Valerian had gone with Maddy to the market in a nearby town, both bought what was needed for the mansion, as it had already been a week since they arrived in the countryside, surely in the kingdom it is already known that she left her family and that the Marquis is negotiating with the king about the change of bride in the crown prince's engagement, which must be somewhat tedious, but the prince will be happy for the change, since, at this point in the story, both he and Marlene must have spent a lot of time together and the attraction between them should have already begun.
After loading everything into the carriage, Valerian asked Maddy to go to a diner for breakfast, so they could catch up on the gossip about the kingdom, those places are a good source of information. They both sit down and order the dish of the day.
"They say they haven't seen Miss Lacaster at the meetings, could she be ill?"
"No, she left the main house, my niece is a maid at the Lacaster mansion and they say Miss went to the country."
"She must be under so much pressure from her engagement, maybe she wants to rest."
"That's not it, that family treats her with indifference, I think that's why she ran away."
"What? But if she's going to be the crown princess, why would her family treat her badly?"
"Don't you know, the Marquis lost his wife when Miss Lacaster was born, they say the Marquis blames his daughter for his wife's death."
"How terrible, but what is that creature guilty of? If he wants to blame someone, he should blame himself for not keeping it in his pants, that girl wasn't made by magic."
"Don't be vulgar. Although I'll give you that, if his wife was delicate, he shouldn't have gotten her pregnant."
Maddy looks at Valerian with concern, for it is a very delicate subject that these women are talking about, but Valerian only smiles wryly, thinking that at least these women are reasonable and have more conscience than her own family. Valerian gets up from her seat and as soon as the women present in that place see her, they keep silent, for they know perfectly well who she is. She just smiles and goes on her way.
But apparently, there is still no talk about the breakup of her engagement, she supposes that will take a little longer. When they finish eating they return to the carriage to return to the mansion.
"Are you alright, Miss? Those women talked too much."
"I'm fine Maddy, that doesn't affect me anymore. What that family thinks of me is of no importance to me," she assures.
"If it's any consolation, those women are right, you're not to blame for anything," she consoles her.
"I know, I just had the bad luck to be born into a family of stupid men." she smiles.
Maddy laughs at her comment but agrees with her. When the carriage arrives at the mansion, they see that there is a carriage accompanied by escorts at the entrance, which annoys Valerian, surely her brothers have taken that useless woman there, but, they will listen to her, she will not hesitate to throw them out regardless of whether the Marquis gets angry. As soon as her carriage stops, she gets off quickly and goes towards the escorts.
"What are you doing here? Who have you brought? If the twins and the bastard are inside, I swear I'll burn the mansion down." she threatens the guard furiously.
She hates the idea of the twins and Marlene coming to the mansion to disturb her peace and quiet.
"What manners, Miss Lacaster." he speaks with a certain mocking tone.
Valerian turns to where the voice is coming from, because it sounds familiar to the real Valerian's memory and yes, indeed it was familiar to her, because that young man with black hair and golden eyes, was standing at the entrance of the house, showing a mocking smile. That was undoubtedly the crown prince, Callisto Valencia. And Valerian can't help but wonder, what is he doing there, is he by any chance in the company of the bastard?
"So what? Will you have me executed for disrespecting your beloved and future wife?" she asks with a certain mocking tone.
Valerian was not one to mince words when it came to expressing her annoyance.
"If that were the case, you would be insulting yourself, wouldn't you?" he replies, shrugging his shoulders.
"I'm not talking about myself, it's more than obvious that you're not going to marry me," she replies quickly.
"Why not? You are my fiancee." He takes a couple of steps until he is in front of the blonde who looks at him coldly.
"Do you think I'm naive? Do you think I haven't seen the flirting between you and my father's foundling?"
Callisto raises an eyebrow because of the doubt he has upon hearing her questions, for as far as he knows, he has never flirted with the younger Lacaster sister.
"What a lovely way to refer to your younger sister, are you jealous by any chance?"
"Why would I be? Besides, she's not my sister, unless she really is a bastard of my father's, which would be likely." Although she knows she's not the Marquis's daughter.
"Could be, but I'm surprised you refer to her that way, the twins and the Marquis really do adore her, does that bother you? You probably think she's taking away your father and brothers' affection from you."
Valerian lets out a laugh at Callisto's words and he only feels more curious.
"She can't take away the affection I've never had. And if you'll excuse me, if they're inside, I have some trash to take out."
Valerian pushes the prince aside and continues on her way to the mansion, asking for unwelcome guests, but the butler assures her that the only visitor is the crown prince, no one else has arrived at the mansion.
"He's telling the truth, they didn't come, they don't know I'm here, so we'll have the house to ourselves." he winks.
"There's no way you're staying, Mr. Walter, have the prince's things taken back to his carriage," Valerian orders.
"Not Walter, I'm staying, take my bags up to the young lady's room," he smiles at Valerian flirtatiously.
The faces of all the servants turn red with surprise, after all, not even a married couple usually shares a bedroom unless it is the day scheduled for their marital intimacy.
"Perfect, it will be easier for me to smother him with a pillow," Valerian replies.
"Assassinating a prince can be taken as treason," Callisto informs her.
"I'll take the risk, Your Highness, I assure you it will be worth it."
Callisto approaches Valerian, standing in front of her, and leans down slightly to be at her height.
"Why do you seem to hate me? Have I offended you in any way? You weren't like this before." he asks curiously.
"I don't hate you, but I'm not going to waste my time on a relationship with no future. You know very well what's going on between you and Marlene."
"No future? You can't be sure of that, and what makes you think there's something between your sister and me?"
"An affair, and don't worry, my father will see to it that you can marry her." Valerian turns away, but stops when she feels his grip on her wrist.
"What makes you believe those things? I'm not that kind of man." he replies somewhat annoyed.
Valerian pulls her hand away and continues on her way, she doesn't need to hear the excuses of that boy, because even if he denies it, she knows perfectly well that both he and Marlene will end up together. Maddy was about to follow Valerian, but Callisto stops her.
"Why does your mistress think I have something to do with her sister?" he needs to know what made her think that.
"Because she has seen you chatting alone with the younger Miss. Your Highness, please don't cause my mistress any more suffering, she already has enough with the contempt of her family."
Maddy curtsies and goes upstairs to Valerian. While Callisto is left even more in doubt, for although he has talked to Marlene, he has only done so to avoid being rude.
°°°
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