Chapter 17: CH 17

It was Callian.

‘That bast*rd!’

My hands started shaking, making Sylvester snatch the papers from me. “I see,” The corners of his lips rose as if he was about to laugh, which upset me further…

“Are you laughing at your wife getting sued?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Wow, you’re a wonderful husband. A round of applause. Clap, clap, clap.” I clapped on purpose, and Sylvester seemed to think it was an actual compliment. He smiled and looked at me sweetly. How brazen.

“What should we do about this?” I asked.

“Well, I’m not sure?”

Not sure? What was that supposed to mean? Was that his final answer?

“No, honey, aren’t you supposed to say something like how you’re going to solve it?”

“Why should I?”

“Why should you?” I put my hands on the table. “So you want me to take care of this by myself?”

“Yes, it’s your responsibility.”

“Oh my God—” How could he be so mean? I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and buried my face in my hands. At the sight of my distress, Sylvester let out a laugh.

“I’m just kidding. By the way, I’m surprised to see you responding that way. Perhaps I should make jokes like this more often.” I was glad it turned out to be a joke, but I still wanted to curse him out.

I opened my eyes wide, “If you ever try to joke like this again, I’ll run away from home.”

“You barely have any money.”

“I’ll steal some and run away from home.”

“Have you ever seen a thief surviving in the House of Ryzen?”

“Well do you expect me to just stay still?” I bit my lower lip and glared at him. Sylvester burst into laughter again.

“Anyway, I’ll provide you with a good lawyer and, yeah, you’ll be able to get out of this situation with just a fine.”

I was relieved, however I realised one thing—”Has there ever been an aristocrat that was fined?”

“No, nobles put honor first, but I don’t know how to cover this up, so you’ll be the first eve. Congratulations.”

That did not sound good. “The first-ever noblewoman to be fined—Ophelia Ryzen!”, that title would destroy my entire plan. I was supposed to be fixing my reputation! Instead of a villainess, I need to advertise myself as a decent woman. I had to get Callian to drop the charges somehow.

“Honey, I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Why do you have so many requests today? Rejected.”

“Oh, are you really going to be like this?!” I glared at Sylvester, out of breath due to anger. Sylvester had on a very strange expression, but I was too busy being angry to think anything of it.

“Come on, we need to write a letter.”

“What letter?”

“A letter to the Crown Prince,” I took a sip of water and spoke with determination, “Let’s go see him now.”

******

This time I was able to have an audience with Callian immediately. The letter with the seal of the Ryzen family must have worked. This was much better than having to wait outside the door quietly, only to have a servant—who was, fortunately, dealt with by Sylvester—tell me ‘Get lost’ in the end. If I were still the old Ophelia, you’d have been dead already.

I looked at him with my hand on the back of my neck and he backed away with a pitiful look on his face. I snorted and turned my head, slowly observing the room. Usually, reception rooms are decorated extravagantly with flags decorating the entrance, but this room was the opposite. It was rather simple with only a sofa and a tea table in the middle surrounded by nothing. This must have been caused by the heroine, Fleur. She was a frugal woman who avoided luxury and did not live excessively. The interior design must have been according to her will too.

‘It’s a bit ugly.’ I smiled and touched the cheap table next to me. By then, I knew Fleur was a bad person, so I stopped agreeing with all her actions. ‘Maybe she’s even pretending to be frugal.’ Only then can she differentiate herself from others. ‘Or maybe I’m just being mean?’

If anyone saw how different she was from the original story, however, they would have thought the same! I really believed in the original, so her attitude shocked me the most. How could she have been such an unpleasant person? I’m going to hate you now.

‘Of course, I won’t harass you.’ I refrained from following in the footsteps of the original Ophelia, which means I was going to avoid Fleur as much as I could.

“His Highness is entering,” said the servants. I uncrossed my legs and straightened my back as I looked at the door that opened slowly. Callian entered wearing a pure white uniform embroidered with gold threads, complementing his brilliant, blinding platinum blond hair.

