Chapter 48 Selfish Curiosity
The carriage rattled, but the silence inside was heavy. Just the grinding of wooden wheels against the rocks outside. Ilse kept staring at Gisella. She couldn't hold it in anymore. That was... insane.
"What's wrong with you?" Ilse asked, impatient.
Gisella frowned, staring out the dark carriage window. "What do you mean?"
"That curtsey. That bow. You've never been that graceful, not even to Prince Didier, but for that jerk Julian Vance you...."
"Ilse," Gisella cut her off, tone calm. Too calm, it actually gave Ilse the creeps. "It was just manners. He helped us, he fed us. That potato... God, it tasted weird, but for some reason, I felt alive eating it. So yeah, I thanked him. That's all."
Gisella twirled the ring on her finger.
"Doesn't mean I like him," she added, her voice dropping lower. "I'm a future Empress. Didier can screw around with Lysandra all he wants, but my position is set. I have responsibilities."
Ilse stayed quiet, just listening.
"But..." Gisella looked down, biting her lower lip.
"The way he looked at me. That gaze... I can't shake it from my head. It's so weird, Ilse. People usually look at me with pity because of Didier, or hate because of my family. But him... he looked at me like I was just an object, but at the same time, like he hated that he even had to care about me.
"
Ilse stayed silent. A small, sly smirk crept onto her lips. Bingo.
Step one: branding, Ilse thought, satisfied. That jerk was inside Gisella's head now. She might not like him, but she couldn't stop thinking about him. And in this world, thinking about someone is where it all starts.
The carriage stopped. Ilse dropped Gisella off at her residence and continued the ride home.
Ilse got out, still lost in her own thoughts. She entered her room—luxurious, but it felt empty. She walked to her desk, went to dump her bag, but her eyes froze on one thing.
There was a letter there. Rough paper, no family crest, no wax seal. Blank. No name.
Ilse opened it.
Julian Vance's visit to the Northern Port: Three days from now. It was a note from Ben, her contact down at the harbor.
Ilse's heart hammered in her chest. Okay. Time to get Gisella ready.