Chapter 73
“No way.”
He quickly stepped back, took out a piece of paper tucked between the flower petals, and chuckled like a mischievous boy who had succeeded in a prank.
The thoroughly prepared cheat sheet had different phrases written for each situation and type.
“Let’s see… Thank you, you’re welcome, enjoy your meal, don’t mention it.”
So far, these were normal greetings.
“It’s an honor. You flatter me. You’re beautiful… This line is for royalty.”
“Give it back.”
Just as Hermia was about to step towards Gerald, another hand suddenly popped out over her head.
Walter, who had snatched the note in an instant, held out his other hand with an expression that said to stop doing annoying things. Gerald reluctantly handed back the bouquet, pouting.
“Our Colonel has been looking at me like he’s going to tear me apart lately. It’s heartbreaking. Is it love over friendship, or something?”
[William♡Jade]
Hermia shook her head, suddenly recalling the nickname she had seen in the reservation book for “The Stolen Noble Lady, Volume 2.”
“Congratulations once again, Mrs. Rockford, on becoming the wife of a boring man who doesn’t even allow jokes.”
Gerald bowed exaggeratedly. Hermia looked at him suspiciously before turning away abruptly. Then, she whispered something to Walter and carefully tucked the paper into the bouquet.
The smile disappeared from Gerald’s face as he watched the couple talking intimately. The Duke and Duchess, who seemed to have completely forgotten about him, were turning their backs to the approaching Crown Prince and his wife.
“One year…”
Would they still be standing side by side like this in a year?
The guests glancing at the two were probably thinking the same thing. After inheriting the estate, would the Count’s illegitimate daughter be able to keep her place as the Duchess?
If their curiosity was just curiosity, in Gerald’s case, it was closer to hope. If only the two would break up. If only they would.
Elisabeth had knelt before a solid wall, but the experienced himself would cross the wall and get Hermia…
“Even I think I’m being trashy.”
He let out a self-deprecating laugh and then turned around with a heavy, sunken look. A petal that had fallen on his shoe without him knowing fluttered off with his step and fell to the floor.
The bright afternoon sunlight made the golden wedding hall even more dazzling. So dazzling that he couldn’t help but frown.
The weather is really amazing.
Gerald muttered inwardly and sauntered off, spotting a scene that looked somewhat interesting and walking towards it.
At the edge of the wedding hall, the Duke’s butler was handing out business cards to some men. He habitually eavesdropped on their conversation.
“Look for Mr. James at the Central Bank. If you show him my business card, he will guide you to your personal account.”
“Personal… account?”
As the middle-aged man, who seemed uncomfortable in his well-dressed attire, asked again, Aiden replied politely.
“Please think of it as a wedding gift from the Duchess to the three of you.”
At his words, Sam and the chef looked at Phillip, but Phillip, the butler of the Vansen family, also had no idea and could only make a puzzled expression.
This isn’t very interesting either. The grumbling voice passed by the bewildered men and exited the cathedral.
* * *
“Congratulations, Mrs. Rockford.”
Hermia hurriedly lowered her eyes at the Crown Princess’s greeting.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
It was a relief that she hadn’t had the note snatched away; she would have tried to write it on her palm if she had.
While the Crown Prince received a cigar from a servant and took Walter away, she was naturally left alone with the Crown Prince’s wife.
Hermia, who had been making eye contact with Walter until the end as he turned away, steeled her heart for the crisis that had inevitably come. If she just looked at it and read it, she would be able to get through this crisis somehow.
The Crown Princess, who had come from the southern kingdom of the continent, was a beautiful woman with dark, curly hair and equally dark eyes.
The Crown Princess, with her exotic appearance, smiled softly at Hermia.
“Honestly, I wanted you to marry Gerald.”
“Yes?”
She raised her head at the unexpected remark. Just as she was wondering if the words had come out wrong because she came from a region with a different language, the Crown Princess chuckled.
“Gerald often told me stories about you at lunch. The story about you overturning the table at the Princess’s tea party was especially impressive.”
She came closer and whispered in a slightly awkward tone.
“It was so refreshing. Elisabeth gets on my nerves sometimes too.”
“Ah… yes.”
“The royal family is all boring. No fun. Can I call you Hermia?”
“Y, yes, you can.”
The Crown Princess revealed her unusually white and even teeth, which contrasted with her skin tone.
“When we’re alone, call me Coco. Coco is happy to have a friend.”
Her real name was Cordelia something or other… This was the first time she had ever seen an adult woman refer to herself in the third person.
Hermia was wondering how to respond to this when she looked at the note in the bouquet.
“Not at all. H, Hermia is also grateful.”
The Crown Princess seemed pleased with her answer, gave her a southern-style cheek kiss, and linked arms with her like a close friend.
“It would be nice if Mia was a royal; we could see each other often. What a shame!”
