I Wish I Could Predict Love, Not Fall Into It - Chapter 16

The mansion of Grand Duke Jefferson was a castle located in the center of Danveria, a territory near the capital. The castle was as large as the Imperial Palace, and it had three golden carriages gifted by the former emperor. One of them was reserved for Julia.

On a sunny afternoon, Julia was inside one of the Jefferson family’s prideful carriages, reeking of alcohol with every breath she took.

She got off the carriage at the back gate and stumbled toward the entrance. When she yawned and opened the door, the butler Colin greeted her with a worried look.

“How could you come back only now?”

Colin stomped his feet like a child. Julia picked her ear and snapped back.

“Better than coming back tomorrow, right?”

She had enjoyed a wild party the night before—dancing, drinking strong liquor straight from the bottle. But instead of feeling hungover, her head and stomach were fine. She was just thirsty.

Feeling extreme thirst, Julia walked straight into the kitchen. The maids there bowed politely when they saw her.

Julia grabbed a water bottle and drank from the mouth of it like she had done with the wine yesterday.

Then, her eyes casually wandered toward the door connected to the dining room.

Through the wide-open door, her father, Grand Duke Jefferson, was standing tall.

Cough—!

Julia choked on the water she was drinking. A maid quickly came over and took the bottle from her hand.

Grand Duke Jefferson stared at her with stern eyes, and Julia frowned.

“You’ve been staying out every night since returning.”

Julia hadn’t expected to run into her father in broad daylight, and she already felt tired just seeing him.

But then—

“It doesn’t look like she just stayed out all night.”

Harry appeared from behind the grand duke and pointed at Julia’s wrinkled dress and messy hair, pretending to pinch his nose.

Annoyed, Julia put her hands on her waist and glared at him.

Their deep blue eyes so alike met in midair.

“Why are you here again?”

Julia snapped, but it was Grand Duke Jefferson who looked more serious than Harry.

“Watch your mouth. You shouldn’t call a duke ‘you.’”

But Harry folded his arms and calmly tried to soothe the grand duke.

“We’ve been like siblings since we were little. That’s probably why. I understand.”

Julia looked at Harry’s relaxed face and his white clothes embroidered with golden thread with clear displeasure.

“If I’m so dirty, maybe I should ask His Majesty for a title.”

Clicking her tongue, Julia walked past the grand duke and Harry to the dining table. As she glanced at the meal on the table, Harry’s teasing voice followed her.

“So, are you not mad at your brother anymore?”

“Oh… right.”

Julia’s neatly shaped eyebrows twisted. She remembered the time she had been turned away at the palace not long ago.

“Ugh, now I’m getting angry again.”

She quickly turned and glared at her father.

“Dad, did you say anything to His Majesty?”

“What?”

When Grand Duke Jefferson looked puzzled, Julia scowled.

“He kicked me out! And Elizabeth too!”

The day she took Elizabeth to the palace was the most embarrassing day of her life.

“She went back to her country in tears!”

The emperor didn’t even remember Elizabeth and just sent her away, and she had cried hard as she boarded the ship home.

At that, Harry clicked his tongue while watching Julia fuming.

“You were wrong to show up at the palace uninvited.”

“It wasn’t uninvited. I sent a letter ahead of time!”

Julia had sent a letter to inform them she’d returned, so she thought there would be no problem meeting the emperor. But things didn’t go as planned, and she was humiliated.

“But didn’t something happen at the palace that day? Then it couldn’t be helped.”

“Exactly! What was it?!”

When Julia raised her voice, the silent Grand Duke Jefferson stroked his bearded chin and spoke quietly.

“There was an assassination attempt.”

“What?”

Julia and Harry both turned to the grand duke in surprise. His face was serious and somber.

“Ah, I see. Then that makes sense.”

After hearing that, Julia’s anger started to fade. As if she had never been mad, she walked lightly.

“I should write to Elizabeth.”

She hummed a tune as she headed toward her room.

❖ ❖ ❖

I woke up on a normal afternoon. The sunlight pouring down on my face from the bed was blinding.

Clack—

Suddenly, the door opened without a knock. I wondered who could be so rude, it was the emperor.

“Your Majesty.”

The emperor, standing tall, walked toward me. A maid had just left the room, so she must have told him I had woken up.

“So, you really did wake up.”

He came to the bed and looked me up and down. Embarrassed, I pulled the blanket close around me.

“Why did you do it?”

That was the question he asked right away. My eyes widened.

“Why did you get stabbed instead of me?”

The emperor questioned me with a serious face. His eyes showed he still couldn’t believe I had been stabbed in his place.

“Was it something you saw in a prophetic dream?”

“I saw myself getting stabbed in a dream.”

“Then you could have avoided it.”

“If I had, Your Majesty would have been stabbed instead.”

“Things like that happen all the time.”

The emperor replied coldly. But I couldn’t understand it.

“It wasn’t all the time. It was only before you met me.”

Since he met me, he hadn’t gotten hurt from falling off a horse or even when a chandelier fell. If he always got hurt, then he should have gotten hurt even after meeting me.

“You used to get hurt often, so I wanted to become at least a small piece of good luck for you.”

If my presence could bring even a little luck to the emperor’s unlucky life, I thought that would feel pretty good.

“And technically, Your Majesty saved me first.”

When I finished, the emperor let out an awkward cough.

“If there’s something you want, say it. I’ll give you anything.”

I didn’t want any reward for being stabbed in his place, but I couldn’t refuse a royal offer.

I touched my stomach, which still felt a faint pain, and thought for a moment.

It didn’t take long.

“Then, I’d like to learn swordsmanship.”

“Swordsmanship?”

The emperor’s blue eyes showed surprise. He asked again as if to confirm.

“Not jewels or a title?”

I nodded.

Of course, it wouldn’t be bad to use this chance to become a noble. But I remembered the pain I felt not from the stabbing, but from the helplessness.

“To be honest, the pain of being stabbed wasn’t as bad as the feeling of not being able to do anything while you were fighting three people.”

That kind of helplessness is always hard to bear.

The emperor blinked slowly, then stroked his chin.

“Alright. Once you’ve recovered, I’ll get you a teacher.”

“Thank you.”

I licked my dry lips and smiled.

“Now get some rest.”

The emperor turned and walked toward the door. After a few steps, he suddenly stopped.

I watched him slowly turn back. It looked like he had something more to say.

“I’m curious about something.”

“What is it?”

“Do you dream of other things besides prophetic dreams?”

“During naps, I sometimes have different dreams.”

With his long legs, the emperor quickly closed the distance between us.

“Now that I think about it, you cried pretty hard yesterday.”

“I did?”

“What kind of dream was it?”

He stared at me with sharp blue eyes. I remembered the dreams I had while I was unconscious.

If I cried in any of them, it must have been the one about my dad.

“Ah. It was probably the dream about the day my anemia started.”

I had been afraid of blood ever since I saw my dad’s accident two years ago.

“That day, I couldn’t do anything and lost someone precious to me.”

The emperor looked at me quietly and then finally spoke.

“I once had a parrot when I was very young. It died.”

I listened carefully, not sure where this was going.

“I thought it was my fault and cried a lot.”

“…”

“But that was the beginning.”

The corner of the emperor’s lips lifted slightly.

“The beginning of my unhappy life.”

I imagined a young emperor crying while holding his dead parrot. My heart ached a little.

“In the end, everything happens as it’s meant to. That’s what I believe.”

With those final words, the emperor turned and walked away.

His belief brought me unexpected comfort.

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