I’ll Become the Female Lead in this Trashy Webnovel

Anything Left To Throw Away (2)

“Ariad had another man’s child.”

His relaxed movements abruptly stopped. Frustrated at his silence, Bianca raised her voice again, “Did you want to hide the fact even though you knew that he ran away with another man’s child?”

“Who said that Ariad had another man’s child?”

“She admitted it herself.”

When there was no response, Bianca moved closer to the table Joshua was sitting at. She slammed the desk with her hands because she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“So in the end, all the rumors were true. Rumor has it that she eloped with another man. Did she run away with the father of her child?”

“….”

“Were you stupidly hiding this fact for a while? You know what? The more I know, the less I understand and it’s much worse. Aren’t you sick of this? “Bianca burst into a laugh. “You’re an idiot.”

Joshua, who had been listening to her insults for a while, spoke in a monotone. “It’s all over. Didn’t it turn out the way you wanted it to?”

Bianca became even more upset at his nonchalant attitude. That’s what she wanted in the end. Also, in retrospect, it was absurd to think that Ariad would leave the palace if she carried the McKinley family’s blood in her pregnant belly. The fact that it wasn’t Joshua’s child was fortunate in some way but it still infuriated Bianca. Unlike her usual elegant appearance, she shouted with her blood vessels turning visible in her neck. “Joshua, what she did was a clear insult to the royal family!”

The purple flower on Bianca’s tiara shook as her entire body trembled with rage.

“She was looking down on you this whole time! This isn’t flattery———-”

Bianca couldn’t continue because she was having a hard time breathing. On the other hand, the man who heard her ferocious declaration was rather calm. She couldn’t manage to be this calm in a situation where he should be angry.

“I didn’t reveal it since I didn’t want to make this issue blow out of proportion. In addition, my heart for her had already cooled.”

“No, Joshua. You wanted to protect the child in the meantime. Unless you tell me the truth, I won’t let this go.”

“Nonsense I just didn’t want to be bothered.”

After putting his pen down, he got up from his seat and wore the gray jacket hanging at the back of his chair. “I have a schedule, so I’ll leave first, Your Majesty.” With that formal greeting, Bianca tried to catch up to him when he passed her by. “Joshua!”

He stopped and pulled down his tight necktie.

“If possible, please don’t let this rumor get out in the public.” He said quietly.

“You’re protecting that child to the end.”

“I’m not protecting the child. I just don’t want to look miserable over this. I don’t want to see an article about me saying that the crown prince had been abandoned.” His scowling face, which had only been indifferent, finally expressed its true sentiment. “So, Your Majesty, please. Please don’t tell anyone about this.”

When Bianca’s hand, which was holding his arm, relaxed, he moved without hesitation. Her hand in the air fell to her side followed by a false chuckle. Ridiculous. He wasn’t trying to fool her, was he? Facing his broad back, Bianca said. “It’s just like her to run away for fear of giving birth to the child here. So shameless! Just admit that you loved the wrong person.”

Hating to hear the painful truth, Joshua’s legs accelerated as he tried to escape the room.

* * *

Joshua returned to the palace after finishing all his schedules. He was tired, so he moved as he could without realizing it, opened the door, and stopped there. It was Ariad’s bedroom. His habit was scary. They just slept together for a few months, and if he thought about it, they didn’t have much time to share affection. Joshua walked to the center of the room and slowly scanned the remaining furniture. There was no dust in them since the room was cleaned every day and he hadn’t allowed anyone other than Ariad to use this space. About a month after she left, the scent of lavender still permeated the air. When he smelled it, he suddenly felt tired. His head spun as if a migraine was coming. Joshua wrapped his throbbing forehead with a hand and shook the bell on the narrow table. At the sound, a maid entered the room and curtsied.

“Please throw away all the furniture and things in this room.”

The once-sweet fragrance left nothing but a headache. If he removed a few of her items, would this headache disappear? Joshua turned his steps as he watched the furniture disappear one by one. Despite leaving the bedroom, the unpleasant aroma still lingered at the tip of his nose. As soon as he entered the office, he immediately noticed a painting leaning against the wall. Joshua impulsively lifted the painting to the corner and picked a ballpoint pen on his right side. He wanted to tear Ariad’s face in the painting apart.  The hand holding the pen remained in the air for a long time because he couldn’t bear to do it. Finding it funny, Joshua let out a self-deprecating laugh. Finally, his hovering hand roughly threw the pen and hit the marble floor with a crack. At the same time, the movement caused an item in his jacket pocket to fall. Joshua smirked at the object on the floor. It was red underwear that belonged to Ariad. He bent down, picked it up, and clenched it tightly until the joints of his fingers popped white at the back of his hand.

As if to take it out, Joshua crumpled her underwear with his big hands and threw it into the trash can next to the table. It wasn’t only the annoying painting on the table but also this ridiculous underwear. Everything she left behind wouldn’t be rid of but just these two. That way, this tiresome migraine, which had worsened these days, would disappear.