Elise smoothed out the faint wrinkle between her brows and nodded slowly.

Yes. No matter how intense the emotions, her son would eventually regain his reason.

As he always had.

The son Elise usually saw was so dull and insensitive that she doubted if he had lost all color of emotion.

He was the son who didn’t say a word when talks of marriage with Lady Piocel were exchanged.

Even if it’s not passionate love, a lukewarm temperature can be more beneficial between spouses.

The life of a noble couple can last a long time if they just maintain each other’s dignity.

Of course, the wounds and pain that occur in between will be borne for life by the one who yearns more.

In that sense, Elise sympathized with Lady Piocel.

It was the result of seeing herself reflected in that girl who somehow seemed to be in the same situation as her.

However, on the other hand, she was glad that the painful counterpart was not her son.

If it could make her son happy, it would be fine to have someone to fulfill such desires.

As long as it doesn’t disturb this peace, every human being would have an outlet to discharge their pollutants, whatever it may be.

As long as he didn’t ruin the marriage by claiming to have that woman in his heart, she would support her son’s happiness, whatever it may be.

In that sense, the reason Elise came all the way here was…….

A kind of anxiety.

Because she knew that people who are burning hot like fire sometimes make mistakes.

Because she knew that the bigger the mistake, the more likely they could walk a path of no return.

Somehow, Elise was occasionally anxious that her son’s eyes resembled not her husband’s indecisiveness, but the hot wick of a candle.

The fact that he had burned down the Sleighr Estate and brought that woman to this hotel again meant that her son’s temperature had risen hot for the first time, increasing Elise’s anxiety even more.

If, by any chance, the temperature towards that woman had already exceeded a certain range…….

Elise clutched her head at such a dizzying thought in front of the hotel.

She had seen more than once or twice noble ladies who had fallen out with their sons over such issues.

Of course, her son was more, if not less, likely to be that kind of child.

Even though she had given birth to him, she was afraid to go against her son’s will.

There was something about Cassian’s characteristically cold red eyes that really instilled such feelings.

Nevertheless, if she had to do it, she was willing to get blood on her hands.

It shouldn’t be difficult to send away a girl like that.

Elise easily guessed that Piocel was behind this kidnapping incident.

There was no one else who would harbor enough grudge to suddenly kidnap and drag her away.

If only that plan had been properly executed…….

As expected, Lady Piocel’s plan was premature.

The more you stimulate, the more intense the emotions tend to become.

How ridiculous human nature is, with its strong tendency to go in the opposite direction.

She was not unaware that in such relationships, the more you say it’s not allowed, the more people tend to feel like tragic protagonists.

Just like her husband…….

Elise passed by Yuriel without a word to avoid making the same mistake.

Getting blood on her hands was not something to rush into yet.

Above all, she believed in her son.

Cassian would never betray expectations.

This is just a temporary deviation.

That’s how she comforted herself.

Nevertheless, her face hardened because of the face of that wench she encountered.

From the moment she faced that wench, a strange sense of déjà vu stirred within her.

Elise was not unaware of where this unpleasant feeling originated from.

‘That woman…….’

Yes. Somehow, that girl resembled the first love that her husband had been searching for over a decade.

Although it was long ago and ‘that woman’s’ face was blurry, somehow the feeling…….

But Elise soon shook her head and brushed it all off.

It’s been over a decade since that woman, called her husband’s first love, disappeared.

Is it even possible that a woman whom neither her husband nor even she could find would be walking around this capital with a daughter?

As expected, everything must be a delusion born out of worry.

In any case, Cassian won’t be able to end his connection with Piocel, and everything will flow in order.

She prided herself on knowing her son better than anyone else.

[This is the timeline separator]

Arriving at the cafeteria at the time specified in the letter, Piocel sat down with a hardened face and gulped down the cold coffee.

However, her state was so messy that she couldn’t even feel the temperature.

[The Sleighr Estate has been completely burned down by Lord Cassian’s hand.] [He personally moved her.]

Piocel furrowed her brow as she recalled the reports flooding her mind.

That man, always with an insensitive face, was like that whenever that wench was involved.

The man who seemed to move solely on reason…….

It was quite an attractive sight, but the fact that the subject wasn’t her brought misery and anger.

Right after that, that man declared the cancellation of the engagement to House Periot.

As if to question the incident at the Sleighr Estate.

In other words, that man knows that she handed that wench over to the Sleighr Estate.

Filled with anger at the notice to cancel the engagement as if it never happened, Western Lord, the head of House Periot, declared with hurt pride that he would accept the proposal.

It was Piocel who cried, begged, and managed to get even this meeting.

