Chapter 20
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“Milady, you have a visitor.”

I turned away from the vanity table, “Visitor?”

“Yes, Milady,” Hazel nodded.

“Who?”

“Her Highness, Princes Selena.”

I narrowed my eyes. Princess Selena?

“Did they say why she’s here?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“And there was no prior notice?”

“No, Milady.”

I drummed my fingers on the table and considered ignoring the visit. Since Selena didn’t send word of very visit, it was impolite and there would be no issue if I couldn’t come see her because I was occupied.

After considering it, I stood up.

“Change me into something better.”

My other maids moved to dress me up while Hazel took to doing my hair. Once we were done, I headed out in formal attire and soon, I was at the receiving room. I stopped my maids at the entrance and went in alone.

“Ah, I’ve been waiting for you,” Princess Selena flashed a cute smile at me. Just like the last time I saw her, her blood red hair was in a strict bob, and despite being 16, her face still had its child-like cuteness.

“This is a surprise, Princess.” Especially since we’ve never talked before.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I just really wanted to see you.”

Why? I wanted to ask but didn’t.

“Right…” I trailed off and sat opposite her, “Is there a problem?”

“No, no. I just heard you don’t want to be engaged to my dear brother and I was curious,” she grinned widely.

“I see,” I spoke slowly. I couldn’t really understand her line of thought. My eyes fell on the cup of tea on the table and I picked it up.

‘Ah, green tea.’

“Why don’t you want to be engaged to my dear brother?” she cupped her chin and blinked at me. Her eyes were practically sparkling.

“I don’t recall ever telling you that I do not,” I took a sip of my tea and nodded at the taste.

“Oh, but I heard about it.”

I looked at her, “And may I know from who?”

She pouted, “Come on. Just tell me.”

“I’m afraid I do not know what you’re talking about.”

“Well now you’re just being difficult, Lydia.”

My face fell, “I don’t believe we’re close enough to drop titles, Princess Selena.”

Her smile was still as cheerful as ever, “Oh, don’t be so uptight. It’s just a name.”

“If you’re here to make a mockery of me, I suggest you leave.” She was about to say something, but I cut her off and continued, “Or I will make you leave.”

Her lips curled in an indescribable smile, “Wow, you are really just like Rowan said.”

“I suppose it’s nice to know my brother’s acquaintance is just rude as he is.”

“And what makes you think you can make a Princess leave?”

“Would you like to test that theory, Selena?”

For the first time since I walked into the room, her expression turned cloudy.

I smiled slightly, “Oh, don’t be so uptight. It’s just a name.” And I threw her words back at her. Lately, I was starting to like doing that.

“Initially, I was just intrigued,” Princess Selene leaned back in her seat, “now I’m fascinated.”

“Should I be glad?” I cocked my head with slight amusement, “It seems you can’t take what you hand out, Princess. I assumed you had something important since you came so suddenly but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“Wow, this is quite exciting for our first meeting, isn’t it?” she once again flashed a cute smile.

“I beg to differ, Princess.”

“I usually love being called princess, but I hate it from your mouth.”

“I’m flattered,” I replied dryly.

“You’re not even going to pretend to be courteous, are you?”

“You didn’t come with good intentions so I don’t see why I should bother.”

“Oh, what might you mean? I came to give you a wedding invitation!” she exclaimed exaggeratedly.

“I already have an invitation.”

Something flashed in Princess Selena’s eyes, but I didn’t quite catch it. “Isn’t it wonderful to get it from the bride herself?”

“I suppose.”

“You don’t seem surprised.”

“It’s all over high society, Princess. They say you graduated 2 years early to marry Lord Isaac as soon as possible. It would be odd to be surprised.”

“Why do you want to end your engagement with Edmund?”

“What happened to calling him ‘dear brother’?” I snorted.

“You seem to know me, Lydia. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same.”

