Nightmare Came to The Place I Escaped - Chapter 69

“Lady Avery, are you hoping to see a particular young lord?”

 

Lady Harite, who was walking towards the Hunting grounds after leaving the venue prepared by the Imperial palace. She hurriedly spoke to Diana, who wasn’t paying any attention to her.

 

“Well, not really?”

 

When asked by Lady Harite, Diana gave a small shrug of her shoulders.

 

“I’m only interested in His Majesty.”

“Oh? I see.”

“You must be disappointed that His Majesty isn’t participating, Lady Avery.”

 

Everyone was secretly interested in stories about Ian.

 

“I wanted to take this opportunity to speak a few words with him.”

“I see, I haven’t spoken to His Majesty, so I’ve been looking forward to this time as well. I didn’t know he wasn’t going to participate.”

 

Diana, who was listening to the noblewomen, looked at Rachel.

 

“Lady Oates, are you sad too?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that you wanted to give a handkerchief to His Majesty as well.”

 

Rachel didn’t answer Diana’s question hastily, and avoided her gaze.

 

Rachel briefly pondered why Diana was asking her that, and what she was trying to check.

 

“Among us, I think you’ve had the most conversations with His Majesty. Isn’t that right, Lady Oates?”

“Lady Oates, have you had a conversation with His Majesty?”
“How?”

 

All the attention of the young ladies were poured onto Rachel by Diana’s words.

 

Looks of surprise appeared on their young faces.

 

“His Majesty often visits the Oates mansion.”

“…His Majesty?”

“His Majesty, why…”

 

The young ladies expressed their doubts, as if they couldn’t understand Diana’s words.

 

Ian and Rachel didn’t seem to match at all.

 

Even if Rachel was adopted as the Lady of Oates, and was loved by the Duke of Oates and Mike, she still wasn’t an Oates by blood.

 

“…My brother and His Majesty are friendly. So, he often visits the Oates mansion, and I’ve talked to him a few times.”

“Oh, I envy you.”

“Master Oates was close to His Majesty. I didn’t know.”

“You must be very happy to see His Majesty, and be able to talk to him like that.”

 

Rachel herself couldn’t understand why she said that. She couldn’t figure out why she made an excuse instead of telling the truth.

 

The young ladies nodded as if they understood Diana’s words now, and expressed envy towards Rachel.

 

“More than that, His Majesty should have a wedding soon. Who do you think will be the Empress?”

“That’s right. His Majesty hasn’t shown interest in anyone. I worry I’ll be mixed into the young ladies who would be politically beneficial…”

 

The girls hurriedly shook their heads.

 

There was only one noble daughter who was the best fit for Ian.

 

If the Duke of Avery hadn’t caused problems, Diana would’ve been the perfect Empress candidate. The family was powerful, and Diana was a socialite.

 

Even though her personality was flawed.

 

But the young ladies already knew. Now that the Duke of Avery had become like this, it would be difficult for Diana to become the Empress.

 

What about Rachel Oates? It would take a while for her to be ready to be the Empress.

 

What about one of the Marquis families? A young lady from a learned and wealthy family, it was possible that someone from a marquis family could become the Empress.

 

The young ladies began to get excited little by little, thinking that maybe they had a chance too.

 

“Wouldn’t I be the best fit?”

 

At that moment, Diana opened her mouth naturally.

 

At those words, all the young ladies looked at Diana.

 

“On the day of the ball, His Majesty couldn’t take his eyes off of me. I was quite surprised that he was staring at me like that.”

 

Everyone shut their mouths at Diana’s words, and stared at her.

 

“But after thinking about it, it seemed to be an expression of interest. His Majesty has never had a conversation with a young lady.”

 

Diana said this, then swept her blonde hair back.

 

Her colorful blonde hair flowed down as it moved along with her sweeping hand.

 

With pure white skin, a tall nose, and thick red lips. This was Diana, who could exude a childlike innocence when she occasionally smiled.

 

Gorgeous eyes and fluttering eyelashes were enough to catch other people’s attention.

 

“He seems a little clumsy in that way.”

 

Diana smiled brightly when she finished saying it.

 

Her beautifully folded half moon eyes, and her high cheekbones. Her alluring, ripe, red lips and pure white teeth; the young ladies nodded their heads slightly.

 

If Ian fell in love with Diana, it wouldn’t matter if her family had faltered a little bit. With the help of the Emperor, they could get back up in no time.

 

Seeing the beautiful and confident Diana, the young women thought that Diana Avery might be the closest to being the Empress.

 

If Ian fell in love with Diana. And it really didn’t seem like it would be impossible for Ian to fall for her.

