CH 16

Clyde couldn’t resist and got up from his seat when she covered it with her body to hide the writing.

“What is it?”

“My acquaintance wants to see me for a moment. He’s nearby.”

“An acquaintance? Who is it?”

He asked with curiosity.

Edith was a little bothered. What kind of relationship do they have for him to dig up her private life? He said he wasn’t interested in her as the opposite sex.

The last time Edith asked if he liked her, he readily affirmed but said he wouldn’t ask her to be the Crown Princess. Then Edith felt something vague. What he felt was somewhere between personal feelings and feelings as a close attendant.

However, she had no plans to be tied to Clyde for a long time anyway, so it was better not to cross the line like now.

She didn’t show Adrian’s note in her hand and agonized over how to explain it to Clyde.

She hid her intentions to entice him to meet Adrian.

“A friend from the academy. May I come back after a while, Your Highness?”

She looked at Clyde’s reaction after a blunt remark.

“What’s his name?”

A calm question returned.

It was quite hopeful to ask only the visitor’s name.

They were both the original couple. After two years, they would develop a deep relationship anyway.

Even if Edith pulls back time to arrange a meeting, there is a high possibility that he would be attracted like in the novel as he was the main character. They could feel each other’s affinity through a chance meeting.

It was fortunate that Clyde was right next to her when the note was handed over. It wasn’t a bad situation in many ways.

There was a sign that the two would work out well.

Clyde urged Edith as she delayed answering and racked her brain.

“Why aren’t you answering? Surely he’s not a friend whose name can’t be revealed, right?”

Seeing that his fingers were impatient to snatch the memo, the anticipation for what he would do after a while grew.

Edith sulkily pouted her lower lip, folding a blank note and putting it into her arms.

“It’s Adrian Raymond from the Sky Ice Cliffs. His friend called him Adri.”

Clyde’s dark eyebrows rose sharply.

“Adri?”

“Then I’ll be out for a while.”

Edith looked at him and stood up quietly.

His expression wasn’t very bright. He didn’t seem to want to let Edith go. Hoping he wasn’t looking for a reason but merely interested in his attendant, she was aiming for the right time to talk.

Clyde’s eyes followed her persistently. The way he watched with his arms crossed was also unusual.

This seemed like a great opportunity to throw the bait.

She waved a coveted worm, which was the size of Clyde’s bite.

“Would Your Highness come with me? To get some fresh air outside and to greet Adrian.”

“Shall we?”

A quick answer came back. It was scary to recommend it, and the decision was made right away.

“Sir Raymond is only acquainted with you, so maybe I should take this opportunity to talk.”

“Is that so? I’m glad if I could help you.”

To Edith, who was smiling, he even made up one excuse and another.

“And if I work too much, it will harm my health. My doctor also recommends that I take frequent walks.”

A person who trains his physical strength as a hobby every morning and regularly goes out to the shooting range complained about a lack of exercise.

“That’s right. Health is the best.”

She happily agreed.

He went for an unplanned walk and told his subordinates to finish all the work afterward.

As she watched Clyde’s life for a few days, she felt that he was already playing the role of a monarch very well.

Even today, he has been busy dealing with national affairs since morning. Officials were in and out of the office several times to report various issues. He was never lazy, even if he sent back those who couldn’t even see the end of the waiting line to come tomorrow.

Even if he become an emperor in the future, she wouldn’t wish for anything more if she lived like this.

Edith left the palace and walked alongside Clyde on a neatly carved brick road, imagining a novel-like future.

After all, he didn’t have the temperament to become a tyrant at all. He was active in strengthening the standing army and was also very interested in guns.

He was extremely aggressive when dealing with a minister and a nobleman. It was said that he would punish those who went against his will mercilessly.

‘When Clyde gets older, he would be more temperamental and talk nonsense.’

She couldn’t imagine him becoming a wicked tyrant and shook her head. Instead, a tyrant who behaves in his own way suits him better.

A tyrant who defied public opinion and built up the military to attack neighboring countries. A tyrant who enacts an overly strict law and earns the people’s wrath.

‘Hmm, it goes well with Clyde. If I were the original author, I would tell the story as a warlike tyrant.’

Then there would be a riot. He would be the unlucky monarch who gets cut off by a guillotine.

Edith found the future she had predicted based on the present Crown Prince’s character quite convincing.

As she has been planning, she should retire promptly so that Clyde and she didn’t achieve the same goal. No matter how the main character survived, the supporting character was likely to die a terrible death in the middle of the story.

She added Adrian for Clyde to make a dramatic twist.

As the daydream unfolded up to that point, she was pleased inside.

“What are you thinking about that makes you laugh like that?”

Clyde’s black eyebrows turned to her as sharp as hawk wings.

