I’m Supposed to Be the Neglected Princess in the Future, but Something Seems Strange... - 27 - Lea’s Secret

“I think you’ll be very surprised.”

Raphael said this with a mischievous little smile.

Rose was walking down a long hallway with red carpet, heading toward the room she had once used. Raphael was with her.

“I’m already surprised.”

Apparently, Lea was now in the room at the stern of the ship—the one Rose used to use.

How did they find Lea? Where had she been? …Now that she was found, would Raphael marry her sister after all, just as planned?

All kinds of thoughts filled Rose’s chest. She was shocked, but also felt very mixed.

When Rose lowered her gaze, deep in thought, Raphael gently patted her head.

“I’ll explain later. But you said you wanted to see Lea, didn’t you? Though, she’s probably still asleep.”

Honestly, it was easier for Rose if Lea was asleep. She had only seen her sister face-to-face a few times, and she always got so nervous that she couldn’t say anything.

Worse, Raphael had stopped Rose from hiding her short bangs with a wig, so her hair was still visibly short. If her father, the king, found out she had cut her hair through her sister… who knew how angry he would get?

Raphael told the guard standing in front of the door to open it.

Inside were several of Raphael’s guards, and the atmosphere felt intense. They had been reassigned from guarding Raphael to keeping watch over Lea.

Of course, they couldn’t just lock up a princess like a maid, so the only option was to place guards to prevent her from running away.

Rose followed Raphael into the bedroom, where Lea was lying on the bed. The moment she saw her, Rose’s eyes went wide.

“…Lord Raphael, this isn’t my sister. This is someone else.”

The woman lying on the bed might have had the same build as Lea. Her eyes were closed, so Rose couldn’t tell her eye color, but her hair was also black.

Still, the face was different. Lea was beautiful.

When Rose shook her head, Raphael burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! I get why you’d think that. But this is definitely Lea.”

“But…”

“Have you ever seen Lea’s real face?”

“Huh?”

Rose blinked in confusion. She had rarely seen Lea, and every time she had, her sister was always wearing makeup. She had never seen her natural face.

“Well, this is the first time I’ve seen her without makeup too. Her maid… Surin, I think? I got her to talk. She said Lea usually covered her real face with thick makeup. …Heh, now everything makes a bit more sense, doesn’t it?”

“Makes sense…?”

When Rose tilted her head, Raphael put a finger to his lips, as if to say “It’s a secret,” then took her out of the room before Lea woke up.

Still confused, Rose was brought back to Raphael’s room and made to sit on the sofa.

Raphael called for tea and sweets.

Rose was too overwhelmed to enjoy tea, but Raphael looked like he was having a great time.

When the tea set and sweets arrived, Raphael sat beside her and brought a small macaron close to her mouth.

Instinctively, she opened her mouth, and he popped the raspberry-flavored macaron in.

“Now then, where should I start?”

He smiled playfully, picking out the next sweet to feed her.

Then he casually pulled Rose close by the shoulder.

“Let’s see… To be honest, ever since Lea disappeared, I had a good idea where she might be.”

“What!?”

Rose’s eyes widened.

That meant he had known where she was and let her go on purpose? But why?

“To be even more honest, I didn’t care where she went. Not long ago, she told me she’d fallen in love with someone else and wanted to break off the engagement. I was fed up with how selfish she was.

Of course, you can’t just break an engagement between a crown prince and a princess so easily. I was honestly depressed thinking I’d have to marry such a woman.

But then I met you. And Lea left a letter saying I could use you in her place. I realized, ‘Hey, this way we can blame everything on Gridor’s royal family, and being with you sounds a lot more fun.’ So I changed my mind.

After that, I really didn’t care what happened to Lea. Even if she ended up dying in a ditch somewhere. That’s how I really felt.”

Rose was speechless.

“M-my sister had someone she loved…?”

“So it seems. Lea never said who he was, but based on her actions, it was easy to figure out.

Also, I used to think she was smart, but now I realize she was kind of an idiot. But that’s not the point.”

Raphael chose a nut-filled chocolate and held it to her mouth.

Rose chewed as she tried to calm her confused thoughts, but it wasn’t working.

“Who was it? Do I know him?”

“You do. He played the lead in that opera.”

“…Wait. Paul Lawson?”

“Yep. That’s the guy.”

(…Now that I think about it, didn’t I see Paul at a restaurant with a woman?)

Rose gasped.

She only vaguely remembered it, but the woman with Paul looked like the same face she’d just seen on the bed.

She hadn’t realized it at the time because she didn’t know what Lea looked like without makeup.

If she had, she could’ve caught her then and there.

“Where is Paul now?”

If Lea had been caught, Paul might’ve been caught too.

Rose started to feel guilty. Maybe she had accidentally separated two lovers who could have been happy.

But Raphael burst out laughing.

“Paul? He’s long gone. Lea got dumped.”

“W-what do you mean!?”

“Well, Rose, you’re a dreamy girl, so I guess I have to explain it. Lea too, apparently.

Think about it. Paul’s just an opera actor. Do you really think a regular actor could spend his life on the run with a princess?

Sure, in stories it sounds romantic. But this is real life.

Unless he’s insane or blinded by love, no guy would make that choice.

So why did he pretend to run away with her?

Because he just wanted to take what he could and dump her after.”

Here was Raphael’s theory:

Rea probably fell for Paul at first sight during an opera. Paul noticed and whispered sweet lines like something out of a play, winning her over. Then, at the right time, he suggested running away together like in an opera.

“He probably said something like, ‘Bring all the jewels you have so we can escape.’ Lea, caught up in the fantasy, took tons of jewels. That’s what he was after.”

Then, after arriving with her at the port of Fuig, Paul took all the jewels and disappeared.

“Sedoc said that when he found Lea, she was completely hysterical, crying and screaming. I guess getting dumped like that was a big shock.

She had no money, no makeup, and after everything she’d done, she couldn’t just go back to her old life.

She cried so much that Sedoc had to put her to sleep with a sleeping drug. That’s how bad it was.”

“…If you knew this would happen, why didn’t you capture her while she was still on the ship?”

If Raphael had known she was with Paul Lawson, he could’ve caught her much earlier. Why didn’t he?

As Rose wondered, Raphael stroked her cheek and smiled.

“Isn’t it obvious? After everything she did to you, this was payback. I hold grudges, you know.”

Normally, Rose should be the one holding a grudge here, not Raphael.

But still, he said “revenge” with a smile, which was a little scary.

And yet, even though it was scary… Rose found herself wanting to stay by his side.

Maybe she really had caught that “love sickness” he mentioned.

“Now that all your worries are gone, let’s save the rest of the revenge for after we leave the ship. For now, let’s enjoy the rest of this voyage to the fullest.”

Rose was a little nervous about what “rest of the revenge” meant, but since Lea had been found, there wasn’t really anything else to do.

She still worried about what would happen once they got off the ship…

But looking at Raphael’s face made her think it would be okay.

When she nodded, Raphael smiled, satisfied, and held up another sweet to her mouth.

As he fed her, Rose smiled too.

Later, it was discovered that the fake letter Rose received had been written by Surin.

She had struck a deal with some men who were trying to steal from a warehouse near the prison and asked them to attack Rose.

She gave them the fake letter, and had them deliver it through a servant. After that, she just waited for Rose to take the bait.

As for why she targeted Rose, Raphael said it was just blind resentment.

Surin had convinced herself that it was all Rose’s fault that she got caught.

Raphael said he would make her face proper consequences.

He had a very cold expression when he said it.

But thankfully, Rose wasn’t allowed near the prison where Surin was being held, so she never saw her again.