Chapter 2

2 I wanted to hear what the storyteller had to say, too.

After all, as the main character of that gossip, I never knew that Pierce might actually have feelings for me.

Pierce raised his voice, cutting through the chatter. "I wasn't aware that I had feelings for the Princess."

He suddenly walked over to Sydney Langford and took her hand, facing the crowd.

"The only person in my heart has always been Sydney."

"It was her in the past, and it will only be her in the future."

His eyes softened as he looked at her, appearing almost afraid that she might be upset by the rumors.

Even though I had already realized he loved her, seeing it with my own eyes made my chest ache with a phantom pain.

I had never seen him look at someone like that.

To me, Pierce had never given so much as a second glance.

I loved him so much that I ignored my own reputation, shamelessly following him every single day.

But he found me annoying. Even when people mocked me, he remained cold.

"The Princess has no shame, chasing the General like a common girl," they would whisper.

"She's a disgrace to the royal family."

At first, those words hurt, and I would snap back at them. "How do you know the General doesn't love me?"

But he never defended me. He would only look at me with icy eyes.

"I truly have no interest in you, Princess."

"If you care so much about what people say, you should go back to the palace and be a proper lady."

I would only give him a silly smile and look at him with bright eyes. "I don't believe you."

I thought he was just being stubborn.

But now, looking at my ghostly self, I feel nothing but self-ridicule.

Genevieve, oh Genevieve. You should have known the truth a long time ago.

You should have known back when your brother tried to force his hand.

"If you won't marry Genevieve, she will be sent to the northern tribes as a peace offering," the King had threatened.

Pierce had answered without a moment of hesitation. "I am a man of low birth. I am not worthy of the Princess."

I had thrown a tantrum and insisted on going to the North to marry their leader.

At the time, he had tried to stop me. "The northerners are brutal. If you go there, your life will be miserable."

For a long time, I foolishly thought that meant he cared.

Why else would he say such things to me?