The Duke's Daughter Is A Villainess (16)

The rest of the week dragged on as Dahlia waited for the next outing to the palace. She completed small tasks here and there but she couldn't really put her heart into it.

She did make sure to play with Stella whenever she could in-between Stella's lessons, but even those times weren't enough to get Dahlia's energy up. She was just bored, and lethargic, and it wasn't until both she and Stella were on the carriage on the way to the palace that she finally started to brighten up again.

"You look excited... are you happy to see your boyfriend again?" Stella asked, eyes sparkling.

Dahlia knew no matter what she said, she couldn't convince Stella to stop believing that Lucas was her boyfriend, so she just went along with it. "Yes... I am. Since I don't get to see him too often."

"Is he angry that you have to be pretend engaged to the prince?"

Dahlia pursed her lips, looking at Stella's expression of pure interest and suddenly thinking that she and Buddy were strangely alike. "... I don't know... I haven't told him yet..."

"But what if he gets angry? The duke says that I should always tell him the truth even if I think it might make him feel bad, because it's always better than lying."

"I.... okay, you're right. I'll tell him.."

For the rest of the ride to the palace, Stella kept asking Dahlia questions about her and her supposed boyfriend Lucas. She kept asking for details about their relationship, and eventually Dahlia just had to keep inventing lies to keep Stella satisfied.

By the time they arrived, Stella was in higher spirits, but Dahlia was feeling strangely drained.

A butler lead Stella towards where the king was resting, while a maid lead Dahlia to the same room that she stayed in the last time she was here.

She had only sat down for a few minutes before there was a knock on the door.

"Um, come in?"

Instead of a maid coming in like she expected, it was Noah. Dahlia was silent as she watched Noah walk into the room and take a seat on the chair opposite her.

Whatever it was she was expecting to come out of his mouth, it was certainly not this: "I came here today to apologise."

"You... what?"

"I know that this fake engagement with me was not something that you wanted, and that my father just forced it on you. As well as that... I know that you truly care for Stella, and yet you have to bring her here every weekend... I'm just... I'm sorry."

Dahlia was surprised by his considerate side. Her memories of him (even though they were not really her own memories) just consisted of him glaring at her or ignoring her entire existence. Looking at him like this, through a slightly different lens, he seemed a lot more appealing than before.

"It's fine. I don't blame you for any of those things. She's your sister too. Maybe more your sister than mine, even. I won't hold any of this against you."

Noah seemed just as surprised by Dahlia's response as she was with his apology. Dahlia watched as the percentage above his head went from 0% to +4%. Oh... so she was making progress.

"Thank you, then... for being so open minded... and for treating my sister so well. I can tell she loves you and the Duke a lot. I'm glad she didn't have to spend any more time in the orphanage... just thinking about the possibility that she might've spent her entire life there if you hadn't found her... it makes me feel so guilty and sad."

Dahlia sighed, knowing that Stella's original ending really was tragic. "It's not your fault she ended up there, and it wouldn't be your fault even if she ended up staying there her entire life. She's here now, you might as well focus on trying your best to spend as much time with her while you can. There's no use dwelling on what ifs."

"...I see. You might be right. I'm... honestly I'm quite surprised. Before.. you gave me the impression that you were..."

"Ah, yeah... about that... as long as we're on the topic of apologies then I suppose I owe you one too, don't I? I really am sorry about the way I behaved before... chasing you around like that even though you repeatedly said you weren't interested... I just get really passionate about the things I like."

Noah laughed, now comfortable enough around Dahlia now to relax a bit. "It's alright. It's even a bit admirable, if I think about it. You were so straight forward with your feelings... I could never be that brave."

~Buddy? Is there an item that will help me win Noah over? Talking to him like this is kind of tiring....

[Host... you shouldn't be so lazy... but there is one item that might help.]

~What is it?

[It's a potion called 'Dream Lover' and it can be purchased for 70 points. Whoever drinks the potion will have romantic dreams about the Host for a week straight.]

~.... They're not... dirty dreams... are they?

[Host!!!! Of course not!!!!!! They're just cute, totally PG, romantic dreams!!!! Things like holding hands and hugging and kissing!!!! Nothing more!!!!!]

~Okay, okay. I was just clarifying. It's not like I'm a virgin, you know, dirty dreams would've been fine with me.

[!!!!!! Host!!!!! Don't think about things like this!!!!!!]

~Buddy... you're so innocent....

[Do you want the potion or not?????]

~Yes, please.

[Purchase completed. 70 points have been deducted from your points collection, rendering the total amount of points you have to 210. The 'Dream Lover' can now be found in your dress pocket.]