The Lady Awaits a Broken Engagement

Chapter 8

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The blisters on Savina’s knees were painful to look at. It was all thanks to the boiling water that Melissa had brought for the lesson, since it had been going on for longer than usual. It was a good thing that it wouldn’t leave a scar on her body, since something like a scar would be one of the worst things that could happen to her as a young lady.

The thing about aristocrats was that they thought they had the right to hurt others by discovering their weaknesses—the cruel side of their assumed sophistication and elegance. However, Savina thought that getting a burn or two was nothing compared to dying. Of course, she felt pain from her injuries, but it wasn’t too difficult to endure it. After all, she knew exactly when this suffering would end… Dr. Eugenia would be coming back from her conference in less than four days.

This didn’t mean that she wouldn’t take this opportunity to use Melissa’s guilt to her own advantage, however. She leaned down and stared intently into Melissa’s eyes.

“Do you promise to be loyal to me from now on, then?” she asked.

Melissa gaped at her, clearly caught off guard by the unexpected question. “My lady?”

Savina continued patiently. “Will you prioritize my orders above all others, including ones from the duke or his father?”

At this, Melissa hesitated to give a response, which was along the lines of what Savina had expected from her. Although she had wanted to take advantage of the pity that she had seen in Melissa, Savina had no way of rewarding the maid for following her future orders.

Unexpectedly, Melissa stared back at her with determination. “I have a younger sibling back in my hometown who’s about your age,” she said. “I don’t mean any offense by this, but I would be miserable if she had to suffer the same fate as you.” There was a pause before she continued. “So… I’ll do as you said, my lady.”

A sly smile crept onto Savina’s face. Thank goodness that Benjamin gave me a maid who has such a soft spot for children!

“You dare to pity me? How insolent,” she said, raising an eyebrow at Melissa.

Despite her sharp words, she wasn’t actually angry at the maid. After all, she knew that she wasn’t in the position to act like some stuffy noble girl. Truthfully, she was just happy that she had someone who would be willing to follow her orders when the prince came to visit.

Poor Melissa merely blinked at Savina, who was now smiling. She was clearly wondering why the young girl was looking so upbeat after scolding the maid for her insolence. After a moment, Melissa managed to snap out of her confusion. Shaking her head to herself, she finished wrapping the bandages around Savina’s legs.

“I figured you’d be uncomfortable if the bandages were too tight, so I made sure they’re loose,” she said. “Just be careful when you’re walking around.”

Savina gave a curt nod. “Thanks. Also… I have a question for you.”

“Anything, my lady,” responded Melissa.

“Do you know which room the prince might be staying in?” Savina asked, trying her best to sound innocent. “I heard it would be the room at the end of the hallway on the second floor, but I don’t know which hallway.”

For a moment, Melissa hesitated. She probably knew that Savina had been forbidden from interacting with the prince. Fortunately, not even Melissa was dense enough to forget about a conversation from just a few seconds prior.

Perhaps recalling the promise she had made to Savina, Melissa soon responded, “That would be the hallway furthest from the annex, my lady. If you were to look at the manor while standing at the main gates, it’d be to your right.”

Savina nodded thoughtfully. “Good. That’s not too far from my current room.”

“My lady?”

Ignoring her, Savina continued, “That’s right below us, right? I’ll be right back. Wait here.” Saying this, she jumped up from the couch. Her burns still throbbed a bit, but she could walk perfectly fine.

Melissa looked surprised and conflicted, but she didn’t reach out to grab Savina.

Taking advantage of her hesitation, Savina walked out into the hallway. In the original novel, “Savina” was simply a side character who only appeared in flashbacks. Although her manner of death was discussed, it was never made clear exactly why she had died. This is why Savina couldn’t bring herself to be relieved, even after receiving Simon’s order to stay away from the prince.

The Charlot Manor was extremely spacious, to say the least, but she wasn’t too optimistic about avoiding the prince for half a year. The only way she’d be able to hide from the prince was if she figured out exactly where he would be in the manor.

For example… It'd be helpful to know how far the prince will be able to see from his bedroom window. Until now, there had been servants in every corner of the manor, making it impossible for her to go and investigate. Fortunately, there were fewer servants around her because of Lady Annabelle’s upcoming visit. If everybody at the manor was focused on something else, this was the perfect time for her to do her research.

Savina walked down the stairs to the second floor, feeling a bit nervous about running into Benjamin or Simon. Fortunately, she did not see either one of them. After creeping down the hallway, she managed to sneak into the prince’s future room without being spotted by any unwanted eyes. Hurriedly closing the door behind her, she sighed silently in relief, then raced to the window to glance outside.

