Chapter 9 Who Is Isabella Montague
\[YOU HAVE TEN HOURS LEFT. YOU HAVE NOT BEGUN DRAFTING YOUR CONTRACT\]
Maeve ignored the message, her eyes focused on the male in front of her. Lucien downed the glass of smoothie almost instantly— an act that made it clear he really trusted her because he didn’t even doubt what the contents could have possibly been for a second.
When he was done, he handed her the glass. She smiled, receiving it as she said, “Good?”
“Yes,” He had the widest smile on his face as he said, “Where did you think of mixing fruits together? It’s very brilliant. You’ve always been so smart, Isabella,”
Maeve wanted to roll her eyes and tell him that it wasn’t as big of a deal as he was making it sound but she knew better than that. She looked better at least, which was mostly because she had successfully had a hot shower, ate all the meals presented— all, she wasted not one, and dressed herself in the only thing that would not restrict her movement.
Stable clothes.
“Would you be going somewhere with your horse again, Ella?” Lucien’s voice drew her attention, and did the same with the other horses around, Maeve noticed.
She also noticed that he worked alone. She saw someone walk in once to announce Maeve’s arrival. The girl looked like she was going to turn into a pumpkin in the blink of an eye but he barely even said a word to her. All he did was grunt and grumble until she appeared and he started acting like a normal person.
\[LIKE A DOG. DO YOU LIKE DOGS?\]
Maeve did not. She didn’t like animals. They were mostly naive and kind and selfless. It hurt her to hurt them and in her past life, she could barely survive herself, talk less of having another pet. In this life, she didn’t want a human sized one. “I heard you’re the one who’ll be going somewhere,”
“Ah,” He reached out to scratch his head. “I wondered if you remember. You’ve been acting very… different recently. I thought that maybe… maybe you’re so strange now because you’re sad that I’m going away,”
A wheeling sound echoed through Maeve’s head before it slowly flashed the numbers 2+2=74? How did those two things connect? Why would he assume that—?
A bright bulb flashed through her head.
\[YOU WOULD NOT DARE—\]
Maeve didn’t read the rest of the message on the screen as she held her head. “Oh— oh, my head hurts,”
Almost as if she lost her balance, she placed the back of her hand on her temple… and swooned. He caught her instantly, Maeve opening one eye to stare at him. She watched as he looked scared, carrying her bridal style in the blink of an eye to a heap of hay. “Just rest, okay? I’ll call in the Doctor—”
Maeve sat up at the speed of light. “I am well! Plus, why do you people call either the doctor or the priest? It feels very confusing. And I’m quite sure that man is a quack,”
Lucien looked confused as he scanned over her body. “You… you passed out—?”
She placed a hand on his shoulder. “And you caught me. Thank you. Whatever will I do without you?”
\[… YOU REALLY ARE CRUEL\]
\[APPROVAL RATING 10+\]
Of course, Maeve noticed his growth of approval ratings differed from everybody else— slower, but that didn’t matter now. His eyes moved to her hand on his shoulder then ever so slowly, he looked like he was about to explode from both panic and excitement as he said, “I-I t-try my b-best, my L-Lady,”
It was at that point she realized he was on his knees staring at her with adoration in his eyes while he blushed all at once that she realized she had never been blushed at by anyone before in her previous life.
She wanted to see more of it.
No, Maeve! Lock in!
“No, I mean seriously, whatever will I do without you?” She placed another hand on his other shoulder, her eyes filled with fear as she asked, “Do you really wish to leave for your knighthood exam?”
His confusion seemed to worsen. “Ella, you were the one who told me to go for it,”
The sound of glass shattering to the floor echoed through her head as a memory flashed through her head. A scene she had read before— Isabella would tell Lucien to leave with her blessings. He fights hard to climb the ranks of the Imperial Army and dies fighting.
Of course. He was a minor love interest. It was only expected.
Maeve wasn’t sure what to do here. His death… she wasn’t sure if it was a major plot point to the overall storyline. Plus, would she interrupt something canon if she kept him behind? And why in the lord’s name did Isabella send him off to the army?
“I’m going to be honest with you,” Maeve had no plans on being honest to anyone. “I took a walk out to see a friend, I hit my head and poof, no memories whatsoever. Just gone. But you see the thing is I can’t remember this… friend, a-and I was hoping you could tell me where I was going? Maybe?”
There was silence then ever so quietly, Lucien spoke, “But… but you remember me?”
“How could I not? You are literally my best friend,”
Maeve thought she was laying it on too thick and he wouldn’t buy it, but just then, Lucien stared at her like she held the sun in her hands and said it was his. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking everywhere but at her, “Well, you were getting a little secretive, and distant. I just summed it up as you feeling pressured about your Presentation Day. You were fully aware of the responsibilities placed on you and knew you had to be at your top best so you… you kept your distance from me,”
… he didn’t know either? But that didn’t make sense. The Isabella she wrote was supposed to be naive and innocent. Naive people rarely kept secrets. And why was she so pressured about it? Maeve tried to think about other scenes she read but the woman had skipped many parts of the story because of how cringe she found it so she was drawing an intense blank.
“How was she— I like?” Maeve asked. “Before now. How was I like?”
“T-To me or—”
“Everyone.”
Lucien paused. He looked like he was thinking before he said, “Many would say that you were… quiet and kind. You kept to yourself most of the time since your parents rarely let you out in fear that you would be harmed. Very prim and proper and you kept to yourself mostly. You also have a very weak heart so you visited the Doctor regularly but there are… some that will say you are spoiled and selfish. But that is not… that is not true at all. You must not listen to them.”
Quiet and Kind. Perhaps. The spoiled and selfish part, Maeve agreed. The witch was the reason her family was drowning in nothing instead of coins!
Still, this amazed her slightly. Her character was supposed to be introverted but chirpy and friendly. A weak heart? She didn’t add that. Or she couldn’t remember? She wasn’t sure. And why were her memories suddenly now foggy? Why couldn’t she remember other details?
“Lucien,” Maeve started, “I know this might not compare to being christened as a knight but it seems you’re the only one who truly knows me, and now, we can’t let anyone find out about my memory loss. Things are… fragile for the Estate as is, so it’d be best to have someone that can fill in the gaps and I can trust. Will you be willing to be my personal guard?”
Yes, Maeve thought, This will keep me more aware of things Isabella will do or say in public. Lessens my chances of being threatened by someone else again.
Lucien was bowing his head, one hand on his chest as he said in his low rich voice softly, “I swear it. To honour, protect and guide you for all eternity, till the world ends and the gods return,”
\[APPROVAL RATING 20+\]
\[ALTERNATE KEY BEAT ACTIVATED. ACCEPT?\]
The last sentence scared her. Alternate Key Beat. NACE had mentioned that key beats were important but this… this seemed to remind her of the fact that if she accepted her, the probability of her chilling might lessen.
Still, her mouth moved ever so softly as she said both to him and the system, “I accept,”