This Villainess Wants a Divorce!

Chapter 9

Damn it.

Caesar quickened his steps. After a few seconds, he was running at top speed. He soon barged into the mercenary guild building.

“Miller!”

“Whoa. Is that you, Sean?”

Caesar was greeted by a man sitting by the entrance. “Sean” was Caesar’s alias.

“I need to find someone,” Caesar explained. “I lost her in the market. She’s a girl with pink hair and light green eyes. They’re unique traits, so she should be easy to f—”

“Mercenary jobs are requested over by that window.”

Caesar silently glowered at the man. In response, he burst into uneasy laughter.

“I’m kidding. Just kidding. You’re so scary I can’t even joke. Hey, anyone who’s not working, come over here. We need to find someone in the market.”

The mercenaries sitting around the table on the first floor sauntered over. They reeked of alcohol since they had apparently been day-drinking.

“What’s the problem?” asked one of the mercenaries. “Is it a job?”

“Oh, hey, Sean. Long time no see. Why haven’t you been around?”

A mercenary with a large frame put his hand on Caesar’s shoulder. Caesar pried it off and answered, “A girl I know got lost in the market.”

“Is she young? She can’t even find her own way home?”

“No... We’re the same age. I just don’t feel comfortable leaving her alone.”

The mercenary grinned when he saw Caesar avoid his gaze.

“You like this girl?”

“No!”

“They say passionate denials are the same thing as confirmation.”

“Wow, even twelve-year-olds date these days.”

The mercenaries guffawed as they exchanged jokes. Caesar’s problem was that it was not a joke to him.

“It’s not like that,” said Caesar. “The problem is she has some status, so if something bad happens to her, it’ll be terrible.”

“Is she some noble daughter?”

“Sort of... But anyway, I’m asking you. Don’t inquire about the details.”

The mercenaries exchanged looks. Their eyes were full of curiosity and amusement. “Our principle is no work with no reward, but I guess we’ll help out since it’s you. You’ve helped us many times.”

“Thanks.”

“So what did you say she’s like again?”

“She has pink hair and light green eyes. She’s wearing a white dress. She’s shorter than me, but she’s around my age. The last time I saw her was in front of the bakery.”

“Good. Let’s split up.”

The mercenaries scattered in different directions. Caesar headed toward his assigned area—the security base. There was a good chance she had sought out a security guard to request protection.

Caesar pretended to be a servant looking for a runaway noble daughter and listed her attributes. Yet, not only was no such girl under their protection, but no one had even sighted her. Learning this, Caesar’s mouth went dry. He asked them to please protect the pink-haired girl if they saw her and left in the opposite direction.

The security base had been the likeliest place to find her. The next likeliest place was around the area where he had lost her. He was skeptical that she would still be there like some duckling, but he wanted to make sure.

Caesar started to run.

* * *

The first rule of survival: stay where you are. If you wander and get swept into trouble, further disaster could occur.

I crouched by a fruit stand.

I don’t want to crouch so close to the dirt in a white dress, but I can’t help being tired. I preferred to be comfortable. It wasn’t like I did the laundry anyway.

I sat there a long time, until the fruit seller cleared his throat and eyed me. I reluctantly bought a red fruit—it looked like an apple but tasted more like a peach. Its taste was all that mattered anyway.

I chewed my fruit and looked up at the sky. The sun had already sunk far down because it was transitioning into winter. It would be dark soon.

I wondered whether I should head to the security guards. I had a noble demeanor, and my clothing was also quite elegant, so I doubted they would ignore me completely. Who knew what discipline they would face if they treated a noble daughter coldly.

Still, I decided to wait a bit longer. I knew Caesar would look for me. He had the kindness of a protagonist. The empress had made him wary, but he would never go back without me.

Oh, it’s cold.

I hugged my shivering arms. The imperial capital was relatively warm, but early winter was still winter. The thick cardigan wasn’t enough to block the cold wind. The temperature felt like it was dropping as the sun set. But I guess that’s obvious.