Hmm… I think I might be pretty safe, actually. The annex wasn’t visible from this room, thankfully. Since the window was only on the second floor, she could only see a portion of the garden. It would be impossible to see the rest of the manor from here. Although it was quite a pleasant view, if somebody were to look out from this window, they probably wouldn’t be able to find or spy on someone.

Maybe it won’t be too hard to follow Simon’s orders and stay out of the prince’s sight. After all, she knew about her own future, which meant that she’d be able to exercise much more caution than the real “Savina” might.

“That way… I won’t die a terrible death,” she muttered to herself.

In the first draft of the novel, the empress had sent Ricardo to House Charlot to help him overcome his soft-hearted nature and become tougher. However, his entire personality changed thanks to the edits that she had suggested. Now, the story was that the empress was terrified by Ricardo, who had been cold-blooded and cruel from a young age. Too scared to care for his own son, the empress eventually decided to send him away to a place where she wouldn’t have to deal with him, which ended up being the Charlot Manor—where he would eventually murder “Savina.”

The worst part of this story was that “Savina’s” death would serve as a major turning point for Ricardo. According to the novel, the prince would be exiled to the battlefields on the outskirts of the empire after killing “Savina.” However, he would thrive there and accomplish great victories, later seizing more power as a result.

They said he turned fifteen this year, right? If she remembered correctly, the prince was supposed to be exiled around the age of fifteen… which meant that he would be at the manor for less than a year. Savina was confident that she knew this boy fairly well. It was likely that he’d end up injuring or killing somebody else, even if it wasn’t herself. She would simply have to wait until the empress ran out of patience and sent her son to the battlefields.

In a way, she was trying to create a victim of a horrible crime, which did leave a sour taste in her mouth. However, she wasn’t going to lie down and let the prince kill her.

Anyway… I guess I might still survive, after all. What a relief! Sighing, she turned away from the window to lean against the wall. The tension finally drained from her body, allowing her to take in the sight of the room. It was magnificent and elegant, befitting the prince of the empire.

With her lips agape in awe, Savina cast a quick glance around. The curtains were dark and impeccably arranged, and the wooden floor had been polished to perfection. The furniture had an antique, sophisticated design. In a way, it felt like the inevitable flow of time did not exist inside this room.

They must have put in an incredible amount of work polishing this room while maintaining the original atmosphere. This came as a surprise to her, since she had expected them to renovate it entirely. She cast another glance over the room. Every single thing had to be astoundingly expensive—even the smallest object held an air of classical elegance.

Maybe this is why they say, “Quality wood will never lose its shine over the years.” I mean, just look at these floors! Every single wooden panel of the flooring had been polished to perfection. If she hadn’t been informed in advance, she would never have been able to guess that this room had been unoccupied for a long time.

“Maybe this was Benjamin’s room before he became the duke,” muttered Savina before reaching out to run her hand over the desk that was placed directly in front of the window. It felt incredibly soft to the touch.

They must have maintained this room well despite being unoccupied. Whose beautiful room was this?

“Perhaps… it was my father’s room,” she whispered before taking a step backward, shocked by her own train of thought. She doubted that they had kept her father’s room in such fine condition for so many years. This room had likely belonged to Benjamin in his younger years, or maybe even Lady Sullivan, her married aunt.

Despite this, Savina couldn’t suppress her hope and excitement. She crouched and opened the bottom drawer of the desk as if searching for some kind of proof. Then she proceeded to kneel and check every single drawer and door that she could see, but they were all empty.

What did I even expect? She snorted at her own foolishness, beginning to rise from the floor. At that moment, something on the underside of the desktop caught her eye. Strangely enough, there was a very small gap there… which was interesting, considering that it was crafted from solid wood. Without hesitation, she crouched and crawled under the desk. When she knocked on the wood near the gap, the sound rang, letting her know that it was hollow inside.

Hmm… Let’s say that I’m sitting at the desk… Then I would have to pull it toward me. She firmly pressed her hands against the gap and pushed toward the direction of the chair. She heard a soft click, followed by the appearance of a hidden storage space. Excitedly, she reached out to grab its contents. She had expected some kind of important paperwork or a secret letter, but all she found was an old notebook with a leather cover. Frowning, she held it up to examine it.

“What is this? A journal?”

Before she had even figured out who it belonged to, she heard a loud commotion from outside the window. Perhaps it was a group of maids coming to look over this room after finishing up the preparations for Lady Annabelle. Whatever it was, she couldn’t afford to spend any more time here.

Now in a rush, Savina shut the hidden door and sprung to her feet, shoving the notebook in the back of her dress and then tightening the waist strap to fix it in place. After briefly placing her ear against the door to make sure that the hallway was empty, she raced out of the room.