If You're Going to Sell Yourself, Sell It to Me - Chapter 34

A whole day had passed.

Georgiana couldn’t even get out of bed due to the horrible hangover she was experiencing for the first time. Every time she tried to lift her head, the room spun around her. Fearing that if she moved, she’d collapse onto the floor, she decided to stay still.

She hadn’t been able to wash up either. She was still lying in bed, in the same state she had been before falling asleep, barely managing to sip some water to wet her throat. Though she hadn’t looked in the mirror, she was certain her appearance was dismal.

“Georgiana, you should rest a bit more!”

Sarah had come to check on her, but after seeing her pitiful condition, she quickly left the room, looking concerned.

Every time the dizziness hit her, Georgiana found herself unable to understand Willow. How could he drink so much every day? Was this the pain that had driven him to torment her all those years?

“How much did you drink last night, miss?” Henry asked, handing her a refreshing tea meant to ease the hangover.

“Two or three glasses…”

She counted on her fingers as she tried to recall, but someone else cut her off.

“It was exactly six glasses. Given that a typical bottle of wine holds about seven, it’s safe to say you nearly finished an entire bottle by yourself.”

Lockwood, who had unusually stayed in the cabin rather than going out, answered from the doorway.

When had he counted all that?

His memory was annoyingly sharp.

“Did I really drink that much? That’s impossible,” Georgiana said, denying Lockwood’s words. She could have sworn she’d only had two glasses to quench her thirst.

After that, they watched the fireworks together… and then…

“Oh!”

The moment the memory of what happened next flashed before her eyes, she gasped and pulled the covers over her head. With the darkness enveloping her, the events of last night came back to her even more vividly.

Oh no, no, no!

Could it be? Did that really happen?

The more she recalled, the more her face turned red. She wanted to deny everything that had happened the previous night.

The kiss? Sure, that could be explained away. But calling herself a princess while drunk? What could she do about that? And hadn’t she also said there were two of him and that both were handsome?

I’m never drinking again.

She burrowed deeper into the covers in despair.

With her memories fully restored, she didn’t know how she would face him ever again.

“Miss, are you alright? Are you feeling worse? Should I call for the doctor?” Henry asked, panicking as he saw her wrapped up like a cocoon under the blankets.

“N-no, it’s just… I suddenly felt cold.”

“Cold? In this warm weather? No way, I’m calling for the doctor right away—”

“Henry.”

Lockwood’s voice interrupted Henry just as he reached for the door to rush out.

“What is it?”

“I’ll take care of her. You just wait outside.”

“Wh-what? How could you possibly—” Henry stared at Lockwood in disbelief, his eyes wide.

“I have my ways.”

“What do you mean by that?” Henry, suspicious, clapped his hands together as if an idea had struck him.

“Oh, right! When she was sick before, you were the one who took care of her. You even helped her swallow the medicine by—”

“Stop spouting nonsense and get out.”

“Well then, I’ll check back before dinner.”

“Fine.”

When the door clicked shut and the room fell silent, Georgiana finally understood why Lockwood hadn’t told Henry about their secret hideaway.

Still, in moments like this, having Henry around might have been better.

Why did he send Henry away?

And what did he mean by ‘helping her swallow the medicine’?

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t figure it out.

Like a frightened rabbit hiding from a predator, Georgiana listened intently for any sound from the living room.

But she had forgotten one crucial fact: Lockwood moved as quietly as a cat.

“You can come out now.”

His voice came from directly above her, startling her. She realized her attempts to hide had been completely pointless. Lockwood was already standing beside her.

“……”

Despite his words, she stayed curled up under the blanket.

“There are usually two ways to catch a rabbit.”

“……?”

What on earth is he talking about?

Georgiana swallowed nervously.

“The most common method is to set fire to the entrance of its burrow…”

As he let his words linger, her anxiety spiked. He wouldn’t actually set the blanket on fire, would he?

The blanket trembled like a rabbit’s tail, betraying her growing tension.

A low chuckle reached her ears.

“Don’t worry, I don’t like that method. Setting things on fire is such a hassle.”

