Nightmare Came to The Place I Escaped - Chapter 76

“Your Majesty?”

 

Ian, who stayed in his seat with an expressionless face and would drink a glass of wine occasionally, turned his head at Harmond’s call.

 

“Lady Avery.”

“Lady Avery?”

“Yes, she’s wearing the necklace that Lady Oates wore.”

 

Only then did Ian’s eyes move slowly in search of Diana.

 

An emerald necklace.

 

“Isn’t that the Lucky necklace?”

“….”

“Doesn’t it look really similar?”

 

Ian frowned.

 

It was the necklace that he’d given to Rachel at one time, so why was it in Diana’s hands?

 

“Your Majesty?”

 

When Ian suddenly got up from his seat, Harmond called to him in surprise, but he failed to catch him.

 

Ian quickly approached Diana with a large stride.

 

“Lady Avery.”

 

Maybe it was just a necklace that looked similar?

 

But no matter how much he looked at it, it was just like the one he’d given Rachel.

 

“I’m Diana Avery. I see His Majesty, the great ruler of the Levskaya Empire.”

 

Diana, who’d bent her legs to bow to him, blushed a little at Ian’s persistent gaze.

 

“Your Majesty? I’m ashamed that I’m blushing so hotly because you’re standing so closely.”

“Oh, my mistake.”

 

Ian, who was frowning, belatedly realized what Diana meant and took a half step back.

 

Diana smiled as if she was okay with Ian’s actions.

 

Red lips that rose in a gorgeous curve, and fluttering eyelashes were enough to attract the attention of many men. Diana didn’t seem unaware of that fact, and unlike usual, she kept her smile for a long time.

 

“More than that, I prepared an embroidered handkerchief for you at the last Hunting competition.”

 

Diana hurriedly spoke to Ian after a prolonged silence.

 

“It was a pity that I couldn’t give it to you since Your Majesty didn’t participate.”

 

It was the first time he’d shown a young lady any attention in public. She wasn’t foolish enough to throw away this good opportunity.

 

“I heard Your Majesty doesn’t enjoy hunting, I don’t know why people are so keen on hunting.”

 

Even if it wasn’t true, it was important to be seen that way.

 

It would seem to others that the Emperor, who was indifferent to young ladies, had walked up to her, and talked to Diana personally.

 

The topic was good enough for the contents of the rumor that she wanted to create.

 

“Why is it so much fun to catch powerless animals just for fun…”

“Hmm, Lady Avery. That necklace.”

 

It was then that Diana noticed that Ian’s eyes were on her necklace.

 

“Oh, this necklace?”

 

Diana smiled again.

 

It was a smile that looked kind of shy.

 

“Does it look good on me?”

 

Diana looked around a little, then lowered her voice and whispered. Diana was in a very good mood right now, even as she tried to make it appear that she was intimate with Ian.

 

It was satisfying to see Ian was showing interest in her at such a venue, where everyone could see. This earned her the envy of the other young noblewomen that he’d never even talked to.

 

Maybe they would be surprised too. It must have been difficult to see a situation where Ian had a conversation with a woman like this.

 

Their looks of surprise and envy pleased Diana.

 

“Were the two of them close?”

“I know. It’s like a picture.”

 

No matter how their jealousy tried to find fault with her, she was still different from them. She was Diana Avery.

 

Diana wanted this man even more.

 

She coveted this man, who could draw everyone’s attention and create gossip with just one conversation.

 

Rachel, she didn’t know what that girl and Ian had in common. Diana was confident. As a pure-blooded noblewoman, would she ever fall behind that low-brow girl?

 

“I chose it because it looked like it would go well with today’s dress, but it looks like I made a good choice because Your Majesty is looking at me now.”

 

Diana laughed out loud.

 

That splendid laughter made the young ladies’ minds feel more complicated.

 

His Majesty apparently had a deep relationship with Rachel Oates, but Rachel went down to her estate without saying anything else.

 

They didn’t even know if there was a fight with His Majesty that day, and that was how their relationship might have ended. Or maybe it wasn’t a very deep relationship in the first place or a relationship at all.

 

It could have been as Rachel said, that they’d only spoken a few words because of the relationship between her brother, Mike, and the Emperor.

 

Was it now Diana, not Rachel, who was attracting His Majesty’s attention?

 

The noblewomen hurriedly moved their thoughts towards Diana with the colorful smiles. Had they ever gone against Diana’s wishes?

 

They vowed to pick up a pen as soon as they returned to their mansions after the banquet today. With the thought of ‘What if Diana becomes the Empress of the Empire’.

 

“Where did you get that necklace?”

“…What?”

“Where did you get it?”

 

Diana blinked quickly, not understanding the intent of Ian’s question.

 

Why was he wondering where this necklace came from?

