Chapter Text
“Any updates on Poinsettia before the meeting?”
“Her condition remains unchanged. She still can’t remember any occurrence before the accident. Lady Gerania has been a bit reclusive ever since. I heard, she sees herself as a new person, that she can’t reconcile with her past self and asks people to view her in such a way as well. What is very strange is that in her case the missing memories got replaced with wrong memories. I heard that she said with conviction that her name was Karina and proceeded to get her birthday, her family and her favourite things wrong as well. The specialists theorize that she has constructed herself this identity with memories from fictional stories, filling the hole left by the loss of her personal memories with the most fitting that remained in her head. Those who believe in reincarnation speak of her recovering her memories from her previous life.”
“Weird”, commented Prince Silvester on the answer to his question. “I have not heard of these false memories during the visits I paid to Poinsettia at the hospital. But she did say: I am the new Gerania Poinsettia. My condolences about the old version. – It is like she has completely given up on the possibility of her memories coming back.”
“What a loss”, answered his butler Moritz, but thought to himself that it was also weird how unmoved his Master had been during Lady Gerania’s entire crisis, after all his betrothed had been drastically injured and changed.
“Very inconvenient”, meant Prince Silvester.
It seemed to Moritz as if he was more annoyed than concerned. He wondered not for the first time, if the prince resented Lady Gerania, because she was not his own choice, but his mother’s. He had already asked his Master once if he was unhappy with his arrangement, knowing very well that he was in no place to ask him such a personal question, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him. After chastising him for this intrusion, taught well by that mother of his to always criticise every little mistake of the servants, Silvester had even answered him, that he was indifferent on the matter.
After years by his side, Moritz knew him well enough to see that this wasn’t true and that the prince himself likely believed his own lie, always a bit out of touch with identifying and understanding feelings and it included his own.
But that was not his Master’s greatest fault, in Moritz’ opinion. What really irritated him was how Prince Silvester continued to repeat the same mistake: Six times already had he let his snake Billie out of its terrarium to cherish it and then gotten distracted enough to let the snake slither away unnoticed, the most recent incident had happened this morning and Billie was still missing.
“Go look for Billie again. And search properly this time! She has to be still in the building”, ordered Silvester. “I want the problem solved when Poinsettia arrives.”
“I will try”, assured Moritz and left his Master’s office to continue playing Billie’s pesky game of hide and seek.
At the same time, Gerania, formerly Karina, was on her way to Fortress Bron, the residence of Fourth Prince Silvester. She was still in the process of getting used to it, this new life with completely different prerequisites. Only a few weeks ago, before the big accident that catapulted her from one life into another, she would have refused to even entertain the idea of agreeing to a marriage with some stranger, she did not love. And as Gerania, she would have continued to do so, if she didn’t know, that her stepping to the side to let the second Poinsettia daughter, Margaret, take her place would set off the plot of the manhwa “Freeze or Burn”, which ended terribly. After all, the premise there was Maggie inheriting the arrangement for marriage with Silvester from Gerania, who died in that hiking accident. Sure, Gerania - not the one who had died, for this had still happened, her new replacement from a higher realm of reality, this Gerania right here - could warn Maggie to not make the mistakes, that she had read about in her previous life as Karina, before she had ended up inside the world of this tale, but she felt that she couldn’t rely on her that much and that the best way to prevent two murders was to do it herself, in the position of female lead. All she had to do was to go under the radar of Viscount Ferinno, that damn yandere and keep Maggie away from this most unworthy other male lead of the original story, and then things would be fine.
Gerania once again went through what she had memorized of “Freeze or Burn” in her mind, hoping to find clues in her knowledge on how to go about endearing herself to the prince in the best way. After all, even if she agreed to the arrangement to marry him without being in love with him, she wished to get the missing love into their relationship after all, that it should be mutual was a given. Gerania intended to do her best to let this man, Silvester, inside her heart, he had to catch her favour as a person, not just a fictional character, yet.
The car stopped in front of the first gate of the fortress. The gate opened and the vehicle proceeded. After a few metres, they stopped in the first courtyard. Eagerly, Gerania pushed the door open and almost hit the prince with it, who wasn’t fast enough to open it for her like a gentleman. By the time the startled Prince Silvester managed to hold his hand out to the lady, she was already standing next to the car.
