Chapter 12: Give Me Time

“Are you alright?”

Edmund asked gently.

Seeing him like this, Clea thought he was quite unlike his public reputation.

Perhaps because his appearance looked colder than anyone else’s? He was known as someone who would never show interest in others.

Thinking that one shouldn’t judge people by their appearance, Clea showed her characteristic smile.

“Are you alright?”

“What do you mean?”

“Lloyd may seem ridiculous, but he’s still from a Grand Ducal family.”

“If he seems ridiculous even to you, then he’s nothing to me.”

‘Empty words.’

Though it was clearly troublesome for him too, he prioritized Clea’s feelings above all else.

Her chest felt ticklish from receiving such concern after so long.

Was the pain coming back again?

She briefly checked her time.

The clock hands were still turning.

But for some reason, the second hand seemed to move slower than usual.

‘Must be my imagination.’

Just imagination.

Clea dismissed it all as just her imagination like before.

Though she had similar illusions before.

To her who felt the same pain and emptiness, it was nothing more than false hope.

After all, nothing like this happened to Aria in the original work.

When she encountered Edmund, there were no descriptions of the second hand feeling different or moving slowly.

Hers was a story of struggling through pain before finding true love and being liberated in the end.

In that sense, the condition of ‘true love’ was also vague.

Despite having so many people who liked her, no one except Edmund could break her curse.

She was convinced it would be futile to try to understand that subtle difference. She removed her hand from her view and looked at Edmund.

Thanks to Edmund who prioritized her feelings, Clea felt energized even in this darkness-like silence.

“How about having some tea time?”

“I’ve already taken up too much of Your Highness’s time. So how about having tea after you finish your work, Edmund?”

Edmund felt somewhat worried seeing Clea’s smile.

He felt the same now too. She looked precarious.

Would she fly away somewhere?

He wondered.

What would really become of their relationship?

Could his feelings truly be called ‘love’?

‘Though I’m already quite drawn to her.’

Edmund looked at her while still unable to sort out his feelings.

Meeting his gaze, Clea slowly moved toward the door.

“Then I’ll see you later.”

He wanted to stop Clea from leaving for a moment, but she was faster.

‘I shouldn’t cause any more trouble.’

Thinking she shouldn’t interfere with his time any further, she quickly left and opened the door to step outside.

And as soon as she came out, she unintentionally encountered someone she didn’t want to meet.

“Go in if you’re going to. I’m done here.”

* * *

Oberon couldn’t believe the current situation.

“Get out of my way!”

“Young Grand Duke!”

Clearly until this morning, seeing Lloyd visit made Oberon think Edmund would come to his senses.

Clea was an engaged woman.

In Oberon’s eyes, she was like a time bomb that could explode at any moment.

A time bomb that could become a black mark on Edmund.

As the most legitimate and only heir to the throne, he captured people’s attention.

In this situation, if Clea were to claim Edmund had assaulted her, his honor would plummet instantly.

‘She says she abandoned the Odoi family, but how can I believe that? There’s no proof, no proof.’

Oberon remembered when he encountered Clea before.

When she was very young, she was someone desperate enough to do anything for her family.

A child trembling in fear of being abandoned by her family.

Remembering that image, Oberon pressed his hand to his aching forehead.

That night when they met on the bridge.

After hearing their conversation, Oberon thought Edmund wouldn’t believe her words.

He hoped Edmund would coldly draw the line and leave her there to freeze if she would.

But Edmund brought her to the imperial palace.

Then he repeated the same mistake as the day before, not caring about other people’s eyes.

‘Why did he leave alone? Since she’s his fiancée, shouldn’t he have taken her with him?!’

When Lloyd appeared without notice, though unpleasant, it somewhat eased his concerns.

He thought this uncomfortable atmosphere would end since Lloyd had come.

However, Lloyd stormed out, and Clea, who should have left with him, was still in Edmund’s office.

‘What would happen if His Majesty the Emperor heard about this?’

As Oberon’s insides were burning up, he met eyes with someone coming out of the office.

“Go in if you’re going to. I’m done here.”

Clea Odoi, showing an uncharacteristically kind smile while acting gentle.

Oberon glared at her and opened his mouth.

“Please give me a moment of your time.”

