Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Translator: Eonnicorn / Editor: Scarlet

“I don’t have one. My engagement broke a long time ago.” Ruth put down the knife and fork as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. Despite the question being quite unpleasant, he still kept his manners by answering while holding eye contact.

“My goodness, how on earth…”

“It was decided by the adults in my family.”

“Such a shame. But don’t blame the adults too much. There must be a reason why they broke it.”

“Indeed, there’s… a reason. That’s why I feel bad for the other party.”

Ruth smiled bitterly at the Baronetess’ exaggerated consolation. His eyes automatically drifted toward Eva. It might have been his imagination, but in his eyes, she looked like she felt guilty. Eva turned her head away, embarrassed at herself for trying to leave a good impression on him.

“You must like her a lot.”

“Nothing sort of that. There’s nothing between us because we haven’t seen each other since we were very young.”

He answered straightforwardly. Even if he were the Crown Prince, it wasn’t a disappointing answer to Eva. She has the same belief as him. They didn’t have a chance to like or hate each other. Nevertheless, her attention was focused on every word that flowed out of his mouth. She instinctively began to wonder what was inside of the mind of the person she was once meant to be with.

“If that’s the case, don’t worry about it. You can always find someone else. I have a feeling that you must be popular.”

“I’ve never had another woman around.” His words came out as a whisper. Eva’s downward eyelashes lifted..

“My, why?”

“Because, it doesn’t sit well to steer away from my ex-fiancee. Although no feelings are attached, I haven’t seen her face since I was young.”

After Ruth spoke, as though it were a light matter, he picked up the glass of wine and brought it to his lips. Beyond the tilted glass, darkened eyes stared at Eva. They were blank, as if the night outside the window had been absorbed into his eyes.

“I thought she was the only woman I’d marry.”

“…”

Her anger over the bracelet quickly vanished. Even if she scolded her heart, her heart was already soothed with the belief that this man was the Crown Prince. She felt satisfied because her innocent younger self thought that she should be the one who married him.

At that time, though there was no love, no interest, no expectation between them, they still happened to be faithful to each other. She didn’t realize she was in a relationship. She didn’t know until it was over.

* * *

In between the time of the end of dinner and before the tea-time session begun, Eva followed the Baronetess to her room who intended to fix her makeup.

“Give it back. My bracelet.”

Eva stretched out her arm to the Baronetess, who was checking herself in the mirror. She was so furious that her voice was wrapped by coldness. She was taught not to show emotions easily, but she didn’t think she could right now. A lot had happened in this house and she bottled it up inside. The fossil-hardened patience had turned into a bomb that was ticked by the Baronetess’ theft.

“Bracelet? Oh, you mean this? I merely borrowed it for a while.”

“If you take it without the owner’s permission, you don’t borrow it, you steal it.”

If it was any other time, she would only take the bracelet and return since she didn’t want to make things worse. However, Eva could no longer stand the Baronetess’ brazen attitude and bit her back.

“Watch your mouth. Where’s this rude behavior coming from?”

“Give it back, please. Right now.”

“Sorry to break it to you, but it seems that I can’t do that, Eva.”

“What?” Eva’s voice lowered. In the blink of an eye, the dark grudge that had been buried inside unleashed and blinded her rationality. Today was the day she was done with suppressing her feelings. Definitely not at this moment, no matter what retaliation came afterward.

“Listen, Eva. We didn’t get paid properly because your family went bankrupt. But we still brought you here because of the bond we shared in the past. Do you know how much we lost to raise you and keep Cecil? So I’ll keep this to make it up.”

“In that case, I’ll report you to the Investigation Bureau.”

“Go try it. Who would they believe if I said this was mine?” The Baronetess snorted and waved her hand to show the bracelet off. The action clearly intended to tease Eva and reveal the greed for the bracelet. Eva’s lips formed a frown towards the shameless and childish demeanor.