She didn’t confess that the happy circuit was working to turn his tragic ending into a happy ending. If so, she would be a fool.

“It’s amazing to see Adri and Your Highness together.”

No attempt has been made to change the original yet. However, just this meeting alone was half the success.

Another plan could be devised after collecting evidence that the main characters’ first meeting point changed and might not necessarily be the same as the original.

Edith rarely appeared as Clyde’s henchman up until the latest chapter of the series, but given the work’s flow, it seemed that she would be consumed until death. Whether she died or survived to the end, it was unconditionally a worker’s life. That was so sad.

She would connect them together and flattering the two, then she would rip off the imperial management fund. After that, she would quit being a servant.

A brighter smile bloomed when she thought of her future where she would be free.

Clyde’s footsteps passed through the flower bed in spring and headed for the maze garden.

“Come to think of it, it’s my first time seeing Sir Raymond since I was greeted at the New Year’s celebration last year.”

“I don’t think Adri has many occasions to walk into the palace.”

Adrian was from an immigrant family and was alienated from the central power. Therefore, they didn’t dip their feet in politics for generations in the family but ran a business and had fun accumulated fortunes.

“Are you very close to him? The nickname sounds like you are familiar with him.”

She could never say she approached him because of him.

“We are not very close. That was what he often called in the academy.”

He picked on the fact that she called Adri, grumbled that it felt too close and that the full name was better.

The maze garden, which was densely built with emerald trees, was a representative pride and landmark of the palace. Trees trimmed in the shape of elongated candles grew to nearly five yards and pierced the sky. The gap between the trees was so narrow, so if you wanted to pass through the wall, you would have to be prepared to ruin your clothes.

Edith paused at the maze entrance, where the tree was trimmed like an arch.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Adri? If we go into the maze, we might not be able to meet.”

“Let me tell the servant to bring him to the South Point.”

After instructing the servant to guide Adrian, he went through the entrance first.

The maze garden was so large that it was easy to get lost. When there was an event and the place was opened, there were always people who were frustrated because they couldn’t escape. There were flags all over the maze in preparation for such an occasion.

There were also many shelters along the way. Clyde took Edith to a bench called the South Point.

“Wow, this is awesome.”

Clyde looked back with a calm face when Edith, who came for the first time, admired it.

“Well, I’m not sure. Because this has been my playground since I was a kid.”

“Then Your Highness will never get lost.”

A grin replaced the answer.

The area near the entrance was wide, and as soon as the corner was turned, the road narrowed rapidly.

Edith’s sleeve got caught in a branch.

“Ah.”

“Wait. It’s going to rip.”

He carefully grabbed her wrist and pulled out the tip of the twig from her sleeve.

“You shouldn’t walk away from it.”

The friendly touch didn’t leave Edith and protected her like a fence.

A gentle hand floated over her shoulder, then slowly lowered down as if asking for permission to touch it.

“You have to be this close.”

His broad arm was wrapped around her shoulders.

It felt broadly wrapped. It was like wearing a sturdy cloak.

The voice that came closer tickled her ears. Along with her eardrums, even her heart was tickled.

The man’s arm heavy weight seemed to give her a sense of stability, and her hair, which seemed to be buried by his seductive voice, shook faintly whenever his breath passed.

“You don’t have to be this close….”

They walked the same steps forward. When Edith stepped forward with her right foot, he stuck out his right shoe with a similar stride.

As soon as she turned the second corner, a sticking branch suddenly appeared.

Clyde was pulled and dragged her.

It has now become a fully embraced pose. His armpits clung to Edith’s helpless shoulders. The protruding and retracted curves were well matched.

“Look at this. We need to be closer.”

It was hot all the way to her back. Clyde’s large hands and muscular forearms seemed to bind her whole.

She tried to be calm, but she looked up at him in a daze. Her round eyes met Clyde’s elongated ones, and flares sparked in the air.

It seemed like a movie soundtrack would be playing from somewhere.

At the critical moments, the camera zooms in, then the male and female characters rub their lips passionately.

This atmosphere wasn’t right.

The lightning should flash with Adrian, why was this happening with her?

No. It might be an illusion. They only made eye contact.

For now, she tried to deal with it as if there had been no change in her emotions.

“The road is narrow.”

His fingers tightened against her shoulders. She felt the strength from the five fingers.

It was hot. His body temperature and his skin.

“It’s narrow to my liking.”

His slow steps suddenly stopped not far from the garden’s main gate. From the point where the maze began, it was only two corners.

Clyde folded his elbows. He turned her towards him.

Her gaze couldn’t be taken off as if bound by a strong chain. Her mouth also mouth froze. She tried to say anything to break the awkward atmosphere, but it didn’t work out the way she wanted.

The silhouette of a much larger man cast a shadow over her forehead.