Chapter 21 – It Was My Fault
I moved to another table with Odeletta. Since it was far away from the original table, it would be difficult for the other young nobles to find us.
Odeletta poured tea into a new cup, and held it out to me. “Lady Maristella, please.”
My mind was still occupied on how to start the conversation, and I accepted the cup with slight surprise. “Th-thank you,” I said, but immediately after I accidentally dropped the teacup and gave a short scream.
Crash!
The cup shattered on the ground and tea splashed in every direction. How was this tea so hot?
As I stepped back with a startled expression, Odeletta turned to me in concern. “Are you alright, Lady Maristella?” she asked, and she held out her arm protectively in front of me. The moment she did so, I fell in love with her…no, that wasn’t it. I was just touched when I saw the gesture.
“Lady Maristella? Are you alright?” Odeletta asked again as I stood there blinking dumbly.
I quickly came to my senses and gave a nod. “Yes, Lady Odeletta. I’m fine.”
“What is the matter?”
It was then that several servants of the Kirkler mansion came to the scene. I was perfectly capable of answering myself, but Lady Odeletta answered on my behalf as if I were still in shock.
“I accidentally missed the teacup and broke it. I’m sorry.”
Hey, Odeletta. That’s what I did…
I was a little curious why she took responsibility for my mistake, but I didn’t say anything as I was both sorry and grateful. I happened to make eye contact with Odeletta, and she smiled at me as if everything were okay.
“I’m glad that you weren’t hurt, My Lady. Would you mind moving to another table?” a servant asked.
“Lady Maristella, is that alright with you?” Odeletta asked me with a soft voice, and I nodded. We then headed to the nearest empty table, while Odeletta continued to look at me with worry. The only damage I suffered was that my teacup was broken, and a small tear in my dress from the breaking of the china.
“I’m fine, Lady Odeletta,” I reassured her. “I’m more worried about you being hurt.”
“I’m fine, too,” she said. “I’m sorry, Lady Maristella. I should have handed it over to you more carefully.”
I shook my head. “Not at all. My carelessness is my responsibility. Ah, and thank you for what you said earlier.”
“But it’s really my fault, Lady Maristella. It was because of the matter earlier that I couldn’t give the cup to you.”
After Odeletta finished speaking, she paused and glanced at me. Only then did I realize that it was my turn to speak, and I started the conversation that I had been trying to bring up with her.
“Yes, in fact, I did want to speak with you separately about that.”
“With me?”
“Yes. About…about the relationship between me and the Crown Prince.”
“Oh,” Odeletta said. She looked visibly embarrassed by my words, and I felt a pang of guilt.
“I thought you may have misunderstood me because of what Dorothea said earlier. There’s nothing between me and His Majesty. My code is, ‘Never like the man that your friend likes.’ I have no feelings for the Crown Prince, and neither does he for me. I actually went to Thurman Palace and brought up your name to him as crown princess.”
“Really?” Odeletta gasped.
“Yes,” I replied succinctly. “I think you are more suited to be crown princess more than anyone. I hope that you will get your wish.”
“I’m grateful for your words.”
“I didn’t want you to misunderstand. I really have no interest in His Highness.”
“Thank you, Lady Maristella,” Odeletta said, and I looked at her questioningly. She elaborated. “That fact that you recommended me to His Highness, and…the fact that you and I are friends.”
A pink flush tainted her cheeks, and I couldn’t help but notice that she genuinely liked Xavier. He was a pretty handsome guy, but I didn’t understand why she liked him. What was so good about him? I couldn’t help my curiosity, so I asked.
“Well, My Lady…this may be a little forward,” I began.
“Yes, Lady Maristella. Please speak.”
“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.”