Royal highness...the crown prince?!

Her parents stood up onto their feet, and Adelina followed suit; prepared to curtsy in front of the prince. From the corner of her eye, she saw her father sending her a look and she instantly understood his message; their discussion wasn't over yet.

She lowered her head when the door opened, "Greetings to your royal highness." She tried to sound composed, but a part of her feared how it'll turn out. After all, it was their first time meeting each other.

Or so she thought.

"It's nice to see you too, Lady Corbet," a familiar, calming voice answered her, "Please, lift your head."

When she did, an inaudible gasp escaped her lips. "L-Leo?" She saw the corner of his lips twitched, a smile threatening to break out. "But I thought you were a noble..."

Then a thought struck her. There were hints; his crest (very obvious), the way he casually talked to her, a daughter of the duke, and how he never introduced his family name...it was because he's the prince and she missed that.

He's not Leo, but Theodore Valence, the male lead!

"Your highness, can you please explain what is going on?" Her mother inquired.

Seeing her parents' confused faces, the prince
nodded in understanding and continued once he was seated.

--------

"And that is how Lady Corbet and I knew each other," he said, ending his side of the story. "Duke, I was the one who offered my help and insisted on doing so." He made eye contact with Adelina. "I admired her feelings of wanting to save her brother."

The duke sighed, beginning to regret his decision to suspect his daughter out of all people of treachery. He felt a soft nudge on his side of the shoulder and looked at his wife sitting beside him, a knowing smile plastered on her face. "I believe my husband is working on an apology right now."

"Yes," he nodded solemnly, standing up before bowing slightly, "I'm sorry for doubting you, Adelina. I should have carried out our conversation more appropriately."

Meanwhile, Adelina was too stunned to react. Her father, the duke, apologizing?

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her name was called, and ran up to her father, hugging him despite her tiny figure. "It's okay, father, I forgive you." She stood back and raised a finger in warning, "But next time, you should make sure to discuss with me beforehand."

He replied with a confident tone this time. "I won't make the same mistake twice."

She smiled and hugged him again.

--------

Now that she managed to reach an understanding with her parents, she was (unfortunately) stuck with the prince, her task being to escort him around the garden.

Of course, this was suggested by none other than Theodore himself.

She was grateful for what he did, coming here to visit and explain everything, but she wasn't sure how to feel being near the person who wasn't who she thought he was. Plus, he took part in creating a bad ending for her.

Yes, her family banished her, but robbing a person of the status of nobility? Only someone higher than a duke, someone from the royal family could do that.

"I almost forgot," he said all of a sudden, looking at her direction, "happy birthday. You're turning seven right? Here," he handed her a small box and Adelina stared at him, puzzled. "It's a gift," he explained.

"Oh...thank you." She wasn't really paying attention to him, but threw out a reply, hoping her etiquette lessons haven't failed her yet.

"Lady Corbet?"

"Yes?"

"Are you still upset with me?" he asked seriously, his words dragging her back into reality. Theodore was looking at her with a hint of a frown. "I'm sorry for not telling you the truth. Believe me, I didn't have an ulterior motive behind our meetings."

"Your highness, I want to believe your words, but I have a hard time trusting them," she said carefully and gave a polite smile. His excuse didn't change the fact that he still lied and she was hurt by that.

He paused for a moment as if he was recollecting his thoughts before speaking up,
"Can you give me a second chance?"

"A chance..." she furrowed her brows at his request. She did owe him for finding the item she'd asked for-which helped her save her brother, so she couldn't blatantly ignore him either.

"Fine," she said reluctantly with a sigh. "But I want you to answer me one question."

"Go ahead."

"Prince Theodore," she started off, "Why did you really help me?" When he stopped walking, she kept on going, "I wasn't someone close to you, or someone you needed help from. There's nothing to gain from me. I'm just a kid."

She noticed his lack of response and hurriedly added, "I don't mean to doubt your kindness, of course, but I needed to know why."

"Why?" He repeated her question, his gaze holding hers for a few seconds, "Do I need a reason to?"

She opened her mouth to retort but stopped, forcing herself to smile instead. "Your highness."

He shrugged nonchalantly, resuming his walk, "I wanted to, that's why."

"Hmm, I see." She made sure to show him she wasn't convinced or satisfied with his answer, but he smirked and left their conversation at that.

Adelina was starting to think Theodore wasn't the same as how she'd expected him to act around her, the villainess of the story.

Even if she didn't experience the feeling first hand, she had read the book and knew the extent of his coldness, especially because she was the one responsible for bullying the heroine. Before he even met Eleanor, he has always more or less been a reversed type of character, not one to show his emotions to the public.

Yet she got a grasp of his true feelings towards the villainess when 'Adelina' reached her end.

His cruel, condescending smile as he watched her receive her punishment, Adelina could only imagine how her character felt when she met her downfall. In his eyes, she was the enemy, an obstacle in his way...yet in hers, he was the last person she wanted to be seen by in that tragic event. Even till the end, as sad as it sounds, she had a feeling 'Adelina' never truly stopped loving him.

And to think...he is the same person as Leo, the boy who she befriended along the way. She was just beginning to open up to him, and this happened.

What if he will do the same in the future? How will she react?

"Lady Corbet? Are you spacing out again?" he teased, raising his eyebrow and clearly amused by whatever he was seeing.

No. He's different, she thought, realizing that now. He wasn't the same Theodore who would ignore Adelina's attempts to talk to him in the academy. Perhaps if she wasn't a different person from the Adelina in the novel, he would have treated her the same.

And so, she silently prayed that he will not turn out like his future self.