[Spoiler: A chapter on wasps, with no wasps.]
[Additional Disclaimer: Mentions of emotional and physical abuse and depression.]
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"Prince Emal? Prince Euncd? What are you two doing here?" Anne felt startled. Why were they here? They weren't supposed to be here this early. Could it be that the future had changed because she herself had made changes to the original plot? But, in a way, it was a good thing. Now, they could take care of the wasps more efficiently. Even though she disliked Emal, and even Euncd to an extent, she had to begrudingly accept that they were far stronger than she was.
"No, Annette. What are you doing here?"
Emal's question made her pause. Why was he asking her this? Did he think that she was up to mischief again? Anne could swear that she found Emal's overbearing nature, when it came to Penelope, very annoying.
Anne sighed. "What exactly do you mean by that? Do you think I'm trying to bully Penelope again or something?"
"What? Not that!" Emal said, his entire face red with rage. "I mean what are you doing here with him! " He pointed a figure Maurius who just cocked his head.
"Prince Emal, you might be misunderstanding something... " Maurius raised his hands with a small smile, trying to calm him down.
"Shut up." Emal said. He turns to the Marquis. "I did not ask you anything. So do not speak a word. Lest I-"
"Host. There's a bit of a problem." Lily approached Anne and wrapped herself around Anne's arm. "There's no sign of any demonic presence."
Anne frowned. "No sign...?" That wasn't possible. Azzy had confirmed the presence of something evil in the mines, two weeks before. Was it possible that the wasps had left within those two weeks? But where could've they gone?
Or were they hiding?
"Annette, look at me when I'm talking to you!" Emal, meanwhile, was growing more aggressive by the second.
"Give me a minute, Emal. " Anne frowned. "I'm trying to assess something."
Emal grabbed her by the shoulder. "Stop making excuses!" He was shouting in her ear now. "What are you doing here with the Marquis?!"
Lily flared up when Emal grabbed Anne. She puffed up her hood and raised herself before she hissed at Emal, her fangs bared. "Don't touch her!" She still had her tail wrapped around Anne's arm. But she popped in between the two, to ward him off.
Emal looked surprised. He hesitated a little, leaning back to take a better look at Lily. "You..." He noticed her little wings and raised an eyebrow. "... A familiar?"
Anne placed her palm over Lily's head and gently pulled her back. "Shh, Lily. It's okay. " Lily, in return, rolled her head against her palm, as a sign of soothing. Anne looked at Emal. "Don't mind her, please."
Emal stared at Lily, squinting his eyes. "Since when... did you get a familiar? I thought you couldn't use magic. "
"As if you keep tabs on what I do and don't. " Anne muttered.
Emal massaged his forehead. Wasn't she supposed to be sick? What else had she been doing behind his back all this while? "Whatever. You still haven't answered my question. "
Anne sighed. Did she have to report every movement of hers to him now? "The Marquis was showing me his diamond vein. Since it's new, I was just worried that-"
"Don't lie to me." Emal said slowly. He towered over her, his presence overpowering. Anne could feel his magic aura strengthen around him as he glared at her through bloodshot eyes.
Lily grew all the more hostile and Anne took a tentative step back. "... What are you trying to say?"
"That you've been seeing the Marquis behind my back and have the audacity to pretend to be innocent."
Anne was taken aback. "P-Pardon? What in the world are you talking about? There's nothing between the Marquis and I, Emal. I'm genuinely here just because I'm worried about the state of his vein. Remember the accident in Seram? When the miners disturbed large serpents? It's a common occurrence so I wanted to... you know, be absolutely sure that the vein was alright."
Emal didn't look particularly sold. "And then what? If something was residing here and it came at you, you'd be able to ward it off? Annette, you've never lifted a finger, a day in your life."
Anne soured. "Well of course I'd try! Besides, the Marquis was with me! He'd help!"
"Host, you shouldn't give this runt so much of your time." Azzy whispered, still maintaining his guise as her hat. "I do not like the fact that I can't feel the presence of the wasps anymore either."
