After leaving the Princess’s private box, Adelina couldn’t shake the odd feeling she had.
Princess Dorothy hadn’t asked anything beyond the incident where she was attacked.
And it didn’t even feel like she was interested in the political implications of a noble being assaulted. It was more like… she just thought it was a fun story.
Even more strangely, her concern didn’t seem to be about Adelina at all—but about… Felyn?
That was too weird.
Why would the Princess care about Felyn? The two of them shouldn’t have any connection whatsoever.
Don’t tell me…?
Adelina shook her head. No, that’s ridiculous.
This was the princess of the empire. And here she was, thinking about love and possible love triangles.
But it’s not my fault! Felyn really is surrounded by a bunch of beautiful girls!
Now she was paranoid—any pretty girl she saw made her wonder: Does she like Felyn too?
As she walked down the hallway, lost in thought, she bumped right into someone.
“Ow…”
Adelina blinked in surprise and saw a girl with short, black-and-red hair sitting on the ground, both hands clutching her knee, her body trembling slightly from pain.
The girl had her head lowered, and her hair covered most of her face. From Adelina’s angle, she could only see the tightly-bitten lower lip and trembling eyelashes. The girl let out a few soft sniffles, trying to hold back the urge to cry out loud.
“I’m so sorry! Are you hurt?”
Adelina crouched down in a hurry, inspecting the girl’s legs for any injuries.
“I was lost in thought while walking. I’m so, so sorry!”
But no matter how she looked, Adelina couldn’t find any visible wound.
Her legs were flawless—painfully so.
“Let me apply a Healing Seal just in case.”
Bernice secretly glanced at Adelina—this noble heiress of the Claude family—kneeling on the floor to carefully wipe dust off her knees, showing no hint of the usual highborn pride.
Felyn, you bastard. You’ve corrupted too many good girls. You really are the Demon King, aren’t you?
“I’m sorry, miss. I was just spacing out and didn’t notice you. Are you hurting anywhere else?”
Adelina gently helped her to her feet, holding the girl’s cheek with one hand as she checked for signs of pain.
Her champagne-colored satin dress had been dirtied by the floor, but Adelina didn’t seem to care at all.
As she studied the girl’s face more closely, her memory began to stir.
“Miss… Have we met somewhere before?” Adelina asked, frowning slightly.
“I… I don’t think so? I live in the Mist District, so I doubt we’d have crossed paths.”
The Mist District wasn’t quite a slum, but it was far removed from the wealthy part of the capital.
“Mist District? Isn’t that where Felyn lives?”
The moment his home came to mind, Adelina's memories began to click into place.
“You’re… Miss Bernice, right?”
Thanks to her remarkable memory, even though she had only met Bernice once at Felyn’s home, she remembered her name.
“I’m Adelina. We met… back at Felyn’s place.”
Adelina tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, feeling a bit awkward.
That night really was… kind of embarrassing, Bernice thought to herself.
But I wouldn’t mind replaying the whole thing tonight.
Back at Felyn’s house in the Mist District, she had seen Daiyi watching with great amusement as Viloti and Adelina fought over Felyn. It looked like Daiyi had been enjoying the chaos.
Bernice didn’t care much for the concert anyway. It felt boring.
So instead of watching the performance, she thought it might be more fun to stir up some drama around Felyn.
And thus, she faked a fall… and “ran into” Adelina.
“I remember now! You’re Miss Adelina!”
Bernice quickly switched to her sweet and innocent expression, like she was just a normal girl here for the concert.
“Did you come alone?”
Adelina asked cautiously.
“No, I came with my lady and Mr. Felyn.”
Back then, Bernice had introduced herself to Adelina as Daiyi’s maid—and Daiyi had claimed to be one of Felyn’s distant relatives.
“Felyn’s here too?”
Adelina’s gray-blue eyes sparkled with surprise and excitement.
“Mhm. Miss Adelina, you seem… really happy.”
Bernice rubbed her knee while speaking.
“Wha—? No, not at all! I just thought it was a surprise, haha. It’s been a while since I saw him. Even though it was just a few days ago…”
Another lie.
She wanted to see him desperately, but with Bernice standing right in front of her, she couldn’t bring herself to admit it.
Would Felyn even want to see me?
If I’d known he’d be here, I would’ve done a better job on my makeup…
Why don’t they have instant makeup Seals? I swear the Church needs to invent one.
“Miss Adelina, would you mind helping me back to the box? I’m having a hard time walking…”
Bernice spoke with a troubled tone.
“Miss Bernice, should we get you checked out? Is it that bad?”
Adelina’s first instinct was to worry about Bernice’s condition—not the fact that this might give her a chance to visit Felyn’s box.
She can’t even walk without help?
“It’s fine, really. I just need to rest a bit. It’s an old issue,” Bernice said with a soft smile.
Adelina decided not to press further.
The two dazzling girls stood side by side, their beauty even more striking when together.
And now, these two beautiful young women were walking step by step… toward an unsuspecting Felyn, who was currently wolfing down his food.
After finishing her lap pillow experiment, Daiyi had greeted Felyn and left to join the Princess in the box next door.
The venue was reaching its peak. The crowd chanted Inelviny’s name in unison, eagerly awaiting her grand entrance.
Inside the grand private box, Felyn was completely alone.
“Phew…”
He set down the chicken leg he had thoroughly devoured and let out a content sigh.
Good food, a great seat to watch Zervanie’s concert, and a one-way mirror that ensures no one can see me unless I leave the box…
Not bad. Not bad at all.
Now he just had to think about how to deal with Daiyi’s father.
He rang a bell, and the attendants swiftly entered to clean up the room.
Just as Felyn was about to stretch out on the sofa for a nap, there was another knock at the door—the same one that had just been closed.
“Who is it?”
Felyn assumed it was one of the attendants and walked over to open it.
But when he opened the door, he was met with Bernice, wearing her usual soft, vulnerable expression.
And just as he was about to ask what was wrong, a cascade of rose-tea-colored hair brushed past his eyes.
“Adelina?” he said, stunned.
But only for a second.
His professional instincts kicked in immediately, and his expression shifted from shock to delight. His voice even lifted in pitch.
“Adelina! What are you doing here?!”
(End of Chapter)