Chapter 38 (1/2)

Annette, with a cold face, looked at Ludwig with clear, determined eyes. Her smooth rebuttal stabbed Ludwig in his heart.

“If you didn’t want me to get married, then why did you run away at that time? You could have done something using your powers behind the scene to stop the formal marriage. If you had at least tried to get rid of my charges, I wouldn’t be so angry right now.”

Ludwig claimed that he loved her, yet he still hadn’t noticed the bandage on her hand. Even Railin, who was nothing more than just a business partner, had noticed it.

Ludwig only complained and wailed about his pain every time, and Annette always listened and comforted him. It had always been like that for nearly ten years. So Ludwig seemed to have forgotten that she too could feel pain just like him. Annette said coldly, suppressing her surging emotions.

“I too can also get hurt, Your Highness. If you really wanted to marry me, you should have done something. So please admit your cowardice and let me go. I want to live a new life and start afresh.”

It was only after hearing Annette that Ludwig realized it quite late, that he was being too immature with Annette. The Annette in Ludwig’s memory always had a gentle smile and sincerely listened to his worries and anxieties. So from some point on, he started to take it for granted.

But now, the Annette in front of him was like a complete stranger. The cold eyes and indifferent face were something that didn’t belong to the Annette he knew. She didn’t even bat an eye when she saw Ludwig gasping in pain. Under her cold gaze Ludwig opened his mouth and desperately tried to make some excuses.

“Annette, I did my best. You don’t know how many times I had begged my father not to do that, and that I couldn’t be without you. But I couldn’t convince him..….”

“No, Your Highness.”

Annette coldly cut off Ludwig’s excuses. It was something that happened  five years ago before her regression. She thought she had forgotten everything, but it seemed that she hadn’t forgotten anything.  Annette’s voice slightly wavered as she refuted Ludwig’s excuses.

“I think it would be more right to say that it wasn’t the best that you could do, but it was something that you did just for pretense. If you want to save someone from drowning, shouldn’t you either swim in or at least throw a lifeline? You say that you did your best, but all you’ve done is just watch everything from afar and throw a fit. Isn’t that right?”

Annette had always thought that she would marry Ludwig since childhood. The young boy and girl who were matched earlier, only had each other. The betrayal that she felt when her expectations were broken, was so bitter that she wanted to vomit blood.

Annette, of course, knew it very well that Ludwig was very weak against his father. But no matter what, she never expected him to give up on her so easily. She never thought he would turn away from her so quickly. Ludwig easily accepted the new engagement. He only made a few weak protests and after that pretended to give in as if he couldn’t win.

Nevertheless, Annette wasn’t angry at him. It wasn’t because Ludwig was a prince or anything. It was because she just knew nothing would change even if she got angry at him. By nature, Ludwig was indecisive and weak-minded. So there was no point in being angry with such a person, for not being on her side. It would only make the mouth of the speaker hurt.

So Annette somehow put up with it. Seeing that it was meaningless to hold on to such anger, she just silently let it go. But today, Ludwig’s past feelings and his betrayal made that anger crawl out from her mouth. Strangely, she felt relieved as well as sick. Annette completely cut him off her life, by saying,

“And if you have any respect for me, please don’t do this again. Please never talk about my husband like that again. Raphael is a good man, and despite my bad situation, he willingly welcomed me as his wife. Now he is my family. No one can ever criticise my family in front of me. Do you understand me?”

Ludwig was completely speechless. Annette’s attitude of drawing a line between them by saying that Raphael was her family, was so painful that his fingers became numb. The woman who he once believed was the closest person to him was now the one who was the farthest. This broke his heart, and unwittingly tears rolled down his pallid cheeks.

Annette was right. He was really a coward. He had always taken her for granted and because of this, he lost Annette’s hand forever. No matter how many tears he shed, they could now never go back to their old relationship. This fact made him feel as if he had plunged into a swamp. Annette said goodbye to Ludwig, who looked at her blankly in despair.

“I would be grateful if you could generously forgive me for my rude behavior today. Please, after today never visit me for your personal business again. Then I’ll get going now.”

After finishing what she had to say, Annette turned around. It was actually very disrespectful to show one’s back to a member of the royal family without their permission. But today, she wanted to do something blasphemous. After all, it was all because they didn’t do anything, that she was falsely framed and fell to the bottom.

Honestly, it was not that she didn’t find the sight of Ludwig, with a distorted face and shedding tears heartbreaking. After all, she had been with Ludwig since her childhood. They were old childhood friends and she even sometimes treated him like her family. Ludwig, who suffered from the lack of acknowledgement from his father, was always sad. So she always had wanted to stay by his side to cheer him up.

However, it was Ludwig who let go of her hand first, and brought an end to their relationship.

Annette lightly walked away from him, like a butterfly leaving a flower. Ludwig, now couldn’t dare to catch her or force her.

He couldn’t do anything, just like the day when Annette was framed. He again had no choice but to look at her distant back,as she went away from him. He stood there until his last tear scattered and dried away.

* * *

“I’m home, honey.”

After returning home, Annette ran into Raphael, who was wandering around the front door. She habitually smiled and greeted him affectionately. Raphael’s broad shoulders suddenly flinched as if he was startled, and he turned towards her in a strangely awkward movement.