Chapter 25. You Take Him. My Ex-Husband

Isabelle and Silvia noticed immediately why Lottie had suddenly mentioned a Trienean language tutor.

Their faces gradually turned ashen, but Delinda’s expression remained innocent.

Lottie spoke with a smile that seemed strangely bright.

“A teacher who doesn’t even teach how to properly pronounce my name Charlotte—I can see that while other subjects might be fine, their Trienean language skills must be quite poor. Our estate is close to Triena, so we have many people who speak Trienean fluently. I’m sure we can find a teacher perfectly suited for you.”

Trienean language had a pronunciation structure significantly different from Matilan, making it difficult to master the pronunciation perfectly as an adult unless one began learning from a very young age.

The upper class of Matila taught Trienean to their children from a very early age as part of their cultural education.

Of course, this wouldn’t apply to an illegitimate child who had lived in poverty with her birth mother until age eleven before suddenly entering her father’s family.

“……!”

A momentary crack appeared in Delinda’s consistently innocent expression.

As if biting into that crack, a curve also formed on Lottie’s lips.

That smile seemed to say:

No matter how much top-tier education you receive or how many noble genealogies you memorize, the blood flowing through your body will always be only half-noble.

Just like your pronunciation, which can never be anything but awkward.

‘I will never go back to those times.’

So I won’t lose anything anymore.

I won’t choose the pit of despair with my own hands again because of pressure from my ex-husband and mother-in-law.

‘So, my ex-husband.’

This time, you take him. Delinda Prostis.

* * *

〈Yesterday, I visited the Hilts Art Museum with Great-aunt and had tea at the pretty tea house in front. It was a day that pleased both my eyes and palate with beautiful ancient sculptures and bittersweet black tea.〉

Lottie sat at her writing desk, continuing a letter to her father.

Instead of writing about how the tea house owner recognized Lottie and refused her entry, she wrote sentences about how every day since coming to the capital had been like a dream.

〈Whenever I spend such happy times, I think of Father working hard there, and my heart aches. Has Mr. Britt’s matter been resolved well? I heard that Mr. Britt caused the incident due to mental derangement, and if his madness is that severe, I wondered if it might have been passed down through generations of ancestors. I sincerely hope that Father can escape from these frightening matters as soon as possible.〉

After finishing the letter, Lottie sealed it tightly with love.

Her father was wise and would surely notice the real message hidden subtly in his daughter’s letter, which otherwise seemed no different from usual.

Lottie, who had been lying face down on the desk as if burying her nose in the letter paper, raised her head and turned her stiff neck from side to side.

Sunlight pouring in from the window beside the desk warmed the crown of Lottie’s round head.

“Miss. Um…… another one of these has arrived for you.”

Just as she was feeling the end of spring approaching, a maid entered.

A rectangular box wrapped in expensive packaging paper rested carefully on the maid’s hands.

Judging by the maid’s troubled expression, there was no need to say where it had come from.

“Just put it down anywhere. This time the box isn’t ridiculously large, so you can even throw it if you want.”

“Um…… and this too.”

Lottie, who had been carelessly tearing open the box the maid placed on the desk, frowned at the blue envelope the maid held out.

She blinked several times to confirm, but the seal of Denger Palace was clearly stamped on it.

“……”

Lottie stared down at the envelope with displeasure.

Since Lottie’s visit to the palace, Patrick had occasionally sent gifts to her.

Sometimes he sent a hinged vanity table from the east in a box larger than the maid’s body.

Sometimes he sent dozens of dresses and hats in succession, filling Blue Brick with gift boxes.

After receiving criticism about inferiority complexes and whatnot, he still tries to curry favor like this—he must have no pride.

Annoyed, Lottie stuffed all the gifts into storage. She didn’t feel the slightest bit sorry since these probably weren’t items Patrick had personally selected anyway.

But this time, a letter?

The reason she couldn’t easily tear the thin paper envelope was probably because in her previous life, this was a letter she had never received from him despite desperately begging.

Though her mind said to stop, her hands moved of their own accord. After fidgeting around the envelope, she finally tore it open.

As she carefully scanned the two-page letter, Lottie burst into laughter.

‘It’s a ghostwritten letter.’

She knew Patrick’s handwriting all too well. She also knew that he was embarrassed by his handwriting and avoided writing letters himself.