The person called her elder sister looked down at her with a disgusting gaze as if she knew this would happen.

Recalling that scene, Piocel gripped the cup so tightly it almost broke.

All that anger was directed towards Yuriel.

‘If it weren’t for that wench…….’

She wouldn’t have had to resort to kidnapping, and the talk of engagement with that man wouldn’t have been nullified.

So, the root of all these problems was, after all, that wench.

As if ignoring her, Cassian’s seat remained empty for quite a long time.

In the span of about an hour, Piocel’s anger boiled over.

At the end of it, Cassian finally made his appearance.

In the space devoid of people, only two coffee cups were placed, and silence flowed.

Cassian’s red eyes glowed with a dark red light like blood.

Under the oppressively heavy air, Piocel felt her mouth dry up.

“I heard you sent the engagement cancellation document.”

Despite the accusatory words, Piocel’s voice trembled slightly at the end.

It was because Cassian’s lips curled up as if mocking.

It was a sight on a different level from the simple sneer she had seen before.

As anger set in on the face of the man she had thought expressionless, a chilling air blew.

“I remember saying it before. Let’s pretend the engagement talk never happened”

“……”

“Don’t you understand? Or do you have no intention of listening”

Piocel’s fist clenched. Under the tender flesh she gripped, deep marks were etched.

His warning from that day vividly flashed through her mind.

The one about not meddling in each other’s affairs no matter who they meet.

Now Piocel seemed to understand clearly.

This man’s previous talk of breaking off the engagement wasn’t just a simple warning not to touch Yuriel, that wench.

This man clearly knew that she had met Yuriel and touched that woman.

In those red eyes, dry like barren land, unrefined anger was burning.

In other words, it meant he knew that she was behind sending that woman to the ‘Sleighr Estate’.

“Further conversation seems pointless.”

Clank, as Cassian put down his coffee cup, his eyes held no emotion whatsoever.

Piocel hid her clenched fist under the table and fabricated the most calm voice she could.

“I thought of her as just a toy to play with. That woman.”

Anyway, Piocel was certain that this man would eventually choose her.

Even this current anger would just be a passing wind.

“But your eyes lingered there for quite a while, so I got jealous.”

Piocel, swirling her teacup, took a sip and gazed at Cassian reflected in the opposite cup.

“The body going and the heart going are different, right?”

“…….”

“What I want is your heart, but you only give your body, so I got angry.”

Looking at Cassian’s eyes that didn’t even flinch, Piocel sensed.

That at this rate, she couldn’t hold onto this man any longer.

This burning emotion, Piocel believed without a doubt was love.

“I’ll wait. Until you come back. So the engagement cancellation documents, you should…….”

“You’ll wait, you say.”

An undisguised sneer leaked right out of Cassian’s mouth.

The temperature of the words that followed was too chilly, instantly cooling the air.

“I sent the engagement cancellation document, and the answer that comes back is that you’ll wait…… It’s regrettable that you don’t understand at all.”

The sarcastic tone scratched at Piocel’s insides. As a result, her mouth instantly hardened.

However, she knew well that nothing was more foolish than deliberately magnifying past events.

“Of course, I admit that I was wrong.”

It would be a sin if getting caught for something that shouldn’t have been discovered is considered a sin.

Piocel habitually bit her lips before eventually draping a smile on her face.

In any case, in this relationship now, she was clearly the ‘subordinate’.

“But anyone, not just me, would make such mistakes.”

“…….”

“There’s no need to do the same thing twice, is there? Let’s pretend the talk of breaking off the engagement never happened at this point. Wouldn’t that be good for both of us?”

“For both of us, you say…….”

A sardonic smile spread across Cassian’s lips as he held his coffee cup.

“I don’t know if you’re stupid or brazen.”

Piocel’s eyelids fluttered at the statement that was hard to believe came from the mouth of the Blanchet heir.

“What did you…… just say?”

She asked again in disbelief, but no answer came back.

In his red eyes that she faced, an indescribable energy was rippling.

In that state, he opened his mouth dryly.

“Right now, I am bestowing the utmost mercy upon you, young lady.”

“Mercy…… you say?”

Piocel’s voice flowed out stiffly.

She had thought the engagement cancellation document was just a tool to scare her.

Until coming here, she had firmly believed so.

No matter how much he held that woman in his heart, he would need at least the appearance of a duchess, and there would be no better match than her who was willing to bend.

But Cassian’s gaze that she met was sharp like a blade.

The cold words that followed were the same.

“I’m saying that this is the last chance to end it with just breaking off the engagement.”

“……!”