Chapter 21 - It Was My Fault (2/2)

“What do you like about His Highness?”

Odeletta blinked at me if it were an unexpected question, but she soon blushed again. “His Highness is a very sweet man.”

“Sweet?” I was taken aback. Was Xavier on the friendly side? According to my memory, in the original novel he had said, “I am a cold man of the empire. But for my woman, I must be warm!” There was a gap between how he treated others and how he treated Dorothea (even if he didn’t want to admit it), and there were many readers excited about it. Not me, of course.

At any rate, this was still before Xavier met his beloved, so he had to be the “cold imperial man” up to now. Or was Xavier already in love with Odeletta? It couldn’t be, right? Then he wouldn’t have reacted so dismissively when I said I’d introduce her! What on earth? Perhaps Xavier already had his own resolve that wasn’t introduced in the book.

I couldn’t make heads or tails of this, so I ended up questioning Odeletta again.

“He’s sweet? The Crown Prince?”

“Yes, Lady Maristella.”

“What do you mean…?”

Odeletta paused for a moment to think, then explained it carefully to me. “At first glance, His Highness may seem cold, but in actuality he’s more warm-hearted than anyone else. He’s very soft.”

Warm…hearted? Soft? I couldn’t imagine anything like this in my life, and I couldn’t help but feel taken aback. Was the love line already created without my knowledge?

Odeletta continued. “When I was young, I mean, maybe ten years of age. I had the honor to dance with His Highness one time.”

“I see.”

“But I was inexperienced at the time…and I stepped on his feet a lot. Maybe twenty times? Maybe more. I still remember that.”

Oh thank God I wasn’t the first.

“I was so sorry at the time… I was in tears because I didn’t know what to do, and he comforted me a lot. He said it happens for everyone’s first time. He said that he was sorry when he stepped on his teacher’s feet a lot too, and I was so moved.”

“Wow, really?”

Was Xavier always capable of that much kindness? I was amazed, as it didn’t match the cold handsome image of him in my head. As expected, one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

‘He was quite kind to me as well.’

As I thought about it, he seemed to be kind to anyone he met personally, even if his external image was cold. I nodded. There were many people like that in reality too.

“Because of his cold image…you may fall in love if you find unexpected kindness. I think it’s possible,” I commented.

In my experience, it was often a kind action that made someone fall for another. Perhaps Odeletta was like that. And perhaps…Xavier was just to Odeletta’s taste. In truth, human minds and hearts were too complicated to strictly define why we liked something.

Odeletta clapped her hands as if she had forgotten the most important reason. “And most of all…he’s handsome.”

Oh, that’s true. I burst into laughter. “I thought I was looking at a celebrity—ah, I mean a statue. I was amazed by his appearance when he stepped out.”

Oops, I said I didn’t want to cause a misunderstanding.

“Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m in love with him! At all!” I added hastily.

“Yes, alright,” Odeletta giggled in amusement, and I felt rather star-struck because this was the first time I had seen her laugh like this. After a while, Odeletta, who had a smile, then asked me a question.

“When my facial expression hardened…did you see that?”

“What?”

“When you glanced at me sideways earlier, I saw. I couldn’t control my facial expression then.”

“Hahaha.” When I heard that, I burst into awkward laughter. She knew? I suddenly became embarrassed, and after laughing, I coughed.

“It’s just that I never expected it…and actually I was a little concerned,” Odeletta said, and looked down with a slightly embarrassed expression. “In fact, I had some prejudice against you. As I told you before…you were close to Lady Dorothea.”

Ah, Dorothea. Indeed, she was no help in Maristella’s—no, my—life now. I sighed inwardly while I gave an awkward smile. It was only natural in real life that someone associated with someone like Dorothea would experience some prejudice as well.

“In fact, apart from that, it felt a little strange to hear that you danced with the Crown Prince and were directly invited by him. But aside from looking at who you were close to, it is true that I was jealous.”