I Don’t Want A Prince In My Life - Chapter 7. Clown

“I don’t know. I don’t know why I did it.”

Albert said bitterly.

“As soon as I saw Angelica, she was all I could think about. I was willing to give anything to win her affection. I hated the men who surrounded her. I would not hesitate to kill a man if she asked me to.”

Albert’s voice, which had been high-pitched since he was little, was now low as if it had come from the depths of hell.

His feelings for Angelica were so passionate that I was horrified to hear about them again.

But I knew that he was telling the truth.

One year ago, Angelica’s influence on the people around her was making them more and more crazier.

In fact, there were frequent duels between men over her.

Percival had laws against dueling, but they were a product of the old days when dueling was popular and had become a thing of the past.

Who was the first to dig it back up?

There were many who challenged the beautiful men who surrounded Angelica to a duel for the right to stand by her side. Albert, Lionel and other noblemen were, by then, Angelica’s closest allies, and I think they were willing to accept any duel that was challenged to them.

No one was ever judged by a duel because it was impossible to charge the Prince with a crime.

Sometimes, the challenger was killed, and if the deceased was a nobleman, his family would naturally hold a grudge against Lionel and his friends.

Given Lionel’s future succession to the throne, I repeatedly told them that disagreement with the nobility would bring no benefit, but no one would listen.

On the contrary, the Court was drunk with blood, and the fashion for duels increased.

I couldn’t help wondering how people could be like that.

I tried so hard to speak out, but no one would listen to me.

My advice to Lionel was that he should take her as his mistress if he truly wanted Angelica, but I was rejected and ridiculed as the words of a lowly woman obsessed with power.

I have been humiliated to the ends of the earth, and I had to leave that country.

As I listened to Albert’s voice, it brought back memories of the past, which I did not want to remember.

And then it hit me.

Perhaps, Albert’s reason for returning home was probably—

“At Angelica’s request, I killed a noble son from Percival in a duel. That’s why I was brought back to this country. Some time after returning home, I felt as if I had regained consciousness, and the horror of what I had done sank in. I visited the family of the challenger to apologize, but the house had long since been demolished due to Angelica’s displeasure. It was only then that I learned about Angelica’s true self.”

It was as if the poison from Albert’s mouth was wafting through the air.

I felt so sick that I almost collapsed on the spot.

I wanted to cover my ears and shut my eyes to hear nothing more.

I didn’t want to remember anything, not Angelica’s voice, not her sweet, honeyed way of speaking.

But Albert’s story inevitably reminded me of that half sister.

“Prince Albert sought the bereaved family for redemption, but no matter how much he searched, he could not find them. It was strange because he was a well-known nobleman who has served Percival for a long time. At that time, I heard a rumor from a book dealer about a young woman who translates brilliantly with a wealth of knowledge. The literacy rate in our country is not that high. I ordered the merchant to protect the translator, saying that if she was a woman and learned enough to translate, she would have been a noblewoman. That’s because I thought it might be someone in the bereaved family. But actually…”  Serge said.

Beyond that, I understood without being told further.

In other words, when he was looking for the bereaved family of the person he killed, he ran into me by accident.

It was by Albert’s hands that I was hired by the store owner from the very beginning.

I felt so miserable. I thought I was hired because my hard work had been recognized.

“So what do you want me to do?”

They were already convinced that I was Cecilia.

And for the moment, I knew that I would not be condemned as I had feared.

But I still didn’t know what the real reason was for Albert to call me here.

It was no longer my business to talk about the missing nobleman or Albert’s torment over killing people.

Albert looked up and stared straight at me.

Although his eyes were just a little different in color, they were completely distinct from mine.

“Cecilia, no matter how much I apologize, I know it’s not enough. We were friends. I did not try to help you in your time of need. I deeply regret that…”

“Shut up!”

My mind went blank, and I shouted out in a voice that surprised even myself.

“Please don’t apologize. If you apologize, I will have to forgive you. But it is impossible for me to forgive. You don’t know what it’s like to starve on weeds, or to be at the mercy of a lowly man. Do you expect me to forgive you for the humiliation of kneeling in such a beautiful place? I can’t do it. I don’t want anything to do with that country, or with you, ever again. If I am an eyesore, then I will leave this country. I will do anything to live…”

Yes, I will do anything.

Even abandoning my mother in a shelter house.

Two pairs of eyes, wide with surprise, stared at me.

I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding, feeling as if I were a clown on stage.