 

She’d a lot of useless conversations with the young men who’d pursued her, but none of them had asked the source of her trinkets.

 

Diana just blinked, not understanding why Ian was asking such a question.

 

“What do you mean…”

“It looks amazingly similar to what I gave Rachel.”

 

As soon as Rachel’s name came out of Ian’s mouth, Diana’s eyebrows frowned slightly.

 

“…Rachel.”

 

So, this necklace from Lady Oates was given to her by the Emperor.

 

Diana tried to hold back her laughter.

 

Rachel. He said Rachel, not Lady Oates.

 

Her excitement for the moment plummeted to the floor.

 

So that was the reason why he’d come to her, when he’d never been interested at the other banquets. The reason he talked to her was because of Rachel. It was because of that girl.

 

Ian even called another woman’s name in front of her, as if they had a special relationship. He also didn’t like that she wore the necklace he’d given to Rachel as a gift.

 

She thought there was nothing much between them, but maybe the relationship between the two was deeper than she expected. Rachel was the reason that the indifferent Emperor had moved.

 

After thinking for a short time, Diana bit the inside of her mouth so that she wouldn’t show her true feelings.

 

“If it’s something that you picked up…”

“Your Majesty?”

 

However, the corners of her mouth, which had been forcibly maintained, fell due to the suspicious look.

 

“Are you doubting me? Maybe you think that I touched Lady Oates’ stuff?”

“….”

“How could you be so insulting?”

 

Diana clenched her fists at Ian’s silence.

 

It was the first time in her life that she had been insulted in such a way.

 

How dare he treat her like a thief when she was born as the only princess of the Avery family, who grew up with the envy and respect of everyone.

 

Diana’s face turned red with anger.

 

What did she lack that she would covet the things of a girl whose origins were unknown? She could have anything she wanted and it couldn’t even be compared to what that girl had.

 

“I’ve never had such an insulting moment in my life, Your Majesty.”

 

Diana roughly grasped the necklace that she received from Rachel.

 

“Lady Oates gave it to me herself.”

 

Ian’s face distorted slightly at those words.

 

For a moment, Diana seemed to know what to say to hurt Ian.

 

“The lady said she didn’t like it, and gave it to me to take if I wanted to. I just received what the lady was trying to throw away because it was ominous and creepy.”

 

As Diana continued speaking, Ian’s face grew colder.

 

No, maybe it was sadness.

 

“Oh, I didn’t know Your Majesty gave this to the lady. If I had known, I would have stopped Lady Oates.”

“Did Lady Oates really say that?”

“You’re insulting me until the end. Have I ever told you a lie?”

“…I didn’t mean that.”

“You implied that I was a thief and a liar. You’ve done a disservice to my reputation, so please apologize later.”

“…I will.”

 

Diana glanced down at the necklace and asked.

 

“If you want, do you want me to give it back to you?”

 

Diana shrugged her shoulders slightly. She seemed to want to get rid of this problem.

 

“No, thank you.”

 

Ian shook his head slightly, then gave a brief glance and walked away as if there was nothing more to do.

 

The shade on his face made Diana feel good, but also annoyed. It was as if she was stepping on Ian’s feelings for insulting her. She’d been thrilled by Ian’s attention, but now she was angry at the concern or agitation he showed because of that b*tch.

 

“I have a really bad feeling.”

 

Diana murmured a curse.

 

Looking at the situation, Rachel seemed to have abandoned Ian. That’s why she threw this necklace away. But how dare he think she was a thief.

 

Come to think of it, all this humiliation was due to that girl. How dare she put her through this humiliation. Diana rolled ideas around in her head to see how she could repay this.

 

Diana was so angry that she wanted to scream and cause a disturbance at that moment, but she was conscious of the gazes that were on her, so the corners of her mouth raised again.

 

***

 

Rumble Rattle

 

The Avery carriage rushed down the road. It seemed like an accident was going to happen at any moment.

 

The violent movement of the carriage seemed to represent the mood of Diana, who was inside of it.

 

“How dare you…”

 

A heavy voice came out of Diana’s mouth.

 

“You dare insult me?”

 

Rachel, that girl of unknown origins, dared to humiliate her. When Diana thought about what she’d given her, like she was throwing away something useless. When she thought about how she was misunderstood by Ian, Diana felt feverish.

 

Bang!

 

“Ugh!”

 

Diana, who was holding her breath as if she was holding in her anger, kicked the knight’s leg as hard as she could.

 

“Hey, be quiet! Reduce your breathing!”

“Ugh, I’m sorry, My Lady.”

 

The knight, who was kicked by Diana’s sharp toed shoe, groaned as if he were going to be sick, but soon apologized.

 

Likely, he knew not to go against Diana’s mood.

 

***