Be Fascinated - Chapter 13

Paula worked in the mansion that the Crown Prince secretly owned yet did not visit. From some point on, she was the one who started managing this mansion with several maids. Naturally, they were given a ‘secret overtime pay’. In simpler terms, this money was meant for them to keep this all a secret.

There was once a time when one of the employees had revealed the location of this mansion, and they all saw that person’s tongue being cut off.

Other than keeping this a secret, the work was worthwhile. There were separate workers who cleaned, and it was Paula’s job to decorate a room.

That room was a woman’s room. Paula guessed that the Crown Prince secretly had a mistress.

And this assumption was correct. She was a small, slender woman brought into the mansion. Paula saw for the first time how the Crown Prince, who never once had shown any humanity, disguised himself as such.

That terrifying man approached the woman, the pressuring atmosphere around him tempered in such a way that she wouldn’t be frightened. It looked so unnatural, as though he was a wild beast shuddering.

Paula looked at Philia, whom she had come to serve. She thought Philia was a noble, yet she was easygoing. So she thought Philia might be a commoner instead, but she was too accustomed to being served.

At this, Paula was kind to that self-serving person, but didn’t want to be too attached.

Paula didn’t feel bad about it. What she felt was pity for this woman. She was imprisoned in this mansion, and she accepted his desires to the extent that it put her body under too much strain.

Paula had served several women before. Aristocratic, fancy mistresses. But in Philia’s case…

‘A timid mistress.’

It’s about to that extent. She was the type of person who refused those around her because she did not believe in the good fortune that would come to her. This kind of person, if she properly tasted wealth, would become what Paula thought of as a ‘glamorous mistress’.

But Philia showed no signs of that at all. She just pursed her lips and immersed herself in her own thoughts.

Philia was not uneasy about the fact that the Crown Prince, who practically lived at this mansion, loved her to such an extent that he was sticking to this place instead of the Imperial Palace. It just made her depressed.

Paula didn’t mind though. It’s okay for the little girl to be a little sassy and arrogant, so she just wanted her to feel a little more comfortable here.

If he even bought a mansion, decorated the rooms, and brought her home, the Prince’s obsession didn’t seem like an ordinary obsession.

Paula knew that this Lady was truly good, kind, and never irritable. She was always obedient, never caused any accidents…

This was what she thought, at least. But this Lady caused the worst accident.

When the Crown Prince returned to the Imperial Palace, and while Paula was out to buy some daily necessities, Philia ran away.

* * * 

It was surprisingly easy for her to get out of this mansion because there weren’t as many people as she thought. If she was holding Claude back, then she had no choice but to leave because she was affecting him negatively.

She didn’t bring anything with her when she left. She hoped that Claude wouldn’t think she did this for any other reason, but Philia walked away. The outside world was scary, but that didn’t mean that she should just rely on Claude.

If she depended on Claude’s favor and lust, she would have been at ease right now. But at the end of it all, Philia knew that she’d be the one to be left and hurt in this relationship with no future.

‘I have to stop here.’

If Philia had been moderately satisfied with her position as a mistress, she would have been very comfortable. But Philia wanted something different. Philia was well aware of her greed.

It was wrong for her to try to lean on. Philia’s eyes had sunk into the gloom, but she looked up once more with determination this time.

In the future, she would find her own way to live in the capital. She wasn’t sure how she’d do it, but it could work. For a moment, Claude’s words came to mind that there would be many people just like Logan outside, but she shook her head.

What did she like? What was she good at? Philia pondered, but she couldn’t come up with any answers. All she knew well were prayers and verses from the scripture because she memorized them relentlessly.

The capital was also very large, yet she had no choice but to walk rather than ride a carriage. She could feel people staring at her, but she thought they weren’t looking at her.

Her eyes tinged with delight as she saw a familiar place. This was where she and Claude came to visit. She could find a job here.

“Hello.”

“Oh, my Miss! Long time no see!”

The owner of the clothing store approached her with a wide smile. Philia smiled awkwardly at that gentle attitude.

“What are you doing? To try out new clothes?”

“What? No, that’s…”

“Yes?”

“Well, I’m here to find a job.”

When Philia spoke, she gave the clerk a puzzled look. But she soon schooled her features and smiled.

“Then, please wait here.”

“Pardon?”

“Look at the clothes you haven’t seen before, and please wait here. I shall discuss with the staff about what to do.”

“Really?”

So easy? Philia opened her eyes wide. The clerk nodded her head with a friendly expression.