It was hard to keep up with her sociability, which had already changed her name to ‘Mia’. She chattered on and on, not caring about her tightly closed mouth to avoid making a mistake.
“It’s a shame you’re not a royal, but it’s better to be a Duchess. Because there’s no mother-in-law there.”
“……”
“The Queen is a lovely person, but she doesn’t like it when I link arms with her. She keeps asking when I’m going to have a baby. It’s not something I can control, and sometimes she’s like a fool.”
This person also has a tongue that’s no less venomous.
Hermia’s gaze followed the Crown Princess. Her narrowed eyes were directed at the Crown Prince, who was smoking a cigar. She openly clicked her tongue at her husband with dissatisfaction and turned her head away.
“So, Mia, enjoy your honeymoon. How nice it is not to have a mother-in-law who brings you medicine that’s good for pregnancy every day.”
“Yes…”
Hermia was led by her hand to the dessert table. The noble ladies who had been there before bowed their knees and retreated like the tide at the Crown Princess’s nod.
She held a plate of sliced cake topped with raspberries and continued.
“What does a taciturn personality matter when you have a great face and a great body? I think cultivating and maintaining your appearance is not only the wife’s duty but should also apply to the husband.”
Her slurred speech, which had been slurred when she was criticizing the Queen, suddenly became very fluent.
“Men are simple, so when they hear those words, they look in the mirror. So you have to give them compliments sometimes. You’re handsome, you have a great body. That way, they at least pretend to care.”
“Oh…”
“But you can’t do it too often. Their confidence soars too much, and they cheat.”
“This is… complicated.”
Hermia also took a plate of walnut pie and sat down at a nearby table with her. As soon as the Crown Princess and the Duchess sat down, champagne, wine, and all kinds of desserts were placed on the lace tablecloth.
No sooner had the servants retreated than the Crown Princess pulled her chair closer and whispered intimately.
“I heard you lost your mother early. Did… the Countess tell you enough about the night affairs of the couple?”
“No. I’ve never learned.”
Hermia also lowered her voice in vain and answered. It wasn’t appropriate to have a conversation with someone she had just met today, but she couldn’t help but react actively since the topic was the topic.
“Still, I know how it works.”
“That’s a relief. Have you ever had any experience? Free love is common in Coco’s country, so it’s never a shameful thing.”
“I don’t have any experience, but Hermia knows roughly because she’s heard a lot.”
The stories that the women in the neighborhood told when they gathered were mostly about that kind of thing, so Hermia was very knowledgeable about theory since she was a child.
While she was chatting for a while, naturally joining the third-person conversation, a blush began to spread across Hermia’s face.
The Crown Princess Coco completely shattered Hermia’s conceit that she was well-versed in secret matters and opened the door to a new world. The world beyond that door was so curious that she wanted to stretch out her feet and rush into it.
“Cordelia.”
The Crown Prince, who had returned to find his wife, called her name and approached. Ah. This was an important part.
The Crown Princess stopped talking and calmly raised her head and gave him her cheek, and he kissed her where it was permitted and sat down in the chair.
Hermia watched the natural skinship of the five-year-old couple as if water was flowing, and then slyly raised her chin towards Walter, who was coming to her. Just like the Crown Princess did.
The heat of the conversation that hadn’t subsided was still on her flushed cheeks.
“Did you drink alcohol?”
Walter paused and asked, looking at the champagne glass in front of her. Hermia raised her fingers to her abandoned cheek and pretended to scratch it for no reason.
“I didn’t drink.”
She showed him the glass, which was still in the same state as when it was first filled, and only then did Walter sit down next to her as if relieved.
They had kissed in front of everyone earlier, and now he was acting all distant? Tch.
She recalled the sensation of her lips lightly touching and quickly falling away, and then shook her head again. It was all because of Coco… the Crown Princess, that she was having impure thoughts from broad daylight.
“Lemonade can be confused with champagne, so have some grapefruit juice.”
The now familiar scent of his skin and the scent of smoke that had been added a little while ago came together from him as he cleared the glass in front of her. It seemed that the smell of the cigar that the Crown Prince had smoked had permeated his clothes.
During the past ten days, which had been busy preparing for the wedding and staying at the Duke’s castle, she had learned that Walter didn’t drink or smoke at all.
Emily said that he hated the unique smell of cigars. He would only take a sip or two of alcohol when attending unavoidable gatherings, but he had never seen him drink it at the Duke’s house.
The Crown Prince shrugged his shoulders and added strength to his guess.
“So, both husband and wife steer clear of alcohol. But sometimes, it’s nice to share a drink with your spouse and have deep conversations.””
Where did my bouquet go?
She was so engrossed in her conversation with Coco that she seemed to have left her bouquet somewhere. Walter felt her busy gaze and reached for her hand under the table. It meant to make her comfortable.
