Chapter 25: Marcy

"Your lessons will commence in the morning, Catherine. For now, Alpheus will show you around the castle. He has nothing better to do."

Ouch. Blatant disrespect from his mother.

Al stood stiffly, his happiness clearly dimmed, and held out a hand to help me off the settee. We bowed/curtsied to take our leave as the countess stayed behind to talk wedding arrangements.

"Uh, is she always like that?" I dared to ask.

He let out a heavy sigh. "Yes."

"What's her problem?" I demanded. "You just let her treat you like that?"

He shrugged helplessly. "It's all I know."

I didn't like the way he looked when he said that, like all hope was lost. The sadness in his eyes I had noticed in the beginning was back. No wonder he wanted to run away.

"Don't listen to her, she's full of it."

Al's eyes widened. I don't think he understood what I said but my tone was clear.

"I mean it. Don't let her get to you. Your value is your own; it doesn't come from anybody else so they can't diminish it unless you let them."

"You…have very strange ideas."

"Do I?"

It was something my mom told me once after I'd been picked on at school because I was a chubby kid with coke-bottle glasses who finished the homework way too fast.

"Mmhmm." It was a noncommittal noise but he seemed a bit happier. "I imagine you'll want to see the library or stables first?"

My eyes widened in anticipation. He had promised me a great library when he originally proposed.

"Library first!"

Al talked a bit about certain features of the palace as we passed various rooms and servants going to and fro. The architecture here was far more impressive than back at the earl's manor.

I was engrossed, drinking in everything I saw. So much so that I didn't notice when I bumped into a person.

Al pulled me out of the way, saving me from a head-on collision, but we still knocked shoulders.

"I'm so sorry!" the girl cried. "Please forgive me Your Highness!"

Your Highness? I wasn't any sort of Highness yet. Was she talking to Al?

"It was my fault, don't worry about it," I replied before nearly gasping aloud.

Marcy! I ran right into Marcy! I scanned Al's face for any signs of infatuation but didn't even find recognition. This was not good.

She curtsied deeply. "If you'll excuse me, Your Highnesses, I must get back to my duties."

I wanted to protest but she was already gone.

Al frowned at me. "You should really watch where you're going, you could have gotten hurt."

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"You…really don't know who that was?" I asked hesitantly, ignoring his admonition.

"No, should I?"

Yes. Yes you should. You're supposed to be in love with her.

"She's that bakery girl we were talking about earlier. You must have seen her before. She was there when we went together."

"Hmm, can't quite recall," he said before grabbing my hand unexpectedly and practically sprinting down the hall with me in tow. And he just told me I needed to be careful!

If this was my old body, I'd be wheezing and out of breath already but I was perfectly fine when we arrived at our destination.

"As promised, Lady Katie. The royal library," he announced with an expectant look in his eye.

My reaction did not disappoint. This place was at least ten times larger than the earl's library!

I scurried back and forth examining various shelves looking like the heart-eyes emoji. I turned back to him beaming for all I was worth.

"Al, this is amazing! I don't have the right words to describe it!"

A satisfied smile crossed his face. "I thought you might like it."

"Like it? How could anyone merely 'like' all of this?"

I was so dazzled that I nearly forgot the problem at hand. He didn't even know who Marcy was. He should have met her already. What had gone wrong?

My excitement leaked out of me like a deflated balloon. The only thing that was different was me.

Catherine du Pont wasn't in this novel. She wouldn't have danced around at the beach. She wouldn't have known how to treat that boy's jellyfish sting.

I vaguely recalled seeing someone in a gray cloak enter the bakery as Percy and I were leaving that day. If that was Al…he didn't meet Marcy because he was thinking about how weird I was.

Oh no.

He came up behind me and asked what was wrong. I was so lost in my thoughts that I nearly jumped out of my skin.

I peered up at him—he really did tower over this tiny body—and saw concern and indulgence on his face. It was an oddly tender look.

He couldn't…we were just partners in crime. Mutual means to an end. If he actually liked me the entire story would be ruined. But hadn't I already ruined it anyway simply by falling into it and coming to the capital?

What had happened to the non-existent Catherine du Pont in the novel? The duke was only interested in my political mind so she wouldn't have ended up with him.

She probably would have gotten married off to some random noble as nothing more than a pretty face. I had her face but it was no more beautiful than Marcy's would be with the same skincare routine as me.

The prince had noticed my actions. Mine. Katie Pullman's. This was bad. This was very, very bad. I needed to find a way to throw those two together!

"Katie?" he asked worriedly.

I smiled to reassure him. "I'm fine. Let's go check out the stables. I want you to pick the best horse for me personally since you know them better than I do."

He brightened instantly. "It would be my honor, Lady Katie."

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