Chapter – 10
“Two men?”
The words spoken by the old fortune teller that day were still vivid in her memory, slipping through those deeply wrinkled lips.
“Soon you will begin a new life. A powerful fate is waiting for you. You will fall into a very destined and passionate love. The man is tall and has black hair. His eyes areā¦ cough cough.”
On the day her parents died, when she was drowning in misery and grief with nowhere to lean, those words had sounded like nothing but nonsense.
After pressing a silver coin into the old woman’s hand, Karina returned home and fell asleep without even eating. She had given away the last money she had for bread.
But the next day, servants sent by Count and Countess Harrington from the capital came to her house.
They were refined and respectable people. After expressing their condolences about her parents, they asked if she would like to come live with them as their adopted daughter.
And just like that, Karina Drepein became Karina Drepein Harrington.
The baronial surname left by her parents remained only as her middle name.
She no longer had to worry about starving. The old mansion with the leaking roof that she couldn’t afford to repair was quickly forgotten.
Then, on the day she first entered the imperial palace to greet the Empress alongside Countess Harringtonā
She encountered her destiny.
“Strange. I don’t know your name.”
“Excuse me?”
“I cannot believe I would forget the name of someone this beautiful.”
Having grown up in the countryside surrounded only by rough men, Karina had never seen someone as beautiful and elegant as him.
It didn’t take long for Sabiel, who left such a powerful first impression on her, to take her heart as well.
And the fortune teller’s prophecy hadn’t ended there.
“A child born from love will come between you. A child who arrives before the people’s blessings. There is nothing to be ashamed of. That child will be born a boy, will command the world, and will rise to the most precious position.”
She would meet her destined partner.
They would have a child.
And that child would rise to the highest position.
Before meeting Sabiel, Karina had forgotten those words. But after he engraved himself into her heart, the old woman’s voice seemed to whisper constantly beside her ear.
At that moment, Sabiel gently tucked the hair by her ear behind it.
“Karina. Have you forgotten what I said yesterday?”
“What do you mean?”
“I was serious.”
When Karina looked as if she truly didn’t understand, Sabiel lowered his voice and whispered:
“If you call me Your Highness instead of my name today, I said I would punish you each time.”
“You really meant to punish me?”
Sabiel answered by roughly claiming her lips.
It was completely different from their first kiss yesterday.
“Mmā¦ haā¦”
When he finally released her chin, Karina stood there flushed and flustered.
“This was the kind of punishment I meant. Go onā¦ try again.”
The fortune teller’s words kept resurfacing.
“Follow what your heart tells you. Your fate will rush in without giving you time to hesitate. If you think too much, you may lose the future meant for you. Never weigh your options. You must follow what your heart desires to seize your destiny.”
Princes only existed in fairy tales.
But Sabiel was real.
The crown prince she could reach out and touch.
There was no way she could betray him.
Karina reached up and gently cupped Sabiel’s cheek with her pale hand. He looked slightly surprised by her boldness.
“Sabiel. I want to stay by your side.”
“Do you mean that?”
Karina nodded.
As Sabiel looked at her with desire in his eyes, she felt something boiling inside her.
“Your destiny stands at a crossroads. There are two men who will greatly influence your life. Both are of noble standing. If things do not go as you wish, be sure to look around you. You may be able to have everything you desire.”
Rona had said something similar today.
That there were two men who would influence her destiny.
If one was Sabiel, who was the other?
Should she really have met the person Rona suggested?
Just as she believed the fortune teller’s words, Rona’s warning also lingered in her mind.
Is this a good fortuneā¦ or a bad one?
Before meeting Sabiel, she might have been curious about two noble men.
But not now.
There’s no way I would look at anyone else.
Karina smiled sweetly at Sabiel, whose gaze seemed dripping with affection.
Sabiel slid his hand around her waist.
“Tonightā¦ I may not be able to send you back to the count’s residence.”
Her heart pounded.
Hadn’t the prophecy said the child would come first? That this was her destiny?
“Then don’t send me back.”
“I really do like you.”
Inside the swaying carriage, Karina closed her eyes in Sabiel’s embrace.
She had no intention of ever letting go of the destiny she had grasped.
*
Rona trudged along again today.
She thought things would be solved once she met Karina. But instead she was told she could never meet Ireon.
The disappointment was overwhelming.
She couldn’t go to Ireon like this, unable to hide her emotions. He wasn’t a fool. Just because he couldn’t see didn’t mean he couldn’t perceive things.
He would definitely ask what was wrong.
“Ireon is following the original storyā¦ so why did Karina meet Sabiel first?”
She had no idea where things went wrong.
In the original story, Karina met Ireon first, cured his eyes, fell in love with him, and only then met Sabiel.
Rona held her aching head.
“Karina asideā¦ what am I supposed to do about Ireon?”
That was the biggest problem.
Today was the ninth day.
