I Became the Substitute for the Runaway Heroine - Chapter 48

Odette blinked, a trace of confusion in her eyes. Just then, she spotted Aden entering the shop.

After finishing the remaining tea in his cup, Caesar Maes wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin.

“It seems it’s time for me to go.”

“Already?”

Caesar pressed his lips together briefly, then looked at her and said,

“If you ask me not to go, I’ll cancel my plans. A walk along the river, followed by dinner at a restaurant—that doesn’t sound too bad, does it?”

“Isn’t that something only real lovers do? You should go take care of your business.”

“So that’s how it is, huh?”

Caesar rose, then walked around the table and gently pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.

“I’ll see you this evening, Odette. I hope you have a wonderful time.”

Leaving the pastry shop, Caesar made his way to the tailoring district.

“Maxcallion Sachsen is on the second floor, getting measured for his ceremonial attire,” Aden reported, following closely behind.

“Have all the curtains on the first floor of the boutique Odette will visit drawn open. I want Maxcallion to see her when she steps out in her dress.”

“Must it really be done this way? My lord, the young lady is on our side.”

“Aden, have you forgotten that all my retainers were slaughtered because of a single traitor?”

“But she isn’t like that.”

“That’s exactly why I’m doing this—because I want to believe she’s not.”

At Caesar’s low, heavy words, Aden fell silent.

“Oh, you look absolutely stunning!”

Odette stepped out of the dressing room in her gown.

Even without the shop owner’s over-the-top reaction, it looked genuinely impressive.

“It’s lovely.”

Odette liked the design, which emphasized her femininity.

Maybe it was because she was wearing her engagement dress, but the idea of the engagement—once vague—began to feel real.

With trembling fingers, she gently touched the lace on the skirt.

Just then, an agitated male voice rang out from outside.

“Oh my, sounds like there’s been a carriage accident.”

She could see people hurrying past through the window.

Even the guards stationed at the entrance ran outside in a rush.

“It must be something serious.”

As Odette, driven by curiosity, stepped closer to the window to look out, she saw Maxcallion walking out of the boutique across the street.

Thump. Her heart sank, and she clamped her hand over her mouth, stumbling back.

‘Why is he here?’

She had sent letters to the Viscountess and to Leorahill.

With people rushing toward the scene of the accident like a receding tide, the street had suddenly gone quiet.

Maxcallion, turning his head to follow where the crowd had gone, suddenly locked eyes with her.

She could see his eyes widen in shock.

‘No—don’t come this way!’

Odette turned quickly and ran toward the stairs.

But Maxcallion was faster.

The bell above the door rang out with a sharp chime, echoing like thunder in her ears.

“Odette!”

With one foot on the stairs, Odette squeezed her eyes shut, then turned slowly.

It was already too late to avoid him.

“M-My lord, I clearly told you…”

She turned around fully—and faltered at the sight of Leorahill entering the boutique behind him.

“A-Almighty… Leo…”

Leorahill rushed over and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

“Odette!”

“P-Please, my lord, you can’t do this here. People will see and misunderstand.”

She tried to push him away with all her strength, but he wouldn’t budge.

“Who cares what they think?”

“I’m engaged. I’m about to be married.”

“Exactly—that’s why it doesn’t make sense! How could you decide to marry Count Caesar Maes after barely meeting him?”

“…Love between a man and a woman… sometimes it’s like that. Love at first sight…”

“…Then what about me? Are you saying that if another man comes along, you’ll just cut all ties with me?”

Seeing the tears falling from Leorahill’s eyes, Odette felt as if her heart was being torn apart.

“Odette—sister!”

“My lord, you mustn’t call me sister.”

“Then… a friend?”

“…I’m not even your friend.”

“Then what am I? Odette, I like you! I want to be with you forever—why are you trying to abandon me?”

Odette liked Leorahill too.

