting about being rich?”
“Then give me this.”
Anais raised a brow.
“The jewelry box? No way.”
“Not the contents. Just the box.”
“…How are you going to open it? You can’t use it without the key, and I’m not giving it to you before it’s open.”
“I said I’ll open it. And when I do, you’ll give it to me.”
“Sure, sure.”
Abelard gripped the jewelry box with both hands. And then—
Crack!
He twisted it with brute force. The platinum hinge snapped cleanly.
At the same time, something sprang out with a sharp ping.
“Ah!”
Whatever it was struck Anais’s mask with a clack.
She picked up the screw from the hinge. Even that was made of platinum.
Watching it all unfold, Judy began to breathe heavily.
Right. It could have been broken all along.
The jewelry box was such an expensive, delicate item that breaking it never even crossed her mind, that was her mistake.
But there was another reason she had lost.
Judy’s back was soaked in cold sweat.
She wanted to run. She had to get out of there.
Because there was no engagement ring inside that jewelry box.
It was all a lie, something she’d said on the spot to cover for herself in front of Abel.
But there was no way out. Anais was by the door, and Abel was beside her.
After seeing him tear open that box like it was made of paper, Judy had no intention of getting caught by that man.
Why? Just moments ago, she’d thought he was simply handsome. Now, he looked like a predator.
Judy couldn’t possibly know that Abel’s laziness came from never needing to do menial tasks, and his violence was the kind wielded by rulers.
Still, she was terrified.
“What’s wrong with your face?”
Abel walked up to Judy with a smile after noticing her expression. She instinctively sucked in a breath.
“Eek.”
He placed a hand lightly on her shoulder. But somehow, it felt like a crushing weight.
“Where are you going? You should stay and see the young lady’s joy.”
“I—I wasn’t thinking of going anywhere…”
“Really? Your face says you were about to bolt.”
Abel leaned in and whispered, wearing a cold smile.
“Shall we leave together?”
“H-how could I…”
Judy, who had been speaking casually to Abel until moments ago, didn’t even realize she was now using formal speech.
“Don’t you want to leave?”
“N-n-no, of course not.”
“Alright. That’s good.”
Abel smiled and nodded toward Anais.
Anais, who had been checking the inside of the jewelry box with a strange expression, quickly snapped it shut.
“You should see what you’ve been wanting to see, the young lady’s happy face.”
Anais’s eyes widened at his words.
“Oh my, Judy. You wanted to see me happy?”
“Of course. You were so desperate to see her happy.”
Abel now gripped Judy’s shoulders with both hands. She tried to straighten up, but couldn’t.
“All day long, from morning to night, you said all you wanted was to see the young lady happy. You said we had to open that safe, didn’t you?”
“Really? I should reward Judy, then.”
Anais smiled brightly and held out the now-damaged jewelry box.
Finally, Judy couldn’t hold it in anymore. She dropped to her knees.
“Young lady! I’m so sorry! I’ve committed an unforgivable sin!”
“My goodness, what unforgivable sin could that be?”
Anais’s voice was light and sweet as she gently shook the box. The broken hinge clicked dully.
“What, is it because there’s no engagement ring inside?”
Looking at Judy’s face, now completely drained of color, Anais remembered something from earlier that day.
* * *
Earlier that Day
“Is the food this bad because we’re in the countryside?”
Abelard picked at his meal. Anais scolded him.
“Well, compared to what Your Highness the Crown Prince usually eats, anything might seem like countryside food. Just eat it.”
“No, this is excessively bad. What’s wrong with the meat?”
“We arrived without notice. Mr. Baldwin had to rush into Reims last night and only returned late. Don’t expect a feast.”
It was hard to offer proper hospitality when the guests showed up unannounced, even if one of them was the villa’s rightful owner.
Still, Anais sighed as she watched Abelard devour his food without complaint.
With Elliot off at the blacksmith’s, lunch was just the two of them.
“How would I know whether your caretaker came at night or dawn?”
“Yes, I suppose you wouldn’t. After all, you were too busy making the caretaker’s daughter collect the morning dew.”
There was a sharpness in her tone. Abelard wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb and gave her a sly smile.
“Why? Do you want to collect the morning dew too?”
“That’s disgusting! What happened to Brosuhart’s dignity?”
“Sold it. Why? And, hey.”
“What?!”
“By the way… I heard that the magician made an engagement ring too?”
Anais’s eyes flew wide open.
Engagement ring? That was news to her. Abelard glanced at her face and snorted.
“I can tell even without you saying anything.”
“What are you talking about?! Anais doesn’t know anything about that!”
“Really? Well, I know. They say you have an engagement ring.”
What nonsense was this? An engagement ring even the owner didn’t know about?
Seeing Anais’s pale expression, Abelard finally stopped teasing.
Besides, she had already been on edge over that damned magician yesterday. No matter what, he couldn’t keep tormenting her again today.
“I’m talking about your caretaker’s daughter.”
“She has an engagement ring?”
“No. That’s clearly a lie.”
Anais exploded.
Abelard’s offhand comments made no sense whatsoever.
Finally, he explained everything to her calmly.
There was a maid with a bad habit, always rummaging through her master’s things. He hadn’t thought much of it, but when he heard the full story, she had said something interesting.
Something about an engagement ring hidden in Anais’s jewelry box. But it sounded like a lie. She looked like she’d bolt the moment someone opened the safe for her… blah blah blah.
“…You’re going to pick the safe for her?”
“Are you crazy? Even as Crown Prince, picking a safe in someone else’s villa without permission would be a huge problem.”
“So you actually respect Anais that much?”
“What are you talking about? I know you’d turn me in the moment you caught me doing something like that.”
After a round of shouting, bickering, and Abelard’s usual smirking, the two reached a decision.
They’d see how far Judy was willing to go.
“How far do you think she’ll go?”
“Let’s see.”
Abelard stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“If I pick the safe, do you think she’ll hit me on the head or not?”
“Setting aside whether she’ll hit you, what happens to someone who strikes the Crown Prince on the back of the head?”
“Why? You want to try it too?”
“I’ve never thought about it that far… but it’s an attractive offer?”
They joked lightly, but neither of them truly believed Judy was acting out of goodwill.
If she genuinely wanted Anais to be happy, she wouldn’t have been going through her things.
Anais said so herself with complete seriousness.