Gerania shook Silvester’s hand and greeted him: “Hello, Your Highness. It’s a pleasure as always. That’s a cool fortress you have here, man- uh- sorry- excuse me, Your Highness.”
While she had still brooded over not having managed to extract anything helpful for bonding with this man from her plot knowledge, Gerania hadn’t had her attention fully on her talking and ended up talking way too informal.
During their last meetings, when he had visited her at the hospital, Gerania could tell that Silvester had held no love for her predecessor. He had lacked much of the concern, that one naturally had when a truly beloved person was in such a dire predicament – she supposed, he had tried to force it at least a bit, but a good actor that prince was not. It was irritating, that he had been so emotionally detached from a woman he planned to marry so far, but Gerania still preferred it this way. It wouldn’t be a problem that he had lost the true one and that she wasn’t her. She felt bad enough for her new family already, it filled her with pity how much they were trying to recognize the Gerania they knew and loved in her, nothing she could stop them from doing.
It was because of the resulting uncomfortable atmosphere in the Poinsettia household, that Gerania looked forward to a change of scenery. When the prince had suggested for her to move in with him, as they were now at an age where it was definitely already time to seal the deal and they could use some period of close courting before that, Gerania had gladly agreed. That that suggestion had actually come from the queen, was something, she was aware of, thanks to her manhwa.
“Lady Gerania”, spoke Prince Silvester monotonal, “I am glad to see that you have recovered well from your injuries. Welcome at Fortress Bron.”
“Aw, thank you, I do feel much better. And how do you fare, Your Highness?”, asked Gerania.
“I am perfectly fine”, stated the prince.
Gerania heard the sound of the luggage compartment of the car getting closed. As she turned around, she could see her driver say farewell to her and two servants already on their way up the stairs to the main complex of the building with her luggage. Without even introducing themselves. She doubted they were being rude by ignoring her, it was more likely that they just followed some stupid protocol. She recognized one servant as Butler Moritz from “Freeze and Burn”, but Gerania couldn’t remember a maid being mentioned in the source material. Now she was curious to find out more about this person, who was left out of the narration. With her moving into that fortress, she would get the chance to talk with the mysterious maid soon enough.
“Shall we, Madam?”, said Silvester, an incentive for her to follow him inside.
How did the nobles say yes again? – “Affirmative”, tried Gerania.
His eyebrows raised slightly and she could be sure, that this wasn’t the well-fitting answer, she had been looking for. Oh well. At least it hadn’t been “yeah”.
They did not take the main entrance, but entered the dining hall over the terrace. The room was covered in a white tapestry with a floral pattern and the doors were painted to match the tapestry. Gerania supposed that this room could pass as winter garden with how many potted house plants were located in here as decorative elements. An exquisite chandelier hung from the ceiling, the sunlight that came through the four windows in the outer wall making the crystals flicker with delightful sparkles. Under those windows were radiators and Gerania knew from her reading, that one of them contained a jump scare. She supposed it was best to address this plot point here and now, before it resurfaced elsewhere unexpectedly. But which radiator contained a snake?
Gerania steeled herself, slowly approached the one on the far left and echoed Margaret’s words from the manhwa, not louder than necessary: “What a beautiful view on the city!”
She bent towards the window as cautiously as she could, without being obvious and peered into the radiator. She couldn’t make out anything, but it was pretty dark in there.
Gerania knocked on the contraption and overplayed it by asking: “How does the heating system work here?”
“Hot water circulates through the pipes”, answered the prince and no snake appeared.
Wrong radiator. Now Gerania couldn’t go searching for a lost pet, whose presence in the room she should not know about, without letting on that she had too much info.
She joined Silvester at the table.
“Do you know, what my work is?”, he asked. “That is something you should know.”
“Yes. You are management consultant”, knew Gerania, she had done her homework.
The fourth Prince Silvester had a great economical expertise and used it to help struggling businesses, most of which were very big and important for the state. He simplified convoluted structures, encouraged the most optimal investments and regulated the use of resources, including human resources. He had a bit of a bad reputation for firing workers and a cold, unemphatic demeanour. Some circles in society called him “the Ice Prince, who fires from a cold heart”.