Though it was now pointless, why had she hesitated for that brief moment?

She felt contempt for herself. Lottie folded the letter with an audible sound and deliberately spoke in a loud voice.

“Ah, now he’s sending letters after gifts. I’m sick to death of this.”

“But for him to write you a handwritten letter, that’s so romantic. What did it say?”

“He says he’ll love me more than himself.”

“Oh my!”

The maid let out an exclamation that was almost a scream.

That girl would probably grab everyone she met after today and gossip in detail about Prince Patrick’s sweet confession.

Rumors tend to grow like a snowball rolling down a hill, from mouth to mouth. And if those rumors reached the ears of the Prostis family’s servants…

‘You’ll be too anxious to stay still anymore, Delinda Prostis.’

Now that you’re in danger of losing the queen’s position you coveted with both hands. Lottie thought with a cold smile.

After the excited maid left, Patrick’s letter was torn into pieces.

“It seems the crown prince will be the winner who takes the miss. Just look at that Calyx Valdea. While His Highness the crown prince sends gifts and letters almost every day, that man has remained completely silent……”

A maid must have been standing outside the door, as her excited voice was heard through the closing gap.

The image of the two exchanging betting money was the last thing seen before the door closed completely.

Lottie, who had been staring at the closed door as if something were stuck to it, slowly turned her head with a creak.

She gazed blankly at the letter pieces scattered messily on the desk.

“……”

Almost a month had passed since the fistfight between the two princes.

While Patrick, albeit through ghostwriters, occasionally flaunted his presence to Lottie, Calyx had not appeared before her even once.

The man who had once appeared so frequently that he seemed to hover around her had now completely vanished, not even a strand of hair to be seen.

He must have heard the rumors of the temptress spreading throughout Ronvernon, yet he hadn’t said a word. He had left her alone, thoroughly treating her like a stranger, as if whatever happened to her was fine.

— This feeling of not wanting to lose you to another man—how else can I express it if not through a proposal?

She thought for a long time. Why would that man, who had proposed with eyes that seemed to hold no falsehood in the world, do this?

— Even after hearing the answer to the riddle…… has your heart not changed about not marrying me?

The answer wasn’t that difficult. That man simply lacked the sincerity that all humans should possess. The words that once seemed hot enough to burn when touched were ultimately just cleverly crafted deceptions.

Why had he deceived her? She didn’t know. How could one understand the mind of a madman?

— I loved this kingdom where I was born and raised, my father who gave me life, and the destiny given to me more than anyone else.

Damn it. Lottie shook her head vigorously, as if to refute her own thoughts that had just surfaced.

“If you were going to give up, you should have done it before things got this bad. Then I wouldn’t have had to get doused with sewage!”

The emptiness in a corner of her heart and the sting in her throat were because of that. Because she was indignant about being played, even if just for a moment.

Because she was angry about suffering this much due to that man’s nasty prank. That’s why.

“Miss. There’s a letter I forgot to give you……”

“Is it from Denger Palace again?! Take it back and burn it!”

The previous maid, who had entered cautiously, jumped at Lottie’s fierce voice.

Oops. Lottie realized her mistake and barely managed to calm her confused emotions.

“I’m sorry, Ann. I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you…… Leave the letter here.”

“Yes…… But Miss, this letter isn’t from Denger Palace.”

“Hmm?”

She properly examined the letter the maid was holding out.

The seal of an unfamiliar family was stamped on the envelope. Since it was addressed to both her great-aunt and herself, it seemed to be some family’s invitation.

Lottie tilted her head curiously and opened the envelope.

A moment later, Lottie’s eyes widened as she read the invitation.

〈We request your presence to grace a dinner ball attended by Her Majesty Queen Catherine and His Highness Crown Prince Patrick…….〉

“The lady from the Prostis family personally left this invitation. She earnestly requested that you attend…… Though it’s presumptuous of me to say, honestly, for you to continue an acquaintance with that lady, the difference in status……”

“……”

“……? Miss?”

Maid Ann, who had been speaking without hiding her disapproval, opened her eyes wide.

The miss, who had been reading the invitation, was smiling with bright, gleaming eyes.

“Ann.”

Lottie called the maid while keeping her gaze fixed on the invitation. Her voice was strangely excited.

“Bring all the gifts that His Highness the crown prince has sent.”