“Thank you!”

“Go ahead and browse our clothes.”

The clerk smiled. Philia nodded her head. She looked around the clothes in the spacious store again with a peace of mind. Even though only a few days had passed, the clothes were all replaced with different clothes.

What would she do? If she was going to live alone in the future, where would she sleep? Once she knew what she’s going to do now, she’d need to ask that too.

It wouldn’t be bad to see colorful clothes every day. In comparison, the temple always seemed to have no color. If she worked here surrounded by colorful things every day, she would definitely enjoy it.

As she looked at the dresses in a happy mood with her mind free, she thought about the future. It would surely be difficult, but she knew that it would be something that would give her a sense of pride that she had done something for herself.

As she went inside, she saw workers’ space appeared. Her hands were tingling as she touched the colorful dress.

“Ouch!”

She was surprised. The dresses were all unstitched and fixed with pins.

Drops of blood leaked from her fingers, but she merely shook the pain off and went further inside.

They made clothes here.

Clothes hung behind the desks. Philia let out a sigh without knowing it. Unknowingly, she put her hand on the neatly hanging clothes.

“Oh.”

Philia remembered that she had just injured her finger. She shouldn’t get red blood on the fabric… But when she looked at her finger, she was left puzzled.

The wound caused by the pin was gone, and the blood had long since disappeared. She brushed this aside once more, thinking that she might have seen it wrong due to the dim lighting.

Looking at the hanging clothes, she smiled brightly. She touched them very carefully, lest they would wrinkle. The corridor she walked through was full of hanging clothes on both sides, and it was too narrow for her to pass through, so she had to push them aside, as if they were curtains.

She came back and looked at the fabrics. She thought that she should study more about them.

She was very fortunate to have met a good person. Philia thought about her bleak future.

Then again, it seemed like a lot of time had passed. Philia thought she should at least be waiting outside. The space where long and thick fabrics were hung made her a bit claustrophobic.

As she slowly walked through the fabrics, Philia frowned at the silhouette. It looked like someone was there too. Philia’s expression hardened as she hurried her steps and gently removed the clothes.

Her heart was pounding like crazy. She stepped back again. The cloth fell above her eyes. But as if to ridicule how thinly she was protected, the cloth hanging in front of her was removed roughly.

“…Your Highness.”

Philia’s face turned pale. As Philia stepped back from him, Claude raised his hand to grab her arm. All the clothes hanging fell to the ground from the impact.

“Here, how…”

“If you want to go shopping for clothes, you should have told me…”

Claude took a step forward, trampling over the beautiful fabrics that Philia could not even touch because they were too pretty for Philia to see.

Since Claude found her, Philia thought that she could just explain. She wanted to apologize for not telling him about this, but she didn’t want to be indebted to him.

But Claude found her too quickly and did not hide his overbearing aura. He was furious, and Philia was terrified.

Ah, somehow the staff said she would graciously give her a job. It seemed that from the start, she planned to tell Claude.

“Come here.”

Claude smiled brightly. Philia shook her head, but Claude came closer to her. Goosebumps rose all over her body.

“I… Mmhh!”

Before she could even speak, Claude kissed her. She leaned back and tried to escape, but Claude wrapped his arm around her waist and held the back of her head. She couldn’t move at all.

“Mmhph… Uph!”

She didn’t want to open her mouth, but Claude bit her lips, and her lips opened spontaneously because of the sting. His tongue came in softly. Slowly and densely, he broke into her.

Her lips were moistened in no time. The kiss, which she thought would be short, seemed to be never ending. Their bodies were so close together, and inevitably, she felt a hard mass of flesh between Claude’s legs.

“Ummhh, heup, huhk!”

It was hard for her to breathe. Philia’s feeble resistance was of no avail. When she took a step back, he continued to push into her and follow her. Eventually, she leaned against the wall and accepted his kisses.

“Would you like to change clothes here?”

Philia shook her head. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“Or do you want to do it here?”

“I, I don’t want it. Please.”

Claude looked like he was seriously considering to do it here. It was terrifying to even think about it. Seeing that he was shaking, Claude smiled.

“Let’s go back home.”

“…….”

“Huh?”

He had a friendly tone as usual, but Philia couldn’t resist. If she ran away from here, she didn’t know what to do.

Philia looked around. This place was a mess, as if laughing at the new start she had dreamed of.

Home.

Claude called that place ‘home’. Philia never chose that place as her home.