I Opened The Birdcage Door - Chapter 11

I was going to the famous fashion street in the capital to prepare for the upcoming emperor’s birthday banquet.

I was going to go there and match the dress and shoes for the occasion.

Originally, designers often visited the mansion in person, but I said that I would visit the capital personally to commemorate the improvement of my legs.

The feeling was new. Pretty clothes and shoes. Come to think of it, since I was a child, there were many shoes I really wanted to wear. After the leg injury, I was in a hurry to cover my legs, so I always wore dark shoes.

Now that my legs were healed, I wanted to wear pretty shoes to my heart’s content. I also wanted to try on heels.

What else? I wanted to go out a lot on a regular basis like now, take a lot of walks in the garden, and walk barefoot on places like the beach.

“I want to learn to dance.”

“Dance? Like ballet?”

As I muttered, Sophie asked. I turned to her and answered.

“Yes. Ballet is good too. Whatever it is, I can use my legs….”

Suddenly I stopped talking. A beautiful hawk with golden fur passed before my eyes.

It was the appearance of Sebastian I had seen at the party long ago.

A long time ago, the moment I saw him and fell in love with him. The brilliantly shining chandelier, his dance moves that captured the attention of the people at the debutante…

“Duchess? What are you thinking?”

“… Oh no. I was thinking of something else.”

I smiled and shook my head. Sebastian’s figure was scattered like a mirage and disappeared.

My life was very different from before.

***

Soon the carriage entered the capital.

Unlike the Duchy, the capital certainly had a complex atmosphere.

The capital and the duchy were reasonably far apart. Even after riding the carriage for quite some time, my excitement still hadn’t subsided.

The carriage started heading towards the fashion street.

I opened the window and watched the people passing by, feeling the pleasant air.

It was then. Rumble! The carriage shook violently with a loud sound. For a moment, my breathing stopped. Memories of the carriage accident long ago flashed past. The horses cried. I heard someone scream.

Ah!

The carriage stopped.

Only after the carriage had completely stopped did I let out my breath. It felt like my heart would stop at that moment.

“Ha…”

“No, why is he driving like this…Duchess, are you okay?”

My heart was beating like it was going to burst. When I came to my senses, my back was full of cold sweat. My hands were shaking.

In fact, it wasn’t such a surprising sudden stop. However, the body, sensitive to the carriage accident, easily recalled the memory of that day even with a small rattling sound.

When Sophie saw that I had visibly stiffened, she touched my arm anxiously.

A loud shout was heard by the coachman.

“Hey! You didn’t look straight ahead?!”

“Huh? Duchess, where are you going..… !”

I, who was quietly listening to the sound, opened the door without hesitation and went outside, leaving behind Sophie’s call.

As I opened the door and stepped forward, the coachman, who was angry at someone, saw me and opened his mouth as if surprised.

“Ah, Duchess. I’m sorry to startle you. Suddenly, this crazy woman jumps out… … .”

“It must have been an accident.”

The coachman looked at me as if surprised by my hard voice.

“You shouldn’t only hold this woman responsible, you should have been more careful with your horse. I hired you to drive.”

After all, not only me but also this woman, who was an ordinary passerby, would have been seriously injured.

If she was injured and her body was damaged, who would compensate for this woman’s life?

When I tackled the coachman with an unusually stinging attitude, he kept his head down as if embarrassed.

“Sorry, I’m sorry, Duchess. In the future, I will be more careful when driving.”

It was then that I felt a little relaxed. I exhaled. I came to my senses and walked forward.

“Our driver has been rude. Are you okay?”

The woman was sitting on the ground with her head bowed as if her legs had lost strength. There were no injuries, but she seemed to be very surprised. I approached the woman and reached out my hand.

The moment when I thought her ebony black hair was very impressive. The woman raised her head.

“I’m okay, I’m okay……”

The woman who looked at me could not finish her words.

Instead, her eyes widened. Black hair that looked like ebony, elastic dark skin, and two lively eyes.

My pupils also enlarged when I looked at the woman. I couldn’t have not know who it was.

