I strode through the festival with Oscar, slowly enough that everyone could see us. Mother was wonderful, using God knows what dirt she had on the queen and promising with an innocent smile that she would make sure she stayed out of our way. Now, I could reassure high society that our relationship was as strong as ever.

“I’ve been rather busy lately, dealing with a few troublesome tenants. Still, I practiced a new song on the piano. Perhaps I’ll play it for you sometimes?”

He simply nodded, as cold as before. Our last interaction felt like a figment of my imagination, but I relished in the fact that it wasn’t. The aloof male lead had abandoned all propriety for me, and I had to take that as proof.

“Oh. How cute.”

A stuffed bear in a dart booth caught my eye. Its eyes were made of sapphires, and I recognized the craftsmanship as belonging to a renowned seamstress. We were at the high end of the festival, so the prizes were fitting in lavishness. The fee to play was more than a commoner family would spend over the whole night.

“One dart,” said Oscar.

The woman running the booth gave him a dart, and he got the farthest away target in one shot. The knights cheered. The woman handed Oscar the bear, and he gave it to me. I thanked him, smiling. The woman slyly pulled out another bear, identical, except that its eyes were rubies.

“They’re a pair, Your Highness. Would Your Ladyship like to try?”

I agreed and took a dart, handing my bear to Mikhail. I threw it, and it landed right next to the prince’s dart. The knights applauded again, and the woman gave me the bear. I gave it to Oscar, and he almost smiled.

We wandered around the festival. With our education in every known field, we won at all the booths we visited, just like previous years. Prizes piled up, so tall that Mikhail could barely see over them, but I trusted his instincts. I’d always liked the festival, especially since it was such a classic from the novels I’d read. In this novel, Catherine had come to the festival with Oscar, but clearly that wasn’t happening. I’d made sure the Bryants left her home, just to make her suffer a little more for all the inconvenience she’d been causing me, and I smiled at the thought.

Oddly, perhaps for the first time in this life, I felt like the true female lead. This pure happiness was what Catherine could’ve had, and this was what I’d successfully taken from her. Not the crown I’d secured as the villainess, which I still treasured over this, but simple joy and affection. What a splendid life she could’ve had, so unambitious but blissful! Alas, while I enjoyed this, I would always prefer the taste of power.

At one point, I glimpsed a purple tent.

“Ha, a fortune teller. Shall we go learn our futures, Oscar?”

“If you wish.”

I’d never gone to a fortune teller in this world yet. At the moment, it felt ironically comical. We went inside the tent and saw a strange woman in a veil.

“Hello, Your Highness and Your Ladyship. I thought I might have the pleasure of meeting you tonight.”

Her voice was eerie, but it only served to amuse me.

“Impress us, madam. What lies ahead for us?”

“Why, my good lady, death and despair,” the woman breathed dramatically. “Your worries are in the wrong place, and you have not noticed how the game may easily turn. Your foes are stronger than you realize, and by the time you see, it will be too late.”

I laughed. “I suppose I will die a long and painful death?”

“No, it will be quick.”

“Do not disrespect a future member of the royal family,” Oscar said quietly.

“Do not run from the truth,” the woman turned to him. “As for you, dear prince, you will be left a kingdom in ruins and a horrid guilt that will haunt you for years. When it finally passes, you will cave in to your cowardice, and abandon morality for selfish solace. It is only then that you will find peace.”

The silly woman was getting out of hand.

“Enough,” I snapped. “If you claim that what you speak is the truth, then I know the truth has many faces. Tell us a more pleasant one, though I thoroughly believe your craft is built entirely on falsehoods.”

“Oh, but there are plenty of pleasantries to be found,” said the woman. “You will have achieved your earliest goal, and fulfill your original title. The both of you will go down in history, having drastically altered the course of the kingdom forever. In the end, the world may collapse around you, but you will have each other, even if it is in another life.”

“Amusing nonsense,” I said disdainfully. “I recommend, madam, that you visit a temple and have priests check your mental faculties. Let us go, Oscar.”

We left, and I breathed in the fresh air outside the tent with relief. The woman had startled me a little towards the end, but under the cheerful lights of the festival and the glistening stars, the situations she described were ludicrous, so she was clearly just insane. I was the crown prince’s fiancee, the jewel of high society, the heir to the grand duchy of Avington, the saintess of the temple, and loved by the whole kingdom. I giggled.

“Ah, it’s almost midnight! The fireworks will start soon.”

As we left the tent, I had the odd feeling that I saw someone I recognized, but I couldn’t tell who or where, so I ignored it. Zoe had found a romantic bridge for the occasion, so I took Oscar there. It really was very nice, and soon I had completely forgotten about the fortune teller.

Pretty lights reflected off the canal under us, music was playing nearby, and the sky was lit up by magnificent fireworks overhead. I took Oscar’s hand and laid my head on his shoulder. He did not let go of my hand.

I realized then, somewhere deep inside, that I could never be the female lead. As I stood next to my prince, I was happier with the knowledge that his affection would promise me his crown, than I was in enjoyment of his company, though I did like the latter. I was fine with it, though. I’d accepted my role as the villainess a long time ago, and perhaps that was what the fortune teller had meant…

Something on the water caught my eye. It was a boat with two people on it, specifically, my brother, and the girl destined to drive him mad. There was that word again, ‘destined’. Well, whatever. I was oddly calm, but nevertheless disgusted as I saw them kiss like shameless rabbits.

Now that the prince was secured, I must focus on saving my brother.