CHAPTER 5.

Her tone turns somewhat cheery, as she describes various horrible ways this struggle of ours can end, but actually comes up with a plan that could get the engagement broken normally, in case we both testify that death would be a possible ending.

"What about the temporary part?"

Her smile fades as fast as it formed.

"I do carry some spite towards you, for how you've neglected me, and the humiliation of you kissing Delia in front of me, and the Ladies at the tea party, so I'm going to demand something in return for breaking the engagement. A little test of sorts."

.......

I sigh heavily. My own spur of the moment actions haunt me. But I can't argue. I got caught up in the moment, after thinking everything was already over.

"What do you want?"

I'll give her anything reasonable to make this calm down... even more if I can have Delia.

"You'll have a month vacation with Delia."

I stare at Beatrix dumbfounded, again. I can't tell what's going on in that head of hers, at all. I can't even tell how this is in any way benefitting what I thought was her goal. In one moment it feels like she's angry I'm with Delia, and in the next it feels like she's encouraging it.

"You will tell Miss Delia that our engagement is broken. Everyone in the summer palace will be instructed to say the same. You will then bring her to the summer palace, where you will be doing all your summer work in the span of a month, where after you can enjoy the rest of the summer with her leisurely. If you are still certain, that you wish to go through with being with Delia after a month, then we will officially break off our engagement. Of course you'll be assisting me by making up for the broken engagement in case you succeed."

I stare at her blankly, as I wait for her to continue... but no more words come...

"That's it?"

"That is all, your highness."

...this is too easy. It will be hell. Genuine hell, but genuine hell shouldn't be enough for Beatrix after all of this.

That can't be all.

"What are you scheming?"

She smiles.

"Don't worry, I won't be doing anything. I will be staying in my family's mansion, which is conveniently right next to the palace, but that is all."

She watches me closely, rather obviously enjoying my confusion. So she wants to watch? Why? Their family summer mansion has overlook of the south garden, so without a doubt she'll be quietly watching from there...

What possible joy could she get out of watching me being romantic with Delia in the little time there will be for it?

"Why go through all of this, Beatrix? Nothing will happen in a month that will make me change my mind," I insist, but she just tilts her head to the side.

"When I get 'jealous', your highness, I do indeed lash out a bit. I know you hate... how you despise, when I put the girls approaching you so sweetly, in their place. How I scold you, and them, for being too thoughtlessly intimate... but what about Delia?" I harden my gaze at her.

"What about Delia?" I answer back in a harsh tone, to warn her not to overstep.

But Beatrix doesn't care about boundaries today.

"Delia has never seen you with another woman, your highness. She knows you hate me, so I do not count a threat to her. I wonder, how does she get, when she gets jealous?"

Her voice gets all sickeningly smooth again, like she's mocking Delia.

"She won't. Now stop, Beatrix."

"She will cry I am sure."

Cry? Delia probably would. She's a lot more quiet and hesitant to do something wrong than Beatrice.

"In another mans arms."

My world stops for a moment, as those words come from Beatrix... and in an instant I've stepped around the table and leaned over her to the point I'm looming.

"Delia would never," I snap at her coldly. "I see."

Beatrix's answer sounds bored and cold. Unthreatened and unbothered.

I stand back up, hesitantly.

"If you insist she will not, then there should not be a problem with my demand, right?" Beatrix looks at me with disappointment, as she turns away, as if she'd hoped my answer would be different. Then, as though insulted, she crosses her arms stubbornly.

"I wish you'd stood up for me like that just once, your highness."

Her tone now somber.

When I look at her expression from the side, it's bitter.

"You don't need anyone to stand up for you," I respond in a harsher tone than what is deserved. Beatrice never needed me to stand up for her. She never needed me for anything. She never trusted me for an instant either.

She sighs.

"And how would you know. You've not met me behind closed doors for years. The only one you see, is the performance a queen must put on."

I stare at her... and as she says that so quietly, bitterly, and carefully, the overwhealming presence she usually exudes seems to disappear...

And I notice that the way her arms are crossed aren't crossed stubbornly, but defensively.

"Performance, you?" My voice shakes with a weird hint of doubt, seeing Beatrice like this. Why is she showing this now? Why is she saying these things now instead of years ago? Am I being manipulated? I can't even tell.

"Of course. After all, if I do not, your mistreatment of me only becomes more obvious, and ladies praying for your attention and affection come crawling like cockroaches. Then I have to chase them away, making you hate me more. It's a vicious circle, where I must become crueller and colder."

...I want to retort to her words, but I never really cared much for the ladies interactions... or looked into what Beatrix's everyday consisted of. I only knew she argued a lot, and took control of meetings regarding management with an iron first I just assumed she used in court as well. While the officials are terrified of her, they respect that she's good at her work, like it's her one good point they can actually respect.

"Then why wouldn't you have chased away Delia?"

Beatrice just smiles, but with hints of pity, disappointment and disgust in her eyes.

"Because it was painfully obvious you fell for her, and that if I messed with your first love, I'd be in trouble. For better or worse, you're awfully protective of the things you like. I just happen not to be one of them," she replies bitterly.

"She just has something you do not," I repond somewhat hesitantly, to which I just get a huff as a response. More specifically, the desire to be with me for who I am. Not for my title.

"The world that turned me into this, is the world you want to thrust Delia into."

"Delia has won over everyone she talks with, except for you," I insist in return.

"Of course. Temporarily. She's easy to get rid of, once I'm not here to support her back."

