CH 18

Edith was perplexed by the awkward atmosphere. As she sat on the bench in his embrace, she fell gently on Clyde’s lap.

The large muscles of the man’s leg that like a horse’s thigh were clearly felt.

“That’s enough. I’ll take another seat.”

But she couldn’t loosen his forearms that were tightly wrapped around her waist. She appeared to be sitting motionless in Clyde.

Adrian had laser beams coming out of his eyes. His eyes that were staring at the Crown Prince were almost mutiny.

She worked hard to weave the main characters in her way, but the atmosphere was cold and ice arrows were flying around. Neither of the two showed any signs of favorability.

The attempt to twist the original was good, but the flow of the story was flowing strangely. It bothered her that it was expressed as “==” rather than Adrian’s name when the original story’s passage appeared earlier.

“Sir Raymond, raise the flag and call the servant. I’ll have to get Edith’s shoes for her to change into.”

Adrian set up a flag to call the servants according to his orders.

Then he immediately knelt in front of Edith. Adrian’s hand touched the foot sticking out at the end of her skirt.

“Edith, did you hurt your foot?”

His hand that stroked the back of her foot was gentle. It was in contrast to the tension between the two men.

“It’s all right. You can just leave it….”

Adrian removed the shoes from her limp foot, giving no room for refusal.

Her bare foot was placed in his hands.

She could do nothing about it, whether it was carried by Clyde or grabbed by Adrian.

To make him stop, she had to harden her face and put on a straight face to make him stop, but she couldn’t.

He wrapped his hands around Edith as if wrapping a present. The foot was covered with delicate palms. His clenched fist was warmer than her walking feet.

“Your foot…”

His fingers that slowly massaged the center of her foot’s sole were like playing piano. With his thumbs, he rubbed the back of her foot.

A tickling sensation ran up to her calf.

“What’s wrong with my foot?”

“It’s cute.”

Edith didn’t know what to do when he stretched out her toes which had been curled one by one. It was awkward and very embarrassing.

“S-stop touching that.”

Adrian, who wanted to see her ankle, which was fine, was busy fumbling with her foot after he took off her shoes.

One hand was used as a footrest and the other came up to the ankle. He raised his head, gently touching inside her ankle bone with his fingertips.

When his beautiful eyes were bent into a streamlined shape, a smile that melted like soft ice cream was created on the world’s best beauty.

“… Yes.”

Even his voice was hoarse.

Edith forgot to step aside and was mesmerized by the beauty unfolding before her eyes. Her standard of looking at men was unconditionally first and foremost appearance.

However, Adrian’s cheeks’ brightly blooming silhouette changed the moment he met Clyde’s eyes. He suddenly stiffened with cold temperature.

Clyde’s tone, heard next to Edith, was cold as well.

“But what brings Sir Raymond here to see Edith?”

An aura of uneasiness was hidden within the purple eyelashes that fell down.

Adrian was in a bad mood. He came expecting her to meet him intimately, and he suddenly met the Crown Prince as an uninvited guest.

His words couldn’t come out nicely, so he responded with minimal courtesy.

“I came across the urgent news by chance. I heard that the Ketzmorris family’s head has changed.”

Edith asked in surprise.

“It happened yesterday, did you already know?”

“I stopped by the Ministry of Government Affairs for business and heard what people said. They were whispering all over the place. I’m just worried if something happened to you.”

Adrian knelt in front of her and acted gently.

Next to her, Clyde’s golden eyes were filled with anger.

This situation was terrible. Was this how a romance sprouted between them? Edith hastily set out to fix it.

“Let’s talk about me later. First of all, His Highness is with us.”

Like a merchant, she forced a smile and spoke to Clyde.

“Actually, Adrian doesn’t have a chance to come to the palace often, so I asked him to come and see me when he had time. Thanks to this, it’s a good thing that he got to meet His Highness like this.”

She hoped it was a good thing. She longed for it in her heart.

Adrian put her shoes back on after making sure her ankle was fine. His action of caressing her feet with care and placing her legs neatly caught her eye.

He originally had a gentle personality, and perhaps because his affection for her was added, even a small gesture was extraordinary.

Meanwhile, Clyde was boiling. While she was tidying up her clothing, she felt an unbearable feeling.

The bottom of her butt was strangely warm. Was it because he was angry?

