I’m Done Being Your Best Friend

“Have you been waiting for me here?”

“Yes.
I have something to talk about.”

Daisy was looking at me firmly.
From the look of it, I could already make a rough guess before she could actually say anything.
She must have wanted to talk about what happened at the ballroom earlier.

“Let’s come in first.”

“Don’t avoid it, do it here.”

Daisy grabbed my arm as I was about to turn around.
Did she think I would run away if she let go of my wrist? I could feel a tingling sensation from the wrist being held tightly.

Where did this strength come from? I looked down at Daisy’s slender wrist with a fed-up expression.
Unable to bear it any longer, I shook off Daisy’s hand.

“I’m not going anywhere, so let go of this hand and speak.”

As soon as her hand was shaken off, Daisy asked sarcastically.

“What is your deal?”

“What?”

She must be pretty upset by now. The commoner she ignored suddenly turned up as a duke after all.

But I pretended to be insensible about it.
At that, Daisy’s face became distorted.

“Logan is a duke.
You knew and met up with him on purpose, didn’t you? Isn’t that why you came to Cardiff and hung out with him?”

Daisy did not raise her voice.
But I could feel she was squeezing her anger in it.

The sight formed a smirk on my face.

Wasn’t it too different from the image that came to mind when one thought of ‘Daisy’? A beautiful and delicate aristocratic young girl who should always be protected.

She always spoke elegantly, and her behaviour was also gracious.

She was seldom on edge.
Cause everything around her went the way she wanted it to.

Maybe that’s why Daisy always had a friendly smile.
Like she was some kind of saint.

But I knew that Daisy’s appearance was a pretense.
Although she looked down on people in secret, if things did not go her way, sometimes she wouldn’t hesitate to put on a cold look.
 Wasn’t it the same as the situation right now?

“Tell me, Sienna, didn’t you know everything and purposely let me look hateful?”

“No.
Didn’t I say that I don’t judge people based on their status?”

I looked at Daisy with a pitiful look.

“I didn’t expect you to go this far, but I’m honestly disappointed.
Is this even the Daisy Moore I know? You mocked the duke and now you’re arguing with me.
Do you even have any sense of remorse?”

“What….?”

“You’re the one who spread the rumour and made them laugh at him.
It’s your turn to deal with the consequences now.
Even if your family comes to be at odds with both of the ducal houses, then that’s solely your responsibility.”

What happened today was her own fault.
Daisy kept her mouth shut and stared at me, as if she didn’t want to admit it.

You must have hated me before, but now you will have to loathe me even more.

I looked at Daisy as if I felt sorry for her.

“You can’t even ask the Duke for mercy now.
Because you mocked my dear friend in front of everyone.
Remember? I have told you, the Duke’s much more precious than you.”

I didn’t want to talk with Daisy here any second longer.
I gave a light pat on Daisy’s shoulder one last time.

“Good luck in the future, Daisy.
Even if things were to go wrong with the two dukes, what goes around comes around.”

“Ha…!”

I then turned around and walked away, leaving the trembling Daisy.

Today is such a great day. I left her and headed for the garden exit with light steps, as if I was walking on air.

***

At a tea house located downtown in Cardiff.

Unmarried aristocratic men and women were sitting by the window, talking to each other.

And in a corner seat, a man dressed in fancy clothes was very nervous, it seemed he was waiting for his date.
He clenched his hands on his lap and occasionally drank water on the table.

But as if his tension could not be eased, the man pulled out a pocket watch and checked the time, anxious all the while.

The time she was supposed to come had already passed.
She would have arrived sooner if she wanted to come.
When was she coming? It was when he grabbed a hold of the water cup for another sip…

Click clack click clack-

The sound of a woman’s shoes came from the side.
The man immediately turned in its direction.

It was the woman he had been waiting for.

“Oh, I’m sorry I’m late.”

The woman, wearing a milky dress with a rose brooch on her chest, was beautiful today.
She took off her beige hat decorated with ostrich feathers, revealing her bouncy, voluminous, braided hair.

She was gorgeous.
The man grinned as if he had not been waiting for her with an anxious heart.

“You look beautiful today, milady.”

It was an honorific he used with all due respect.
It was because the man was weak for the woman in front of him.
He had been trying hard to look good in front of her.

How long had it been since he last saw a woman this way? The man gulped nervously when he saw her collarbone exposed by the fine dress.

She sat across from him without taking off her coat.

“What would you like to order?”

The man picked up the menu board that had been placed aside.
He was ready to give her anything she wanted.

But she only shook her head.
She looked a bit down for some reason.

“No.
I will have to decline today.
And I don’t think we can talk for long.”

“Oh…”

The man looked at the woman in front of him, puzzled. I have a bad feeling about this. That thought crossed his mind for a brief moment, but he quickly erased it.

He thought he could see hope in their previous meeting.
He believed that his relationship with her would continue to go well.
With that hope of his, the man had been waiting to meet her until now.

However…

“It’s just that… I want to tell you that it will be difficult for me to meet you from now on.”

The woman said in a voice full of regret.

Unbelievable.
It was something the man never expected to hear.
Why? The last meeting was definitely not bad.
He could not accept her words easily.

The man who had been silent for a moment asked her in a confused tone.

“Why? I thought the lady’s response toward me was positive…”

“If I have to explain everything, staying here all day won’t even be enough.
I’m sorry, but I can’t go into detail.”

What on earth is going on? The man looked at her, bewildered.
Sure, he was slow, but he’s on the right track.
Or so he thought…

The woman said troubledly.

“You will be able to receive the official response from our family soon.
Still, since I have met up with you a few times, I thought I should tell you this in person.”

“My-…my lady!”

“If it’s not me, I believe you will eventually meet a better person.”

She didn’t even take off her coat, so it seemed she only came to say this.

The woman stood up from her seat as she no longer had the need to hear the man out.
As if she had no regret.

The hat was put over her blonde hair again.
Blue eyes, like the colour of a lake, looked at the man sadly.

“Then, farewell, Count Page.”