What on earth is going on here?
Hermia blinked mechanically to determine whether what she was seeing was a fantasy or reality.
A wedding cake rolling around on the floor miserably.
Walter Rockford catches Mel Greenwood with amazing agility.
Visitors who just roll their eyes diligently, holding their breath.
And the count and his wife, whose faces were frozen in shock, were just as shocked as his own.
“Surprise!”
The countess, who was the first to come to her senses, broke the silence by shouting. However, contrary to her cheerful voice, anyone who saw her looked embarrassed.
“Hey, we’ve prepared a surprise event for you all!”
It seemed like she was the one who was most surprised, and she was just saying something to try to sort out the situation.
The Countess turned her head sharply and glared at the musicians with her cat-like eyes. Then, each of the bewildered musicians began to play strangely.
“… … .”
Hermia’s eyes returned to their original position, fixed on Walter and Mel.
Mel was holding onto her fiancé’s arm, which she had been holding until just now, with both hands, as if she would never let this person go.
‘There’s a lot of cream on your sleeves.’
I don’t know why, but that was the first thought that came to my mind. The jacket, which had been clean and neat without a speck of dust, was now a mess because Mel had been holding it so tightly, and it was covered in a layer of slick cream.
The Duke himself didn’t seem to care about clothes at all. He was seen mouthing the words ‘Take me.’ to Henry.
Henry nodded briefly and gestured to his men, and two soldiers came and grabbed Mel’s arms.
The moment everyone was about to follow Mel, who seemed to be being dragged away, Walter straightened his upper body and opened his mouth to the people.
“Thank you, distinguished guests, for coming such a long way to join us.”
In an instant, the garden became quiet, and he confirmed the gazes gathered around him and continued speaking in a calm voice.
“The Count and Countess have worked very hard for today. Please give them a big round of applause.”
Meanwhile, the soldiers quickly left the mansion with Mel.
The bewildered people began to clap their hands one by one, while keeping an eye on the situation. Suddenly, the front yard of the count’s residence was filled with applause as if it were a concert hall.
After the servants cleaned up the messy floor, Hermia and Walter’s engagement ceremony proceeded as if nothing had happened.
Everything felt natural and unnatural at the same time, like a broken wheel being forced to turn. In the following sequence, Hermia moved like a puppet as he led her.
I was still in a daze, alone, when suddenly I came to my senses. A romantic melody was softly playing in my ears.
Guests were gathered in small groups chatting or couples were holding hands and enjoying the waltz.
Hermia didn’t even realize when she had put the diamond necklace around her neck. When she came to, she was dancing with Walter with something blue and heavy hanging around her neck.
“sorry.”
“… … ?”
Walter, who had changed into a new jacket, apologized. Hermia looked up at him in silence, not knowing what he was sorry about.
“Melissa… I know that maid earlier. I didn’t expect to meet her like this, so I made her look like a fool.”
“Is Mel’s real name Melissa? Melissa Bahnsen?”
It was a pure question, without any malicious intent. I needed to make sure that what I was thinking was correct.
Walter looked down at her with a surprised expression as if asking how she knew that, then narrowed his eyebrows slightly.
“You’ve read the novel, huh?”
“What if I hadn’t seen it? I might have known before that Mel was the former Count’s daughter.”
Walter quickly came up with a guess after being asked probing questions.
“If you hadn’t seen it, you would have asked what a ‘novel’ was. If you had known Melissa’s true identity earlier, I don’t think you would have let her act as she pleased on a day like today. Am I wrong?”
“… That’s right. All I know is the content of the novel.”
‘That’s why it was even more shocking. I didn’t know that Mel was really the main character of The Thief Young-ae and that she was my cousin.’
Hermia turned her head away, her eyes turning to look at him, because it was becoming difficult to continue looking at his face.
Since the Duke, and not anyone else, recognized Mel, the child’s identity would be certain.
That also meant that there was a greater chance that my father was the one who killed Jack Bansen.
The proposition that ‘a coward like my father would never do that’ no longer holds any weight. The belated fear of my real father possibly being a murderer creeps in.
She asked cautiously, looking at Walter’s shoulder rather than his face.
“So what happens now?”
Is her father captured and Mel returning as the Countess’s daughter? Like the title of the novel?
What about me? What about our wedding? I got engaged today, but am I going to have a fight like this?
It was a question that contained many questions. Walter seemed to think for a moment and then answered clearly.
“I’ll check Melissa’s condition first. I think I can tell you everything after the verification process is complete.”
She nodded silently. Yes. This man was a soldier.
Breaking off an engagement isn’t really that hard. Even for herself, there was a time when talks with Frederick reached a wedding date and then fell through.
‘But if the Duke were to call off his engagement with me and marry Mel, the capital would be turned upside down.’
As soon as the thought reached that point, Hermia let her imagination run wild as was her habit.
