Chapter 210 : Do I Still Have a Chance

The fireworks tonight were beautiful—probably. To Adeline, the world felt loud and chaotic, yet that noise gave her an odd sense of comfort.

Her mind was overflowing with thoughts—shame, regret, pain, longing—all tangled together. Only the deafening, unending explosions in the sky could drown them out for a while.

She had no idea how she made it back to the manor.

She only remembered saying goodbye to the other young ladies at the banquet. She remembered sitting in the backseat, dazed. She remembered pushing open her bedroom door. By the time she came to her senses, her pillow was already soaked through.

Her rose-colored hair was spread across the bedsheets, like shattered petals scattered across the bed.

Right now, Adeline was curled up tightly, hugging the plush toy Felyn had given her.

“How pathetic…”

Lying on her side, she stared at the night view outside the window.

The magic fireworks released by the Zervanie fan club were still going strong. She remembered what he said while they watched them together—that he wanted to be like the sun, shining light on everyone trapped in darkness.

“You always think of me in such a good light…” Adeline buried her head in the pillow, closing her eyes, trying to recall Felyn’s face.

She tried to force herself not to think about the moment she was rejected, but she couldn’t.

Felyn’s face, his voice, his smile—they surged through her like a rising tide, unstoppable and overwhelming.

Was Felyn really going to leave her forever? Was her future truly going to be one without him?

Adeline didn’t have an answer. All she knew was that she didn’t want it to end like this.

She wanted Felyn by her side—no, she wantedherselfto be byhisside.

Slowly, Adeline sat up from the bed and adjusted her fallen shoulder strap.

She moved to her suitcase, tossing out the clothes inside until she finally found a carved wooden box. Carefully, she placed it on the table.

Inside was a sheet of parchment.

It was the contract with Felyn. There were still two months left.

Adeline gently pressed the parchment against her chest, clinging to the only thing that still connected her to him.

Her mind was too muddled to think of what to do next.

And with no one to confide in, all she could do was hold tightly to this one piece of him.

Catching her own reflection in the glass, she saw how haggard and miserable she looked—and suddenly, she laughed.

“To think I’d see the day... a complete and utter failure.”

She stared at the girl in the mirror.

She hated this version of herself—helpless, able only to cry.

Just then, there was a soft knock at the door.

“Miss Adeline, Lady Linda is here.”

This friend of hers hadn’t been invited to tonight’s banquet by the princess.

“Linda?”

Adeline slowly sat in a chair and placed the contract back in its box.

“Adeline... are you okay?”

The golden-haired young lady wore a short green uniform with a red ribbon tied at the collar.

Linda was a beauty in her own right, but her light was always outshone by Adeline’s brilliance.

“What are you doing here?” Adeline quickly wiped her face with a tissue, her voice hoarse.

“Huh? I told you through the communication seal,” Linda said as she walked over and reached out to check Adeline’s forehead.

She was afraid the young lady of the Claude family had become so heartbroken she’d lost her memory.

“When… did I say that?”

Linda pulled out her seal to show her. Their conversation logs were still visible.

“These… I sent these?”

Seeing the messages, Adeline finally recalled she had told Linda about what happened.

And when Linda asked if she could come over, Adeline—still in a dazed state—had unconsciously replied with a simple “Mm.”

“You’re not regretting it now, are you? I even went out of my way to buy you a little cake.”

Linda placed the cake on the table. She began slicing it into neat pieces while watching her dear friend closely.

She had never seen Adeline like this before.

Her elegance shattered, leaving behind nothing but tragic beauty.

“Come on, eat. Isn’t this your favorite?”

She pushed a slice in front of Adeline and stood with her hands on her hips, watching as she didn’t move.

Adeline only bit her lip, strands of hair clinging to her mouth as she stared at the cake.

“Don’t tell me just looking at this reminds you of Felyn. And don’t tell me you’re wishing he were here to feed it to you.”

At those words, Adeline’s gaze started to wander. Her lashes fluttered as if panicked.

Linda couldn’t hold back anymore.

“You seriouslyarethinking about Felyn!”

“Want me to wear a mask or something? I’ll paint Felyn’s face on it and feed you by hand.”

“No, that’d be way too creepy.”

At last, Adeline’s mood lifted just a bit. The corners of her lips twitched into a faint smile.

“Thank you, Linda. Have a seat.”

“No need to thank me. It’s what friends are for. But... would you mind telling me what happened? Talking about it might help.”

“But…”

“If I wasn’t someone you could talk to about this, then what kind of person would I be? Besides, there’s no way I could go up against the Claude family,” Linda said as she sat beside Adeline and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

That final hesitation faded from Adeline’s heart, and she began telling Linda everything that had happened earlier.

Felyn’s every move, every glance, every word she had said—she told it all.

Even the part where she had misunderstood Felyn’s feelings.

Everything—except the contract.

After hearing the full story, Linda was stunned to realize that Adeline still believed Felyn had feelings for her.

And even more surprised by just how deep Adeline’s feelings ran.

“Felyn… what’s your secret, huh?”

Not content with having Miss Viloti at his side, now even Adeline had become like this.

This wasAdeline, for goodness’ sake!

“At least you had the courage to confess,” Linda said gently. “If you hadn’t, things would’ve just stayed vague between you two. Now, at least, tonight can be a new beginning.”

“Is that really true?” Adeline hugged one knee with one arm and took a small bite of the cake with the other. “Felyn doesn’t like me anymore anyway. What’s the point of dieting now?”

“Exactly. Think about it—if you kept thinking Felyn liked you, that’d be awful. What if he ends up with Miss Viloti? You’d realize too late that he never liked you to begin with, and by then it’d be too late to do anything.”

Adeline licked the cream off her lips, thinking to herself that Viloti wasn’t the only one around Felyn. There was also Miss Zervanie, Princess Dorothy, and probably a few other gorgeous girls she hadn’t even met yet.

Felyn, just how many girls do you know? How many clients do you have?

It felt like they couldn’t even be counted on one hand.

“But hey, that’s not entirely a bad thing. You cleared up a misunderstanding before Felyn ended up with someone else. That means you still have a chance to go after him. Go after him…”

Adeline looked at Linda.

“Do you… do you think I still have a chance to win him over?”

(End of Chapter)