Heroine On Strike

“Are you alright, Ella?” asked Evan. 

Cullan had sent Evan instead of Ethan to her. “I’m alright. Where’s Ethan?”

“He returned back to the palace to run some errands for the crown prince.”

Ella frowned. But Evan frowned even more than his sister, and his voice was full of discontent as he answered her question. Although he wanted to tell her what he witnessed moments ago while searching for Ethan, he couldn’t. What he saw was something he wished he hadn’t.  

“Can you look into Lady Mellin?”

Hearing the name Mellin from Ella caused Evan to become increasingly frustrated and angry. He was certain that she had witnessed what he had seen earlier. He was almost ready to rush out of the terrace in anger. “Did you… see them?”

“Please don’t ask or do anything. I want you to find out what she was doing before entering the Academy, and there’s something that’s changed about her. Can you find out for me?”

Noticing Ella’s calmness, Evan let out a long sigh and asked, “Is there anything else you need me to do? You can ask me anything. I will do anything for you.”

“That’s all I need for now. Lady Mellin, let me deal with her. Please.”

Evan seemed like he wanted to erase Clara’s existence for Ella’s sake. But because his sister wanted to deal with Clara herself, he decided not to.

‘What if she’s like me… What should I do then?’ thought Ella. There were many options for her, but none of them consisted of killing Clara. She had to ensure that she was the one who chose how to deal with her and not any of her brothers. At that moment, Evan smiled and touched Ella’s cheek.

“Sure. I’ll wait for your decision. Whatever you decide to do, I’ll do everything in my power to make it a reality. Don’t endure the pain by yourself. Do you know what I mean?”

“Of course, brother. I will.”

“You’ve grown up. I can see why Maylin spoke so highly of you,” replied Evan who was proud, but also a bit sad. 

Ella placed her hand over his and said, “I was always a grownup compared to you. You were the one who kept trying to play with me, weren’t you?”

She spoke jokingly, and Evan laughed. His sister was now an adult. Still, he was irritated by the current situation. He was angry at the man who treated his beloved sister like this. Despite his anger, he decided not to reveal his feelings this time around. He didn’t want to disappoint Ella.

“Hahaha. You should take some rest.”

“No, I think it’ll be better for me to stay. Ethan’s not coming back home tonight, right?”

“It’ll take him at least three days to return home.”

“I see.”

Ella followed Evan out of the terrace. Three days weren’t enough to hide Clara forever, so what was Cladis thinking? ‘You didn’t want to say you chose Clara over Luciella, did you?’

She couldn’t understand what was on Cladis’s mind or what his intentions were. Ella shook her head and cleared her mind of those thoughts. She hated thinking about things that she couldn’t understand for long periods. Ella and Evan were finally back in the party room. She decided to forget about her current predicament and focus on the people who came to celebrate her debut instead. 

A beautiful smile appeared on Ella’s face once again. The party was filled with kind people because the duchess had handpicked individuals, who would only say good things to her daughter, to her debut celebration. People who were hostile to the duke also weren’t invited. Everything was perfect at her party. Well, almost perfect, to be precise. The only mistake was inviting the crown prince. Otherwise, the party was perfect for Ella except for the muscle cramps in her legs and the fake smiles she had to make.