In my head, Mel was already wearing a pure white wedding dress and walking down the red silk road.
Mel, wearing a dress decorated with gorgeous silk lace and a plain maid’s uniform, looked like a princess from a fairy tale.
At the end of the path where they had walked lightly, Walter, dressed in perfect groom’s attire, greeted his bride with a splendid smile. Mel smiled like the spring sunshine and took his hand.
Underneath the ringing of church bells, the two people who have finally found happiness exchange rings and share a kiss of vows.
The fans of Thief Youngae might run out into the streets and celebrate because they are so excited. That is the ending the fans want. Irene naturally comes to mind as the one leading the crowd.
The imagination didn’t end there. There was also a scene where my father, tied up with ropes and looking haggard, was dragged away by the police officers along a street covered with fluttering flower petals.
She, the daughter of a murderer, was smiling faintly in her worn-out nun’s habit, cut off from the world.
‘No, why am I smiling like I’ve given up on everything?’
Even the last scene was needlessly specific. Hermia suddenly muttered darkly.
“I hope something is decided quickly… … .”
Then, before becoming a nun, you must either find another groom or not.
Wait. Shall we meet Frederick again?
Among the guys who were collecting money, he was the one with the best face. He also had some money at home.
At the end of the slow waltz, the Duke’s servant, who had gone to get shoes, was seen coming from afar, carrying a shoebox. At the same time, as if by magic, my feet began to hurt.
As Hermia cast her gaze over her shoulder, Walter stopped moving immediately and looked back.
The subordinate who came running while sweating profusely had a very embarrassed expression on his face.
“Sorry, I couldn’t get size 5 because there aren’t any ready-made sizes larger than 4.5.”
Hermia unconsciously pushed Walter away and waved her hand exaggeratedly.
“No! 4.5 is fine. I’m wearing a 4 right now. It’s much better than that. Thank you so much.”
“Oh, no!”
“Thank you for your hard work. Go back to your place.”
Walter, speaking stiffly, snatched the box from the hands of his subordinate. He then led Hermia to a chair covered in white cloth, sat her down, and took the small shoes off her feet.
Hermia took his actions as an attempt to make up for running to Mel earlier.
It contained the intention of saying, “I’ll do this for you, so don’t blame me for my earlier behavior.” Maybe that’s why it didn’t feel very romantic.
Meanwhile, the invited guests kept glancing at the two, pretending not to notice.
It’s surprising enough that the only heir to the Duke of Rockford is engaged to the illegitimate daughter of an Earl.
It wasn’t even a marriage proposal, but the Duke was kneeling like a servant and changing his shoes! The incident from earlier had long since been forgotten in their minds.
Hermia, however, was too busy paying attention to her own feet to notice their shock.
‘It’s my foot, but it’s really ugly.’
They seemed a little bent, and my toes seemed to stick out too much. I was lost in such thoughts, and then suddenly my eyes turned to my new shoes.
The shoes bought by the young-looking soldier had delicate embroidery patterns on the cloth overlaid on top of the cowhide.
Walter spoke as he put them on his feet.
“I’m telling you this so you don’t misunderstand, but I swear today is the first time Melissa and I have seen each other since we were kids.”
“yes?”
What are you talking about all of a sudden? Oh. Are you trying to appeal that you are not a novelist?
If you think about it carefully, it’s entirely possible. After all, Mel, who had regained her memories, might have gone to the Duke and asked for help.
In order to restore their childhood friend’s identity, the two conspire to use a novel to reveal the truth to the world…
Oh, doesn’t that sound pretty plausible?
‘Are you making excuses now because you think I might guess that?’
Even after putting on her shoes, Walter didn’t get up, but instead raised his head and made eye contact with her.
“What I mean is, Melissa and I have no relationship… … .”
“Don’t worry. I won’t misunderstand.”
His expression brightened slightly at the firm voice.
“Really?”
“Really. Why would the Duke do such a troublesome thing? Why not just bring them all in and arrest them all at once?”
“…yes?”
“I’m not being sarcastic, but objectively, the Duke of Rockford is the pride of the kingdom, and the Duke in particular is a hero to the people. What I’m saying is, is there really a need to bother writing a novel about someone like that?”
“What is that… … .”
“I also don’t think that the Duke conspired with Mel to write the book. So I don’t misunderstand.”
Hermia felt that her reasoning was quite good. Then she lightly patted Walter on the shoulder as if to tell him not to worry and got up from her chair.
She felt the stiffness of new shoes and rolled her feet in place a few times before walking toward the dessert table.
I thought it was stupid to just rack my brain when there was no conclusion to be reached right away.
Mel, who crashed the engagement party, is Mel, and she can’t miss her first and last meal of the day.
‘My goal is to eat as much as possible while my stepmother is busy handing out gifts.’
Hermia didn’t notice that he was frozen with a blank expression on his face because he had a clear purpose.