âYou arenât curious about what kind of men I like?â she asked.
He tilted his head and looked at her. âHave you ever liked someone?â he asked.
âWell⦠What do you think?â she asked back.
âI donât know much about psychopaths,â he said, âYou may have thought you liked someone but did you really?â
She tossed the file book at his chest. He caught it lightning fast. She flipped the middle finger at him. She didnât know whether she was a psychopath or not, but he didnât need to be so mean about it. Fuck off, Chief Detective Jang Seong-hoon, she cursed.
She walked away, and he didnât call her back. They had finished talking about the case, so there was nothing more to discuss. Using people for his own personal gain to solve the case. Who was the psychopath now?
That was the last she had seen him. After a few days, she had died. She didnât know whether he knew about her death. She thought it hadnât mattered to her, that it wouldnât matter even if they didnât contact each other. But it did.
The danger of having feelings for someone was that if the other person didnât feel the same about you, you get caught in the loop of destruction. Your time, energy, abilities, money, everything went to waste.
Just as she had forgotten all the people who had hated her, beat her up, she thought she could make herself forget him too. She thought she could make it all go away. Then there had been a darkness. Then a family, who loved her.
âMy lovely Alice, my darling.â
âAlice, my beauty. Come here.â
âAlice, such a fool. Geez. Alright, Iâll say I broke it. Donât touch this broken vase. Youâll scratch yourself!â
âAlice.â
âAliceâ¦â
âAlice!â
She woke up, startled. She had heard her name being called again and again. She opened her eyes.
âAlex?â She was about to get up but her head was ringing, she felt dizzy.
âAre you alright?â asked Alex, concern etching his forehead.
She squinted to look at him, because her head hurt. She propped herself up and hugged her brother. âI am fine now,â she said, âI am sorry I worried you.â
âThere is nothing to be sorry for,â he said, âThe Medic said it must have been nerves and anxiety. The marketplace was too crowded, I should have taken you home sooner. I am sorry.â
Great! Alice thought. She had fainted in the street and made a complete fool of herself. But she didnât think it was because of the crowd that she had fainted. Or maybe it was. She wasnât sure.
With her chin resting on her brotherâs shoulder, she lifted her eyes to look at a figure standing at the back. A tall man with black hair and gray eyes. The Grand Duke was still here?
She had read his name when she was made to study about the history of the kingdom. The king had two sons, but neither prince had any information about their lineage. The king had already chosen the successor as his eldest son, who was much older than his youngest son. The young prince who was seven, when the eldest prince was already married with a child, was pushed out of court politics. The young prince took on the title of Grand Duke and generally stayed on the Glouster estate.
More than a privilege, the âGrand Dukeâ served as a placating title given to the prince who was expected to be out of politic and not contend for the throne. The Duke/Duchess were expected to live their lives there and not interfere. The title wasnât as grand as it sounded because irrespective of whether the Grand Duke had children or not, his family will be expected to move out of the estate at his death. His immediate family would not inherit the title or the estate after his death. It was a depressing circumstance. How could someone live in the shadows for someone else? Wouldnât it be better to leave the country and live abroad? They would still be recognized as a foreign royal and would have more rights than here.
The man didnât look depressed. She took a tentative look at him. Something about him was familiar but she didnât remember exactly. Could she have met him in the past? But she had spent all her life in Wishburn where she didnât get to meet a lot of people. If he had visited and she had met him, she would have remembered.
Maybe I am delusional and finally going mad, she thought.