Chapter 11
Logan glared at Benjamin with sharp eyes. They had grown up together like friends since childhood, and they could roughly tell each other’s mood just by looking. As he straightened the loosened front of his clothes, Logan said,
“You look like you have something to say.”
Benjamin tactfully looked away. On his way back to the office, he had run into Anne again. Seeing her gloomy face, as if she had been thoroughly mistreated by the prince, didn’t sit well with him.
“It just feels like… you’re being a bit too harsh.”
“Me?”
Logan asked back, as if dumbfounded. Benjamin nodded solemnly.
A fierce glare shot straight into the center of his forehead. Benjamin was inwardly frightened, but he bravely continued.
“It’s true that Miss Avery injured Your Highness, but… that was a long time ago, wasn’t it?”
He wasn’t taking Logan’s injury lightly. Benjamin had stayed by his side throughout the long period of recovery, both physically and mentally.
Even so, he couldn’t help feeling sorry when he saw Anne Agnes. She was the precious daughter of House Avery, yet whenever she stood before the prince, she shrank like a criminal.
“Well, I mean… you did lose a dragon ba, no, dragon egg, so I understand you were upset…”
Logan clenched his fist tightly. More humiliating than the fact that he only had one t******e left, more humiliating than the fact that nearly everyone in the palace knew it, was that very word. Dragon egg. It sounded like people were mocking him.
And every time Benjamin McLean said it wrong, his embarrassment doubled. He couldn’t exactly correct him and insist he say ‘dragon egg’ properly.
Benjamin realized he had touched Logan’s sore spot. But the damage was already done. With his spirit completely deflated, he carefully brought up his main point.
“But you’re going to get married anyway. So maybe you could treat her a little more kindly…”
Bang! Logan slammed his fist onto the desk. Benjamin quickly took a step back.
“Yessir, I’ll be quiet.”
Logan roughly ran a hand through his hair. An engagement he had never wanted. And his fiancée was none other than the woman who had inflicted a serious injury on him. But there was an even greater reason he wanted to avoid marriage.
Logan quietly looked down at his lower body. Many people knew about his injury, but there was one secret only he knew. The damage Anne Agnes Avery had left him with in the past was still ongoing even now.
If Anne Agnes found out about this, what would she say? Would she say that since she had committed the wrongdoing, it was only right for her to bear the consequences? Then he wouldn’t need to feel guilty. But whenever Logan imagined that moment, he felt like he wanted to hang himself on the spot.
Even now, the day Anne Agnes would come of age was drawing closer by the moment. He wanted to run away before that day came. Logan collapsed over his desk and held his head.
* * *
On the day of Anne Agnes’s birthday, the Avery mansion had been busy since morning. The party would be held in the afternoon, but preparations were already in full swing in the garden. Anne, the guest of honor, was busier than ever.
Wearing a light green dress, she stepped out from behind the screen. Catherine, who had been waiting, clapped her hands and exclaimed when she saw her daughter.
“You’re so beautiful, Annie.”
Anne twisted shyly. She had lived with this face for over ten years now, so it finally felt like her own. But even to her own eyes, she still looked pretty. New face, completely satisfied!
Catherine, who had been smiling brightly, suddenly grew teary.
“M-Mother?”
Anne panicked, not knowing what to do. She hurriedly looked around, then handed over the nightgown she had taken off. Catherine dabbed at the tears with the hem.
“To see you safely reach adulthood like this…”
Overwhelmed with emotion, Catherine couldn’t continue. Seeing her mother like that, Anne’s eyes also grew moist. She hadn’t even done a good job living as Anne Agnes, yet the Duke and Duchess of Avery had loved and protected her without change. The only reason someone as inexperienced as her had managed to survive here was entirely because of them.
“Thank you for raising me, Mother.”
The words carried many meanings, but they didn’t sound strange. As expected, Catherine looked touched and opened her arms wide. Anne stepped into her embrace without hesitation.
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