CHAPTER 07
Could she have suddenly changed her mind about something?
Unlike before, when she had treated him warmly, the complete lack of warmth in her chilly tone felt unfamiliar and uncomfortable to Joshua.
Why is she suddenly acting like this?
Even though they had never been particularly close, Elener had never treated him like a stranger after learning that they were engaged. She had been fairly friendly with him, so Joshua could not understand why she was reacting this way today.
Just as he was beginning to feel a little frustrated, Joshua suddenly thought of something that could explain the change in her attitude.
He looked at Elener suspiciously.
Could she have noticed how I feel about Helena?
Come to think of it, no matter how little affection someone had for their fiancé, discovering that their fiancé had feelings for someone else could not possibly feel good.
For some reason, Joshua felt a little relieved.
Having reached that conclusion, Joshua silently placed the light-blue shoe he had been holding beside the hem of her dress.
Elener’s expression stiffened when she belatedly noticed her shoe.
Rather than feeling grateful that he had picked it up for her, she was overwhelmed by the urge to scream at him right then and there.
The hand clutching her dress trembled.
She did not even want to wear a shoe that Joshua had touched.
But I can’t react hostilely right now.
He’s perceptive, so he may have already noticed that I’m acting strangely. I need to make him think it’s nothing more than a sudden change of mood.
After taking several deep breaths, Elener stood up and politely bowed her head.
Her face had already returned to normal, as though it had never hardened in the first place.
“Thank you, Young Master.”
Joshua’s eyebrow twitched.
But he said nothing and lowered his gaze.
“You’re welcome. But are you really not going to let a physician examine the wound?”
Joshua brought up her injury once again.
Elener lightly shook her head and stepped backward.
At her attitude of deliberately putting distance between them, Joshua suddenly felt as though he had become some kind of thug despite not having done anything.
There was little else he could say, so he merely stood there with an awkward expression.
“I’m sorry, but I’d like to be alone right now. Is there anything else you wanted to say, Young Master?”
“……No. Then I’ll return first. It’s cold outside, so I think you should come back in after a little while.”
“Yes. I’ll take care of myself.”
“……”
Joshua was bewildered by Elener’s attitude, but he showed nothing on his face and turned away.
At that moment, he saw someone turning around the corner and approaching them.
Elener held her breath.
If someone misunderstood and thought she and Joshua had been meeting secretly, breaking off their engagement later might become difficult.
As the figure drew closer, Elener identified the person’s clothing and felt relieved.
It was a maid.
Only then did Elener roughly understand what had happened.
Joshua must have informed the maid before coming to her.
And naturally, the maid would have told the host and lady of the house, the Grand Duchess of Raiwens, that one of her guests had been injured.
Elener gave Joshua a cold look.
Hmph. He still thinks he’s the smartest person around.
The maid quickly approached Elener.
“Lady Elener, let me help you.”
Elener extended one hand toward the maid and asked,
“Thank you. What’s your name?”
“Jane, my lady.”
“Thank you, Jane. I’ll accept your help.”
“Please don’t say that. It’s only natural.”
Perhaps she sensed the sincerity in Elener’s voice, because Jane smiled warmly.
Elener gave Joshua a slight bow in farewell before leaving with Jane’s support.
Left alone, Joshua narrowed his eyes as he watched Elener’s retreating figure.
As Jane supported Elener while they walked, she explained that a physician had already been called.
Instead of taking Elener back to the hall where the banquet was being held, she led her to a small reception room that could be entered directly from outside.
Elener was drinking the warm black tea Jane had brought when, not long afterward, the physician entered.
The middle-aged female physician had an expressionless face and looked like a particularly taciturn person at first glance.
Elener carefully extended her foot.
The physician examined the wound once, then quickly disinfected it and applied medicine.
After putting a bandage over it as well, the physician stood up.
“The wound isn’t serious. However, it could become infected, so please be careful not to let water touch your foot for the next two days.”
Elener looked down at her foot before looking at the physician.
“Yes. I understand. Thank you, Doctor.”
“You’re welcome.”
The physician nodded expressionlessly and left the reception room with Jane showing her the way.
The voices of people talking in the hall drifted into the room, but they were cut off the moment the door closed.
Elener glanced at her treated wound and put on the comfortable shoes the maid had prepared for her.
The soft fur slippers wrapped warmly around her feet.
Once all the treatment was finished, Elener felt at peace.
Her whole body was no longer trembling like it had been earlier, and she no longer felt as though she were going to throw up.
There was only one problem.
If she did not break off her engagement with Joshua soon, she felt as though she really might kill him with her own hands someday.