“Correct”, said Silvester and continued: “I travel a lot, from one company to the next, sometimes even abroad. I am not much at home. As my wife, you will be in charge of the fortress and some social obligations, while I am gone.”
In the manhwa, Maggie had asked him, if she could come along sometimes, and he had strictly said no, which had made her a bit miffed. Gerania didn’t bother to ask this question, as she already knew what his answer would be.
Instead, she suggested sweetly: “Then let’s make the most of our time together when you are here!”
“Right”, said Prince Silvester flatly and continued to talk about his job.
Gerania hoped she wasn’t expected to memorize all these stats and company names, he was dropping, downright bombarding her with. At least she knew now, that he did have something, he was passionate about.
She was already doing better with the Ice Prince than Margaret. It was a fitting nickname for him, as he was a typical cold male lead, a kuudere. His appearance fit his character: Prince Silvester’s hair was of a pure, white colour, almost shimmering like fresh, clean snow in the sunlight. It was a bit long, reaching to his shoulders, and it fell completely straight and neatly. Pale, flawless skin over chiselled facial features. Eyes of a bright blue colour, with something in them that was hard and dull at the same time. He wore a pristine, white business suit with a shimmering blue gem pinned as accessory near his collar. And, of course, downright obligatory for a male lead, he had the physique of a modern mainstream model or an old statue, on which everyone would agree that it was a valuable, beautiful piece of art.
The butler reappeared behind the prince, entering the room with a tea set. This time, Moritz introduced himself to Gerania, after placing the tray with the tea on the table.
He spoke: “Greetings, Madam. I am Moritz, at your service. Welcome at Fortress Bron” – and he bowed before her, which Gerania still wasn’t used to, as the people didn’t do that where she had come from.
Moritz’ appearance differed much from his master’s in three aspects in particular: Firstly, he was quite fat instead of pretty fit, an appearance that was to be associated with shame instead of fame by the common sense of the overall sensible society, secondly he had short black hair, that was naturally curling a bit wildly, thus looking chaotic instead of elegant, and thirdly he was dressed almost entirely in black.
“Greetings to you as well, Moritz, it’s nice to meet you”, answered Gerania.
“Thank you, Madam. It is likewise a pleasure on my side”, answered the servant. “We hope that the strong black tea without sugar is still to your likening. You can change how you want to take your tea at any time, of course.”
“That’s okay for now, but in the future I would rather have camomile tea with a little bit of sugar – sometimes, or cherry tea, and this classic on occasion, sometimes, of course. I like more than one blend”, said Gerania.
With the Poinsettia family, she had always accepted the original’s favourite tea, despite not liking it very much. She had already practically admitted that she was a total stranger in their dead member’s body and they hadn’t been able to accept the truth, so she kept playing along with their dream of her still being the same person as before, also out of fear of what would happen to her and her plan to save the people who had to die in the original story, if her true nature should get revealed.
But she could barely see that tea anymore.
Moritz poured some tea from the teapot into little teacups, which had a pattern that matched with the walls, first for the prince, then for Gerania.
Just as he was serving her the tea, the snake came out.
Billie was thirsty! Now the sound of the tea being poured lured her towards the table.
Gerania could see the animal from where she was sitting, so she pointed it out: “Hey, there’s a snake.”
Silvester and Moritz looked towards the spot Gerania was pointing at, and saw the pet.
Two things happened at the same time: Silvester exclaimed: “Billie!”, in a happy and fond manner, that was rare for him – and Moritz forgot to stop pouring tea over his mortification that the esteemed lady was seeing the snake on the loose and spilled some tea, that didn’t fit into the cup anymore.
A puddle formed quickly around the cup.
“Tea!” shouted Gerania and managed to get up and away just in time to avoid getting the flowing tea on her lap.
Moritz realised his mistake and put the teapot down abruptly. The liquid still dripped on the floor. Billie slithered over eagerly and began to drink from the puddle on the ground.
The butler quickly captured the snake, dropping to his knees next to the pet and grabbing it with both hands. Moritz made sure to place one hand close to the head, so that the snake couldn’t move its head towards him and bite him. He wasn’t catching Billie for the first time and had learned a bit from previous mistakes.