The herb that could cure Ireon’s eyes would wither tomorrow.
“I don’t know anything about herbs.”
Even if she picked it, what then?
Cold water? Hot water?
Salt water? Sugar water?
Plain water?
Should she brew it like tea?
Boil it?
Steep it?
She regretted not learning cooking when her mother told her to. Not that it would necessarily help with medicinal herbs from another worldābut still.
Right now Rona was extremely anxious.
“If Karina isn’t hereā¦ what happens to Ireon’s future?”
Especially if Karina was now discussing marriage with the crown prince.
“Will he just live alone without loving anyone?”
In a romance fantasy world created by an authorā¦ would he end up without romance?
Perhaps because Ireon relied on her so much, Rona felt her heart soften.
More than her own sudden transmigration, she felt more sorry for Ireonāwho might live without ever regaining his sight or having Karina by his side.
Drip. Drop.
Rain began to fall.
“Nothing is going right today.”
Thankfully she was almost back at the Grand Duke’s residence.
Her coat was a thick winter one, completely out of season. At first the fabric repelled the rain, but soon it became soaked and began stealing her body heat.
“Brrā¦ it’s cold.”
After being drenched in spring rain, a chill ran down her spine.
Seeing the brightly lit mansion, she hurried forward.
I need to soak in a hot bath and drink some warm soup.
Just as she passed through the main gateā
“Ireon?”
He was standing in the middle of the garden between the gate and the entrance.
Rona froze in shock and hurried toward him.
“Why are you standing out here? Why aren’t you using an umbrella?”
He was completely drenched too.
Where was Bernard? He would never normally allow this.
Many questions ran through her mind.
Instead of answering, Ireon reached both hands forward.
His hands moved toward her chest, causing her to freeze in surpriseābut fortunately they only found the collar of her coat.
What is he doing?
Before she could react, he grabbed her coat lapels.
“Is this a winter coat?”
“What? Yes.”
He growled:
“Take it off. Right now.”
Before she could react, he pulled hard.
Pop. Snap.
With the strength of the empire’s greatest knight, the buttons flew off instantly.
Rona was dumbfounded.
She had been planning to take it off herself anyway.
If she had, the coat might have lasted much longer. Instead, it became rags in seconds.
“If you’re telling me to take it off, why are you ripping it?!”
She had carefully preserved it because buying clothes was expensive.
“Andā¦ ahāachoo!”
After a violent sneeze she forgot what she was about to say.
Hearing her cough, Ireon suddenly lifted her into his arms and walked inside.
“Ahā!”
He was tall, with long legs. As he strode forward, she bounced stiffly in his arms like a log.
When he headed straight to the second floor she was startled.
“Ireonā¦ did your eyesightāow.”
She bit her tongue mid-sentence and stayed quiet.
He put her down in the bathroom connected to his bedroom.
“Wash up.”
Click.
The door shut in her face.
Click.
Did he just lock it?
She tried the handle. It wouldn’t open.
She was stunned.
“I could have just used the third floor bathroom.”
Since there were no maids left, she had her own bathroom there.
Now she was locked inside the Grand Duke’s luxurious bath.
After hesitating, she began removing her remaining clothes.
“Oh, I just remembered what I was going to say.”
She had meant to say:
“And instead of doing this here, you should get inside quickly too. You’ll freeze.”
If he hadn’t delayed her, she would already be soaking in the bath.
“But seriouslyā¦ telling me to use his bath.”
He would need to wash too. Where did he go?
She remembered his rain-soaked clothes clinging tightly to his body. When he carried her she could even feel his washboard abs.
“Whatever.”
She slipped into the hot bath.
“Ahā¦ this feels amazing.”
The Grand Duke’s bath was enormous. Big enough for five or six children to play in.
She playfully splashed water with her footāthen remembered she would be the one cleaning it.
She quietly put her foot back.
“Hmmā¦”
Resting her head against the ergonomically curved bath edge, sleep quickly overtook her.
*
Ireon was reflecting on himself.
“If you’re telling me to take it off, why are you ripping it?”
She was right.
He hadn’t meant to destroy it.
But theory and reality were different.
When he realized she was wearing a soaked winter coat made of rough, cheap fabric, anger had surged unexpectedly.
There are plenty of better clothes.
Why was she wearing something like that?
Something welled up inside him.
Before he knew it, his hands moved.
“I’ll just apologize.”
And buy her new clothes as an apology. Two birds with one stone.
After justifying himself, Ireon finished washing and left Bernard’s room.
“Why are you bathing here?”
The displaced butler sounded incredulous, but Ireon ignored him and hurried away.
Until the butler mentioned there were no female employees to lend clothes, he hadn’t thought about the gender imbalance in the mansion.
But realizing Rona was surrounded by nothing but wolf-like men made him uneasy.
So he locked her in the safest place he knewāhis own bathroom.
“She can trust me.”