 

Didn’t they forget for a moment that Diana’s personality was the worst?

 

“I think I should approach him first. I think His Majesty is a little clumsy in that way.”

 

When Diana showed a confident and natural interest in Ian, the other ladies kept their mouths shut.

 

“So, Lady Oates. Can you help me?”

 

Rachel stopped at Diana’s words.

 

“…What?”

“When you talk to His Majesty, please tell me a little bit about what you talk about. Or you could invite me over?”

“….”

“Can’t you?”

“…I’m not close to His Majesty.”

 

When Rachel shook her head, Diana shrugged her shoulders as if she was disappointed.

 

“I see, then there’s nothing that I can do.”

 

However, the slightly raised corners of Diana’s lips said that she didn’t expect much from Rachel in the first place.

 

“….”

 

Rachel was uncomfortable with the current situation.

 

She didn’t mean to lie, but how did the situation end up like this?

 

What was her relationship with Ian? What kind of relationship should she have claimed? Rachel was unable to define her relationship with Ian.

 

She was just so envious of Diana, who was confident in every moment.

 

Thump Thump Thump

 

The young ladies began to ask Diana about this and that. They seemed to have secretly decided that Diana would be Ian’s partner.

 

Rachel, who had her gaze lowered, slowly raised her head, wondering if it was Ian she was seeing walking over from the opposite side.

 

There was the unique sound of armor.

 

“….!”

 

The knight dressed in armor stopped and bowed his head, and the young ladies let him pass by without giving him a second glance, as if they were completely disinterested.

 

Rachel would’ve done the same.

 

But she couldn’t overlook the face of the man she glanced at.

 

She immediately recognized who he was.

 

A man with dark brown hair and sharp eyes.

 

It was the man who killed her under Ian’s order that day.

 

She’d only seen him once, but Rachel couldn’t forget him.

 

Rachel froze at the memory of that day.

 

The knight, who had stopped in front of her, slowly looked up at Rachel.

 

The moment their eyes met, Rachel pulled in a deep breath. There was no malice in his eyes, but the coolness gave her goosebumps.

 

Rachel felt pure terror.

 

“…Lady Oates?”

 

It was not until Lady Harite called out to her that Rachel realized she’d fallen behind the group, and that she finally took her eyes off the knight.

 

“Do you know that knight?’

“No, I don’t know him.”

 

Rachel shook her head.

 

“You may go now.”

“Understood.”

 

Lady Harite sent the knight away with a small wave of her hand. The knight bowed his head to Rachel and Lady Harite, then went on his way.

 

“Lady Rachel, what’s wrong?”

 

Lady Harite gently grabbed her wrist, as if she was worried about Rachel, who was chewing on her lip. Lady Harite’s head was bowed in concern, so Rachel gave a small smile to let her know that she was fine.

 

But after a while, Rachel turned her head again and followed the knight’s back.

 

He hurried across the venue, and turned the corner. Even though he was no longer in sight, Rachel kept checking for him.

 

Somehow she felt uneasy.

 

For some reason, she felt like she shouldn’t let him escape.

 

Ironically, the moment she saw him, she felt so strongly that she shouldn’t let him go, even though she was so scared she thought she would collapse.

 

Rachel didn’t even know why herself. What did she want to do after capturing him? She couldn’t go to him and question him, nor could she hold a grudge against him.

 

Not only because he’d never experienced it, but also because it wasn’t his fault. He was merely following orders.

 

Rachel looked at Lady Harite, who was beside her, and the other young ladies, who were following behind Diana.

 

All she had to do was stay here. She didn’t need to do anything else.

 

She’d be safe with the young noblewomen.

 

They were all children from good families. If she was with people who were far from being forgotten, it would never happen again.

 

There was no way she would die a dog’s death again.

 

What she went through was like a dream. No one remembered, and no one was at fault.

 

How could she be mad at someone for something that never happened? Who could be blamed?

 

So what she went through was just a bad dream.

 

“I’m going to the venue for a while.”
“Are you going to rest?”

 

She wanted to ignore him already.

 

But Rachel couldn’t do that.

 

Was it because she felt wronged? Was it because she’d suffered so much?

Rachel wanted to pursue the knight, even though she knew there was nothing she could do about it.

 

She wanted to know about him.

 

She wanted to know if he was one of Ian’s trusted knights.

 

She hadn’t seen the knight with Ian.

 

At that time, Ian often hung out with a knight with dark blond hair and a knight with black hair. But the knight who killed her that day… Rachel had never seen him with Ian.

 

In fact, she didn’t even know if there was a knight like him in the Imperial palace.

 

Perhaps she was now hoping that the knight’s words were a lie.

 

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