CH 5

This was a letter written by my fiancé when he had a romance disguised as friendship with the daughter of the Marquis Schuteiner, who was the lord of a much greater estate than my family and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Kyles’s face turned pale as I read a part of it.

I was at the Pail’s mansion for my father’s errand a while ago. That’s when I found something at his desk. It seemed Kyles did not expect me to visit without any prior notice, so he left an unfinished letter stuck in a book. It made my heart sink. But I couldn’t blame him right away. After all, Kyles was at the capital at the time. I had to hold back my tears and refused his mother’s offer to stay for some tea. Then, I ran out of the mansion as if I was being chased by someone.

As soon as I got home, I tried to relieve myself by having some sweets. But I had such a good memory that the love letter kept coming back to my mind. The more I thought about it, the more I felt betrayed.

He even described me as a ‘dull and boring woman, who needed to be treated well out of necessity.’ That a*sh*le. Friendship? To hell with it. How dare he use the word ‘friendship’ to describe it? You two deceived your fiancés even if you two didn’t have any bodily contact.

“No, please. Kyles and I are only friends. I don’t want to see you two fighting because of me. Please, reconsider,” sobbed Elise. This beautiful silver-haired woman cried as she shivered like a beautiful small white bird. Her aquamarine-colored eyes shed marble-like tears.

Dammit. Her looks even make me go soft. I can see why she is considered the most beautiful woman in this entire empire. Her beauty makes me eager to pull her hair out to tone it down! But the lies coming out of her mouth make her gorgeous face even more fake. Thankfully, it helped me to cool down and think this over.

‘Alright, Elise. You sure are hostile towards me.’ She wasn’t satisfied with bullying me, so she had gone far to do such a thing.

“That’s easy for you to say. I’m done with him, and I won’t reconsider it. Lady Schuteiner, you sure are something. How many so-called friends do you have? How many did you seduce with a facade of friendship-”

Then I felt a burn on my cheek as my face turned sideways from the harsh hand. Kyles had slapped me.

‘Damn pr*ck, why is he hitting me? Ugh, my face is going to swell up. I’ll need some ice packs when I get home,’ I thought as I looked up again. 

Lady Schut… No. That b**ch’s eyes were wide open from what had just happened. She looked at us as if she was hurt then ran away to escape the scene. Crap. I wasn’t done yet, and she left! She must have done it to piss me off. As I kept my eyes on her, I heard Kyle’s angry voice directed towards me.

“You should watch your mouth! She’s not like you! She’s not rough or peeks into other people’s letters like you! She’s a noblewoman!”

Oh, is she so noble that she flirts with other people’s men? I almost had it spit out of my mouth, but I felt so miserable and had to push it back down. I glared at him. It felt as if I would cry at Kyles speaking down on me so coldly while praising her. But I’m reminded of my anger again and again, so I can push back the misery and act cold.

I then smirked and began to accuse him sarcastically, “Too bad, Kyles. How do you feel to be abandoned from the woman you loved so much? Is she so precious, unlike me, that you can’t even lay a hand on her?” 

“Yeah! Lady Schuteiner isn’t manly and uncontrollable or brags as you do!”

I tried to act calm at his words, but it still hurt. Stay calm. Let’s not get hurt. I repeated to myself when I heard him continue.

“What did you say when I was having a hard time at work? Oh, ‘You should stop complaining and try hard because it’s difficult but honorable work, and the Chancellor is a fair man, so he’ll see your hard work?’ All you did was lecture and talk down on me!”

‘Was that it? He thought my advice was a lecture and was talking down to him?’  I did say that, but I did it because I loved you, and I wished the best for you.

“But she cried for me when I was in trouble. She told me that it was because I’m talented but have no connections that I’m working as a lowly clerk. That’s why she introduced me to other officials!”

I was aware of that too. I knew how hard he was trying to survive at the center where he had no connections or background. That’s why I tried my best to get him introduced to the Chancellor. I heard from my father that the Chancellor likes placing bets. So, that’s why I went to him, challenged him in chess, a game that he never lost in, and made a bet. I asked him to watch over Kyles because he’s an intelligent and talented young man. The Chancellor found me interesting and offered to do as I asked if I would win in chess. After pretending to barely beat him 3 to 2, I earned his promise.