Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Real Heroine
“It is my honour to greet Your Highness, the Grand Duke of Stein and First Prince of the Sada Empire,” Lillia said, curtseying deeply. “And the honourable Lady Alicia Vermillion.”
Each word was like a stab in my heart.
Something was wrong.
In the book, Lillia’s debut had been at the autumn ball, not the spring hunt. This was five months too early for her to appear.
What was she doing here? What was going on?
Although… was this a good thing? After all, in the book, Kalon fell in love with Lillia the moment he first saw her. I’d been counting on having to wait six months until that happened, but if that was happening now after only a month…
Was this my way out of this engagement? It would be for the best, because God only knew my heart was thumping for Kalon far more frequently than it had any right to.
If the fate of Alicia Vermillion was to fall for Kalon, then getting out before that truly happened to me was a good thing.
But Kalon… Our relationship was vastly different to the one in the book. It wasn’t a cold or bitter arrangement, but rather one of warmth and banter and even attraction on both our parts. Would that affect his feelings for her?
I peered over at him. He was eyeing Lillia closely, but I couldn’t tell if the shadow in his gaze was one of suspicion or interest. If it were the former, what did that mean?
After all, Lillia’s soul was from my world, and she also believed this world was from a book.
Wait.
Her soul was from my world.
She knew this story.
How could I have forgotten that? That meant she already had a preconceived idea of who Lady Alicia was—and that she’d have no idea I wasn’t the person she thought I was.
Did that mean we could be friends? Could we bond over having left our past lives behind?
Thump. Thump. Thump.
No.
Something told me that was a bad idea—that I shouldn’t let her know that my soul wasn’t of this world. That was something I had to keep a secret from her as long as I possibly could.
“Welcome, Lady Lillia,” Kalon said smoothly. “I hope you’ve found everything to your liking so far.”
“Yes, thanks to the kindness of Baroness Kilgard and the Imperial Family, I’ve found my debut to be quite enjoyable so far.” Lillia blushed.
How irritating.
All he did was greet you, you blushing harlot.
Oh, my gosh. She was the original heroine meeting one of her romantic interests. She was supposed to be blushing right now! Her blushing was a good thing for my plan of escape.
So why did I want to shove her face down into an ice bucket to make her stop?
Was I… jealous?
I was. I was jealous. It was like there was a little cartoon Allie in my head waving her fists and screaming, ‘How dare you blush at my man?! I’ll cut off your head!’
Oh, boy.
This was an uncomfortable development.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Kalon said, handing off his empty glass to a servant. “Will you be attending any other events?”
“Yes, Your Highness. I will be attending the hunt tomorrow, the closing banquet, and I’ve been invited to Lady Rietta Green’s tea party.”
“It sounds like you’ll be very busy.” Kalon plucked my half-finished glass from my hand and deposited it on the same tray as he had his, then rested his hand over mine on his arm.
“Please excuse us, Baroness Kilgard, Lady Lillia. We’ve had a long journey from Stein, and my fiancée doesn’t appear to be feeling too well. ”
I blinked up at him. “No, I—”
“We should get you some air,” he said, gazing down at me warmly.
“Yes, I think you’re right.” I looked at Lillia. “I do apologise for not greeting you properly, but I am feeling quite faint.”
She smiled, but there was a hint of bitterness to it. “Of course, I understand. I’m sure there will be other opportunities for us to speak, Lady Alicia.”
Maybe I really was exhausted because that sounded more like a threat than anything else.
“We will take our leave, then.” Kalon swept me away before another word could be said, and he bustled me through the busy crowd until we reached the terrace.
The cool air washed over me, and I drew in a deep breath of the fresh air to steady myself.
“Get a chair,” Kalon said, poking his head through the doors. “Are you all right, Allie?”
I nodded, gripping onto the balcony. “Yes, I’ll be all right shortly. It’s quite warm in there, that’s all.”
He made a noise that was somewhere between a scoff and a grunt. It was fine. I didn’t expect him to believe me. I didn’t need him to believe me. I was just grateful for a reasonable excuse of our travelling to get me out of this situation.
The servant he’d asked for a chair a moment ago returned with one.
Kalon took it before sending him on his way and practically shoving me down onto the chair.
He reached up and undid the clasps holding his cape in place, then bent down and wrapped it around my shoulders, securing the rope around my neck.
“Really, I’m fine. You don’t need to fuss.”
