The Villainess With White Roses

Chapter 10 - Streesed, Dressed and Maybe Obsessed

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THIRD PERSON

Andrelise sits at her desk, papers scattered around her like fallen leaves.

She bites her lip in concentration, furrowing her brow as she stares at the blank page in front of her.

"Charlotte, can you pass me more paper?" she asks, glancing sideways at her maid, who stands nearby, worry etched on her face.

Charlotte hesitates before responding. Her eyes flicker over Andrelise, noting her Lady's tense posture and the slight wince every time she shifts. Earlier, when she helped Andrelise get dressed, she had seen the fresh welts across her back, red and raw. The sight of those marks made her heart clench, but Andrelise hadn't mentioned it, brushing it off with an almost eerie calmness.

"Of course, My Lady," Charlotte says softly, handing over the paper. She watches Andrelise's face, waiting for any sign of vulnerability, but Andrelise's expression remains focused, almost detached.

As Andrelise furiously scrawls across the page, she couldn't help but grumble under her breath.

How utterly infuriating. She thought.

She'd put her entire strategy on the line with that letter days ago—pouring over each word, carefully balancing formality and intrigue. She was certain it would have drawn his attention, if he had read it.

Her quill paused mid-sentence as another wave of anxiety washed over her.

What if he hadn't even seen it? What if it had gotten lost among piles of everyday correspondence or, worse, tossed aside by an oblivious servant?

The image sent a chill down her spine, and she scratched out a line in agitation.

I'll just have to send another one. She thought

Though it felt like admitting defeat. The Grand Duke, difficult to approach as he was, left her few options, and she couldn't afford to waste what little opportunity she had to get him to be her ally.

This time, she'd be more direct—leave him no choice but to respond, to acknowledge her but the only problem is she feels writing this second letter will make her seem desperate.

And she truly is.

"Are you alright, My Lady?" Charlotte asks softly, concern etched across her features.

Andrelise manages a smile, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Just stressed, that's all, This letter isn't coming together as I hoped it would. I need it to be perfect"

"My lady, I'm sure anything you write WILL be perfect. " Charlotte glanced at it curiously.

"Unfortunately, it's for the Grand Duke. Charlotte, so I can't just write 'anything'," Andrelise grumbles a response.

"Wait, what?" Charlotte's eyes widen in surprise. "The Grand Duke? Since when do you correspond with him?"

Andrelise recalls that she had asked a regular maid to deliver her letter to the Grand Duke through the courtier the other day, which explains why Charlotte is completely unaware of the entire situation or the first letter meant for him.

She now wonders if the maid even actually delivered the letter to the courtier.

"It's not like that, I just met him at the Grand Codex when I fell from a ladder." Andrelise responds, sounding nonchalant.

"Oh my goodness, that's so romantic!" Charlotte squeals, her eyes sparkling with delight. "You fell, and he caught you like a knight in shining Armor! It sounds just like something out of a romance novel."