In order to flee from the hellish Shevaria Ducal Household, Melissa Ernel von Shevaria enters the Imperial Palace and becomes the Emperor's Consort.
However, why was it that when she finally found her long-awaited freedom, things had gone wrong once...
I yelled those words in my thoughts while I took my time to walk toward the area where the birthday celebration held place.
"Are you okay? You look so tense though...", asked, Lucian.
"I-I'm fine.", I replied in a flustered manner.
As if I'm okay!
As far as everyone knows, I had a fever the day before yesterday. However, when I woke up yesterday morning, my fever miraculously vanished without a trace. Hence, the Duke drew back from his decision to suspend the celebration.
"Haaaaaaaah.....", I had a long sigh while I had a hopeless expression.
Without a doubt, 'those two' will be present at the party. Knowing that, I so wanted to run away right now as soon as possible.
There's no other option than running away before I arrive there!
"Just to let you know, father told me to keep an eye on you."
I flinched and stiffened up like a rock as soon as I heard Lucian's phrase. In addition, a sweat flowed down the side of my awkwardly smiling face. Thereafter, I slowly turned my head for a bit toward his direction.
"Come again?"
"In summary, he told me to prevent you from escaping."
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"Oh my. What are you talking about? It's not like I'd run away during an important event like this."
"I can tell that your lying right now so just give up."
"Tch.", I clicked my tongue as I shifted my gaze away from him.
The Duke has foreseen what I could possibly do. If I knew that this would happen from the start, I shouldn't have begged him to cancel the party and just ran off when no one was around before the time of the celebration, instead.
Ahh..... Please spare my poor little neck. I pleaded while I gazed at the sky as if I made a wish to the Lord of Heavens.
"Oh... I almost forgot.", Lucian abruptly said.
"What is it?"
"Happy Birthday, Melissa."
I unconsciously opened my mouth out of surprise for a second, after I heard his statement. Then, I smiled at him genuinely.
I couldn't bring myself to hesitate about this anymore. After all, the fact that unlike the Duke, he called me by my real name made me feel very thrilled. As such, I started to have more confidence of what I can do in this event, in many ways.
Before I knew it, the place where the party was held came to my view. There, the Duke stood head first among the crowd to wait for my arrival, at the nearest range from where I would enter. And when I have come to his side, Lucian has let go of my hand, as planned. Then, I heard my father whispering to me for a moment.
"Happy eighth birthday, Sherryl.", he uttered.
It was sort of disappointing that he didn't use my real name while he congratulated me. However, as I pretended that I never had such emotions with a fake smile, I let this pass since I didn't want to get stressed with something like that again, at a day like this. Furthermore, I've expected that this much would happen. And so, I murmured my response to him in a coltish manner.
"Too bad. Elder brother has went ahead of you, so now you only got the second place, father."
The Duke chuckled at my phrase before he could give me a reply.
"I see. That's too bad then.", he played along.
"G-good luck on your speech.", whispered, Lucian, as he amusingly acted like a tsundere again.
I smiled after his words reached my ears.
He's worrying too much. It's just a line or two.~
With that in mind, I shifted my gaze at the crowd. Both children nearby my age and their guardians were present. Their stares were locked on me whereas it oddly gave off a very familiar feeling. And not even a second passed until I realized the reason why I felt that way.
Haah....... The nostalgia...
I couldn't believe that I forgot about 'that' even for just a moment.
Those eyes were no different than the ones that looked at my direction with contempt and mockery at the noble society. I should've known this in advance since this celebration was an event that could be identical to a social gathering.
Every aristocratic family has known that the real young lady of Shevaria has passed away for a long time. And as for me, who was once a lower class citizen that then took Sherryl's spot, I became a hot topic among the nobles. Afterwards, before I could notice, I was rumored as-
'The Fake Lady of Shevaria.'
Their stares have been a threat to me back in the days. However in no time, I got used to it. To say it frankly, it was a very worthwhile experience since I received a merit just from that. And that merit was the ability to see through others' intentions just by looking at their eyes.
What I see from the crowd's gazes right now are the overwhelming expectation of something entertaining such as an utterly farcical failure; the discrimination toward a person of common birth; and lastly, innocence.
Not only the adults thought negatively of me in this platform, but some of the children as well. People with pure thoughts rarely existed among the aristocrats. And even though many act like one, that might actually be nothing else but a mask. That's why, one must be wise in his choices whenever he picks a foe or a friend.
Among nobles, being innocent can be equal to lowering your guard down, which instantly raises the possibility of one's ruin. Thus, almost ninety-five over a hundred percent of people in this society chose to wear a mask as they put their efforts into the enhancement of their fame, status, and wealth, while they strive to own a powerful backing at the same time. And I might be also a part of that ninety-five percent, for various reasons.
Though, this bothersome thing will be over once I run away from the mansion. I thought and took a deep breath.
"Through thick or thin, thank you for attending this celebration although everyone might've had a busy schedule.", I said, smiling.
Most of the guests looked surprised once my words reached their ears. I have guessed in advance that this would happen.
They must've not assumed that I, a lowly person of common birth, would start things off this way.
'Through thick or thin' is a kind of idiom that technically means 'In spite of all difficulty' if it were to be rephrased into a statement that is more understandable.
Based from their reactions, I believe they had guessed what I meant by what I just said.
What was I trying to say, you ask? The answer is simple.
I was implying that they forced themselves to be present at the event.