“Bianca?”

“Princess?”

My heart started beating. Bianca stared blankly at me with her pink lips slightly open. Why is Bianca here? A bewildered brain spewed out fragmentary thoughts.

Why is she suddenly in the capital? What did she come to do? Many thoughts came to my mind in a short moment. Those thoughts soon ended I realized. Bianca Clay. That she was here……

“Bianca, here is your favorite hot dog… .”

I knew who it was just by hearing his voice. I hardened my expression and slowly turned my head.

The man had a slender physique and was dressed in an easy-going shirt. The shirt had a moderately dirty look in several places. However, his beautiful blonde hair and handsome appearance were all the same.

He was holding a hot dog, one in each hand, as if he had been shopping for street food for a while.

Typical dating scene.

He wiggled his eyebrows when he saw Bianca sitting on the road. His gaze slowly turned toward me, who was standing next to Bianca. His amber eyes glared at me when he saw my face. The man who periodically appeared in front of me like a phantom even after becoming a duke.

My ex-husband. Sebastian.

***

A dark silence passed.

I stared blankly at Sebastian. After meeting Bianca and then him, this moment was terribly unrealistic.

Obviously, the capital was a place where many people came and went, but for this moment, it seemed that we were the only ones left.

Why is he here? Why are these two here?

He was also an imperial citizen of the Rosien Empire, so it was not unusual to meet him in the capital.

But.

It was an amazing coincidence. I thought about it in a short moment. Two people were here, and my carriage passed by here, and Bianca was in front of my carriage and I met Sebastian.

I was very puzzled by this coincidence, this fateful reunion.

“I’m sorry.”

During an awkward three-way meeting, Bianca came to her senses and got up.

“I was surprised to see the princess in a place like this. I didn’t jump out with any other intention, so please don’t misunderstand.”

“…I don’t misunderstand anything. And I am no longer a princess, but a duke.”

Bianca scanned my appearance. Unlike before, I was wearing an mature outfit and walking on two legs without a cane.

Bianca, who faced my completely changed appearance, covered her mouth with both hands as if surprised.

“Oh, your legs… …. Did you fix your legs? Are you able to walk now?”

Without realizing it, I looked at Bianca with a puzzled expression.

Bianca seemed to have been living unaware that I had fixed my legs. The news of my succession to the Duchy and the fact that my legs were repaired had been published in newspapers for a while, and people were talking about it. Did she really not know?

If that wasn’t acting, she was a really naive woman. Seeing her eyes wide open at the fact that my legs were now in good shape, it was a very refreshing reaction compared to when I had monitored and tormented her for five years. It was enough to embarrass me.

(*to make it clear,  Aileen didn’t actually physical torture Bianca or anything. Bianca was only being watched in case she went to see Sebastian. That was all. In those five years, Bianca was freely working and making money for her own family.)

“We found out too late. In fact, over the past six months… We’ve been on a trip. We have just come back to the Empire. We went without looking at the newspaper or receiving any personal contact, so I haven’t heard the news of the Princess, no, Your Excellency.”

Bianca kindly explained why they didn’t hear my news.

To me, it felt more cruel than kind.

I smiled.

“It’s okay. This can happen. You do not need to know the news anyway….”

To be honest, this was news they wouldn’t want to know. If I were Sebastian and Bianca, I wouldn’t.

I looked at Sebastian. Golden hair and amber eyes. Those eyes were on my legs. My legs could move. My legs could walk. My legs were alive.

His eyebrows twitched. It was a very odd expression. It was not easy to guess what he was thinking.

If there was one thing I could tell, it was that he was not indifferent.

I bit my lips.

“Anyway… … I’m glad you two are doing well. Then I’ll go now.”

I got into the carriage in a hurry as if to run away.

Somehow, I wanted to get out of this place quickly. I felt like I shouldn’t be where the two were anymore. I shouldn’t be in their happy world.

I could feel their eyes on me outside the window, but I didn’t look at them. Until the carriage moved farther and farther away and they became dots and disappeared.