Chapter 24
Chapter 24
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Dog Treatment
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After Fabian left, Daphne stared blankly. A dog? He called her a dog?
She was a dog?
No way that could be true.
Daphne bit her lip. There was no way. She shook her head, trying to convince herself.
“It’s just a misunderstanding.”
What did Fabian know anyway?
Treated like a dog? That was too harsh. She forced a smile. Tears streamed from her eyes. Asherad wasn’t like that. He was so kind to everyone.
He had a slightly sensitive side, sure, but that was only natural for someone of his position. Had he ever made her eat from a dog bowl or put a leash on her?
Treated like a dog? That was way too exaggerated. But then why was her heart pounding like this?
Daphne stood up from her seat. Should she go see Asherad? That might clear up the misunderstanding.
If Asherad smiled at her, if he spoke to her kindly again, she’d gladly believe him over Fabian. She’d believe him without hesitation.
Because Asherad had come after her, hadn’t he? She would never forget the sight of that young man chasing her through the falling winter rain.
With her mind made up, Daphne rose to go find Asherad. Was she just spacing out? The sun was at noon, and unless something urgent had come up, he should be taking his walk in the rear garden of the Crown Prince Palace.
She hoped something had kept Asherad away. But there he was, strolling with Calista at his side.
Calista held a leash in her hand, and following it was a long-haired white dog. She’d heard that Asherad had gifted the bored Empress a dog. So this was where they walked it.
Daphne watched Asherad and Calista, lost in thought. She couldn’t hear their conversation from there, but at least they were facing each other as they talked.
Facing each other.
For the first time, Daphne realized how remarkable that was. She knew she couldn’t converse with him like that because of their stations.
Even so, she envied them.
Daphne drew a little closer. A few knights noticed her but paid her no mind. They knew she’d just hover around and leave anyway.
Asherad and Calista sat on a bench. They chatted about something amusing. The dog sat between them.
They spoke again as they watched the dog panting with its pink tongue lolling out.
Then Asherad reached down and stroked the dog’s head. Just seeing it felt like a blow to the head.
Asherad seated on the chair, the dog at his feet. His slow hand petting it.
As if petting Daphne, Asherad gazed down at the dog with a smile. Pleased by the touch, the dog leaned its head happily against his knee.
Asherad then pulled a biscuit from his pocket and fed it to the dog. The dog took it eagerly, delighted.
Daphne nearly gagged. She covered her mouth several times before managing a hollow smile. Her breathing grew ragged, tears flowing endlessly from her eyes.
She backed away and fled the Crown Prince’s garden.
“Ha, haha. Hahaha!”
He was just petting a dog. Just petting a dog, that was all.
“That’s me. That was me!”
That dog was clearly her. Daphne trembled with rising humiliation. As the daughter of a criminal, she’d always bowed low. Before Asherad, because she was a criminal’s daughter!
‘If you’ve sinned, you must be punished.’
That’s what Asherad had said. He’d been punishing her. Pretending it was all for her sake, kindly pampering her like a pet dog—a deceitful act!
Daphne gasped for breath. She couldn’t breathe properly. She clenched her teeth to stifle her sobs.
Daphne returned to the maids’ quarters. She ran into Sara on the way back.
“Daphne! What happened?”
“……”
“Oh my god, your face is a mess!”
She thought she’d swallowed her tears, but apparently not. Daphne choked them back as she spoke.
“Sara.”
“Yeah?”
“His Highness the Crown Prince... he ordered no one to approach me?”
Sara’s face hardened. That expression alone told Daphne the answer.
“Was it just an order?”
“……”
“He even killed someone just for talking to you.”
Sara’s voice sank darkly. Daphne’s eyes widened. In that moment, realizing her entire life had been a mockery, she plummeted into despair.
She’d known her life was hell, but not that it was this hellish.
“You really didn’t know.”
Was it pity or disdain? Sara whispered softly to Daphne.
“Yeah. I didn’t.”
Daphne smiled. Now knowing the truth, she covered her face with her hands and sobbed.
Sara offered no comfort.
* * *
With her heart settled, Daphne could face Fabian in a calmer state.
Fabian arrived cautiously at dawn, his face grim. He’d clearly agonized over how to convince her.
“Fabian.”
“……”
“Let’s run away, just like you said.”
The world changing terrified her. But the desire to escape this place terrified her more.
Daphne’s world had shattered. Deep down, she might have known. But with everything around her abnormal, she’d been abnormal too.
What did it mean to love someone?
Fabian silently pulled Daphne into his arms. No words were needed. He understood her feelings and comforted her with his embrace.
His warmth was genuine. Watching him, Daphne finally understood what it meant to truly care for someone. If the one you loved shivered in the cold, you’d give them the shirt off your back. That was affection.
But Asherad had done nothing. He could have shown her some mercy. Instead, he’d watched her suffer like a spectacle.
A question she’d never dared voice arose. I’m just my mother’s daughter. Why be so cruel to me?
He’d watched her long enough to know. She wasn’t bold enough to claim anything grand.
He must have seen how unworthy she was, too shabby even to tarnish his noble name. Why hadn’t he stopped?
Why did he chase after me then?
He should have abandoned me back then.
While waiting for Fabian, Daphne had suffered endlessly.
“Are we escaping now?”
Daphne asked Fabian cautiously.
“No, not now.”
“Why?”
“You’re occasionally under surveillance.”
Daphne looked shocked. Surveillance? Who would surveil her?
“That’s why those who approached you met that fate.”
Daphne’s lips parted slightly. Asherad had gone that far?
“Then how do we escape?”
“In a fortnight, there’s the festival offered to the main deity. All eyes will be on it. The guards too. That’s our chance.”
“……”
“Miss that, and you’ll be dragged to the Emperor.”
Daphne swallowed hard. Fabian’s words made her grasp how precarious her situation was. Asherad was one thing, but the Emperor posed an even greater threat.
Would he try to assault her like the Pindus Prince? The thought sent chills down her spine.
“Escape now, and this is your last chance, Daphne.”
Fabian gripped her shoulders. Yes. If the Emperor reached out, she’d become his consort in the Imperial Palace. Escaping then would be even harder.
“On the second day of the festival, at night when the moon rises, pretend to go to the bathroom and come out.”
“……”
“Then jump. I’ll handle everything else.”
Daphne nodded.
* * *
Daphne let go of her feelings for Asherad. They pained her, while the longing for freedom tasted sweet. Her belongings were minimal.
Fabian said there’d be no watchers, but just in case, Daphne hid thick clothes in her bosom and headed to the bathroom.
She couldn’t help but laugh. Her room was like a storeroom without even a window, yet the bathroom had one.
Tap tap.
A knock came from the bathroom window. Daphne approached cautiously. Her quarters weren’t high up—easy enough to jump. A hooded man stood below.
Daphne placed her foot on the windowsill. She didn’t hesitate long. She leaped lightly. Under the dawn moon, it felt like flying through the sky.
Not even a flicker of fear that she might die.
It was exhilarating.
Daphne landed. Fabian, whom she expected to catch her, had missed. The soft grass made it ache, but she could stand.
‘What if you’d dropped me?’
As Daphne looked up reproachfully,
“Oh dear, that must hurt.”
A sweet male voice rang out. The hood came off, revealing green eyes glinting in the moonlight. The pale lunar glow softly illuminated a breathtakingly beautiful face.
“Daphne. Are you alright?”
Daphne stood frozen, unable to scream. A man of maddening, illusory beauty gazed down at her, eyes shining.
It was Asherad.