"Then... Could you've been mistaken?" Anne said. Not that it made sense to her. None of this complied with the original plot of the novel. Had she done something that had made this change? Even if she had... What was it?
"Am I mistaken?!" Emal yelled. "How dare you accuse me of misunderstanding, woman!"
Anne returned her attention to Emal, her inner dissent towards him growing. "What? No! I'm not talking to you. I'm talking with my familiar. Something feels wrong about this place, Emal. Can you seriously give me a minute and allow me to figure out what's happening?"
"Oh, so now you care so much, since it has to do with the Marquis' mines." Emal's face grew redder and redder and it looked like he'd burst into flames any minute. "There's never been any danger here! The Marquis requested mages from MY court to investigate and they found nothing. You think that you, with your tiny familiar whose essence is negligible, will be able to discover anything substantial?"
Anne's lower lip trembled. Why? Why was he saying these things to her? Right in front of others, as well. Sure, she'd messed up. She could not prove to the others that there really had been wasps here. She didn't understand why this deviance was occuring and had made a fool out of herself. But it had been the Marquis who'd suggested they check the mines so she could be assured of its safety. But now, Emal had popped up out of nowhere and had begun to just, what, question her every move?
"You can't do this to me, Emal." Anne said, her voice small but adamant. "I was just worried. I-I know it's stupid since I can't prove that there's anything in here right now, but I swear I had sensed something before!"
"You had?" The Marquis looked interested.
"Stop it. " Emal's hands squeezed into a fist. "Just accept the fact that you'd dragged the Marquis along here to seduce him. All because of the fact that you're jealous I spend more time with Lady Penelope!"
Anne gapped at him. How delusional could a man be? Seriously, how did her fiance have the talent of twisting around everything and making it about him? "This has nothing to do with Lady Penelope or you. For Goddess Aria's sake, can I not make decisions that do not involve you? "
"So I should believe that you suddenly care for the sake of others now?" Emal drew closer, his voice shaking.
Anne took a step back at the sudden movement. She was starting to feel uncomfortable. There was something at the pit of her gut that was telling her to run. She cringed when he raised his hand at her, expecting to be hit.
"Emal!" Euncd called out to him from behind and Emal paused his hand in the air. It came back to his side.
But for Anne, it had brought back bitter memories. Memories that were not her own. These, belonged to the original Annette. Emal had only ever raised his hand at her twice. The first time, when Penelope had wrongly accused Annette of destroying her needlework for an embroidery competition. The second time, when Emal had caught her bullying Penelope for being kind to everyone (especially every man who approached her), and indirectly calling her promiscuous.
Anne looked away. She wanted to leave. She really did. Being in front of Emal made her skin ick with goosebumps. "I've told you that I've been trying to change, haven't I? Why's it so hard for you to accept that?"
"Not once have you been kind to Lady Penelope and you've always caused problems to the people around you. Why have you changed so suddenly? All of this is a gimmick to get my attention, is it not?"
Again. Emal kept saying the same thing again and again. It made her want to scream at him. Why couldn't he realise that she wasn't like the original Annette and she really was trying to fix things? Everything she did was put under scrutiny, through the lens of whether she had ulterior motives. Did he really distrust Annette this much?
"For the umpteenpth time, Emal, it has nothing to do with you or Penelope!" Anne's patience was waning. "I apologised to her didn't I? And on multiple occasions I've told you that I'll stay away. You're the one that keeps coming up to me and accusing me of things!"
"Because I know you're not changing from the 'goodness' of your heart, Annette! You've always been selfish and petty. A bully to those around you because you think everyone is beneath you!"
The realisation finally settled in the pit of her stomach. Emal didn't care if she was trying to change. He didn't care if Anne had been doing something out of worry or kindness. No, Prince Emal Badeaux had framed a rendition of Annette in his mind and irrespective of what she did, he would still see her as the selfish, incorrigible and cruel brat from before. It didn't matter if Annette wanted change. Emal hated her and he hated anything she did.