Oberon looked at Clea with eyes full of hostility.

His gaze was so sharp it could make even political opponents break into a cold sweat.

After all, who knew what could happen when the Crown Prince’s right-hand man, a loyal subject who would do anything for him, set his sights on someone.

But Clea showed no reaction to Oberon’s hostile gaze.

“Why should I give my precious time to you?”

Clea raised the corner of her mouth.

Seeing that, Oberon’s body froze with a shudder.

“You’re not someone that significant to me.”

Clea had already run out of patience after meeting Lloyd.

She was now having reasonable suspicions.

The suspicion that Oberon might have called Lloyd to the palace to take her away.

Clea wasn’t ignorant enough to not notice the hostility Oberon was sending her way.

She had received many hostile gazes until now.

Therefore, the hostility of one person wasn’t enough to make her cower.

‘At least not compared to when everyone in the banquet hall showed hostility.’

She recalled memories she didn’t want to remember.

Enduring the bitter taste in her mouth, she smiled.

No matter how much she tried to change those gazes, they never changed. Like a curse cast upon a villainess in a novel.

Once she tried running away as far as she could, but in the end, she alone grew tired.

She finally gave up on turning around the hostility.

Clea finished her thoughts and turned her gaze to Oberon.

She too was someone who could distinguish between public and private matters.

Having found someone interesting for the first time, she wanted to spend her remaining time only in pleasant places.

So she considered asking Edmund to set aside his work and make time for her.

But she walked out of the office herself.

‘Even if I’m going to die, I shouldn’t get in the way of someone who will live.’

Edmund was the only one who looked at her without prejudice.

While she was grateful, Clea didn’t want to trouble him.

But Oberon was a different matter.

Unlike Edmund whom she met occasionally, she often encountered Oberon.

Each time, Oberon never held back his contemptuous looks.

“I don’t know how you see me, but rest assured. I have no intention of causing harm to the one you serve.”

Therefore, she didn’t want to face Oberon for long either.

Meeting would only result in mutual discomfort.

Clea turned to avoid him first.

But Oberon’s words made her stop in her tracks.

“How could I trust you? You are that Clea Odoi.”

Where should she start pointing out the problems?

She might have shown patience with Edmund many times, but unfortunately, this wasn’t Edmund.

This was someone who kept trying to interfere between Edmund and her.

Though she suspected he might have called Lloyd, she was trying to let it go quietly, but he wouldn’t leave it alone.

Clea’s hostility was slowly burning up.

Clea withdrew even the smile she had been wearing until now.

As only coldness settled on her face, Oberon swallowed dryly for a moment.

“Didn’t I tell you? That I abandoned the Odoi family.”

She looked at the pattern drawn on the back of her hand.

Time was flowing regardless of her will.

How nice it would be if she could stop this time.

It was a thought the female lead kept showing throughout the story.

Because the world was too beautiful. Because the people around were too kind.

She wanted to live somehow.

But Clea?

“How can I believe that?”

“How to believe? Well. How should I say it so even someone as stupid as you would believe? Would you believe me if I said I’m going to die soon?”

“……”

“Yes, you can’t say anything. I don’t feel the need to prove anything to you. Because you mean nothing to me anyway. Just like Lloyd.”

Meaning was truly an important word.

Since falling here, Clea had been constantly searching for ‘meaning’.

What was the meaning of her possessing Clea Odoi’s body? What was the meaning of having to live her life in place of her?

What was the meaning of having to live being persecuted for things she never did as a villainess in this world?

She felt a rising frustration.

‘Ah, this isn’t good.’

When she felt very frustrated and had difficulty breathing before.

Clea had experienced something very bad, though only once.

‘How did people treat her then?’

They might have felt delighted seeing the villainess retching pathetically, or they might have given her looks of disgust.

Too many gazes had reached her to determine just one, but Clea felt wronged having to retch after suffering from all of it.

Why did she have to bear everything even for things she hadn’t done?

“Urgh.”

“……Lady?”

Clea tried somehow to hold back her dry heaving.

At least then she had a handkerchief, but now she didn’t even have that.

But in the end, she couldn’t hold back what was rising in her mouth and spat it out.

It was blood as red as Edmund’s eyes.