Lawrence and Pierre drank tea on the other side of the garden.
“Lawrence, this is totally unexpected?”
Pierre asked Lawrence in a tone of voice,” What is your dream?”
“It’s called an opportunity or fate.”
“Katrine loves it, either opportunity or fate, because she doesn’t have a lot of friends around her.”
“It’s better to become friends.”
“Lawrence, how did you even get the taste of Katrine?”
“I can’t believe you brought a lady-in-waiting who looks just like the doll the princess likes.”
“Is there something I don’t know?”
He doesn’t have to know all that, but Pierre looked bitterly at Lawrence. There’s nothing he shouldn’t want to know. But there was something Lawrence didn’t know . Lawrence only saw Katrine excited to see the Isabel doll at the department store, but he wouldn’t know the feelings behind her.
“His Majesty is thinking of enrolling Katrine in a girls’ school in Elido.”
Pierre said anxiously.
“The princess is different. But i don’t think that’s bad either.”
Charles is having trouble with my younger sister, who was a headache. It was probably the clever idea from the next chief minister.
Maybe Charles is trying to get rid of his humps in the name of mastering her qualities as a lady. The youngster will grow up in three years.
“Lawrence, I’m worried about Katrine. When she’ll enter school, her status as the princess disappears. But I wonder if she can make it through in those places like that.”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t introduce Lady Sallator to the princess for no reason. She’ll be her helper and be her helper.”
“What? Lady Sallator as her maid of honor?”
“Yes, I’ve already spoken to Her Majesty. I’ve decided to cover the princess’ tuition and living expenses.”
Pierre was stunned by Lawrence’s words and remained silent for a while.
‘Now my friend’s inner self was so clear that I couldn’t help asking him anymore.‘
“Lawrence do you want to marry Katrine?”
Pierre’s voice was very low. He was very serious as if it was a taboo to his mouth.
“Why? No?”
Unlike Pierre’s voice, Lawrence voice was imposing. It was a way of saying what is the reason for you to know and check it out.
Pierre blankly stared at Lawrence. It became clear what he wanted. The intention was to capture the princess’ taste, attach her to her friends and maids, pay high tuitions and living expenses, and gradually increased his presence in the royal family and the aristocrats. After all, Lawrence’s ultimate goal was to raise his status from a wealthy commoner to a royal.1
“Lawrence, even though marriage is political, it’s also a relationship between a man and a woman. Can you truly care for and love Katrine?”
“Is there anything else unpredictable like a man-and-woman relationship? I won’t pursue an unhappy life either. Never.”
At the end of Lawrence’s reply there was a thud outside. Soon the servant urgently entered the office.
“What’s going on?”
Pierre asked the servant.
***
“Uh!”
Rahee’s arms did not lift up even when she swung them. It was not easy to get out of the water because of the wet dress, even though it was not deep. While the water was flowing into the nose and ears, the screams of the young children were clearly audible. She tried screamed and tried to move her feet.
“Come…please.”
Rahee screamed. If it wasn’t for this heavy dress, she would have stood up right away, but she got caught in the water that barely reached my chest.
Just in time, Rahee felt someone holding her arms. Soon, her body leaned back and was dragged away. What she could see in the dim vision were appeared servants dressed in white. A couple of servants went into the water and rescued the struggling Rahee.
Khuck khuck khuck- Rahee looked around, throwing up water from her nose and mouth. Unlike the greatly agitated children, she could see Katrinne standing expressionless. A girl with a cruel grudges behind a gentle smile.
“What’s the matter!”
Pierre and Lawrence came in a hurry.
Pierre asked the servant.
“Lady Sallator suddenly fell into the water!”
“What? falling into the water suddenly?”
That’s nonsense. But no one said that Katrinne pushed Rahee.
“Rahee, are you all right?”
Lawrence asked, wrapping Rahee’s face with his both hands. He seemed to be trying to make sure she was conscious.
“Law…rence”
A bright blonde with blue eyes, a blindingly handsome man. But beyond his face, she could see Katrinne curled up the corners of her lips. Then what she said came to her mind.
[Do you know what you are? You are the plaything that the bank president gave me. He’s crazy to marry me.]
Yeah, now she knew. She was Lawrence’s doll to curry favor with Katrinne. So she was just a trifle who didn’t care what she did. But no one in the world had the right to trample on other people’s personalities.1
Rahee rose from her place, after she shook off Lawrence’s hand. Though her body was reeling and it was hard to breathe, she opened her eyes wide.
She tore through her hair with a sudden unwinding of the decorations that stuck to her head. She threw off all her earrings, necklaces, and even the dress that tightened her body. What’s left was a huge petticoat. If she takes it off, she’ll be dressed in her underwear. But Rahee didn’t hesitate. She took off all her high shoes and stockings.
Lawrence was also surprised by Rahee’s unexpected behavior, and his eyes were wide open. She was wearing thin slips because she didn’t have enough effort to get dressed up and throw it away. Finally, when the grandiose decorations were removed, only the soft and weak girl remained.
The body of a young girl. Rahee was smaller than her age. There was a clear difference compared to the well-developed Katrinne. Less than a half of the body was in danger as if it would break if held by hand.
“What the hell is this?”