“Just say ‘thank you’ like a normal person,” he retorted firmly. “You’re clearly not all right. Have you met that woman before? Lady Lillia?”
I gazed out at the gardens. “No. If I had, I doubt the baroness would have introduced us so formally.”
“Really? Because you were perfectly fine until you saw her, then you went as white as a sheet.”
Great.
So much for keeping my composure.
“I thought she was someone else at first,” I lied. “I had a troubling incident as a child with someone who looked like her, but thankfully it wasn’t the same person. The memory made me pause for a moment, that’s all.”
“Why do I get the feeling you’re lying to me?”
“I won’t pin you down and force you to believe me, Kalon.” I clenched my fists in my skirt, thankful for his cape hiding the movement. “Unlike the girl in my past, she seems nice, doesn’t she?”
He didn’t answer.
I looked at him, only to see him staring intently at me. “What?”
“She reminds me of every other young lady who debuts and seeks to gain the attention of young men higher in stature than themselves,” he said, leaning against the ornate stone balustrade and folding his arms across his chest. “I can’t say she strikes me as particularly special.”
No way. “You don’t think so? She’s quite beautiful.”
“Young, attractive blonde ladies are relatively common in that ballroom.”
Hmph. Where did he get off calling other women attractive?
“She doesn’t… I don’t know. She felt quite different to everyone else, don’t you think?”
“Perhaps it’s because you were thrown off by your past experience with someone similar to her,” he said darkly. “But no. In fact, she was rather rude by greeting me first.”
I wrinkled up my nose. “Not really. Etiquette states you greet the higher-ranked person first, and that’s you.”
“Unless when introductions are being made or the lower-ranked individual is leading the conversation as you were. Baroness Kilgard specifically introduced your name first, so it would have been proper for Lady Lillia to greet you before me.” He tilted his head to the side.
“By not doing so, she made her intentions clear.”
“What intentions?”
“Allie, I’m not a fool. Just because I didn’t care for any of the marriage proposals that I received doesn’t mean I’m unable to recognise when a woman is interested in me.”
Right.
Of course.
“You noticed it, too?” My words came out far grumpier than I wanted them to.
“Oh, dear.” The corners of his mouth curled up. “Is my Allie jealous?”
My Allie.
My Allie.
My Allie.
My stupid heart pounded against my ribs as those two words echoed in my mind. “Don’t flatter yourself so.”
Kalon walked across the terrace, then gripped the balustrade behind my chair and bent down until his face was directly in front of mine. “You can admit it, you know.”
“I’m not jealous,” I said hotly, feeling warmth rise in my cheeks.
“You asked a lot of questions about her for someone who isn’t jealous. What I think of her shouldn’t matter unless you care, isn’t that right?”
“I was merely making conversation.”
“Then should I go back in there and speak to her some more? Perhaps she’d blush at me again if I asked her to dance.”
Oh.
That was how he wanted to play it.
“If that’s what you want to do, then you’re free to do as you wish,” I replied, jerking my face away so I didn’t have to look into his stupid eyes anymore. “I shan’t stop you.”
“Very well. I’ll do that, then.”
Fine.
Go.
Big fat stupid head.
Kalon hesitated for a moment before straightening up and stepping back. His steps towards the door were slow, almost as if he was expecting me to tell him not to do it, but I kept my gaze trained firmly in the opposite direction.
This was fine.
This was okay.
This was what I wanted after all, right? I wanted him to fall for her so I could break free of this engagement and go and live a long, happy life that didn’t include any death flags for me.
Being involved with this love triangle would only bring me heartache.
There was something about the way Lillia had looked at me that drilled that home for me. She’d smiled, but it was devoid of all warmth, and there’d been a spark of dislike in her gaze that had seemed too deep for it to be just based on a fictional knowledge.
So, Kalon could just go, and—
No.
He couldn’t.
I didn’t want her to have him.
She didn’t deserve him. Maybe I didn’t either, and maybe if I got to my feet right now and tried to stop him, I would regret it later.
But I’d also regret letting him go to her right now.
I jumped to my feet and rushed across the terrace, yanking open the door, only to run right into the same richly adorned jacket that’d been in my face just a moment ago.
“Took you long enough,” he murmured, wrapping one arm around my waist and lifting me off my feet to take me back outside. He reached behind him and closed the doors again, then swept my chair over to them to block the door handles. “Going somewhere, darling?”