Chapter 72
When I suddenly flared up and started huffing indignantly, Adrian blinked in surprise.
“Are you okay?”
My reaction seemed completely different from what he’d expected, leaving him flustered.
There was a hint of concern that I might have another episode.
I grabbed his shoulders firmly and said,
“I’m not okay at all. I feel like I’ve eaten a million sweet potatoes and need some cider right now to wash it down!”
The two people who’d played major roles in ruining my life had joined hands.
I couldn’t just let this slide!
This was the perfect opportunity for a revenge match.
“Killing two birds with one stone, getting two for the price of one, fixing the ditch and catching crayfish! Down with Nanael and Jessica!”
I burned with determination, eager to take down Nanael and Jessica right away.
As I kept spouting nonsense, Adrian looked over at Mei.
Mei, on the other hand, opened her mouth with a face that said she was used to this.
“I’m not entirely sure, but whenever the miss says things like that, she ends up causing some astonishing incident. It looks like she’s regained her energy.”
At the mention of regaining energy, Adrian’s face lit up.
“So, you’re saying you want revenge?”
I nodded vigorously in confirmation. At that, Adrian smiled meaningfully.
“Rodellia, I’ve been waiting for this day forever. It always pissed me off that we let her go so easily back then.”
He enthusiastically supported my resolve.
“She’s the one who put a hole in my little sister’s heart— at the very least, we need to punch the same kind of hole in hers to feel satisfied.”
“It’s been a while since you’ve said something so spot-on.”
I grinned and held out my hand.
For the first time in ages, the Peris siblings were on the same page.
With our hands clasped, we headed to Father’s study without a word about who should go first.
* * *
When Alferen arrived at the Ainluk mansion, Isaac greeted him.
“You’re back, sir?”
“Yeah.”
Alferen replied weakly as he walked down the hallway.
His face showed accumulated stress at a glance.
Knowing it was best not to speak to him in times like this,
Isaac familiarly lit incense in the bedroom and had a maid draw water for the bath.
Soon, Alferen sank into the tub, gently massaging his throbbing temples.
Thanks to the soothing scent that aided fatigue recovery, his frayed nerves eased considerably.
However, his mind remained in turmoil.
The day had felt like a century.
What had plummeted the happiest moments to the lowest depths was Rodellia’s single sentence.
‘Oppa, let’s end this fake relationship. I can’t do it anymore.’
Can’t do it anymore.
Did that mean she’d been forcing herself all this time?
Alferen was confused. Just the fact that Rodellia had rejected him made it feel like the world was crumbling.
He couldn’t accept it. Rodellia no longer being his lover.
He wanted to pretend he hadn’t heard, but if he did, it seemed like Rodellia would drive the nail in deeper.
Still, he’d planned to have a serious talk with Rodellia again after tea time ended.
‘Who is that woman, anyway?’
Rodellia had paled the moment she saw Nanael’s new maid.
It was the first time he’d seen such a terrified expression on her face, and it shocked him inwardly.
Even her maid, Mei, had been shaken, so there must be some bad blood.
He didn’t know about something even a maid was aware of.
Though it was natural since they’d known each other longer, his mood wouldn’t lift.
In the end, Nanael’s invitation was a challenge, not a reconciliation.
Those unaware of the inside story seemed puzzled by Rodellia and Alferen’s sudden departure.
Perhaps afterward, Nanael had whispered some slander about them to the others.
Of course, even knowing all that, his priority had been to get Rodellia to a safe place first.
Because it looked like she might collapse any moment.
But the response to his concern was ice-cold.
‘You don’t have to, oppa.’
Drawing a line, saying they had no relation anymore.
‘Yeah. I don’t want to look pathetic being supported by my ex-boyfriend.’
The moment he saw Rodellia rejecting him with her whole body.
Alferen felt unbearably sad, and defiance welled up.
Even after forcing her into the carriage like that, Alferen couldn’t believe the situation.
He’d clearly felt Rodellia opening her heart to him.
There had been some uneasy signs, sure, but weren’t the good signs far more numerous?
Yet suddenly, Rodellia had turned cold.
Tracing back exactly when it started, he remembered encountering Summer Clopen.
Until then, she’d been completely erased from his mind.
She was just a classmate he’d run into by chance; he didn’t even remember what they’d talked about.
‘Right! Green eyes like the forest! Long straight hair that evokes the nostalgia of first love!’
But why were Rodellia’s words coming back to him now?
‘I’m all for it. For you, a woman with green eyes is your destined match. Hair color… how about blonde? Since you have silver hair, the two of you side by side would look heavenly.’
‘In my opinion, you go well with gold. The horoscope I saw yesterday said you’re compatible with gold and green.’
Damned if that woman didn’t have blonde straight hair and green eyes.
Recalling Rodellia chattering away with her pretty lips, a slow, bitter smile crept onto Alferen’s mouth.
“Ha. Don’t tell me it was because of Summer Clopen.”
It might be a leap.
Like when she’d nagged him to break off his engagement with Nanael, spouting nonsense about horoscopes that didn’t hold water—there was no consistency otherwise.
On the other hand, that very inconsistency made it possible it wasn’t a leap.
Rodellia had often said incomprehensible things since she was little.
‘How does Delly know Summer Clopen anyway?’
To think she’d picked her as a match and even done groundwork behind the scenes without him knowing.
‘I just need Delly.’
The more he thought, the more resentful he felt that she didn’t understand his heart at all.
“She made me break off the engagement, and now she’s hand-picking my marriage partner.”
And she showed no sign of intending to put herself in that spot.
Alferen clenched his fist tightly.
Now that he knew Rodellia’s scheme, there was no way he’d get involved with Summer Clopen.
* * *
The promissory note written by Count Miranda eight years ago was safely stored in Father’s study.
As I carefully examined its contents, I let out a hollow laugh.
“‘I will not demand any compensation for damages on the condition that I never appear before Rodellia Peris again.’ What is this? Does this even make sense? After what she did to me?”
“At the time, Father was focused on your treatment. Plus, aside from what I saw, most of it was Mei’s testimony, so pushing too hard would’ve risked rumors spreading.”
In the end, it meant he’d written this frustrating note to protect me.
“Of course, just being banished from the capital made Count Miranda lose a lot. He had to abandon all the businesses he’d invested in back then.”
“Avoiding rumors while putting solid pressure on the other side. That’s just like Father.”
I tapped the note thoughtfully.
An amicable agreement made on the condition of never appearing before me again.
But the other party had broken that promise, not only returning to the capital but brazenly showing up right in front of me.
“Does Jessica know about this note?”
“Probably not. Father met with the count in secret to draw it up.”
Hmm. I see.
Honestly, back then, my dependence on Jessica was because I was young.
How could a mere 12-year-old recognize someone approaching with malice?
But I wasn’t that child anymore.
Letting this slide didn’t suit my temperament.
‘How dare she think of appearing before me again?’
Just then, a wicked idea popped into my head, and I muttered darkly.
