A Cold-Hearted Prince Who Has Had 23 Engagements Broken off Is Manipulated by a Useless Young Lady From the Countryside - Chapter 12

As she got closer to the stables, the smell of a bonfire got stronger and she could see smoke rising.

She could hear people running and yelling.

“Okay, I’ve opened all the gates on the right wing.”

“Hurry! Have you checked that all the horses are here!?”

“Contact the mansion!”

In one corner of the Bahnhof mansion was a large stable that looks like a small mansion.

It was a stone building with a high ceiling, and the right wing houses about 20 horses, and the left wing houses 8 carriages.

The entrance between the two wings is where the coachman and grooms sleep and wake up in shifts.

‘Fire…!’

Right wing… Smoke was rising from the stables where the horses were.

When Ophelia arrived, the stables were in a state of chaos with grooms and coachmen.

It seems there had been a small fire.

The groom noticed this and rushed into the stables to evacuate the horses.

While visibility was poor due to the smoke, he removed the bolts from the booths where the horses were.

The horses, frightened by the flames, rushed outside as soon as the booth doors were opened, causing confusion.

Animals instinctively fear fire.

The horses were also excited and raging.

The grooms and drivers were busy calming the horses and did not notice Ophelia’s arrival.

‘Huh? Leah is not there’

They noticed that Adonis’ beloved horse Leah was not among the raging horses outside.

“She’s my precious partner.”

They suddenly remembered the gentle look on Adonis’ face when he said that.

Their bodies moved before they could think. And so Ophelia ran into the stables, which were still burning.

Fortunately, the building itself was made of stone, so the flames were not very large.

Black smoke was rising from burnt straw here and there.

Despite poor visibility, Ophelia made her way cautiously through the spacious stables of the Marquis.

Soon, Ophelia heard Leah’s neighing.

“Leah!”

The bolt that she thought she had removed had fallen over and was stuck on the hinges, preventing her from getting out.

Leah was trapped in her booth while the straw was engulfed in flames, and she was in a state of panic in fear.

She was struggling, kicking the walls of the booth with her front legs.

“Leah! It’s okay now! Cough! Calm down!”

She called out to her gently as she quickly removed the bolt.

At that moment, Leah kicked open the booth door and ran outside as fast as she could.

Unfortunately, the door Leah kicked hit Ophelia, who was standing outside, directly in the face.

Sparks flew in front of her eyes from the impact. And then… he lost consciousness and collapsed.

Just then, Adonis and the others rushed over from the mansion outside the stables.

“Are you okay? Anyone hurt?” Marquis Bahnhof called out.

“Yes! We’re fine. No one’s hurt. All 20 horses have been checked and are unharmed!”

The stableman answered with a look of relief, though he looked tired.

“Ophelia? Where’s Ophelia?”

Mia and Demi, who had been looking around, let out a painful cry.

“Eh?”

Adonis, who had been stroking Leah, looked back at the two in shock.

“Ophelia came this way before us!”

“…!”

His heart pounded and he felt as if the blood in his whole body had frozen.

‘No way!’

The next moment, Adonis jumped into the stable, obscured by the smoke.

When Ophelia woke up, the first thing she saw was Adonis peering at her from close range.

She had been entranced by his deep blue eyes for a while, but Adonis’s voice brought her back to reality.

“Ophelia!”

“Lady Ophelia!” Mia and Demi were also crying next to her.

She then hurried off to call the Marquise.

Ophelia, now alone with Adonis, was confused and sat up.

For some reason, her head was throbbing.

“A-Are you okay!?”

“Um… so…”

She couldn’t comprehend the situation.

Suddenly, she noticed that Adonis’ face was pitch black with soot.

“Fufu, Lord Adonis, why is your face so black…”

Suddenly, he hugged her tightly.

‘…!?’

“Y-you’re safe.”

Adonis was shaking.

It would have been terrible if the flames from the straw had spread to the unconscious Ophelia’s clothes. Just imagining it would have been horrifying.

When he found Ophelia lying on the ground, he was so scared that his heart almost stopped for a moment.

He was so relieved to find out that she had just lost consciousness.

“Eh? Um, um… Leah, where’s Leah?”

“…Leah is safe. I see… that’s why you did something reckless.”

“Good! You were able to go outside with Leah.”

Adonis grimaced at the bump on Ophelia’s forehead.

“You idiot… you keep getting hurt because of other people. Take better care of yourself.”

Adonis was about to call her a loser, but then

“No… it’s my fault. It’s all my fault.”

Ophelia was confused by Adonis’ unusually serious eyes.

“N-no? Not really.”

She doesn’t quite understand what’s going on.

“… so… I’ll take care of you instead…”

Adonis gently brushes the hair off Ophelia’s forehead with trembling fingers.

“I’ll never let you hurt me again. Absolutely not.”

And then he gently kisses the bump on her forehead.

It’s her injured forehead that’s supposed to hurt.

Her chest feels like it’s being squeezed.

Ophelia realized. Her heart was beating so fast, it’s completely different from when Caroline’s brother kissed her hand.

— her own feelings that she’s been trying to hide for so long.

From that day on, Adonis’ attitude towards Ophelia changed a little.

How should she put it… he’s become kinder.

It was only slightly better than before, though.

One day, he said,

“Here, here’s this. It’s an apology for the bump.”

He threw a small velvet box to her.

Inside was a ring with a deep blue stone that looked just like Adonis’s eyes.

The moment Ophelia opened the box, her eyes were captivated by the blue.

‘Adonis gave me a present!?’

Her heart was beating fast at the first gift she received, and joy welled up inside her.

Unable to bear it any longer, Ophelia covered her mouth with both hands.

It was the sapphire that Adonis had personally visited a jeweler and picked out for her for the first time in his life.

For some reason, she wanted Ophelia to wear this gemstone all the time.

“I-I can’t accept something so expensive,” she said, but inside she was so happy she felt like she was about to cry.

“Oh, it’s cheap! I only bought it because I had the chance.”

“…”

“It’s cheap, so… you should wear it all the time.”

“All the time?”

“Yeah. Even when you’re sleeping.”

Adonis looked a little sulky.

‘So I should throw away the necklace he gave me.’ she muttered to herself.

Even Ophelia knew that this stone was expensive.

When she hesitated to accept it, she pressed on.

“This color, it, suits you quite a bit, doesn’t it?”

“It looks a little cuter than other colors… it’s not like it’s not.”

Was that so?

If she wore this ring, would she look a little cuter, even though she was poor?

Even if it didn’t look that way to others.

If it looks that way to him.

Adonis wasn’t the only one who changed.

Since then, Leah the white horse has become completely submissive to Ophelia.

The clever Leah probably realized that Ophelia saved her life.

Perhaps she also somehow realized that she had injured her.

It’s interesting to see how her previous pride as a royal and aristocratic person has disappeared and she has started to blatantly flatter her.

For example, when Ophelia gets off her back, she always avoids puddles and searches for dry ground on her own. And if Ophelia says she feels hot, she quickly moves to a shady area, truly catering to her every need.

She took Ophelia to her destination almost on her own, without Ophelia even having to take the reins. But Leah’s thoughtful service ends up causing a shocking incident…