Hah, what a suffocating existence a villainess has. Anne took in a deep breath and stared at Emal, her voice cold with insurmountable anger. "Do you even want me to change, then?"
It was Emal's turn to be confused. "What nonsense are you spitting?"
"You don't care that I am trying my hardest, do you? " Anne said. "You've decided that I'm the next incarnation of evil, which is why, no matter what I do, you find ways of looking down at me. Damned if I do and damned if I don't."
"What? No, that's no exactly what I... " Emal stopped. Anne was right, wasn't she? He couldn't imagine her changing. But now, staring back at Annette with her eyes glistening and her arms crossed against her chest- as she did whenever she felt vulnerable- Emal was starting to feel that maybe, just maybe, he'd really misread Annette's intentions.
No. No. That wasn't possible. Anne hadn't changed in years. There was no way she'd change so suddenly, out of the blue. Could she?
"If you despise me this much, Crown Prince, then let's annul our engagement." Anne said and Emal realised that she was slipping from his grasp.
"What? Don't be ridiculous-"
"You should be happy. After all, I'm the one who wanted the engagement in the first place. If I'd known you hated me this much, I'd have never insisted to keep up our engagement."
But if she annuls it, I'll lose my backing from the Duke! "Annette, don't make such decisions with haste. E-Engagements can't just be broken off like that-"
"I'm done." Anne walked past him. "Please never speak to me again. I really have had enough."
"Annette!" Emal called to her but she did not look back.
"Lady Annette, you shouldn't take such a drastic decision alone." Enucd spoke as he watched her walk past him. "You might regret-"
"What I do and dont is between me and Emal, and our respective families." Anne gives him a quick, indifferent glance. "It shouldn't be one of your concern, Prince Enucd."
"... " Enucd did not say anything further.
Anne eventually stopped before the Marquis. Old memories kept rushing back to her. Of Emal's treatment of her. Of her having to watch him take Penelope's side instead of hers. Again and again and again. Till Anne began to spiral into self-hatred and depression.
The feeling of emptiness never went away. The harder Annette had tried, the further she'd felt abandoned by the one man she'd ever loved.
She didn't hear Emal calling for her at that moment. Even if she did, her brain refused to acknowledge it. Anne was on the verge of a breakdown and she had to get away, no matter what. It felt like her head was under water, everything sounded stirred, heavy and indecipherable. Her chest burned.
It hurt. Everything hurt so much.
"Lady Annette." A gentle hand was placed upon her shoulder. The voice that spoke to her was warm. Like the first ray of sun on a wintry morning. "I'm sorry you had to go through all this. Thank you for worrying about me and my people. But I understand now that I shouldn't have brought you along here alone."
Anne looked up through a bleared vision. The Marquis was smiling at her, his gaze gentle and understanding. He looked apologetic, his hand upon her shoulder like an anchor. "I shouldn't have brought you here this late. Please accept my heartfelt apologies. I never meant to cause a drift between you and your betrothed."
"No, please dont apologise." Anne wiped her tears. Her cheeks were warm but Maurius' kind voice put her at ease. "It's not your fault, Lord Maurius. But thank you, for entertaining my untimely request." She smiled at him.
From afar, Emal watched with realisation that his aggression had only pulled Annette away from him and had brought her closer to Maurius instead.
"May I escort you back to the mansion?" Maurius offered Anne.
"Ah, yes, thank you... But I don't think I'm in the state to attend the party for now."
"Oh, no, that's completely fine." Maurius gently took her hand. "Please rest at my guest room for a while. My butler makes fantastic tea, you might enjoy it."
"Ah but... I don't mean to intrude... " Anne said but she was allowing Maurius to lead her back to his mansion.
Maurius chuckled. "You're not intruding at all, my Lady. If anything, I wish you'll be able to soothe your mind at my abode."
Anne flushed slightly. "Alright. I suppose... I'll take up the offer."
This was nice. It was soothing. Anne followed Maurius back to his mansion. Her heart felt less burdened now. Maybe that was a good thing.