I Don’t Want a Prince in My Life

Chapter 04: Name

“I believe you have mistaken me for someone else.”

I said with a smile and promptly closed the door.

After the door completely closed, I frantically tried to organize my confused thoughts.

I recognized the man inside the room and he called me Cecilia.

This meant that he came here after knowing who I was. I doubted that he had misspoken.

After being charmed by Angelica, he went from childhood friend to mortal enemy.

Yet here he was meeting a girl believed to have died somewhere in the wild. It was likely that he would take advantage of discovering me, capture me, and bring me as a gift to Angelica.

In that case, I had to run away from here.

But I hesitated.

I had finally achieved stability in my life.

My mother’s condition was turning for the better, so I couldn’t take her along on another journey without a destination in sight.

She was still in shock during the first journey, so that was okay, but I worried about how she would react now.

I recalled soothing my violent mother screaming at night and waiting for morning while holding back my tears.

The next morning, the landlord told me that if we were going to be this noisy, we better leave, so from that moment on, I covered both our heads with a piece of cloth and held down my mother.

In the blink of an eye, the youthful energy around my mother vanished without a trace and her face became so rugged that she looked like a completely different person.

It wasn’t just once or twice when she scratched my skin or bit me.

I was so tired of that life that I even considered abandoning her.

However, if I were to do that, I would essentially be doing what my father and Angelica wanted, and that frustrated me.

But I no longer had to deal with that suffering now, so why were Angelica’s remnants trying to steal my happiness from me again?

My mind raced through all kinds of plans.

Should I just run out of here and take my mother away?

Or should I enter the room again and insist that I was not Cecilia…?

That moment of deliberation felt like an eternity.

The doorknob in front of me unlocked and turned, bringing me back to my senses.

I suddenly cowered, thinking that I would be hit, but the face of the man before me was one I didn’t recognize.

He had apparently been in the room together with Albert as his escorting knight, but I hadn’t noticed.

In that case, I could relax a bit.

If this knight had never met Angelica, he would surely stop Albert if he were to suddenly attempt to punch me.

While Albert wasn’t the type to just punch people, I had seen too many people change because of Angelica so it didn’t hurt to be cautious.

“Please, come in.”

Prompted by the servant who appeared, I entered the room.

I almost forgot about the cart carrying the tea and utensils, but I remembered and pushed it inside with me.

Besides Albert and the knight, there was the glass-wearing servant inside.

I recognized him. I believe his name was Serge and he had accompanied Albert during his time studying abroad.

I felt their gazes drilling holes in me as I poured the tea, careful not to make a mistake.

Albert’s indigo eyes were fixed on me.

“Cecilia…”

His voice had a hint of sorrow.

I was taken aback.

What exactly happened to make him feel that way?

“I believe I said this before, but have you mistaken me for someone else?”

It was my mistake to cut my fringe when I fixed up my appearance as an interpreter.

Maybe I should have just cut my hair short.

I didn’t look much different from back when I cared about my appearance.

Except for aging one year and my hands becoming unbelievably rugged.

“Then, may I ask for your name?”

Albert was about to say something, but Serge interrupted and asked this instead.

He should be aware of how I looked, but maybe he was pretending to not have noticed.

“My name is Pia. I have no surname.”

“Pia…”

Albert muttered the name of a dead girl.

Hearing an old friend call me by my new name made me feel conflicted as if I truly had died.

“Pia, I—”

Albert looked like he was about to say something when a knock at the door interrupted him.

My employer and manager finally arrived.

I quickly bowed my head and excused myself to leave the room.

I knew that if I left here, nothing would be resolved, but I hoped that what remained of Albert’s compassion would pick up that I wanted him to forget seeing me here.