Do Your Best and Regret

Chapter 9

The carriage set off. When I saw the man sitting across from me, my anger cooled and reality came flooding back. I was riding in a carriage with a man I barely knew. It wasn't like me to act impulsively like this, but that man was equally strange.

When a woman he didn't know very well asked him to go to the imperial palace, he quickly brought a carriage.

Nevertheless, I felt strangely reassured when I was with that man. Maybe it was because of his thoughtful actions. Because he lent me his robe when he left the coffee house. No one would have known that I was Princess Madeleine.

I played with his black robe that covered my knees. Bouquets and cards filled my mind again. Gifts pretending to be Leopold. So many flowers and gifts that they fill my room.

Who dares? With what intention? Could they have impersonated the Crown Prince? Who dares? Did they look down on Madeleine and me?

"Take it."

"Yes?"

While I was blinking, the man held out a purple velvet box. I, who had picked up the box in confusion, paused for a moment.

"Where did it come from?"

"Yes, in this carriage?"

"What is this?"

"You'll find out when you open it, right?"

The man smiled mischievously and walked away. I opened the box as the conversation seemed like a play on words.

What's in the box,

"Gloves?"

I muttered. It was a unique and pretty design that I saw for the first time. The tightly woven lace sparkled whenever it caught the light.

Suddenly, the man cleared his throat, I, who had been looking at the gloves, looked at the man, who narrowed one of his eyes endearingly at me.

"At this rate, you won't just listen to what I said last time, right? I have everything that is truly valuable, so just tell me."

Could it be a gift? As I laughed and tried to put on the gloves, his eyes caught sight of the fingernail marks on the backs of my hands. Did he really see this?

I quickly put on the gloves. I was worried about the size, but my hand fit inside the glove. It's like he got it right.

As I lifted my hand and looked at the glove, I saw a man behind my fingers. The moment our eyes met, I felt something strange about him and brought my fingers together.

I couldn't see the man, but I could still feel his gaze.

Before we knew it, the carriage had entered the single road leading to the imperial palace. I spoke in a low voice after seeing strong castle walls and armed guards of the Imperial Knights instead of gorgeous streets.

"Please drop me off in front, a little far from the door."

"As you said."

The man relayed Olivia's words to the small window connected to the coach seat. The carriage headed to a place a little away from the imperial castle gate.

The carriage, which had been slowly slowing down, stopped. The distance to the castle gate was neither too close nor too far to walk. Without asking, the man pulled the hat of his robe all the way over. Since his face was not visible, the man appeared to be a family knight. The man got out of the carriage first. And he held out his hand towards me as if to escort me.

Feeling awkward being escorted by him, I looked at his large hands for a moment and then lightly raised them. The man's hand, which touched the thin layer of lace gloves, was much harder, larger, and warmer than I thought.