I looked into her eyes, but I couldn’t read anything in them. I didn’t know her, I merely knew what she had done. And with that, I could somewhat tell what kind of person she was. Her calling Edmund ‘dear brother’ was merely sarcasm and nothing more. Afterall, she had killed him herself in my first life.

“You know,” Princess Selena began, picking up a glass of water, “if you were born 5 or 6 years earlier, we could’ve been friends.”

“My apologies. The Duke and Duchess refused to tumble in the sheets that early.”

Cough!

Princess Selena choked on the water she just drank and began to cough. I was taken aback.

“Are you alright?” I was actually stunned. I didn’t expect her to be that surprised.

She nodded fervently and patted her chest.

“Your Highness, are you okay?!” a worried voice came from the door.

“Yes,” Selene called back and took a deep breath. Then she whispered something, but I could hear her, “Stand down.”

At those words, I could hear the faint sound of a sword being sheathed. I couldn’t pinpoint where the sound came from and narrowed my eyes. I looked at Selena and she chuckled.

“They get overly worried.”

“This is a General’s house, Princess Selena,” I warned.

“That, it is,” she didn’t seem to take my words seriously at all, “Anyways, I’m guessing I won’t be hearing that reason today.”

I didn’t reply.

She stood up. “Well, that was fun. I guess I shall take my leave, Lydia.”

“It’s Lady Lydia to you, Princess.”

“Aw, you’re so cute.”

I didn’t bother replying to that.

Princess Selena smiled softly, “I’ll find out in my own way. Don’t worry.” Despite the softness of her voice, she sounded threatening. Although I couldn’t really tell what the threat was exactly.

“Please,” I gestured to the door and she obliged. I walked her to the entrance of the mansion like a good host and watched till her carriage left.

It may have been nice to cultivate a good relationship with her, but I didn’t think she would appreciate it, so I didn’t bother.

Was antagonizing the future queen of the kingdom a good idea?

Well...the future was changing. Who knows who will finally seat on that throne? Will it be her….or me?

.

.

.

Oh, I’m kidding. The throne is an absolute no for me.

However, Princess Selena didn’t seem antagonized. What I said might annoy another noble lady, but I was watching Princess Selena as I spoke and testing my limits with her. She seemed to enjoy the conversation actually. The only time she truly got annoyed was when I called her by name.

Even now, I still wasn’t sure why she came here. Wanting to know why I didn’t want to be engaged to Edmund was such a flimsy reason. People have broken engagements before, this was nothing new. The reason was simply, I didn’t like Edmund. And he might fall for some other girl in the Academy, so it was a wasteful venture.

But that said, Princess Selena was a lot like Queen Rowena, idea-wise. And honestly, I didn’t think it was a good thing.

From the way she spoke to me, I could see she believed in royalty above all. So she didn’t need to be respectful to me by calling me by my title. And every time I pointed out the disrespect, she responded by belittling me.

And Rowan. She purposely said his name, as if she wanted to tell me they were acquainted.

Why?

This event had never happened before, but I wasn’t too surprised by it. Many things had changed, and many things were bound to change. The future was already different, and I’d have a hard time if I was surprised by every little thing.

Anyways, I might have to keep an eye out for Princess Selena. She seemed like a troublesome one.

 

 

I wrote this chapter a month ago but nvr posted it because I wanted to write a different chapter 20. Like I didn’t want Prince Edmund & Selena back to back. With how Selena is, of course she would go find Lydia immediately after learning of her attitude with Edmund. But I wanted something to happen in between like a mellow day to counter the intensity. But I just couldn’t think of anything.

I’m considering making next chapter a peek into Princess Selena’s...psyche. Or maybe it’ll just be the MC and her mom like I originally envisioned.

 

PS: Someone asked me if I dropped this. I have not, I just haven’t had time for this, unfortunately. That said, a lot of people are seeing this novel lately and I'm not sure why. Last I checked, there were only 76 readers. I guess I'm happy? But keep in mind that as of now, the update schedule is non-existent.

 

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