“Moritz! Do you need to grab Billie so tightly?”, chastised his master.
Even though Silvester’s tone had made clear, that this was an order to loosen his grip in form of a rhetorical question, Moritz answered with the certainty of experience: “Yes, otherwise she will squirm right out of my grasp.”
Moritz excused himself and left the room with the pet. He carried Billie back to her terrarium and put her inside. He closed the lid as fast as he could, pushing the snake, that was already trying to get out again back into the terrarium with it. Billie seethed and opened her mouth wide to hiss behind the glass.
The butler exhaled in relief. He had not got bitten this time. But still, while he aced the capturing action, he had failed to find the lost pet in time and with a guest being here today, this snake escape had been the most disastrous of all of them.
Before he returned to the dining hall, Moritz got some cleaning supplies for the spilled tea.
I bet, he thought as he took a sponge cloth and a tea towel, that Sil will see the responsibility for this mistake with me alone, even though he let Billie escape in the first place. He will expect me to give the apology while he will continue to act as if he can do no wrong. He will also complain that I was not in the dining room to pull the chairs back, when he and the guest arrived, but I already had to take care of the luggage. I guess I was to slow with the suitcases. Made a bad impression on the lady on her first day back – stupid! I have to get better at my job. There is always something to improve on. Never good enough.
In the meantime, Gerania sat back down and while she leant back on her chair in relief, she meant: “You have a lovely pet, Your Highness. Snakes are really…” – cool, cute, funny long noodles – none of the options that she could think of were fitting to continue the sentence when talking to such a formal guy. “…good”, she finished lamely with one of the most basic adjectives in existence.
“I like animals, it is always nice to have a pet around”, she continued.
And then she drank from her tea cup, as one does when it is too full to lift, by bending down, bringing her mouth to the rim and sucking carefully. But thoughtlessly, because nobles do not do that.
When she looked up again, the Prince frowned at her, and it was clear, that she had lost any points she gained from how well she handled the snake-incident again. The butler had also returned just in time to see her faux pas. Moritz looked also stunned by her misbehaviour, but his expression held a sliver of concern, unlike Prince Silvester’s stern glare.
“Ah, I’m sorry- I apologize to my utmost- uh- sincerity. I won’t do that again, ever!” proclaimed Gerania.
The prince inhaled and exhaled a bit stronger than necessary, tightening his grip on his teacup ever so slightly: “I am distraught to notice, that the damage to your brain in the accident was extensive indeed. I would recommend, that you seclude yourself from society until you manage to reacquire your manners and hope, that this is an accomplishable deed after the damage you have taken. Basic etiquette is a must for a lady, who wishes to associate with a member of the Royal Family. When I return from my upcoming travels, I expect to find your condition improved.”
“I understand, Your Highness. Thank you for the input”, spoke Gerania.
“You are welcome”, answered Silvester. “I find someone else in need of speaking an apology as well. You may have the word, Moritz.”
Moritz kneeled down before the lady again, this time only on one knee and as elegantly as he could and formally apologized for his failure to prevent her encounter with the snake and his further mistakes that had disrupted her welcome.
“Thank you for the apology”, responded Gerania.
Silvester’s stare got even colder. Accepting a servant’s apology after such a mess was already too lenient from his perspective, expressing gratitude for it was downright wrong.
But Moritz gave Gerania a slight smile and stated: “I shall give you my word that I am going to do my best in the future to avoid further failings as well.”
“Very well”, commented the Prince. “On that note, Moritz, I task you with aiding Lady Gerania’s recovery of her social skills. You shall teach her the etiquette lessons, that are amiss in her incomplete mind, again.”
“Yes, Sir!”
Gerania was cool with getting taught something by the butler: “Thank you for your help! I look forward to learn these… essentials”, she said – to Moritz.
“Alright, Madam. The first lesson is, that you should thank His Highness before me or only, as my service is on his order and generally under his authority.”
She corrected herself by addressing the Prince: “Oh, excuse me, Your Highness! I want to thank you for your support as well and foremost, of course!”
“That is right. Well done”, meant her instructor.
Moritz seems nice, Gerania thought. His first impression on me was really not as bad as he thinks.