Sometimes like a younger brother, sometimes like a friend, sometimes like family… because he had stayed by her side when she had no one else to rely on.

But now, she couldn’t allow herself to feel that way anymore.

“Odette, what about the promise we made?”

“……”

“You said I’d come for you after becoming a royal knight. I promised I’d stay by your side for the rest of my life.”

Tears streamed from Odette’s eyes as well.

But she had to cut things off—cleanly, decisively.

Before the escort knights returned, she had to send Maxcallion and Leorahill away.

“Don’t say things like that ever again. That childish nonsense.”

“No way… My brother was right. Hrk… Odette must be sick! Brother, say something!”

Maxcallion, eyes glistening with emotion, took Odette’s hand and gripped it tightly.

“Odette, let’s leave together. Now. Please—say you will.”

“You too, my lord? Why are you doing this… hnn…”

“What’s with the tragic drama? Disgusting.”

Caesar Maes furrowed his brow at the sight of Odette crying.

Her true feelings, which he’d so desperately wanted to uncover, were now all too clear—so clear he almost wished he hadn’t seen them.

He had already sensed, instinctively, that Odette’s talk about amassing wealth had been a lie.

That her desire for jewels or to become a duchess was nothing more than empty words.

None of that would make her happy.

What she truly wanted was probably to leave—far away—with those two men.

Watching Odette glance anxiously out the window before pushing Maxcallion away, Caesar saw her pleading.

Please go. I’m begging you. Now.

Maxcallion grabbed her hands tighter and said something urgently.

“We’ll meet again tonight. I’ll contact you.”

Reading her lips, Caesar exhaled roughly, his eyes lifting as rage surged within him.

The fury rising from deep in his chest made his vision blur.

Odette, her eyes full of tears, spoke again to Maxcallion.

But this time, she turned her face slightly, and Caesar couldn’t make out the shape of her lips.

He didn’t need to.

‘She loves that bastard.’

It must be like the taste of chocolate.

Sweet… yet bitter.

A desperate, all-consuming kind of love?

“Pfft!”

Caesar let out a hollow laugh and yanked the curtain shut.

When Odette had been writhing in agony from poison, Maxcallion had come to him.

Demanding that he hand her over—he’d thought the man was insane.

A fallen viscount’s second son daring to make such demands of him?

But it hadn’t been a one-sided obsession.

Odette loved them. Deeply.

If he eliminated them, Odette would hate him. She’d never smile for him again.

Thinking of that, Caesar felt a pain as though his heart had been trampled.

‘Why… why am I nothing to you?’

From the first time they met until now, Odette had consistently pushed him away.

“What is it about me that’s so lacking? What?!”

He’d offered her a mine. Monthly payments of enormous sums.

He hadn’t even touched her until she gave her consent.

Was that the mistake?

‘Would things change if I just made her mine?’

But what if he did—and she never opened her heart to him, not even until the day she died?

“Damn it!”

Caesar clenched his jaw and muttered lowly.

“Send the escort knights back in. Tell them to bring Odette back to the Count’s estate.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Just then, the tailor approached.

“Shall we try on the ceremonial attire now?”

“Who knows? I haven’t decided yet—whether I’m attending an engagement ceremony or someone’s funeral.”

“Emma, come here for a moment.”

As soon as she returned to the estate, Odette grabbed Emma’s wrist and led her into her room, locking the door behind them.

“Remember the letters I gave you—the ones for Viscountess Sachsen and the Imperial Academy? Did you send them?”

“Of course. I ran into Lord Caesar Maes in the city, and he said he’d send them along with his letters to the capital, so I entrusted them to him. Why?”

“I see… so that’s how it happened.”

The party invitations and the voucher for formalwear from a luxury boutique that Maxcallion and Leorahill received.

Both bore her name.

Caesar must have arranged that.

Which meant… he had read the letters she sent to Viscountess Sachsen and Leorahill.

Thump, Odette’s heart plummeted.

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