Meanwhile, despite Adaline's internal panic, the servants were carefully lining up the suitcases. too big and too numerous.
[It had only been a month since she arrived in Delmez with a single suitcase, and now it seemed as if her belongings had multiplied on their own.]
[Lloyd was already giving orders, as confidently and organically fitting into what was happening as if he had worked here for at least ten years. However, he was the same at the Bertrand estate.]
[There was something amazing about him: with a typical hero appearance, he easily adapted to any environment.]
[But still...it's so good that Lloyd came with me...]
Adaline looked at him with new warmth.
[It's been almost eight years since they met, and Lloyd turned seventeen this year. They lived together for almost five years, actually just the two of them, and he became the closest person to her.]
[The boy who was originally supposed to either kill "Adaline" or be killed by her if he failed.]
[Adaline decided to keep him with her, because in any case the boy was destined to die, and this way he at least had a chance.]
[It seemed to her that this was the best of the worst options. But over time it became clear: Lloyd could cope anywhere without her.]
[He was capable, smart, and, if you got to know him better, even kind. However, as befits the younger brother of the main character.]
Feeling her gaze, Lloyd turned around.
"Get up, lady."
“Ahhh...why. I don't even have the strength to lift a finger. I've been tormented since evening. The mother cried all night, and from dawn she started doing makeup and hair...”
“Even if you greet the servants later, guests cannot be ignored. You need to get up."
“Were we waiting for someone? Nobody told me, but that means you knew?”
“I have ears. But it looks like you don't. The head butler just reported.”
Adaline waved her hand:
“Forget it. Drive them away."
“Are you sure this is possible?”
"Certainly. I am now the mistress of this house. Who dares to say something if I don’t want to?”
"But..."
“I just got married. Ew, even saying this is disgusting... but still. I'm a newlywed. What other kind of hospitality are you out of your mind?
"Sounds logical."
Initially, it was assumed that she would return with the groom after a long celebration and spend her wedding night with him.
But Shane sent Adaline to the Blanchard estate in advance, along with Lloyd.
[Since the alliance between the Blanchards and the Bertrands was a major event, the press attention turned out to be frantic.]
Shane was left alone to do all the interviews originally scheduled for the reception.
Adaline was already afraid to imagine what articles would appear on the morning news.
“I had no intention of being a good wife. If I become unbearable and you hate me, so much the better. Kick me out. And if you sprinkle some salt on top, it’s absolutely great...”
“Saint Genevieve and His Highness Crown Prince Edwin will be here soon.”
“Ugh, cancel everything!!”
Adaline grabbed Lloyd's hand as he reached for the salt.
Fortunately, she had time, otherwise the servant could have really sprinkled salt on the future Emperor and the Saint.
---But only Edwin came.
“Consider it a mini trick, Shane. I helped arrange this ridiculous wedding, now you have to endure at least this.”
"I understand. So I’m patient.”
The groom was also here. Adaline was bitterly disappointed. [I still should have thrown salt at him.]
Shane, who came out to greet the guests, was beaming with a friendly smile, directed, of course, in her direction. Adaline deliberately ignored him and turned to Edwin:
"Where is Genevieve?"
“I went out of town to carry out cleansing. The schedule changed at the last minute. He’ll only be back in the evening.”
“Shouldn’t she rest at night?”
“Genevieve insisted. After the recent attack, security at the temple has been tightened. She said that she would come secretly..."
“Attack?!”
“Oh, didn’t I mention?”
Edwin gracefully lifted his cup, took a sip, and said it as if he were telling how Genevieve got a bone stuck in her throat during dinner.
"Nothing serious. Just a poisoned arrow with a warning."
“Just...a poisoned arrow...yeah, nothing serious.”
"That was two weeks ago."
Adaline felt the world around her shake.
[Genevieve, the one who was safe all this time, has now become a target.]
[This feeling of guilt arose suddenly.]
[Is this because I brought Adaline Bertrand to life?]
[Or because the world realized that a character who was destined to die remained alive?]
“Don't worry, Adaline. She was not physically harmed." - Shane said.
Adaline shot him a withering look.
“Yes, physically. What about morally? Poor Genevieve, she must have been scared to death!”
“Well...I don’t know if she was scared, but she looked quite normal. I immediately went to work.”
Edwin laughed:
“And with such courage.”
Adaline stared in amazement at the two men - the main character and his secondary partner - who had essentially sent the attacked heroine... back to work.
[The brain refused to accept this, but the body began to get used to it. A person adapts to everything.]
"Just wondering, Shane."
"Yes, Adaline?"
He answered immediately. Obedient.
“Do you even give Genevieve two days off a week?”
“She rests more than I do.”
"..."
“What, don’t you feel sorry for me?”
“Have you ever seen a mouse feel sorry for a cat?”
"How cruel."
And Genevieve is the same.
[They shot her, and she went to work. Not a day to recover. Is she really... a typical Korean office heroine who would go and submit a report even in a zombie apocalypse?]
[Maybe it's because she's a heroine created by a Korean author?]
[Somewhere in her DNA there was definitely something familiar. Something like: “you were kidnapped, but still cook them dinner and leave for the office by nine.”]
[Perhaps a completely plausible hypothesis.]