Beatrix brushes a wavy lock of hair behind her ear. "Either way, this is a useless topic. Do you accept my deal or not?"

She doesn't look at me, and I hesitate. The bad feeling isn't gone, but she's right that I shouldn't have a problem with it, if I don't doubt Delia.

"I accept..."

Even with this deal, the other thing still hangs over me. "How can I earn your forgiveness for the kiss?" More precisely, how I can get her to not expose it.

"Let me hit you."

I stare up at her, and find her eyes staring at me intensely. I can't believe she actually requested that, but at this point I suppose it's the smallest surprise I have gotten today.

She's not allowed to hit me without permission.

I hold in a sigh. Certainly, this much I deserve.

"You can hit me, once, Beatrix."

While I'm thinking that saying 'once' was a good decision, she quickly steps in front of me, and surprisingly fast of her, her hand swings through the air with a swish, and smacks into the side of my face, leaving a stinging, aching surface behind, and my ear ringing.

She didn't hold back, more like, I think she hit as hard as she could...

Because she's holding her own hand in pain, which she's trying to mask with teary eyes.

"...Beatrix... did you lose your temper a bit?"

Before I realize it, a smile has crept onto my lips.

I've not seen such an unveiled look on her face since we were kids, and it's satisfying to see her pout at my words.

I bite my cheek to stop, but seeing her so focused on enduring the pain from her own slap is somehow amusing. It looks like it hurts her more than the slap does on me.

She glares up at me, and straightens up. Still holding her hurting hand that's already turning red.

"The permission is so rarely given, I had to make certain I took advantage of it. I shall leave now. I wish you a good vacation. I will send a servant with the contract when I get back."

She heads towards the door, but stops before she walks out, and then looks to me again.

"Just remember I warned you, Clovis."

My smile turns to a frown, both at the hint that Delia would be unfaithful, but also that Beatrice just used my name for the first time since we entered the academy.

"I'm going to add an extra condition to the agreement. You cannot tell her sorry, for spending time doing your work."

A bitter feeling fills my body. I know she means because my work is a requirement that shouldn't be apologized for, but it still feels wrong.

"Will you be excorting Delia tomorrow, your highness?"

I look down to the floor. According to the agreement, the news should be kept quiet for a month, so technically I can't let Beatrix go unattended. But if I don't go with Delia, she will be heartbroken.

Beatrix sighs.

"Do it, excort miss Delia to the ball."

I stare at her back in disbelief again.

"But-"

"I am feeling oddly under the weather. I will surely be too ill to attend tomorrow, your highness. I shall ensure that Delia, as my replacement, tomorrow night, shall not bring you shame."

She puts on a polite tone again, and then exits the room... making the choice that I hesitated to do.

...Delia's Point of View...

Clovis looked exhausted, when Lady Beatrix finally left, so I quickly went up to him and took his hand, putting it against my cheek as I hold it, while I looked up at him sweetly, trying my best to cheer him up a bit.

"Are you okay, Clovis?"

His eyes soften at me, making his radiant soft smile melt my heart a little.

"Now where you are here with me, Delia."

His husky voice reminds me of yesterday's kiss in the garden, making heat rise to my cheeks.

"What did she want?"

Maximillian asks worried. He's her sister, so he knows Lady Beatrix well.

Clovis then smiles to me.

"She agreed to break our engagement and won't be at the ball tomorrow. She even agreed to send you everything you'll need for tomorrow, so we can spend the entire ball together, with you by my side, Delia."

His eyes glimmer with happiness.

Was Lady Beatrix that kind? Part of me is suspicious that she will do something bad, but seeing how happy Clovis is, shining at me like a radiant star of love, melts my doubts away.

"Really?"

"Really," he responds, and relief, joy and love overtakes me, as I jump into his arms.

He twirls me around, and when he puts me down, he puts our foreheads together. We can finally be together.

"I love you, Delia."

"I love you too, Clovis."

...Beatrix's Point of View...

My hand hurts! I know he has a chisled face, but does it have to hurt that much?! He barely even flinched too!

I step into the carriage, heading home for the day. The meeting didn't go perfectly, but I think I got everything said, that I needed to say.

To be honest, this is a bet.

A bet on Delia's personality.

There are many different kinds of Heroines, but one thing many have in common, is that they are used to their partner standing up for them in social conflicts. The problem is that these heroines don't know what to do when that conflict is with their own partner. So, one could say the author adds a little spice, by making the heroine cry, and run into the arms of another man.

But do be honest for a moment. Do you want a partner that cries with jealousy when they first see you with a colleague of the opposite sex?

That's the heroine's weakness. Unlike the villainess, she's too scared to approach the problem on her own, and needs her man to do the work for her.

.......

That said, Clovis has grown up more than I thought, physically. I need to be careful not to push him too far. He's in the middle of a very intense puppy love, and already sees me as an enemy. He's not willing to listen, so I should be a bit more careful until that puppy love comes on weak ground.

I sigh.

The petition to the king has already beensent, and my vacation booked, long before this conversation. Maximillian's actions to sabotage the family will be exposed, and he'll be put under house arrest at least for the next month, as per my request. That should let me go without surveilance for a while, to observe how the situation unfolds...

And actually, just maybe have a relaxing beginning to the summer, now where I will not have to join the summer work sessions at the summer palace.

You see, large amounts of the work Clovis and I were in charge of, gets bundled up slowly throughout the year to the summer, so that we can focus on our studies the rest of the year. Since Delia doesn't know territory management, Clovis will have to go through that hell alone.

My lips curl into a smile. If nothing else, this is revenge too.

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