Tell Me To Regret, Don’t Tempt Me - Chapter 24
Chapter 24
“Whoa!”
“Oh dear. It’s dirty. If your mother saw this, you would’ve been grounded for at least a week. Disgusting… Don’t you know that you’re supposed to keep your mouth shut when you eat, and that you’re supposed to swallow your food before you talk?’
Rosie clicked her tongue as she looked at the crumbs on the floor.
Reina’s eyes blazed as she looked at Rosie. Vivian cringed at the heat in Reina’s eyes, which seemed hotter than her red hair, but Rosie didn’t seem to mind and continued to berate her.
“Could you lend me a tissue?”
Reina clenched her fist and moved her jaw forcefully to start chewing the cookies that Rosie had shoved into her mouth. After chewing for a while, Reina opened her mouth.
“Didn’t I tell you not to speak to me?”
“Did you?”
Rosie dug her little finger into her ear and sat back down next to Vivian.
“Say hello. Reina. This is my friend, Vivian Dinever.”
All eyes in the playroom turned to Vivian. The most surprised was Reina, with cookie crumbs all around her mouth.
“Vivian Dinever?”
“Yes. This is the only daughter of the Duke of Dinever, who will become the fiancée of His Highness, the Crown Prince Luideus.”
With emphasis on the word ‘fiancée,’ Rosie smiled brightly at Reina. There was a moment of silence in the playroom. Vivian felt hot stares all over her body, as if sweat was dripping down her back.
“I want some fresh air….”
Awkwardly smiling, Vivian stood up from her seat.
“Oh? Then, so do I!”
Rosie also stood up and followed Vivian towards the door.
“Wait!”
Just as Vivian was about to grab the finely crafted handle of the door, Reina’s voice stopped her.
“Are you really, Vivian Dinever?”
Vivian sighed softly to no one in particular and turned to face Reina.
“Yes, Lady Reina.”
“Really, you’re really…….”
Reina trailed off as she rudely scanned Vivian up and down. Then Rosie, who was beside her, muttered,
“She can’t even speak properly.”
And clicked her tongue.
“Do you have something to say to me?”
Vivian asked, and Reina’s expression stiffened. fter staring at her, Reina opened her mouth.
“Really, are you two getting engaged?”
Reina’s respectful question drew gasps from the younger girls beside her.
“I’m afraid that’s not an answer I can give here and now. I’m sorry, Lady Reina.”
Avoiding Reina’s gaze, Vivian wanted to escape. Since realizing her crush, she hadn’t even met Louis yet, and she didn’t want to engage in such conversations with others.
Seeing Vivian trying to run away without saying anything, Reina took a step forward. Two steps, then three, until she was within a reasonable distance of Vivian and stopped.
“His Highness, the Crown Prince Luideus, and my brother Arnold are inseparable friends.”
Vivian quietly realized as Reina approached her that Reina’s voice lowered a notch when she started using formal language.
“His Highness visited our house a while ago. And he…”
Reina’s face began to blush. In an instant, she turned into a shy girl and glanced at Vivian before speaking.
“I was reading a book inside the house that day.”
At that moment, somewhere, there was a snicker, but Reina continued speaking, seemingly unaware.
“The butler knocked urgently, and when I asked what was wrong, well, His Highness apparently wanted to see me.”
Vivian’s eyebrows twitched at Reina’s words.
“Hurriedly, I went, and His Highness asked me if I thought he was handsome.”
“What…?”
“Exactly! To me! Why would he come all the way to the mansion to ask me that, Lady Vivian?”
Vivian blinked slowly, her eyes beautiful, as she looked at Reina’s questioning gaze.
She was beautiful.
With her red hair, slightly prominent nose, and eyes a shade darker than Vivian’s, she resembled a haughty cat. Reina’s small, pretty features harmonized perfectly, making her face truly beautiful.
As Vivian admired her beautiful face, she parted her lips.
“You have chocolate cream on your face.”
“What?”
Vivian left the playroom, leaving Reina to stare at the unexpected answer.
“Viv! Let’s go together!”
Vivian felt Rosie following from behind but didn’t want to slow down her pace. She wanted to get out into the garden, but she didn’t know where to go, but she didn’t want to stop.
“Viv!”
Rosie grabbed Vivian.
“Ha. Ha. Where do you want to go? Huff…”
Breathing heavily, Rosie asked.
“To the garden…”
“Phew… I came here last year for the first time, so… Let’s go over there.”
Finally calming her ragged breathing, Rosie led the way.
“She’s a bit of an arsehole.”
Rosie said as she walked ahead.
“That’s why I declared to cut ties with her Luckily, after breaking off ties and going down to the estate with my parents, I didn’t see her for a while…”
Rosie, who had been poking her head out of doors here and there, trying to find her way to the garden, suddenly stopped.
“Don’t pay too much attention. You can’t believe a word that stupid kid says. Uh! There!”
Rosie pointed somewhere. It was the path leading to the garden closest to the banquet hall.
