Heroine On Strike

He snatched her into his embrace quite like a man. To Ella, however, it only looked like a young boy’s childish act. Unaware of Ella’s heart moving further away from him, Cladis tried to think of words to persuade her, so he said, “I’ll let you go if you still hate me after a year. I do not wish for you to be miserable.”

“I would be even happier if you let me go right now. I will even thank you for that.”

As Ella’s words set barriers between them, Cladis became desperate, but he couldn’t think of any words to convince her. She would destroy that barrier the moment he told her that he would let her go. However, it was certain that she would leave him and never look back. Just the idea of being alone after she left made his heart ache. If she truly left him, the thought of it would pain him even more, and loneliness would forever haunt him.

‘What would I do if I have to live forever with that pain?’ wondered Cladis.

“I’m sorry, but I will be so miserable if I do that. Will it make you unhappy if I try to persuade you for a year?”

Ella clicked her tongue at Cladis, who was no longer confident and stern in his insistence. Instead, he was making a sad expression like an abandoned puppy. The filter she had made for every word she heard from him as disgusting had gained a fine crack. No, it wasn’t a fine crack as it had gotten a bit of a large opening that allowed it to come through and tap her heart. This worked better than his apology.

‘Damn a*sh*le. He struck on Ella’s weakness!’

The actions that Cladis often used when he wanted something from Luciella or when he had made a big mistake worked on this Ella as well. She couldn’t say “no” while looking at such a face. It was as if a character inside a comic book ripped out of its book by using its best skill to save the day from the swamp of depression caused by the stress of ordinary life.

In this case, the problem was that the one who gave that stress and the one who came out of the book was the same a*sh*le. …But it was still very effective.

Cullan was the favorite character, but Cladis was the most beloved character for being the main protagonist. After coming into this novel’s world and seeing him, she noticed he had an even more handsome face than she imagined.

‘If it weren’t for his stupid actions, I would’ve shown him what it was like to fall in love at first sight,’ thought Ella.

Cladis’s good looks were powerful enough to make her feel sorry. Honestly, she was tempted. It was to the point that she almost forgot about Clara for a second. Looking at the expression that made her longing for more, even when reading it, made her act on instinct.

She wasn’t even sure if these feelings were hers or remnants of Luciella’s, which remain in her body and control it. Still, she couldn’t just nod after thinking of what might happen after being tempted.

‘I have to reject him. Let’s think it through again after I get out of here.’

Ella barely got herself to listen to the logic and faced him. Even while she was thinking it through, he didn’t falter one bit from his sad expression, looking at her. She thought hard about what he had said, trying to find words he couldn’t counter. Then she finally remembered the words that could give the final blow.

“You said you didn’t need me. Would I be happy to be courted by such a man?”

After Ella countered, Cladis flinched and looked away. The memory of that day was the worst, no matter how he put it or thought about it. Then he replied, “That day, I was not myself.”

“Oh? Was it because your date with Clara was interrupted?”

“NO! I knew right away that you came when I saw the Flower of the Empress blooming. That’s why I ran straight to you, but you told Cullan that you wouldn’t become the Crown Princess. I lost myself when I heard that.”

He shouted in protest when he said no, but his voice faltered and was barely audible by the time he was saying he had lost his mind. Cladis was ashamed and angry whenever he thought of the day.

***

The flower from the Glass Garden that day was raised at the empress’s palace. It was famous for responding only to the empress and its spouse. When the two of them enter the palace with the flower, the flower always blooms, letting out a mesmerizing scent.

There was one flower at the palace of the Empress within the Duffspe Empire, and another came into the country from the Martin Empire while trying to showcase the Glass Garden this time around.

Cladis, who had secretly visited the palace of the Empress quite often, realized right away when he saw the giant flower bud, ‘Flower of the Empress!’

It was a bit far away, so he couldn’t read the sign that described its name and the other details, but its unique shape was enough to recognize. In the future, he wanted to get permission from his mother to stand in front of the flower with Ella once she grew up.

‘Will it give off such a lovely scent just like the book says?’

Cladis was always curious about what scent it would make and use it to confirm that Ella was his partner. There was no need to confirm it now, as he was certain that she was his partner.

The flower bud began to shake out of nowhere. It flinched by making a popping sound, then, with a breathtakingly mesmerizing scent, the flower blossomed.

“Ella?”

The flower bloomed white, contrary to the red color of the bud, and Cladis instinctively looked around, searching for something. Clara was looking at him in anticipation, but he just glanced at her and ran straight toward the entrance.

‘Ella. Ella must be here!’

His instinct told him that, and he trusted it. Cladis wanted to show that mesmerizing flower to Ella and tell her the meaning of that flower. ‘I should tell her that the flower blossomed the moment she walked into the Glass Garden. Then I will apologize to her for my rudeness from yesterday.’

Cladis thought of a grand plan as he ran, but he couldn’t proceed with any of his plans. His instinct was right, and she was there. When he arrived, however, Ella told Cullan that she was planning to break her engagement. With that, Cladis lost it. He wanted to find a place to hide whenever he thought about what he said after that.