“Don’t you dislike it? My face.”
“What are you saying…”
That attitude, as if he was peering into her very soul, was also distasteful.
“Brother, you misunderstand. Mother said that besides your appearance, there’s nothing else to see.”
“Henry!”
Anais quickly covered Henry’s mouth, but the damage was already done.
An awkward silence flowed between the four.
“Eh? What are you all doing outside?”
That’s how it was until the tardy Emperor discovered them.
[This is the time separator]The awkwardness continued at the dining table.
Only the Emperor, who knew nothing, was bubbling with joy.
“By the way, I heard that the Count of Winters has broken off his engagement.”
The Empress naturally brought up the story of the Duke of Winters.
Considering the Duke’s wealth and current status, it was a good opportunity to pull him to their side.
“Max? That fellow, who always walks around with a bright face, has lost that patient young lady?”
The Emperor recalled Maximilian’s disposition from when he was young and made a general comment about the divorce.
The Empress, eyeing Anais, who was quietly eating, opened her mouth.
“So, Your Majesty, what about the Count of Winters as a match for Anais?”
“That fellow Max?”
The Emperor seemed unpleased.
The back work of the Empress faction, clearly relying on the Winters family’s power, was plain to see.
He was annoyed, just unpleasant.
“I had been considering his daughter for the Crown Princess…”
Internally, the Emperor had hoped the Duke of Winters would become a strong supporter of the Crown Prince, and he looked at Nathaniel.
His son was cutting his food with a surprisingly indifferent face.
“What do you think, Nathaniel?”
“I don’t care who it is.”
“Heh heh.”
As the Emperor reacted that way, the Empress’s temper flared.
She had brought up the marriage proposal first, and now it seemed an irrelevant person would be married. It made her blood boil.
“Your Majesty, please don’t. Anais has been in love with the Count of Winters for a long time.”
“Really?”
Suddenly called, Anais blinked her eyes anxiously and looked at the Empress.
“Is that so?”
“Ah, yes… yes.”
Anais stammered, speaking as stiffly as if reading a script.
“I’ve admired him for a long time. It’s just that he had a fiancée, so I couldn’t say anything.”
Since Anais herself expressed her wish, the Emperor found it hard to say no.
He felt indebted to her.
When Nathaniel’s biological mother was alive, the current Empress was the Emperor’s concubine.
They fought fiercely for the Empress’s seat.
Milia tried to enter the palace by taking advantage of the Emperor’s heart, and the previous Empress tried to keep her place with the support of a distant relative.
The tedious fight ended only when the former Empress became weak and died, and finally, Milia was able to enter the palace as Empress.
Anais, born when Milia was hiding to avoid the pursuit of the former Empress, had no choice but to spend a miserable childhood.
The Empress very skillfully used that point to move the Emperor.
“Okay, then bring it up once. If they refuse, there’s nothing we can do.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
Since the Duke of Winters was not stupid enough to fall for the Empress’s machinations, the Emperor decided to permit it for now.
The pleased Empress looked at Nathaniel with a selfsatisfied face.
But all she could see in his face was boredom.
‘Someday I’ll flatten your nose.’
The Empress vowed and pushed the meat into her mouth.
[This is the time separator]The impact Maximilian suffered seemed much larger than I thought.
He rolled around the mansion like a cripple, something I could never have imagined reading the original work.
Teresa wouldn’t… do that.
Sometimes he muttered that to himself.
It was pathetic.
But I didn’t have long to dwell on that.
A marriage proposal has come from the palace.
Certainly! Here’s the translated passage:
On a dreary morning at breakfast time, the father looked at Maximilian and said,
“I want to marry you to Princess Anais.”
“I can’t. I have not yet heard from Theresa.”
“The two of you are already engaged.”
Despite the Duke’s words, Maximilian firmly repeated that Theresa would never do that.
The tedious argument continued again, and I, too, gradually grew weary.
‘I thought he would be thrilled, but why is he being so clingy now?’
And a few days later, a secretive letter flew in from Theresa.
At the end of the indifferent letter, there was no content asking about Maximilian’s wellbeing as always.
When I confirmed that, I felt a strange sensation.
It’s really over between them, I thought.
I immediately sent a reply to Theresa.
The contents of the letter were simple.
Someone had to break Maximilian’s ridiculous delusion.
[This is the time separator]Maximilian was properly dressed for the first time in a while and waiting in the inner room of the tea house.
He had never been so anxious and restless in his life.
“Theresa’s sister wants to meet.”
Lately, Jaina, who acted like an enemy, had done something special.
‘It’ll be fine if I apologize properly.’
It was something that could be fixed by promising that he had spoken too harshly that day, and that it would never happen again.
After wiping his sweaty hands on his pants a few times, someone knocked on the door.
“The guest you were waiting for has arrived.”
When the door opened, Theresa appeared in a robe.
“Theresa!”
“It’s been a long time, Max.”
Maximilian briefly greeted her, and Theresa seemed unfamiliar as she sat across from him.
She looked like someone he was meeting for the first time.
“Have you been well all this time?”
“I’ve been getting by. Max, what about you?”
“I, well…”
After the greetings, an odd silence flowed.
There had never been such a long silence between the two, so Maximilian was quite taken aback.
Thinking about it, Theresa had been silent.
She had always been the one to talk about daily life, and he had just listened.
“Max, if you have nothing to say, can I go? I’m a little uncomfortable.”
“No, no. I have something I must tell you.”
Maximilian, suddenly aware of his insensitivity, felt even more apologetic to Theresa.
He wanted to make it right with her once again.
There had never been a future I had envisioned without Theresa.
Maximilian, steadying his trembling breath, began the words he had prepared.
An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most
One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.
This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:
1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.
It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.
(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)
2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.
The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.
3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.
Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).
Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.
Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.
4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).
5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!