Of course, someone like him wouldn’t have anything to complain about even if he died ten million times.
But I still can’t dirty my hands with his blood.
Elener sneered inwardly as she thought of Joshua.
In this life, she would never be fooled so foolishly again.
She set down her cup and fell into thought.
Come to think of it, breaking off my engagement with Joshua shouldn’t be difficult.
Joshua already has Helena.
Helena was the youngest and most beloved daughter of the House of Duke Demera.
The Duke of Demera adored his youngest daughter, who had been born late in his life.
Even in Elener’s previous life, the duke had noticed that his precious youngest daughter had feelings for Joshua and had supported Joshua’s bid for the imperial throne for Helena’s sake.
Elener had never been interested in becoming empress.
She had simply wanted to see the world Joshua dreamed of become reality.
Because Grand Duke Frihosen, her father, understood her intentions, he had never opposed Duke Demera over the position of empress.
But Duke Demera went around telling everyone that my father and I hadn’t given up the position of empress willingly.
He claimed we simply didn’t have the ability to take it.
If he had criticized only her, Elener could have laughed it off.
But Duke Demera always dragged her father into it.
He treated her father as though he were a dog that mistakenly thought itself a tiger, picking fights with him at every opportunity.
How could someone like that possibly have raised someone as kind-hearted as Helena?
At that moment, the reception room door quietly opened.
Elener raised her head to see who it was, then froze.
It was Helena—the very person she had just been thinking about.
Helena did not seem surprised to find Elener inside the reception room, as though she had already known she was there.
She simply checked Elener’s condition with a serious expression and then looked relieved.
When her eyes met Elener’s, she gave a shy smile and walked lightly toward her.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, El? I saw you being helped inside by a maid earlier.”
“Ah… Helena.”
Helena smiled brightly and sat beside Elener.
For a moment, an image flashed through Elener’s mind.
Helena, reduced to nothing but skin and bones.
A few days before Helena had been poisoned, she had gotten into a terrible argument with Joshua.
Afterward, she barely ate or slept.
Even when Elener asked what they had fought about, Helena would only cry and never give her a clear answer.
Then, a few days before she was poisoned, Helena suddenly seemed much brighter and began eating proper meals again.
Rather than feeling relieved, Elener’s heart had dropped.
The sudden change had somehow felt ominous.
She had gotten the feeling that something terrible was about to happen to Helena, so she explained Helena’s condition to Joshua.
But all she received in return was his indifference and scorn.
“You’re worried about Helena? Your acting really is impressive. How disgusting.”
“……El?”
Elener suddenly came back to her senses.
Helena was looking at her with concern.
“Yes, Helena.”
“Are you all right? You looked absent-minded. If you’re hurt, I’ll call the physician again.”
“No. I’m fine. I just felt a little dizzy for a moment.”
Helena carefully looked over every part of Elener’s face as though checking her condition.
Seeing Helena behave exactly as she had in her previous life, Elener suppressed the smile that threatened to escape.
Helena let out a relieved sigh.
“Then that’s a relief. I was so worried that something might have happened to you that I couldn’t just sit still. Did I disturb you while you were resting?”
“No. Of course not. Ren.”
“Hm?”
“…Ah.”
Without realizing it, Elener had called Helena by her familiar nickname.
Both Elener and Helena were startled, their eyes widening.
“Oh my! This is the first time you’ve called me by my nickname, El! When I asked you to call me that before, you acted like you didn’t even hear me!”
“……”
Helena covered her mouth with both hands and laughed happily.
Warmth filled Elener’s eyes as she looked at her.
Joshua had acted as though Elener might harm Helena somehow, and he hated seeing the two of them together.
But in reality, Elener and Helena had never had a bad relationship, from the very beginning until the very last moment.
When Elener was young, there had been a day when she overheard the maids of the estate whispering.
That was when she learned that she was an illegitimate child.
She was the only daughter of Grand Duke Frihosen, a close friend of the emperor.
But in high society, where people were filled with arrogance and pride over their status, being an illegitimate child was little different from being a rejected outcast.
A lowborn, half-blooded child whose mother was unknown.
Elener knew what people called her.
Because of that, she had always been ostracized by high society.
Helena was the only person who had ever looked after her.
Some people gossiped that the Duke’s daughter was only showing charity because she cared about other people’s opinions, or that she was simply taking pity on one unfortunate person and doing a good deed.
But Elener, the person involved, knew that Helena had no ulterior motives whatsoever.
She was a good person.
Helena Demera was a genuinely kind person.
And that was why Elener sincerely loved her.
