Chapter 10 - Do You Know My Name? (1/2)

Chapter 10 – Do You Know My Name?

“You know, I’m not close to Lady Dorothea,” she explained. “No, technically speaking, we don’t get along that well…”

No, wait. So she wanted to get along with me? I blinked my eyes in surprise. This original work was truly destroyed. I had planned to tear apart the story and forge it with my own hands, but I never knew it would start here.

“Of course, you might not regard me as closely as Lady Dorothea—”

“N-no!” I blurted out. To be honest, I didn’t hate her; in fact, I liked her a lot. “I never thought that way, Lady Odeletta!” I protested. “I like you too!”

“Really?” Odeletta’s face lit up in an instant, and I quickly nodded.

“Of course. Would I lie about this?” I replied.

“So…can we be friends starting from today?”

“If that is what you wish.”

That was what a friend was. That didn’t matter to people like Dorothea. Odeletta suddenly grabbed my hand. Hey, isn’t that too fast?

“I’m so happy, Lady Maristella!”

“Oh, thank you, Lady Odeletta. I’m happy too.”

I always thought of Lady Odeletta as a cold beauty; perhaps I should toss away that image.

***

Some of Lady Odeletta’s acquaintances came up to converse with her, and I was easily able to slip away. Now I had to find the real Dorothea and keep an eye on her. I was worried that Dorothea had already met with the Crown Prince while I was talking with Odeletta.

‘That was more than just a surprise.’

Lady Odeletta. I didn’t even know that Odeletta had these feelings for Maristella, and it was my first time hearing of Maristella’s favor towards her.

‘The novel is the problem anyway. The author wrote the story in a totally biased manner.’

I was walking on my own when I suddenly bumped into someone. The banquet was crowded, so I apologized first without thinking.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said automatically, then walked forward. Suddenly, a voice called to me from behind.

“Young Lady. Please wait.”

I turned back around, and what I saw made my breath catch.

‘He looks too beautiful to be real.’

I could let out a swear at how handsome this young man was. He was looking at me. Was he that one I bumped into? Oh my God!

I tried to relax my stiffened face and swallowed dryly. I’ve never seen a man like this in my life. Was that really a human face? He looked more like an ancient Greek sculpture come to life, as cliche as that sounded.

“What…what is it?” My voice trembled for the first time since I came here. I thought I would never see a face like that, but there were many assumptions today being destroyed.

“This fell,” the young man said. He approached me and lifted up something to my face. My heart trembled in a frenetic dance at his proximity. If you could believe it, he looked even more handsome up close.

“Oh, thank you.” I accepted the tiny object the man held out. Looking closely, it appeared to be one of the small diamonds from my shoulder. It must have fallen off when we accidentally ran into each other.

The young man spoke politely. “I think it’s from when we bumped into each other earlier. If you want, I’ll pay you back…”

Pay me back? It was compensation enough to see his nice face, and I laughed as if nothing had happened.

“A-ah no. Well, it could be…”

My eyes suddenly widened when I noticed a large red stain, and I pointed at his cream-colored jacket in alarm.

“There’s something on your jacket…”

At the same time, I noticed the cocktail glass in his hand. It didn’t have much liquid in it left, but anyone could tell…it must have spilled when we bumped into each other. Once I realized that, my face turned red for a different reason.

“I-I’m sorry! Please forgive me—”

“Not at all, My Lady. It’s fine,” the man said in a reassuring voice, but from my point of view it was not fine at all. I tearfully wracked my brain on what to do, when I remembered the handkerchief I received from Odeletta. Oh, that was it! I quickly pulled out the handkerchief and attempted to wipe his jacket.

“What are you doing?” the man asked in a flustered voice, but I kept wiping the man’s jacket without concern.

“Just wait a moment,” I said, “I’ll get it off with my handkerchief as soon as possible—”

“But then your handkerchief will get dirty. It’s white, so the red stain won’t come off easily.”

“It’s alright, it’s cheap!”