I am not the Villainess

Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

On the same day, Tatiana woke up extremely worn out. Her body felt heavy and she felt a tad feverish from the exhaustion.

But thinking that her family will again tie her to bed if they found out, Tatiana forced herself up from bed. Tatiana did her morning routine and went down to the dining area. Her mother, the duchess, was already there. Aaron was not around as he has to be in the Imperial Palace for the bombing incident.

“Good morning, mother.” Tatiana greeted and kissed the duchess’s cheek.

“Good morning, darling. Are you okay? You look a bit pale.” Duchess Annabelle noted as Tatiana went to her seat.

“I’m fine, mother. Just a bit headache from last night’s events.” Tatiana answered and smiled at the duchess.

“You should have just stayed on your bed and rested.”

“It’s okay, mother. I’ll feel sicker if I just stay in bed all day.”

The duchess gave up and nodded.

“I understand, but make sure to drink your medicine, okay?” Tatiana nodded and smiled in response.

Seeing that the duchess was not talking about the incident last night, Tatiana figured that Aaron didn’t inform the duchess about her secret escapade to the central plaza. It’s a good thing, though, because she doesn’t want to worry the duchess.

“Ah! Your father has already arrived. He has to go directly to the Palace, but he’ll probably come back with Aaron later.”

“Really? That’s great! But I hope father is okay. He just came from a long journey and yet he has to attend the meeting early in the morning.” Tatiana said worriedly.

It’s been a long time since Tatiana saw her father, so she was happy to hear that he’s already here. However, it worries her that her father has to go directly to the palace, immediately after arriving from a long journey. He must be extremely exhausted.

“I know, but we can’t do anything because of the incident last night. I hope they come back soon, so they could rest.” The duchess replied and Tatiana nodded.

After that, both of them ate their breakfast in peace, with small chats in between.

.

Later that day, Duke Michael and Aaron arrived home.

“Father! How are you? I miss you!” Tatiana greeted sweetly and gave her father a hug.

Aaron, who was beside the duke, was only looking at them. This was the first time he saw Tatiana being sweet to their father again after he came back from war. He thought it was something refreshing to see.

“I’m doing great, my daughter, and I missed you more! How’s your stay here? Anything uncomfortable?” The duke replied.

As usual, the duke was very soft and affectionate towards his only daughter, Tatiana. The duke is generally a cool-headed individual who doesn't express many emotions. However, when it comes to Tatiana, he transforms into a caring father who displays a wide range of emotions.

“Nothing at all! Everything is great! Everyone is so amiable and they’re all treating me well!” Tatiana smiled widely.

She had never had a talk like this with her biological father in her previous life. She had also never had the experience of speaking sweetly while she updated her father on her life. Jane had always wanted to do that, so even though the duke isn't her real father, talking to him like this makes her very happy.

“Ah! You should rest now, father! You must be very tired from your trip and the sudden meeting. You too, brother.” Tatiana said and stepped back a bit.

“I suppose, I should. Let’s continue our talk, later on, Tati.” The duke said and kissed her forehead.

The duke went ahead to his room and the duchess followed him, while Aaron stayed behind with Tatiana. When their parents have completely vanished from their sight, Aaron spoke.

“Tati, I didn’t mention the incident last night to our parents. I didn’t want them to worry.”

Tatiana nodded in agreement. It's better that way because, knowing their parents, they'd definitely lock Tatiana up and keep her under constant monitoring just to make sure she didn't sneak away again. Tatiana would be quite uncomfortable in such a situation.

“I understand, brother. I also do not want them to worry.”

Aaron patted her shoulder and was about to leave when Tatiana called him again.

“Brother, can I ask you something?” Aaron turned back to look at her. “The bombing incident...did you find out who was behind it?” she asked.

Aaron paused for a bit before responding. He shouldn't reveal anything about what they discussed in the meeting, but because Tatiana was also involved in the incident, it should be fine.

“No, we don’t know yet.”

“Then, how about the assassins. We’re you able to find out something from them?”

