No doubt this was because he’d realized that her eyes were glistening with tears.
“If you asked me if I loved him, the answer would’ve been no. But we’ve been engaged for ages. I always found him high-maintenance and rather annoying, yes. But I still saw him like a younger brother, even though he’s older than me. And then there’s the thing with the mushrooms— Ah, never mind. Anyway, I tried my hardest to be a refined young lady so as not to cause any embarrassment for the royal family. But it was all a waste of time, apparently.”
During the confrontation, Agnes had been fueled by a mixture of rage and indignation. But now that she was removed from the scene and had calmed down, she was struck with a feeling of intense emptiness.
“He found his Dragonmate, I guess. I was just…a fake. Expendable. Everything I’ve been through…there was no meaning to any of it. I was just going further and further down a dead end the whole time. I gave him everything I had, but…”
“So…you really did like him, after all?”
Claude’s question was softly put. Agnes shook her head.
“No. But it hurts to be told you’re not needed by someone you’d planned your whole life out with.”
Agnes felt wretched. A tear slid down her cheek.
“And even worse, this quarrel is going to cause big problems for my family. I feel the worst about that.”
It all came back to family.
After all, she’d only gotten engaged to Philip in the first place for the good of her household. Not only was that all gone now, but she’d also managed to besmirch her family name as well. Agnes felt paralyzed with sudden regret.
If only she’d been able to punch Philip just once! Right on the nose! She would’ve felt so much better about everything. But no, that would’ve only made things worse.
She couldn’t risk her family for one golden moment of sweet, sweet satisfaction.
A white handkerchief suddenly appeared under Agnes’s nose as she stood there hanging her head.
She looked up to see those dark gray eyes, fixed sadly on her.
“Thank you. I’m okay, though. I’d better not wipe my eyes. They’ll just get all red and puffy, and I don’t want my family to suspect that something’s wrong. I want them to think I’m okay with my engagement ending.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want to worry them. They’re…good people. Really good people.”
“It sounds like you’ve put up walls between yourself and them.”
It was true. Agnes wasn’t her parents’ true child.
She didn’t feel like it’d be appropriate to explain her family dynamics to Claude.
Indeed, their entire conversation so far had been inappropriate. This wasn’t the sort of thing one discussed with a prince.
Agnes took a deep breath to center herself.
“Your Highness, I apologize for all the trouble I’ve caused. Thank you for saving me from being thrown into the dungeons, or worse.”
“It’s fine. He doesn’t have the authority to order that anyway.”
That may’ve been true, but there was always the risk that Philip might’ve really lost his temper with her.
And, after all, he’d been holding a sword at the time.
“…What do you plan to do now?”
“After all this fuss, I doubt I’ll get any other marriage offers. Even if I did, I have to consider the mushrooms— I mean, the circumstances. A lot of young men in the aristocracy feel like they’ve the right to have affairs, so girls like me who speak up about it aren’t popular at all. I know that much.”
Indeed, Philip had looked at Agnes with pure hatred in his eyes once he’d realized she was shaming him for his romantic indiscretion. Of course, she wouldn’t have had to say anything if he’d just kept it in his breeches to begin with. But that thought had never occurred to Philip.
Still, perhaps Philip’s very idiocy was what’d been keeping the mushrooms at bay…
“I should probably tell you, Your Highness, that I’m originally a commoner. I should probably go back and make a living among the common folk.”
“I wouldn’t go that far…”
How kind Prince Claude was, to listen to her woes. All because his father the king had ordered him to intervene with his nephew’s troubles. It was no doubt just an act of royal family image preservation. But without it, Agnes would’ve been in a rough situation indeed.
Still, she didn’t want to bother this prince with her affairs any further. Blinking back tears, she smiled brightly.
“I can’t let my family know about this. But thank you for listening to me. I hope your own Dragonmate comes to you in due time.”
Agnes bowed politely and boarded the carriage.
Claude reached out to help her board, but, as she was not a true-born lady, there was no need.
