Chapter 23

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Chapter 23

The answer came immediately.

“Hey, friend! It’s me! Theo!”

It was Count Theo Jassen.

What did he mean by ‘friend’?

Chloe was surprised by the fact that her husband and Count Jassen were friends, and was once again surprised that it was a nobleman who boldly jumped in front of their locomotive.

Come to think of it, Count Jassen was the son of a duke. And he was also the topic of some unsavory rumors, that he would often show his face at parties where drugs and women flowed freely…

Chloe coughed in vain, recalling what she saw at the headline of a gossip tabloid paper that the maids in the north frequently read.

“Can’t you open your door? As you can see, my ride broke down. I think you’re also going to the duke’s estate. Let’s go together.”

Count Jassen, who approached the window of the halted locomotive, shook the door and waved. Eric frowned.

“I’ll ignore you and just leave.”

“Eyy, seriously! Don’t do that! It’s been a while since I saw you. Why are you being so cold, huh? Ohhh, and your wife is here, too! Nice to meet you. I’m Theo Jassen.”

He greeted Chloe in a casual way, so Chloe smiled and greeted back.

“It’s nice to meet you, Count.”

“Gosh, such a title is burdensome. Please call me comfortably. You can call me by my name.”

“Ah…”

She sighed without realizing it.

This kind of familiarity was something she wasn’t used to. Of course, this was because she had been trapped in the northern estate for a long time.

“Thank you for your consideration, Count.”

So she answered neatly. Theo’s eyes briefly turned to Eric, and it felt like their eyes met.

Ahem! Theo spat out a dry cough and talked to Eric again.

“What, are you not going to open the door for me? If you leave me like this, I might freeze to death here.”

“You shouldn’t say that. There won’t be anyone who’d be sad if you freeze to death here.”

“Are you still going to talk like that?”

Theo shook his shoulders and shuddered, then he turned to Chloe.

“Madam, listen to me. No, this guy was going to invest in my factory. That’s what he told me. But at that time, the Gozir Kingdom also proposed an investment. Which one should I choose? Of course, it’s the kingdom. If you ask anyone who’s passing by the street who they’d choose, it’ll be the same answer! So I asked for his understanding. Why is he still so upset?”

“Who says I’m upset!”

Eric shouted. Annoyed, he ruffled his styled hair and muttered a curse word under his breath. Sh*t. He kicked the door of the carriage.

“Get in. I’ll take you there on the condition that you shut your mouth.”

“Then you’ll need something to cover my mouth.”

“Do you want to freeze to death?”

“I got it, I got it. Your temper’s really something else.”

Theo climbed into the carriage with an amiable smile on his lips. He patted off the snow on his shoulders and wiped his hands with a handkerchief. Then, he offered to shake hands with Chloe.

“Hello again. I’m Theo.”

Chloe glanced at the hand that was being offered to her and soon took only the fingertips.

“I’m Chloe Aslan.”

Theo tried very hard not to let the corners of his lips shoot up. He talked to Chloe, rambling again.

“The Madam is as beautiful as I heard. There’s a reason why this guy hid his wife so meticulously that you couldn’t be seen.”

“Theo Jassen.”

“Ah, you know. Whenever he talks about you, Madam—”

“Count!”

Eventually, Eric shouted and butted into the conversation—which couldn’t be called a conversation anyway—and ended it. With his elbow on the vehicle’s window and his forehead in his hand, Eric said quietly.

“Shut up.”

It was such a threatening tone that anyone could hear his malice.

But Theo wasn’t discouraged. He whispered to Chloe while peeking at her husband.

“It must be hard living together, hahaha!”

An awkward smile could be seen on Chloe. At this, she was sure that this ride would be uncomfortable all the way until their destination.

They arrived at the Duke of Antre’s estate.

Theo got off first, and then Eric. Now it was Chloe’s turn, but she hesitated for a moment. This was because there was a bit of a distance between the vehicle and the carpet. If she alighted like this, there would be mud on her shoes. Chloe agonized over what to do.

“Why aren’t you getting off?”

Eric asked her. Then, he noticed what Chloe was worrying about. He looked down at the floor and saw the three handspans’ distance from the carpet.

“I can’t believe a mistake was made like this in such a basic thing.”

He glanced at the coach driver who was soothing the horses, but he soon sighed as if it couldn’t be helped. Then, he came close to Chloe.

