The Reason Why She Can’t Get Married - Chapter 33

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Chapter 33

Selena felt a slight tension. In her opinion, it was clearly a deliberate accident. The imperial investigation couldn’t be more incompetent or careless than her, so they probably came to the same conclusion. Of course, they would have found the culprit, wouldn’t they? Who could it be?

‘Could Sir Dixon be involved in some way? I wonder if the unease I felt back then was false.’

Selena, filled with all sorts of suspicions, pricked up her ears and waited for Gabriella’s words.

Gabriella, who had taken a sip of tea to moisten her throat, finally opened her mouth.

“It was just an accident.”

“…Yes?” Selena was taken aback by the unexpected answer. She had assumed that there was a culprit, but a simple accident? That… that didn’t make sense.

“The pedestal for the statue cracked last week and was repaired. It seems they didn’t finish the aftercare properly.”

“No….”

“I’m sorry, I should have been more careful with the garden management.” Gabriella apologized with a deeply apologetic expression. Still, Selena couldn’t believe it. It was an accident? No way. If it was a real accident, then what was that stone?

“…What about the stone?”

“What? Stone?”

“The stone that was under the statue. Was that an accident too?” Selena asked, her hand resting on the table as if she were about to jump up.

Gabriella blinked in a daze, then tilted her head.

“What stone are you talking about? Oh, are you talking about the stone fragments that fell from the statue….”

“No, not that. Wasn’t there a stone the size of my fist on the pedestal?”

“Well, there wasn’t.”

Gabriella shook her head. Selena’s head spun. She hadn’t been blinded at the time, so she couldn’t have mistaken the stone that was clearly resting on the pedestal. Then…

‘Who removed the stone? Or is it just that the princess doesn’t know because it’s nothing special?’

To find out more details, Selena asked, “Exactly why did the statue fall?”

“They removed the vase statue, repaired the pedestal, and then didn’t properly reattach the two, so it fell.”

“So, there was a gap between the statue and the pedestal, and it fell.”

“Right. The bottom of the statue is rounded, so it rolled off the flat pedestal.”

If there had been a round stone under the statue, it would have had a higher chance of rolling off the pedestal. The more she thought about it, the more suspicious it became, and Selena’s face hardened. Gabriella, thinking she was angry, apologized dejectedly.

“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault. I was too careless, and it hurt you.”

“No, Your Highness….”

“Sir Dixon even told me that there was a problem with the fountain statue, but I didn’t finish the repairs and caused trouble.” Selena, who was about to comfort the dejected Gabriella, paused.

“Sir Dixon told you? That the statue pedestal was cracked.”

“Yes, he even supervised the repairs himself. I should have looked into it afterwards, but I believed it would be fine and left it, and it turned out to be a disaster.”

Gabriella apologized again, but her words didn’t reach Selena’s ears. She just couldn’t stop thinking about the presence of Dominic, who always seemed to appear at the most peculiar times.

It’s so strange. He just happened to appear when the statue fell, or he knew about it before it fell.

‘Did he know about the problem with the statue and that’s why he appeared at the right time for the accident?’

If you thought about it in the nicest possible way, it could be true. He supervised the repairs himself, so he might have heard that Gabriella was walking by the fountain and came out of concern, just in case.

‘But why don’t I want to think that way?’ Why do I feel like he used that fact?

“…Lady Irving?” Gabriella, noticing Selena lost in thought, gently shook her hand. Selena, snapping out of her reverie, reflexively smiled at Gabriella.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Your hand must be very uncomfortable. How can I compensate you?”

“I’m fine. I’m already used to living with my left hand, and it will be completely healed in a couple of weeks.”

“Still, the hunting festival is coming soon….” Gabriella hesitated, then her heart ached at the sight of Selena waving her hand dismissively despite her injury. How could she be so kind?

‘What can I do for such a lady….’

With a resolute face, she grabbed Selena’s left hand. Selena looked at Gabriella with a puzzled expression.

“I’ll do everything I can to compensate for your injured arm.”

“No, really, I’m fine….”

“I’ll make you the goddess of this hunting festival.” Gabriella tightened her grip on her hand. Selena stammered in confusion. No, Your Highness. Why was she suddenly jumping to that conclusion…?

“I don’t need to be the goddess of the hunting festival, Your Highness.”

“There’s no need to decline, Lady. They said the prize for the winner is a golden stag head.”

“Oh, that’s a bit tempting….” Selena, momentarily tempted by the thought of a golden stag head, quickly regained her senses.

“Really, it’s fine. My arm is injured anyway, so I was planning to skip this hunting festival.”

“Really…?”

“Yes.” When she read Noel’s letter and thought about the hunting festival, Selena immediately decided to skip it.

Maximilian was already likely to attend, and based on the letter’s content, Noel seemed to be coming as well. Not wanting to face two potential husbands at the same time, Selena chose to conveniently skip the hunt. However, she couldn’t tell Gabriella the real reason, so she used her injured arm as an excuse.

“It’s because of me that the lady can’t attend the hunt,” Gabriella lamented again.

“No, it’s not like that…”

“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt, and you would have been the hunt goddess this year.”

Selena was dumbfounded.

“Your Highness, I’ve never been the hunt goddess in my life. Why are you so sure I’d be one?”

However, Gabriella’s face was about to burst into tears, so Selena focused on comforting her.

“Your Highness, that’s absolutely not true. I’ve never really liked hunts. I’ve skipped them a few times before.”

“But this time, you’re skipping it not by choice but because you have to.”

“No, absolutely not. I’m skipping it by choice. I would have skipped it even if someone held a knife to my throat.”