“I’m fine,” I said, staring after the direction the baroness had gone in.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I—”
The baroness was back.
The girl on her arm was a dainty, blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty that I thought I might recognise with my eyes closed. Even the fairytale light blue gown she wore was exactly as I expected, and it was one I could describe with my eyes closed if I had to.
I was going to throw up.
She wasn’t supposed to be here.
Not yet.
I wasn’t ready.
“Lady Alicia, Your Highness, may I introduce my charge, Lady Lillia de Armand.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Real Heroine
“It is my honour to greet Your Highness, the Grand Duke of Stein and First Prince of the Sada Empire,” Lillia said, curtseying deeply. “And the honourable Lady Alicia Vermillion.”
Each word was like a stab in my heart.
Something was wrong.
In the book, Lillia’s debut had been at theautumnball, not the spring hunt. This was five months too early for her to appear.
What was she doing here? What was going on?
Although… was this a good thing? After all, in the book, Kalon fell in love with Lillia the moment he first saw her. I’d been counting on having to wait six months until that happened, but if that was happening now after only a month…
Was this my way out of this engagement? It would be for the best, because God only knew my heart was thumping for Kalon far more frequently than it had any right to.
If the fate of Alicia Vermillion was to fall for Kalon, then getting out before that truly happened to me was a good thing.
But Kalon… Our relationship was vastly different to the one in the book. It wasn’t a cold or bitter arrangement, but rather one of warmth and banter and even attraction on both our parts. Would that affect his feelings for her?
I peered over at him. He was eyeing Lillia closely, but I couldn’t tell if the shadow in his gaze was one of suspicion or interest. If it were the former, what did that mean?
After all, Lillia’s soul was from my world, and she also believed this world was from a book.
Wait.
Her soul was from my world.
She knew this story.
How could I have forgotten that? That meant she already had a preconceived idea of who Lady Alicia was—and that she’d have no idea I wasn’t the person she thought I was.
Did that mean we could be friends? Could we bond over having left our past lives behind?
Thump. Thump. Thump.
No.