As soon as Adrian stood up, Clyde vented his frustration, which had reached his throat.

“Sir Raymond, I’m sorry but Edith had a very important job today.”

At best, she wrote letters to the debtors, but she shut her mouth. It wasn’t an atmosphere to step up.

“So I hope you get another chance. Then we will arrange a special occasion for you to have a good time.”

It was the Crown Prince’s decision. It was something that everyone had to follow.

“… So you have something to do. It’s unfortunate, but as you say, I’m leaving for today.”

Adrian replied bitterly. He hung his head low as if trying to ignore Clyde. She turned around when he was told to leave first, but she couldn’t call because she was sorry.

It became a meeting that didn’t even go as far to the middle, let alone the love line. How could she deal with this situation?

Edith couldn’t even grasp it and stared blankly at the maze garden where Adrian’s shadow disappeared.

❋ ❋ ❋

The fresh forest scent wafted from the emerald tree that made the thick maze wall. It was quiet and cozy in the middle of the garden full of phytoncides.

The servant stopped by for a while, but he only changed her shoes, then quickly returned and left the two of them behind.

Clyde spoke from time to time. It was just a small chat. There were some scenes of other seasons in the garden, and some flowers were blooming. But Edith replied insincerely and was lost in other thoughts.

Sitting side by side on the bench, Clyde waited silently when she didn’t get up.

Instead of talking, they occasionally heard the wind’s sound.

‘First of all, I’m sure I can change the original.’

At first, she thought it might not even work. She felt particularly anxious when she was transferred from another department to the Crown Prince’s Palace. This was because she failed when she tried to escape from her job by twisting the original work.

But somehow, it changed. Since the first meeting between the two main characters has been moved forward by two years.

‘But it doesn’t go my way.’

It couldn’t be twisted like this. The two looked like enemies rather than lovers.

The difference from what was expected was excessive interest in Edith.

It was hard to figure out how Clyde felt for her.

He seemed to regard her as a fun toy to play with under the guise of his beloved servant. He even once said that he didn’t plan to make her the Crown Princess. On the other hand, sometimes he looked at her with an earnest gaze or showed obsessive behaviors.

It was also questionable that Adrian had been on the move throughout the three years at the academy.

If he really had a feeling for her, he should have acted differently at the academy. What was the point of being aggressive now? Was it a psychological attempt to strike against her?

Anyway, Edith didn’t like being the world-class star’s girlfriend, nor did she like being the president’s first lady. She didn’t know if her affection was enough to overcome such shortcomings. None of the two made her like it so much until she could die.

She didn’t feel particularly in love with anyone.

And another weird thing.

It was a BL novel, but why didn’t it seem like a BL?

The two main characters’ tendencies seemed to differ from the original. She didn’t know where the difference came from.

Adrian has a lot of Alpha boy friends at least. But Clyde’s condition was severe. Even though he had a lot of men around him, they were all people he met in public, and it felt like he didn’t like the opposite sex. To be honest, he has no interest in dating at all.

“Your Highness. I want to ask you something.”

Clyde’s hair that reflected in the sun was closer to blue than black. He gently brushed his hair that was running down to his forehead.

“You can ask anything.”

“Before, I thought you were attracted to the same sex, weren’t you?”

She felt relieved after asking openly.

“What?”

He looked very surprised. It was different from when he turned around and looked up.

“Since you’re Alpha, you’ll definitely like Omega, and I figured you’d like a male.”

His face gradually distorted as he thought of her question. His half-exposed forehead was filled with a look of dissatisfaction.

“Why do you decide my taste?”

“What? That–”

She had no choice but to blur her words.

“Who says I like men?”

Despite Clyde’s pressing attitude, she curled up and bit her lips, unable to respond. If she confessed that she had seen it all in the original story, she would look like a crazy person.

He put the back of his hand on his forehead as if he was getting a little feverish. It was the Crown Prince who had been upset several times today.

“And Alpha’s temperament can be controlled with medicine. Having an Omega companion will make me feel comfortable, but it is unnecessary.”

He spat it out almost as if he was grumbling.

Clyde turned to her. As he lowered his head to meet her eye level, the beast’s growl escaped from his vocal cords. The flashing gold eyes also reminded her of a wild beast.

Strangely, the tone that tightened his throat was harsh like a sick person.

“Do you know what I mean? It means that I have Beta in mind as my Crown Princess.”