NOVEL NEXT Chapter 17
If others were to see a noblewoman, especially one with a reputation as terrible as hers, suddenly jumping into the water and flailing about, what would they say?
Camilla pressed her fingers firmly against her furrowed brow.
The moment she jumped into the water claiming she would retrieve the divine beast, she would officially be branded as the true lunatic of this region.
Still, to be honest, she was slightly, really just slightly, tempted by the idea.
‘If I find the divine beast for them, wouldn’t my chances of dying drop significantly?’
It was something they’d been searching for a long time, right? If I help them find it, surely they won’t just kill me off like before.
[“My Lady! You look absolutely stunning today!”]
“Are you saying I didn’t look pretty before?”
[“No, no! I mean the black dress suits you so perfectly!”]
Derin kept chattering on beside her, as if trying desperately to cheer her up. However, all that escaped Camilla’s lips were even deeper sighs.
[“It’s true! There’s no one who wears black as beautifully as you, My Lady…”]
“That’s enough.”
Step.
At that moment, a group of people began approaching.
Interrupting Derin mid-sentence, Camilla quickened her pace, still pressing a hand against her furrowed brow.
‘Into the water, huh.’
Swoosh.
The approaching individuals seemed to pause briefly when they noticed her. However, Camilla, lost in her thoughts, briskly passed by without paying them any attention.
She had been saddled with such a troublesome task that nothing else could register in her mind.
“Isn’t that Lady Camilla?”
“It is, isn’t it?”
The people left behind in Camilla’s wake exchanged glances, their expressions slightly startled.
“What is she doing here of all places?”
“Beats me.”
“We’re here for your mother’s memorial, but what about her?”
As they watched Camilla’s retreating figure, their gazes eventually shifted to a quiet figure standing silently among them.
“…”
The blazing red hair stood out first. He appeared a year or two older than Camilla.
“How peculiar.”
“For Lady Camilla to walk past you without so much as a glance.”
“Maybe she didn’t see me?”
“Impossible. This is the same Lady Camilla who used to sprint toward Petro even from a hundred meters away.”
“True.”
As their chuckling conversation carried on, the man—Petro—turned his gaze toward Camilla, who was steadily moving farther away.
Petro Jabilon.
The eldest son of the Jabilon family, one of the three great ducal houses of the Fable Empire, and the man destined to lead the next generation of the Jabilon lineage.
“Every time she sees you, she chases after you as if her life depends on it.”
“Exactly.”
Petro’s friends stifled their laughter.
It was no secret that Camilla was infatuated with Petro and followed him everywhere.
Wherever he went, she would always be nearby, lingering in his vicinity.
“Stop spouting nonsense.”
Petro chuckled lightly, scolding his friends gently.
“That’s disrespectful to the Lady.”
“But it’s true, isn’t it?”
“You’re just too nice. Didn’t she even steal something from you once?”
“She didn’t steal it. I lost it, and she found it and kept it for me.”
“As if someone like you would lose something that easily.”
His friends shook their heads in unison, as though exasperated by his leniency.
“Still, don’t you think Lady Camilla looked a bit different today?”
“You too? I was just thinking the same thing!”
“Was her face always like that?”
“Is it just me, or is she oddly captivating today?”
“Exactly.”
Listening to his friends’ banter, Petro clicked his tongue softly.
“Stop with the idle chatter and let’s move along.”
At Petro’s urging, the two began walking again. But even as they followed behind him, Petro’s gaze flickered back over his shoulder.
He stared for a moment at the spot where Camilla had disappeared, then smiled faintly, as he always did, and continued on his way.