Aaron was stunned at Tatiana’s next question.

How did she know about that?

The fact that the assassins were captured has not been released to the public. Even the officials only found out about it from the meeting earlier.

“The assassins? How did you know we captured the assassins?” Aaron asked suspiciously.

Tatiana then realized her slip of the tongue. She instantly scoured her mind for an excuse she could use.

“I-uh...it’s because before I left...I saw some knights dragging some men. I figured they were the criminals behind the bombing.” Tatiana reasoned.

Aaron narrowed his eyes at her, trying to read whether she’s telling the truth or not. Tatiana tried her best to maintain her emotions, despite her nervousness. In the end, Aaron believed her.

“Okay...well, the assassins were not much of a help either. The only clue we got from them is that some man named Julio is involved in this matter.”

At that, Tatiana’s eyes widened.

Julio...the name I used to trick the assassins!

Tatiana wasn’t expecting them to use that name. Were they planning to put the blame on the mysterious man who defeated them?

Hah! How cunning of them to use that name...

“I see...then, what’s the next plan?” Tatiana replied, trying not to show any emotions.

“Well, we have to find that man before the next meeting,” Aaron responded. When he saw Tatiana’s face, he felt like she was thinking about something hard so he continued, “Don’t worry, Tati. We’ll find him and get to the bottom of this. I’ll update you more if I can so you may rest easy.”

Tatiana nodded and smiled at him.

“Thank you, brother.”

After their conversation, Tatiana spent the rest of the day in her room. She couldn't talk to the Duke of Aaron for the rest of the day since they had shut themselves in their office to do their job.

.

The next day, an unexpected visitor arrived.

“My lady, His Highness is here,” Mia announced.

Tatiana put her tea down and faced Mia.

“Is he looking for a father or brother?” Tatiana asked. Though she was perplexed as to why the Crown Prince would pay them a personal visit when he could just summon them to the palace.

“No, my lady. His Highness is looking for you.”

When Mia said that, Tatiana sprang up from her seat.

“W-what?”

Why would the Crown Prince suddenly want to talk to me?

Then, images from the incident came rushing to her mind. She came across the Crown Prince during the incident. Not only that, she even stole his sword and left it in the middle of the forest.

Could it be that the Crown Prince found out about me?

Tatiana also remembers Aaron telling her that the Crown Prince had seen her and even offered her a carriage ride home.

Could it be about that? Is he here to keep our stories straight? Is he here because he wanted to interrogate me?

She had a lot of questions, and the only way for her to find the answers was to ask the man himself. Tatiana got hold of herself and looked at Mia.

“Mia, bring His Highness to the drawing-room and tell him I’ll be with him in a moment,” she ordered. Mia bowed and left the room afterward.

Tatiana rushed to her closet and undressed her nightgown. She didn’t have the time to look for what dress to wear, so she just chose the simplest dress she could find. Then, she brushed her hair, put on a bit of face powder, slipped on some sandals, and she was ready to go.

If it’s the old Tatiana, she would have taken a lot of time to prepare and dress herself up especially since she is meeting the Crown Prince. However, the current Tatiana didn’t have the time for that.

She wanted to talk with His Highness immediately, and she figured it’s not good to make the Crown Prince wait.

Tatiana entered the drawing-room and found Noah sitting comfortably on the sofa while sipping his tea.

“Greetings, Your Highness.” Tatiana greeted. Noah beckoned her to sit in front of him so she did. “To what do I owe your visit, Your Highness?” Tatiana asked directly, not wasting any time.

“Quite straight-forward, I see...” Noah commented and smirked. Every time he talks to Tatiana, the changes in her behavior enthralled him even more. It’s like every time, Tatiana would show another character he never knew she had. “Okay, I’ll cut to the chase. I wanted to talk about the bombing incident.”

Noah leaned back in his chair, staring at Tatiana. Noah had anticipated that Tatiana would spend a significant amount of time preparing and dressing up, and he was prepared to wait for her. Yet, Tatiana showed up quicker than he expected with her plain dress and bare face.