Lawrence looked around to see if they were embarrassed. He was very surprised, but deliberately killed his voice. But Rahee didn’t care. Even though the ladies, the chaperones, the servants and the maids murmured, she could not hear a single thing.
Rahee glared at Katrine, who was away from the crowd. Soon after Rahee took off her clothes like a madwoman, as she walked fiercely towards the princess, the ladies screamed in astonishment, and shut their mouths.
“Why? Is it unfair?”
Katrine was surprised, too. In this case, it was natural to hide or run away in fear. But she couldn’t believe she was approaching her with her eyes wide open. So she sarcastically asked her to get a little better.
Clap clap clap-
Rahee’s hands slapped Katrine’s cheek in a row. She hit a girl who was taller and older than her without fear.
“Bad girl! I heard bad calf has horns in the ass, and you’re just like that. What’s the use of a princess like that? What’s the point of being pretty? You’re a loner!”
Rahee screamed until the veins in her neck were clear visible. There were many people around, but it was as quiet as death by her sudden action.
Isn’t this an act that no one dared to do? A mere lady who slapped the princess in the face and cursed her, it would be on the newspaper.
In addition, everyone laughed at their heads as to what country it was to say that a bad calf’s ass had horns. Anyway, the criticism was clear.
“Did the princess drown Lady Sallator?”
“I guess so.”
The other ladies chattered. They could deduce what happened just by looking at the incredible sight. Meanwhile, Katrine never dreamed of getting slapped by Rahee. She was distracted by the glare in front of her. How dare she slap a princess in the face.
Kartrine wrapped her hand around her cheek, as she went nuts.
“Haughty girl! You’re really the worst!”
Rahee yelled, with all her strength towards Katrine. She used alot of force her back was shaking. Then she collapsed helplessly.
“Rahee,”
Lawrence who was right behind her, ran to helped her.
“Lawrence.”
Rahee called out to him quietly.
“I don’t want to stay here anymore. The party is getting boring.”
She lost her consciousness.
***
Running for an hour, the car stopped infront of the main building. Rahee opened the door of the car and left before the servant opened it. But after taking a few steps she couldn’t take any steps more and fell down.
“Are you all right? Hold my hand.”
Lawrence reached out to Rahee, but she just stared at him. The man standing with his back against the light was still beautiful. However, her heart was neither trembling nor soft anymore.
Rahee now knows there is a hideous ambition behind that picturesque face. So she staggered up to the second floor after shrugging off his hands. Then she remembered the doll she saw in his office.
Rahee turned around and headed for Lawrence’s office. She couldn’t get in without his permission, but now she couldn’t care for anything else.
Rahee looked at the doll that Katrine said. And soon she was shocked. The doll in the glass tube was none other than herself. The doll was the same to the point where she didn’t know who came first, the doll or her. From head to toe, even how she decorated to go to the tea party today was like the doll’s outfit. Even the pink pearl earrings were the same with the dolls and the white plum petals.
‘I was really the play of Katrine. Or Lawrence’s puppet.’
For a moment, she was pathetic and hated herself for having fantasies about Lawrence. She was wrong about people for a long time ago. He was not a man who cared about the character of others for the sake of his ambition. It was a useless girl’s sentiment.
“Lawrence, why did you cover that doll with a glass tube?”
She felt Lawrence standing behind her.
“Because it’s mine. No one can touch it.”
“So when can that doll come out of the glass tube?”
“Well, it’s up to the doll to do it, right? Maybe it can’t come out forever.”
He said, looking at Rahee, not the doll.
‘There’s nothing a doll can do.’
Lawrence saw deep disappointment and regret in Rahee’s face. What should he do? It would be right to let a young girl realize that the reality is not easy even though she proudly accepted the contract.
“Do you regret signing the contract?”
Lawrence now knew what she felt when she saw the doll.
“Is there any use in regretting it?”
Rahee asked, staring at Lawrence.
“That’s right. There’s no turning back. It’s usually this hard to pay off your debts. Pride is trampled on countless times. Didn’t you tell me? Everything has a different picture like two sides of a coin?”
“Yes, every contract has a dark side. It can be good for me or you can regret the contract.”
“Yes, it’s you who initially offered to pay the debt with your own body. So when you get angry, you have to be angry with yourself. The same goes for resentment.”
A frosty voice, his emotionless words were more painful than Katrine’s tyranny.
“That’s right. It’s my choice from the start.”
“Yes, don’t forget that you’re the debtor and I’m the creditor.”
“Yes, I won’t forget.”
Rahee said in a low tone, turning away slowly. But tears fell from her amber eyes
Her eyes were blazing with rage and contempt, and her small narrow chest was wildly agitated.
Lawrence was the creditor but she didn’t hate it.
No, that was a great illusion. On the surface, he acted like a man with no blood or tears, but he didn’t ignore her desperate situation.
Sofia was able to receive treatment, and she was also grateful that she would be a maid of honor of the Princess, not a hard-working maid. But she was not a marionette with no character, but a figure who breathed and think, and Lawrence made himself a spectacle of the world.
‘Fool, there’s no such thing as free food. You’re mistaken.’
The girl’s love which was very short for the bank president was shattered into pieces.