Chapter 75
Clovis flung open the carriage door with an irritated mutter. “How dare you stop the Crown Prince’s carriage? Barely a marquis, and already you wish to be charged with treason and meet your end on the executioner’s block?”
Reynard, unfazed by Clovis’s icy warning, looked only at me. “Come.”
“Marquis Mason.”
“Adelina. Come.”
“Marquis Mason!” Clovis roared. Reynard reluctantly bowed toward Clovis and Hestia. “Forgive my rudeness, Your Highnesses. I have urgent matters to discuss with Adelina, and it has been difficult to see her, thanks to His Highness’s deep concern for my well-being.”
Ah, so Clovis had forbidden Reynard and Helion from entering the palace. He’s becoming quite skilled at sarcasm. I stepped down from the carriage and asked Reynard, “What did you want to talk about?”
“It’s not something I can discuss here.”
“Oh? Then don’t. Goodbye.”
“Adelina!” My ears rang. He had a voice to match his stature. “You… you! What were you thinking, sending me this?”
“Hmm?”
The object Reynard produced in his fury was the gift I’d won at the auction yesterday and sent to him. The glittering pendant was enchanted to display a three-dimensional image of a portrait—a holographic device, so to speak. It was a common gift among the wealthy, but it held a different meaning for Reynard and me. Unlike me, an orphan who never knew her parents’ faces, Reynard had lost his parents tragically.
He had a painful memory of having to sell a silver pendant they left him, just to survive. He’d sworn never to buy such a trinket again. I had comforted him, promising to gift him a pendant that could hold his parents’ portraits before I died. When I saw the pendant at the auction, I thought it would be the perfect final gift for him. Reynard, having seen me collapse unconscious, must have been shocked to receive it. So shocked that he lost his usual composure and couldn’t control his emotions, even in front of the Crown Prince and Princess.
“You don’t like it?” I feigned ignorance, though I fully understood his feelings. Reynard’s eyebrows twitched fiercely. “It’s not about whether I like it or not… Ha, forget it. I’m acting like a madman. How are you feeling?”
I shrugged and pointed to his hand. “You’re the one who’s injured, not me.” Reynard had scratched his finger while hastily pulling out the metal pendant; blood welled at the tip. Embarrassed, he fumbled in his pocket for a handkerchief.
“Wait!” A thought suddenly struck me. I quickly grabbed his hand and, without hesitation, put his finger in my mouth. The metallic tang of blood filled my senses, and everyone around us froze. Trying to ignore their wide-eyed stares, I thought, If what Lumiere said is true, that I can recover by consuming their blood without… intercourse… then perhaps I can find a way to survive without relying on that humiliating prophecy? Without becoming… wretched?
Pulling away from Reynard’s finger, I felt far more embarrassed than I’d anticipated. Hestia, who had gotten out of the carriage, stood behind me, her eyes wide with shock. Clovis was frozen, as if petrified. Reynard, his ears unusually flushed, and even the knights, stood speechless, staring at me.
“You…” Reynard touched his reddened ear and then gave a subtle, knowing smile. “Such a bold seduction in broad daylight… Are you telling me not to hold back?”
“S-seduction? You were injured right in front of me! It was a reflex!” Actually, I need to see if I can survive by drinking your blood!
“Even when you were young and soft, I’d tend to your wounds with bandages and salves, not… licks.”
“What am I, pudding? Soft? The bleeding’s stopped, so go!”
“There’s a limit to playing with someone’s heart, Adelina. This is too much.” Reynard, his usual playful demeanor restored, casually slid his arm around my waist. I dodged him like a slippery fish and bumped into something—or rather, someone. Looking up, I saw Clovis, his expression thunderous. He gritted his teeth, his displeasure evident. “Haven’t you gone too far since yesterday?”
“Excuse me?” What about yesterday? When I bit him? I am truly sorry about that.
“Have you decided to throw all caution to the wind?” His words were harsh, accusatory, yet his tone held a strange, pure resentment that, oddly, didn’t offend me. Clovis glared at me, blinking in apparent disbelief, then turned abruptly and walked away. “Yesterday, you had all those men practically swooning…” A shiver ran down my spine at the sound of his low, trailing murmur. So what exactly did I do last night when I was drunk?! I desperately suppressed the urge to collapse on the ground in shame.
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