Common-born Agnes could leap up into a horse carriage with the best of them.
“Wait. Even if your eyes don’t puff up, the tear tracks alone will give you away. Take this.”
Once again, Claude offered her the pure white handkerchief.
“But I’ve no way of returning it to you.”
Besides, when she looked closer, she could see the royal emblem, embroidered in one corner.
This wasn’t an item to be lent so lightly.
“Just take it.”
Gazing deeply into Agnes’s eyes, Claude pushed the handkerchief into her hand.
How kind he was.
Philip never showed me such consideration. In fact— Oh, but to blazes with Philip.
“…All right. Well, thank you for the handkerchief too, on top of everything else. I doubt we’ll ever meet again, but I wish you good health.”
Her fingers brushed Claude’s palm as she took the handkerchief.
Blinking in alarm, Agnes could only watch as a bright red mushroom sprouted from the surface of Claude’s white-gloved hand.
She identified it immediately. Amanita Muscaria.
Its vivid red umbrella-shaped cap was spotted with little white bumps. As she recalled, it was highly poisonous.
Claude was gazing at it too. He looked shocked. Of course he was. Agnes had no idea how to talk herself out of this situation.
“…What an absolutely stunning mushroom.”
While Agnes was agonizing over what to say next, Claude reached out and plucked the mushroom off of his glove with his other hand, holding it up and admiring it.
“I’ve never seen such a perfectly perfect specimen. The bright, blood red of the cap, the snow-white dots…”
“…Er, what?”
For some reason, the stunning prince was still standing there holding the mushroom, muttering insane things.
The coachman was standing by, waiting to close the door for her. Agnes shot him a look and they both nodded.
Closing the door quietly on the prince, the coachman then spurred the horses into action and they sped off.
Agnes had no idea what all that was about, but she decided it’d be better not to think about it.
A lot had happened and she was tired. Agnes sat back in her seat, putting all thoughts of the day’s events out of mind as she sped off toward home.
Once she got home, she had let the servants know she was back before retreating to her own room.
Her father, Count Lefort, had been in attendance at the ball, as well.
He hadn’t been anywhere near the unpleasant scene with Philip. But news of the disturbance would no doubt reach him before the evening was through. Along with the news that she was no longer engaged.
Agnes had taken an early carriage home, though, so she had arrived long before her father did. She didn’t have the energy to wait up for him. Instead, she’d left word that she wished to speak to him tomorrow.
She didn’t even have the energy to bathe. After changing, she fell straight into bed.
…Gosh, what a horrid evening…
She didn’t know if she was sad, angry, or regretful. Or even all three.
She supposed she should probably be crying, now that she was officially unengaged. But she didn’t really feel like it.
Philip wasn’t really worth the tears.
While talking with Claude, she’d been struck by a wave of emotion and hadn’t been able to keep from crying. But those weren’t tears of heartbreak. They were tears of anguish over time wasted, tears of rage over being stabbed in the back by someone she’d seen as a partner.
Thinking back on the events now, she felt her eyes prickle with tears again. But then she was struck with the sudden mental image of Claude gazing at the Amanita Muscaria mushroom and immediately, those tears dried back up.
“…What the heck was that all about?”
It was a splendid Amanita Muscaria that had sprouted on Claude’s hand, to be sure. Beautiful, even.
But that wasn’t the part she was hung up on.
“…Eh, I doubt I’ll ever see him again, anyway. Whatever.”
Right.
She was better off forgetting about everything that had happened.
She was going to be very busy, starting tomorrow.
Clutching the blanket, Agnes curled into a ball and fell into a deep sleep.
✦ ✦ ✦
🍄🍄🍄
Mushroom of the Day
Amanita Muscaria
With its blood-red umbrella cap and white dots, this iconic toadstool is the first thing many people think of when it comes to poisonous mushrooms.
Fairly lethal, this toadstool was once used for catching flies. I wonder how it works?
It may resemble the 1-Ups from a certain video game franchise you may have heard of, but you wouldn’t want to try eating a real one!