I hate to admit it, but Callian was very handsome, however…

“Damn it, I have to see that ugly face again.”

He was such a spoiled brat. I managed to control my expression and smiled at Callian, “Long time no see, Your Highness.”

“It’s been a long time, anyways, just tell me what you want to say and get out of here. If you ask me to drop the charges, then I reject.”

“Oh my—” I gently shook the fan and covered my mouth. If I didn’t do this, I knew they would be able to see my lips shaking. “What should I do? I’m here to tell you that, after all.”

“Then the answer is no. I have absolutely no intention of dropping the charges.”

‘You don’t have to emphasize it that much.’ I took a deep breath, reminded again of how much Callian hated me, “Even when I gave you the letter from Her Majesty The Empress?”

Callian’s eyes narrowed, “I’ve tried looking into the route in which the letter has been passed around.”

“So?”

“How did you find it?” He seemed very curious.

You wouldn’t have been able to find it even if you tried your hardest. It was a letter that the Former Empress hid as a joke, and I only found it because I read the book. You may have thought I stole it from somewhere, but I didn’t! Of course, it’s true that I robbed the painting.

“You really think I would tell you?” I smiled and shook the fan gently.

“There’s one more, actually.”

“What?” Callian leapt to his feet. He glared down at me, but I wasn’t scared at all. I am a Duchess, so it wouldn’t be easy for him to do anything and my guess was right. Callian slowly sat back down onto the sofa, catching his breath.

“Did you bring it?” He spoke in a calmer voice. I shook my head.

“If you drop the charges, I’ll hand them over to you.”

Callian opened his mouth, then shut it, dumbfounded. This expression, however, slowly turned into doubt, “How can I trust you?”

“What?”

“What can I trust in you to drop the charges? The letter might not even be real.”

He was right. It would have been different if I actually brought a letter, but I didn’t have it yet. It was still stored somewhere in a big house. It was natural that he would have doubted me. Besides, I was at the top of his list of people not to trust. “I know, you can’t trust me,” I answered clearly, “So I guess you just won’t get the letter” But right now, I have the upper hand. I was the one who knew where the letter was. “I’ll just keep it. Well, it’s useless for me to keep, but I can’t help it since you don’t want to drop the charges.”

“Ophelia Ryzen.”

“Yes?”

Callian clenched his jaw tightly. I laughed and shook the fan again. “Here’s the deal,” he said with heavy reluctance, “I’ll change it to a prohibition.”

“A prohibition?”

“I’ll drop the charges on the condition that you don’t step out of the house for a month. That’s it.”

“Oh…” I twisted up the corners of my mouth, “And you want the letter?”

Callian nodded his head. I became more embarrassed and let out a false laugh. “This is basically thievery, is it not?”

“What did you say?”

“No, I didn’t mean it, I just cursed.”

Callian’s eyes narrowed. He took a deep breath as if to hold back his anger, “This is the only condition. I can’t make any more concessions.” He continued,  “You don’t want to be judged by the law, so why don’t you just give in?”

This was also true, but I had my own reasons. “Yeah, well,” I shrugged my shoulders, “Instead, you should just lift my prohibition.”

“And why would I do that?”

“It would be a great shame in high society if a noble was known to have been punished.”

“Since when have you cared about shame?”

Sylvester said the same thing. These two and their lack of manners…

“From now on.”

Callian stared at me, his lids half-open. Then he clicked his tongue with a look of helplessness. “Fine, I understand. I’ll do that.”

“Thank you.” I decided to pick on the Crown Prince a little, “Then you won’t get a letter until a month later.”

“What?”

“I can’t go out of the house for a month, remember?” I once again lifted myself up with a smile. Callian looked as if he had been punched in the face and I felt fresh. On the other hand, however, I was worried since I had to seduce Callian. If I left things as it was, his hostility towards me would just deepen, so I turned my head and looked at the Crown Prince.

I opened my lips.