Phew…

She let out a small sigh of relief, but before she could fully relax, a long shadow fell over her. Just as she sensed his presence hovering above her, the blanket was yanked away in one swift motion.

“The method I prefer is cornering the rabbit and grabbing it by the nape.”

With a single pull, the blanket was gone, leaving Georgiana exposed like a rabbit caught in a trap.

“What… what are you doing?”

Her face turned as pale as a sheet as she glared at the ‘blanket thief.’

Lockwood, smiling mischievously, tossed the blanket aside.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not avoiding you!”

“Really? I thought you were embarrassed about what happened last night and were avoiding me.”

“I-I’m not embarrassed at all.”

She tried to sound confident, but with her ears burning red, it wasn’t very convincing.

“Not embarrassed, huh? Then we should talk about what happened last night…”

Before he could continue, Georgiana clapped her hand over his mouth. She had no idea what he was about to say, but she was certain it wouldn’t be anything good for her.

Trying to act nonchalant, she spoke first, “I’m fine.”

“What do you mean, you’re fine?”

“It was a mistake.”

“A mistake?”

Lockwood’s expression darkened as he glared at her.

“Everything was a mistake. Drinking the champagne, dancing, and… everything after that—it was all because I was drunk. I barely even remember it.”

She hoped he would let it go, that he would brush it off as a simple mistake, something that could happen to anyone.

Surely, Lockwood didn’t want to be tied to her any more than she wanted to be tied to him, so he wouldn’t push the issue.

“Is that all you have to say?”

“Yes. N-no, I should apologize. Even if it was a mistake, I’m sorry.”

She bowed her head in apology, but Lockwood’s eyebrows shot up even higher.

From the look on his face, it felt like the real mistake wasn’t what had happened last night, but what she was saying now. What had she done wrong?

“I see… A mistake, huh…”

His voice grew chillingly low.

“Since you’re calling it a mistake, I suppose I’ll have to make sure you pay the price for it.”

Leaving behind that ominous remark, he exited the cabin, seemingly on his way to deal with other matters.

***

The next day, at the break of dawn, Sarah came to visit. She brought along a fresh bottle of fruit juice, something she had acquired from who knows where.

“Are you feeling any better? You seemed really unwell yesterday, so I was worried.”

“I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me. I brought this juice specially for you. It’s made from fruits that are great for hangovers—I had to go to the kitchen and ask them to make it.”

Henry, quick to act, fetched two glasses from the cabinet.

“Thank you so much, Sarah.”

“It’s no big deal. By the way, where did you and Mr. Limberton go that night? I was hoping to watch the fireworks with you two. You didn’t just sneak off to some secret spot without me, did you?” Sarah teased playfully, narrowing her eyes.

“Well, I suddenly got really drunk, so we just went back to the cabin.”

As Georgiana poured the juice into the glasses, she shyly avoided eye contact.

“That explains it—Mr. Limberton did seem to be in quite a rush.”

“Oh, was it that obvious? Anyway, what about you and Mr. Tobias? What happened after the dance?” Georgiana asked, curious about how things had turned out between Sarah and Anthony after they had seemed so well-matched.

“Well, I danced with a charming prince, but like Cinderella, after midnight, everything turned back into reality.”

An uncharacteristically bitter smile played on Sarah’s lips.

“Why? Didn’t you like him?”

“Oh, I did. Anthony is kinder and more handsome than any man I’ve ever met.”

“Then why—?”

“I’m a hopeless optimist and often get myself into trouble, but that’s my problem, not his. I don’t want to create any scandal or make things awkward for him when I know it won’t work out. I have to remember why I’m on this ship and not forget my situation.”

“……”

Georgiana couldn’t bring herself to offer any words of comfort. Sarah’s words weighed heavily on her, as they seemed to apply to her as well.

Fairy tales were just that—tales. And in those tales, the protagonists were always princesses.

She couldn’t afford to want him. That was why she had deliberately called it a mistake last night. She wasn’t just a poor girl; she had a dysfunctional family she couldn’t escape from.

Instead of trying to console Sarah, Georgiana simply hugged her friend tightly.