She's so indecipherable...

“The bombing incident?”

Tatiana had already expected he was here to talk about that. But what she wanted to know is what about the bombing incident does he want to know and how is it related to her.

“Weren't you in the central plaza during the incident?”

At Noah’s question, speculations started forming in Tatiana’s head.

Wait, is he really here because he suspects me?

Considering that she had an evil reputation, and the fact that she was on the scene, it would make sense for Noah to be suspicious of her.

“Are you suspecting me, Your Highness?”

Noah’s eyes widened a bit and were speechless for a moment. He then chuckled and shook his head.

“Why would you think that? Of course not, Anastasia. I was merely asking because of your brother.”

Tatiana's eyes narrowed when he used the name Anastasia again. Also, it was a relief that His Highness was not suspecting her, but then, what it is that he really wanted?

“Please call me Tatiana, Your Highness. And if you are not suspecting me, then why do you want to talk to me?”

Noah took another sip of his tea before he looked at Tatiana and answered. He was acting very comfortable for a visitor that Tatiana almost rolled her eyes.

“You see, during the incident...I bumped into a mysterious man. He was wearing a black cloak and his hood covered his entire face. I thought he was simply one of the people who was caught up with the chaos, but then he did something quite terribly great.”

Tatiana secretly gulped and pinched her skin as she tried not to show any reactions.

He was talking about me! Why is he talking about that? Does he know it was me? What is it?

“Do you know what he did?” Noah asked and stared directly at Tatiana with a smug face. It was as if he was teasing her.

“No...” Tatiana managed to answer.

“Well, it wasn't all that awful. He just seized my sword and slashed the arrow coming at me from behind. He practically saved my life.” Noah sipped his tea again and began his casual story-telling. “He then fled into the forest with my sword. Of course, I followed him only to found my sword pierced onto the ground, where several men laid lifelessly, in the middle of the forest.”

Tatiana didn’t say anything and continued to stare at Noah.

“A single man defeated several professional assassins sent out to kill me, the Crown Prince of the Empire, without shedding any blood. That man was so incredibly skilled that he even controlled his attacks accurately so he wouldn’t kill the assassins. Isn’t that remarkable?”

“I see...but what does that have to do with me, Your Highness?”

Tatiana was already starting to get confused about why Noah was telling all of this. If he was not suspecting her, then what is his goal with this?

However, Noah didn’t answer her question and continued with his storytelling.

“We captured the assassins and interrogated them yesterday. I’m not sure if you already heard it from your brother or father, but one of the assassins mentioned an interesting name. He said a man named Julio was behind the bombing.” Noah stared at Tatiana directly, like he was reading her. Tatiana managed to keep her straight face.

Noah then turned serious. His smug and casual face was gone, and now he has that cold and dark face that would scare anyone who saw him.

“Unlucky for the assassins, I know who that Julio is. You see, I was behind a tree the whole time that mysterious man fought with the assassins. And I know that the name Julio was the name mentioned by that mysterious man.”

Tatiana’s eyes widened. He knew who that Julio is, but why is he really saying this?

“Let me tell you something, Anastasia... A few weeks back, in the outer part of the South, I also saw a similar man. He was fighting with three bulky men to save a poor child. I was amazed by his skills that I only got to observe from afar. However, I was also able to notice and got something from it. For a brief moment, his hood went down, and I was able to see his silver hair and purple eyes.”

Now, Tatiana became even more speechless and nervous.

He saw me! Does he already know? Just what is it, Crown Prince?!

“His fighting style was similar to the one I saw the other night in the forest. I knew right away that they were the same man.”

Tatiana was unable to speak and only looked at Noah. The wall she built was starting to crumble, and her emotions were starting to show.

He knows...he definitely knows!

Noah leaned forward and looked directly at Tatiana’s eyes. She trembled under his gaze.

“So, tell me Tatiana...or should I say, Julio...who are you?”

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