“The Dovelia Palace is unnecessarily vast. Let’s go, Viv!”
Rosie grabbed Vivian’s hand. They walked out into the garden, and their jaws dropped at the sight.
“It’s winter, isn’t it?”
Sure enough, it was the day of the winter banquet, and Vivian and Rosie had come out wearing thick coats due to the cold weather before leaving the mansion.
But now, the garden where Vivian and Rosie had set foot was a colorful paradise of flowers.
“It’s warm here!”
Rosie touched the petals to confirm if it was an artificial flower, and realized that despite being outdoors, no breath was coming out of her mouth.
“There, there’s a spirit stone, Rosie.”
Vivian pointed, and there it was, a red geode, glowing from a pillar, one of many such pillars dotted around the garden.
“This garden is made with geode to regulate the temperature and allow flowers to bloom throughout the seasons.”
Vivian and Rosie turned around at the sudden voice. There stood Louis.
“I greet His Imperial Highness.”
After Rosie’s greeting, Vivian, who had been staring blankly at Louis, also bowed.
“Where were you? I’ve been looking for you for a while.”
Louis stepped closer to Vivian. Rosie took a step back and began to watch them curiously.
“I was with a friend.”
Vivian’s words caused Louis to notice Rosie a few feet away, and he began to stare down at her.
“I-I’m… I’m so thirsty. Haha. Viv! I’ll go get some water real quick.”
After greeting the prince, Rosie hurriedly left the garden.
“You have a shrewd friend.”
Louis smiled with satisfaction. Passing by Vivian, he moved his steps deeper into the garden.
“What are you doing? Come along.”
Louis gestured to Vivian, who was standing there like a fool.
“Why there…?”
“Because we can’t talk about Zero here.”
Vivian nodded and started walking after Louis. As they walked a short distance apart, Vivian sneaked a glance behind his back.
The crown prince was definitely taller than his peers. He was mature and intelligent. He’d gone to his friend’s house, called Reina over, and asked her if she thought he was handsome.
Vivian felt very insignificant when she heard that. And Louis, who made her feel that way, started to seem annoying to her.
Whether he knew that or not, Louis only moved forward with long strides.
“This should be far enough.”
Louis looked around and nodded, stopping there.
“I went to see Aitor yesterday.”
As Louis spoke, Vivian nodded, looking at a small grass flower struggling to grow amidst the dense grass.
“What about mine?”
A calloused hand covered the blossom. Louis held his own hand out closer, more in Vivian’s face.
“Where’s mine?”
Unable to make out what he was saying, Vivian looked up at him. The bright sunlight was hitting his face, making it glow.
“What? Are you serious? It’s really none?”
“What are you talking about?”
Louis’s eyebrows narrowed.
“My scarf? You gave one to Zero and one to Aitor, but not to me?”
He seemed to have seen the scarves Vivian had given to Zero and Aitor as gifts.
“Your Highness, you have plenty of scarves. There are scarves made of lamb’s wool, as well as ones made from expensive fabrics from other kingdoms, even if they’re not hand-knitted.”
Upon Vivian’s words, Louis relaxed his grip on her arm. The arm he had extended to Vivian moved feebly.
“This is discrimination.”
“I don’t understand such difficult words.”
Vivian jerked her head in the opposite direction of Louis.
“Is that how someone who will become my fiancée should act?”
At Louis’s words, Vivian quickly looked at him.
“When did I say I would get engaged?”
“What? You still haven’t decided? Is this really something to agonize over?”
Louis, unable to understand why Vivian was hesitating, rubbed his bulging forehead.
“Perhaps it’s because of the reason you told me then?”
Louis plucked a red rose from the nearby rose vine. It seemed to be a hybrid, as there were no thorns, and when he snapped the stem, two petals fell as if it had almost reached the end of its lifespan.
“You said you didn’t like me because I was ugly.”
Vivian’s eyebrows shot up at Louis’s words.
When had I said such a thing or called him ugly with a face like that?
“When did I ever say such a thing…”
Just as she was about to argue that she had never said such a thing, the reception room of the Duke of the capital’s mansion came to mind.
“You’re ugly. I don’t like you because you’re ugly.”
I don’t like you. I don’t like you. Like you. Like you.
A fragment of memory resurfaced, and the echoing voice in her ears was undoubtedly her own.
“T-That’s…”
“Yeah. I may not be your type. But you and I aren’t in positions to marry based on looks, are we?”
She tried to explain why she said that back then. But words got stuck in her throat.
‘Vivian. I promise you this. I will be the best husband you could ever hope for, if you will become engaged to me and marry me.”
Louis’s golden eyes were resolute without any wavering.
“…What does the best husband mean?”
“I won’t have a concubine. Naturally, I won’t have a mistress either.”
Ten-year-old Vivian couldn’t fully understand what a concubine or a mistress meant, but she knew that many emperors had had many consorts and mistresses.
“I intend to fulfill my husband’s duties to you to the best of my ability.”
Louis said confidently.