Synopsis and Starting Chapter Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109 - A Distant Memory
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Chapter 126 - Epilogue
Chapter 127 - Extra 1
Chapter 128 - Extra 2
Chapter 129 - Extra 3
Chapter 130 - Extra 4
Chapter 131 - Extra 5
Chapter 132 - Extra 6
Chapter 133 - Extra 7
Chapter 134 - Extra 8
Chapter 135 - Extra 9
Chapter 136 - Extra 10
Chapter 137 - Extra 11
Chapter 137 - Extra 12
Categories Genre: All, Completed, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Shoujo Status: Completed ______
Total Chapters in book: 139
Estimated words: 266480 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1332(@200wpm)___ 1066(@250wpm)___ 888(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 266480 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1332(@200wpm)___ 1066(@250wpm)___ 888(@300wpm)
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LIST OF LAST 10 CHAPTERS:
Page No. 139 Page No. 138 Page No. 137 Page No. 136 Page No. 135 Page No. 134 Page No. 133 Page No. 132 Page No. 131 Page No. 130 Page No. 129 Chapter 24
2-8
It wasn’t real. She knew that.
Nicole had just been standing in front of her. As she felt that strong release of magical power, even the ungifted Camilla could understand it. She had used magic. And with that magic, Nicole was showing Camilla an illusion.
Yet, her heart still ached.
Yet, her feet were still frozen in place.
“…Camilla.”
It was Prince Julian’s voice.
“Camilla, I was wrong. Please forgive me.”
With Prince Julian’s voice, that figure of his drew ever closer to Camilla.
Camilla unintentionally pulled back. Her shoulders had stiffened up and her breath had become short. She had to calm down. Yet, even as she thought that, her mind began to cloud over.
She had always been watching Prince Julian from a distance. The opportunities she had just to talk to him were her joy. Whenever it seemed like he barely remembered Camilla, it had hurt. Yet despite that, she hadn’t given up, using all the power available to her to get near to him and eventually she was happy that he remembered her name.
Then, Liselotte appeared to oppose her and not long after that Prince Julian cast her aside. It had also been Prince Julian who had condemned her to marry Alois, the Lord Montchat.
He and I are the same age. You should have no complaints about his status either. If all you’re after is power, then that man should be more than enough for you.
Camilla despaired when he had told her that, his eyes cold as ice. That was the first time she had felt utterly hopeless. Her mind had completely frozen over back then and she couldn’t say a word.
Yet, still, Camila is…
“Camilla, you are the only one that I truly love, not Liselotte.”
“…Stop it!”
Camilla shouted, holding her head in her hands. After that deep icy cold that had stunned her, the blood rushing to her head gave her back some warmth.
It was thanks to Camilla’s pride that she managed to bring her feet forward and stare directly into his eyes. Even when he had ordered her to marry Alois, she had never turned her gaze away. But, she bit her lip.
“Don’t say anything more! Why are you doing this!?”
“Camilla.”
Prince Julian stepped forward again. Slowly, yet surely, he came closer, step by step.
As he did, he reached out to Camilla’s cheek. That thin, slightly bony hand. The hand that had never once touched Camilla, reached forward to stroke her cheek.
Just before it did, a strong hand pulled Camilla away. That hand was big and forceful looking, completely different to Prince Julian’s.
“-What are you doing!?”
The man’s voice was cold yet strong. A little while ago, she had heard that same man’s voice, but it had been weak and despondent. The man who that voice belonged to stood right behind Camilla. His body was huge. As he took a step forward as if to shield Camilla, the ground shook under his feet.
– Lord Alois.
Had he just come across this situation after waking up from his stupour in the courtyard? Or perhaps, did he sense some sort of magic abnormality and race towards it? She could see the sweat rolling down the nape of his neck into his collar underneath his tied back hair.
After protecting Camilla behind his back, Alois traced a sign in the air with his finger. His fingertip was charged with slight magical energy. In the air, letters appeared where his finger had moved.
Camilla recognized the movement of his fingertip. It was a spell called Dispel – Sorcery that undid all manner of curses and magic.
As soon as his finger stopped moving, that magical wind pressure returned for just an instant.
And, when the wind died away, Prince Julian had disappeared, leaving only Nicole in his wake.
“Why on earth have you done such a thing, Nicole!?”
“I-I’m sorry! I-I just wanted to help the Mistress somehow!”
“That was NOT for you to do!”
Nicole trembled as Alois bellowed. As Alois glared in sheer anger, that depressed appearance from before was blown away. Looking down on Nicole, he was every bit her Lord and a Duke.
“In the first place, this isn’t the kind of thing you would come up with! Who told you to do this!? Answer me at once!”
“I… I did-…”
Nicole grasped the front of her skirt with bare white knuckles as she quivered. Her red eyes looked at a loss. She opened her mouth to say something more, but no words came out.
Then, she shook her head timidly.
“I did it, it was all my… idea. Please punish me how you see fit. It was my fault alone.”
It was far from Nicole’s usual lively and spirited way of talking. Her voice was almost mechanical, not betraying any emotion.
○
Nicole was told to return to her room for the time being.
Standing back outside in the courtyard where the residue of magical energy could still be felt in the air, Camilla was left alone with Alois.
The sky was a clear blue, but the wind was blustering. The wind numbed Camilla’s cheeks, but also managed to cool down the emotions swirling around in her chest.
“I’m sorry.”
When Alois looked at Camilla, he said that in a low voice.
“It was my fault that you had to experience something like that. I won’t ever let anything like that happen again.”
“No.”
Camilla answered him bluntly, shaking her head.
“I am alright. I… This is not enough to hurt me.”
She won’t say that she’s distraught, or that her heart felt like it had been broken a second time. She won’t say that she’s hurt.
– But.
It has been more than a month since Prince Julian exiled her from the capital. She had gone through regret and anger, then as she plotted her revenge, she thought that she had changed.
“I am not hurt… But…”
But, when the figure of the Prince stood in front of her, Camilla could barely say a word. She was shaken to her core as countless memories flooded through her. Her body had turned to ice and blood had rushed to her head.
That’s how it was.
“But… I am sorry as well.”
Alois didn’t seem to understand. Just why was Camilla apologizing to him?
As she looked at Alois’ sobering face, Camilla felt slightly awkward.
– Just one dish. How pathetic. You’ve got no willpower. How can you be a duke like this?
When Alois had fallen into a slump after Nicole’s act, Camilla had thought some truly awful things about him. She had even said some of them out loud. The truth was, he really hadn’t been acting like a duke.
But, duke aside, he was also a human being. He still had a heart. Camilla was the same. She should have realized that.
“Even if you say that you do not mind, there are things that I should absolutely never do… I was being insensitive.”
“……Ahh.”
As he looked at Camilla acting unusually modest, Alois nodded. He understood what Camilla meant now. He scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed.
“I never expected to hear something like that from you… Ah, no, I’m sorry. It was just a little unexpected…”
He smiled wryly as he stopped himself, realizing he was on the verge of being rude himself. As he stayed silent, Camilla could see her reflection in his red eyes that shone an even more vivid shade of red than the Prince’s.
But, when those eyes narrowed as if to laugh, there was just a hint of bitterness that muddied them.
“You really do still love Prince Julian, don’t you?”
That was probably the bluntest and most honest thing that Alois had said since they met.
Total Chapters in book: 139
Estimated words: 266480 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1332(@200wpm)___ 1066(@250wpm)___ 888(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 266480 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1332(@200wpm)___ 1066(@250wpm)___ 888(@300wpm)
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