Heroine On Strike

“She became like a different person on her birthday. Personality, behavior, and habits… None of it matches her original character. Now that I think about it, her family is a bit weird too. I never noticed this because she was so short-lived in the novel. Were her sisters treated better than her? Still, that doesn’t make me sorry for her. Let me see…”

Ella, placing herself onto her bed, flipped to the part where Clara had entered the Academy. As she continued to read the documents, she was becoming increasingly irritated. She rejected the role of the crown princess but reading how Clara worked to drag her down from the position made her feel annoyed. Hoping that her bed could alleviate her irritation, Ella laid on her bed while reading it.

Ella couldn’t hold back her scoff multiple times as she read. There were some parts in the documents that caused her to become so angry that she jumped up and threw a punch in the air in frustration. Afterwards, she continued reading and eventually noticed something. Clara had copied everything that Luciella had done to make Cladis fall in love with her in the novel within the past six months at the Academy. She also knew what his type of girl was, so she tried her best to fit those criteria. Meanwhile, she made sure that Ella was everything he despised: an arrogant, lavish and childish woman who already thinks she is the empress. A lady just like Aileena Drolin.

‘Wait. Aileena?’ Just the thought of that caused Ella to jump from her bed and began rereading the document for clarity. A smile formed on her face as she found the evidence she needed. All the lies that Clara had whispered to Cladis about Ella were actually about Aileena from the novel. Originally, Clara didn’t know what Aileena had done wrong when she sided with her in the novel. Now she was the one pointing it out to Cladis.

It was impossible for Clara to say such words unless she could see the future. In addition, she asked Cladis for his advice on questions that he himself had in the novel. Clara from the book wouldn’t have done that because she was a very simpleminded person. It was so astonishing that a clap was so natural.

“Wow. Look at how much she’s done in just six months. It must have been so hard. I mean, a man can’t resist flirting to this degree… he’s only 19.” 

In the end, she decided to accept what happened to Cladis. Clara was quite good-looking herself, so once she started acting like Cladis’s ideal type, he was an easy target. Besides, he was only a 19-year-old boy who was eager to love. Seventeen-year-old Ella might not understand her, but 38-year-old Ranhee understood this. Maybe it was also because she decided to stop this marriage that made it easier to accept. Ella expected Cladis’s state with joy.

“Good for him. With a little more work, Clara really might be able to pull me away from the role of crown princess.”

Because of Clara’s actions, Ella had a bit of hope. With everything she had done, it was apparent that Clara would try to take over every event waiting to happen during the Week of Beginning. Ella remembered Cladis calculating the outcome in coldness at her question and nodded. Maybe Cladis still had some sense in his head, but by the end of the Week, he surely would fall for her.

“Let’s go, Clara!” cheered Ella but then stopped. Then she began to think, ‘But she has been in contact with every other man in the book including Cullan… will she meet with him tomorrow then?’

She remembered what was going to happen tomorrow. There was no way Clara wouldn’t know the meaning behind meeting up with this person tomorrow. Everyone knew what it meant. This person was even more important than Cladis. If Clara had also read the novel, there was no way she would give up on that. Ella became overwhelmed with tomorrow’s competition.

The outdoor dress that Countess Setin tailored was much more stylish than Ella had requested. The chemise neckline had a layer of colorful clothes with delicate laces beneath them instead of embroidery from a master artisan for faster production. The dress had its arm long and puffy, finished at around the elbow area and a ribbon in butterfly knot made from the same clothes to give it an accent. The cloth that had a red base with purple patterns was used on the corset and the skirt, so it looked like it was already made in just one complete dress from the beginning. It was just like how she wanted, and it also fitted nicely with this world. She was satisfied with her new dress and headed to Evan’s office before heading out.

All night, Evan stayed up in his office looking for any signs that he might have missed. He had to ensure that he had all the details regarding this case as he needed to report it to the emperor and his father, the duke. But Evan couldn’t just walk over to them and tell them the way Ella told him, so he had to prepare. Knowing how the two of them were going to react if he mentioned Ella’s dream, he wasn’t going to include her name in his report. Having these kinds of dreams were signs indicating the next empress of the Duffspe empire. Although he had told her to give up trying to escape her marriage, Evan didn’t want to force her. So he had to find a way to explain without Ella’s dream. Evan began fiercely going through the data.

When Ella walked into the office, Evan was so fatigued that he looked 10 years older than he was. He stared at Ella, who was preparing to go out.