I’ll wait a little longer. Just a little longer. I’ll go find a security guard when the sun fully sets. I curled up on myself.

“Carnelia!”

Caesar appeared right as I was about to give up and find a guard. The sun was setting behind him, and the street was emptier now, with fewer people around. I waved at him. Because he was backlit, I couldn’t see the expression on his face.

He strode over to me. “You should have looked for a security guard! Why are you just sitting here? Don’t you know the palace would be in an uproar if something happened to you?”

“But I knew you would come find me.”

Caesar was silent.

“I didn’t want to miss each other by moving around.”

“What if I hadn’t looked for you?”

“Huh?”

My eyes widened in surprise. I had considered the possibility that he might not find me, but not that he might not look for me at all. Had I been too naive? Even if he had been nice to me, we were technically political enemies.

I decided to answer honestly. “You’re right. I didn’t think about that.”

Caesar, who had been about to say more, shut up when I said that. He stopped nagging and extended his hand toward me.

“Let’s go back. We don’t want it to get any later.”

“Okay.”

I smiled and took Caesar’s hand. A voice called out his name from far away.

“Sean!” Sean was Caesar’s alias outside the palace.

“Oh, Miller,” he responded amicably.

If I remembered correctly, Miller was one of the mercenaries he was friends with. I wasn’t completely sure because I couldn’t remember every side character’s name, but based on context clues, I appeared to be correct.

“You found her?” asked Miller.

“Yeah, just now.”

“Oh, you must be her.”

The person who called Caesar “Sean” was a very large man. He wore short sleeves despite the cold weather, and his arms were full of scars. This made me even more sure that he was a mercenary.

“Sorry, but I think I need to go back now. It’s late,” Caesar said to Miller. “Send the rest my regards.”

“All right then. I’ll tell the rest. Come around more often next time. Blair misses you.”

Miller walked away before I could even greet him. Caesar turned back toward me.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

I followed Caesar toward the sunset in the west. We held each other’s hands tightly. The sun was halfway down the horizon, but it still shone brilliantly.

I didn’t know at the time, but that day, I overcame one wall: one of the walls surrounding Caesar’s heart crumbled.

* * *

It’d been five years since I’d started living in the imperial palace, and I had completely adjusted to life as a princess.

I could dash around the palace on horseback now. The ladies-in-waiting tried to stop me, but it had always been a dream of mine to learn horseback riding, so of course I wouldn’t give up.

Learning to ride was the vain ambition of someone who’d been a mere commoner in her past life. All the second-generation heirs of rich families in dramas and movies had hobbies like horseback riding, and that has made me want to try my hand at a noble sport one day.

Frankly, one activity I was even more interested in than horseback riding was sailing in a yacht with a bunch of beautiful men. Unfortunately, yachts didn’t exist in this world, and if I were to be seen among a group of beautiful men, there would be a national uproar.

I’m not even joking. I would be cast out of the palace without a single penny while being called an immoral wench. Thus, I had no choice but to be satisfied with horseback riding.

There was a large pond (some called it a lake because it was so big) in the imperial palace. My favorite horse, Lucy, seemed tired. I led her in that direction. Lucy bowed her head to drink water as soon as we reached the banks of the pond.

I should let her rest. I jumped down from my saddle. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I heard horse hooves behind me.

“I can never beat you, Sister.”

There was only one person in this entire palace who called me “sister”: fifteen-year-old Noah. He had lost all his baby fat and was starting to look like a young man. He was still a cutie, though.

I looked back and replied, “This is my ninety-second win out of a hundred and seven.”

“Physical activity is not my forte,” Noah replied as he got down from his horse. His black horse drank water next to Lucy.

Unlike his older brother, Noah had no talent for physical activity. Instead, he had a good head.

“One more time?”

“I’m tired... Let me rest, Sister.”

Noah tottered over to the gazebo by the pond, and I followed him without another word.