Chapter 111 - Marcys Frustration (1/2)

Watching them made me sad. Marcy lit up around my brother in a way that she never did around anyone else even though she was always friendly. If I had to guess, this is what she looked like when she truly liked someone as opposed to her feigned affection in the novel.

It wasn't meant to be. There was no way the earl or countess would accept them, especially after my defection in the spring. Their infatuation was doomed from the start.

Al noticed my pensive expression and called me out on it in a whisper. ”You're worrying about them, aren't you?”

I nodded. ”This girl has no luck in romance. First she had to pretend to like you and now the person she actually likes in unattainable. I may not be happy with how her alternate self acted in the novel but she deserves better than this. Edmund too.”

”Nice to know you think of me so highly,” he said in a dramatically wounded tone.

”Shut up, that isn't what I meant and you know it.”

”I know, I know. It would be nice if things could work out for them but I'm glad I met you first. You're far superior to Marcy Grandin even if her food is delicious.”

I rolled my eyes at him but was secretly touched. Aside from the fact that she was a horrifying good actress with her own agenda, Marcy was the perfect girl. Pretty, friendly, quirky, and smart.

Back in my world I had never felt all that special but coming here I was a hot commodity. Part of it was the body I had found myself in but the other part was me. Katie Pullman. My confidence had risen quite a bit since I had originally come here, in no small part because of my husband.

Even without him gushing about me all the time, I had things worth being proud of. I put a better person on the throne for the common people even if it was largely accidental. And I had formed a new country. Not many people could say they did that!

We hung around the kitchen until the cupcakes were finished. They had to go into the walk-in ice box to cool down so the frosting wouldn't melt and we continued supervising Adele as Marcy and Edmund talked.

She didn't know about our plans to leave yet. No one did aside from Franz and our friends in the village who were coming with us.

When he said he wanted to give the Kanta lands back to them and the archduke opposed it, he didn't mention our names specifically. Nobody knew Al was the clan leader yet. We hadn't wanted to cause a riot while we were stuck here.