“Please embrace me.”

“…Yes?”

Chloe, who didn’t understand what Eric was saying, widened her eyes. Eric spoke with somewhat of a nervous expression.

“I can’t kneel down in front of you and give you my knee to step on, can I? So please hold onto me.”

The moment Eric’s arm wrapped around Chloe’s waist, the only thing she could say was, ‘Uhh.’ Then, he picked her up and put her down on the carpet.

It happened in an instant. And so, Chloe was stunned. However, Eric didn’t seem to be alright.

“I’ll go with the Count. So Wife, you should greet the others, too.”

“…Yes, I understand. Thank you.”

Grounded to her spot, Chloe stared at Eric’s back that was becoming distant.

Her waist that he had touched felt exceedingly warm for no reason.

“I believe you’ve forgotten that my wife is a duke’s daughter.”

Eric said this as he scowled at Theo, who was flirting with many women. With a glass of champagne in one hand, he replied.

“Are you saying that I was rude earlier?”

“Yes.”

“In that sense, your wife was rude to me, too.”

He recalled how Chloe continued to speak stiffly even though he asked her to call him casually by his name. And she also held only his fingertips as if refusing to shake hands.

Clicking his tongue, Eric also replied to see if he was bothered by it.

“It’s because she hadn’t met a lot of people. It’s her own way of expressing herself.”

“What’s wrong with you, why are you so nice to your wife?”

Theo’s eyes were wide, as though he was truly shocked.

“But it’s like that death glare of yours softens when you look at your wife. Am I wrong?”

“You’re wrong.”

Eric roared.

“I’m so sick and tired of the same thing.”

He unwound his tie and drank champagne.

“It’s been like that since I first saw her. What a terrible woman.”

Eric ruffled his hair and said this. When he first saw her… Theo narrowed his eyes.

“Are you talking about the academy days?”

“Yeah.”

Eric nodded.

“She’s driven me crazy ever since I saw her at the academy. And she always looked at me with those eyes.”

The way she looked at him,

With pure eyes, as if they could never imagine anything impure, enough to pierce him.

The southern academy was always sunny, and she stood tall under such sunlight. She didn’t even shield herself from its heat with a hand. She didn’t even frown—as if there was no other light that shone brighter than her. She looked at him with eyes brighter than the sunlight. It was still like that now.

Her gaze was as clear as the snow that fell. Clean. Pure. That’s why it drives him even crazier.

”You don’t love me.”

How could he love her?

A noblewoman like her,

How could a filthy commoner like him…

F*ck.

Eric took out a cigar and cleared his mind of this.

“If you don’t like her that much, why don’t you get divorced?”

Theo gauged Eric’s mood and said this. He lit Eric’s cigar for him.

“I heard that your wife came to the capital for a reason… and that’s divorce.”

“What?!”

Eric was furious. Theo was shocked and grabbed the other man by the shoulder.

“Hey hey, calm down. You’re at a duke’s estate.”

“Do I look like I can stay calm!”

Eric raised his voice. Without even thinking about the cigar anymore, he glared at Theo.

“Are you going to believe that nonsense gossip? Then I should say that I really don’t have an eye for friends. To have such a idiotic dunce next to me.”

“Why are you being so aggressive? It’s just something I heard, you know…”

Theo was discouraged and trailed off. Eric finally took a drag on his cigar. The dry smoke filled his lungs deeply, then he let out the smoke with his forehead wrinkled.

“But really, is it not that?”

Theo looked over to Eric and tried to read his facial expressions. Eric averted his eyes from Theo.

Last night, Eric accepted Chloe’s request to divorce.

It wasn’t something that’s said in the heat of the moment. He already intended to say he would accept the divorce from the moment Chloe said, ‘It’s already the end.’

“Don’t talk bullsh*t.”

Because he truly didn’t think of getting divorced.

“That will never happen.”

Gaaasp.

Chloe breathed heavily. Leaning on a wall, she placed a hand over her chest.

The anxiety that she felt when her mother was cleaning the bookshelf where her diary was hidden, that kind of tension wracked her body.

She hurriedly looked around her.

No one was looking at her. But at the same time, everyone seemed to be looking at her. Everyone seemed to know what kind of unprincipled conduct she had done just now. So she quickly went towards a balcony.

Click.

As soon as she stepped out of the balcony and turned the latch on the door, Chloe collapsed.

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