A chilling air settled in the reception room of the castle, with only the clinking sounds quietly echoing.
With a teacup in one hand and a light coaster in the other, Ludmila Perez Erdi exerted the utmost composure she could muster.
Otherwise, she would have surely bolted from this place, overwhelmed by the red-haired woman exuding a murderous aura as if ready to kill her on the spot.
“So.”
A voice as chilling as the killing intent dropped abruptly. Calmly placing the teacup and coaster on the table, Ludmila Perez Erdi neatly folded her hands on her lap.
“You’re saying you’re Aden’s business partner?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
Ludmila Perez Erdi answered her words in a calm voice. It would be best to conceal her identity as much as possible.
The people of the Send Plateau didn’t know Ludmila Perez Erdi’s face. Beyond social circles, there was hardly anyone in the Empire who didn’t know her face.
With her photos appearing daily in newspapers and magazines, even children could recognize her face.
It was hard to believe, but when Ludmila Perez Erdi expressed her doubt, Aden had just one thing to say.
‘You’re being self-conscious.’
It was such a plain expression that embarrassment and even shame washed over her.
Trapped in the moving carriage with nowhere to escape, Ludmila Perez Erdi could only look out the window in embarrassment. Yet, part of her wondered if they really wouldn’t recognize her.
But embarrassingly, Aden’s words were accurate.
Except for a few of Aden’s close associates who led the carriage back, most people knew her as a merchant.
Even inside the castle, Aden introduced Ludmila Perez Erdi without hesitation as a business partner or merchant.
And everyone believed it without doubt. Embarrassingly so. All of this was an unfamiliar and strange scene to Ludmila Perez Erdi.
“Hard to believe. Such a young-looking person is that outstanding a merchant? Isn’t she a con artist?”
“Well…”
“Hold your tongue, Beressa.”
Before Ludmila Perez Erdi could open her mouth, Aden’s voice dropped first.
Beressa, who was clinging to Aden’s side as if unwilling to be apart for even a moment, quickly turned her head.
Looking at Aden with a face painted with betrayal, Beressa’s lips moved silently, unable to utter a word. Meanwhile, Aden, who had his gaze on Beressa, gave a brief eye signal.
“We’ll talk separately later, so go out for now.”
“But, Aden…!”
“Claude.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
The young butler, seeming to have keenly noticed why his name was called, urged Beressa to exit.
Green eyes filled with upset emotions shook violently, eventually piercing into Ludmila Perez Erdi, as if resentful of Aden who just silently stared at her.
Ludmila Perez Erdi, who had never learned what expression to make when caught in the middle of a romantic misunderstanding, could only smile.
Ludmila Perez Erdi, who had been smiling until Beressa disappeared, forced out by the semi-compulsory expulsion order, hardened her expression as the door closed.
“You should have told me in advance.”
“What.”
Aden, with a face tinged with fatigue, briefly retorted while holding his forehead. Ludmila Perez Erdi felt momentarily bewildered but calmly suppressed her emotions.
“I never imagined you had a wife.”
“…Wife?”
“Isn’t she? It’s rare for someone to show such fervent emotions in front of others like that. Let alone coming to the reception room.”
In the common sense of Imperial nobles, it was difficult to accept such open displays of affection between unmarried men and women.
Nobles believed they should maintain dignity and decorum, thinking that intense expressions of affection, except towards family members, were something only lowborn people did.
Such thoughts were similarly held not only by nobles but also by the wealthy and even the intellectual class.
“If I had known Your Excellency was married, I would have been more careful.”
Even if being careful just meant refusing the escort, it could have avoided misunderstandings.
Ludmila Perez Erdi intended to stay here as quietly as possible and leave as soon as winter ended. The thawing of the frozen land would begin in about 4 months.
There was no need to make enemies unnecessarily. Especially not with the lady of the house.
“Hearing you say that makes it sound like I’m the one at fault.”
“I think it’s not about being wrong to me, but about being disrespectful to Your Excellency’s wife.”
“Right, that’s the proper view. If Beressa were indeed my wife, as the Marchioness says.”
…If she were? At the somewhat dubious conditional statement, Ludmila Perez Erdi’s eyes widened. Aden chuckled and rested his chin on his hand.
“But unfortunately, Beressa is not my wife.”
“Then, fiancée…”
“Of course, not that either.”
From Ludmila Perez Erdi’s perspective, even suggesting a fiancée was a huge concession.
Yet, it wasn’t even that. Staring at her eyes clouded with confusion, Aden let out a small sigh.
“If I had to put it…”
Aden paused for a moment, tilting his head slightly.
“It might be easier to think of us as family-like.”
What does family-like mean if they’re family? At this incomprehensible statement, Ludmila Perez Erdi’s eyes filled with confusion.
“I know that Imperial nobles have a self-centered way of thinking. Let me give you one piece of advice: it’s better not to try to understand our clan with the common sense of typical Imperial nobles. You saw it on your way here. More than 7 gates and 3 mountain ranges. This is a remote place, abandoned by them, cut off from the Empire.”
“That…”
Ludmila Perez Erdi’s eyes, tumultuous with confusion, spoke for her state of mind.
Her lips moved as if trying to find an answer, but she couldn’t come up with anything substantial. Letting out a small sigh, Ludmila Perez Erdi had to admit.
How narrow-minded, self-centered, and mistaken her knowledge about the Khan clan had been.
Even the things she had studied in preparation were tainted with prejudice and misguided knowledge.
“Thank you for the advice. If there’s anything I’ve done wrong, please tell me right away. I don’t want to make mistakes while I’m here.”
If someone heard that, they might think she had made a mistake big enough to ruin a country. It was a minor mistake.
Even that, if heard and understood, would be a minor mistake one could laugh off and move on from. But Ludmila Perez Erdi took it very seriously, as if even such a mistake shouldn’t happen.
Her demeanor was so serious that it bordered on solemnity.
Aden couldn’t understand Ludmila Perez Erdi.
But when he recalled the image of Ludmila Perez Erdi landing on his arm as if fleeing from something that day, it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible.
Aden rolled his eyes slightly to examine Ludmila Perez Erdi’s cheek. The bloodstain that had flowed on her pale skin remained, stuck like a sharp thorn, not evaporating.
Such a dull and stubborn survival method was unpleasant to Aden.
“There’s no need for that here.”
Aden stood up, adjusted his posture, and faced Ludmila Perez Erdi while putting his hands in his pockets.
“Here, you are my guest, which means all your mistakes are my responsibility.”
“Isn’t that all the more reason to be careful?”
“You don’t understand what I’m saying. I’m not bringing this up to tell you not to make mistakes.”
Aden took off the ring on his finger and tossed it to Ludmila Perez Erdi.
Unfamiliar with the act of throwing and catching, Ludmila Perez Erdi barely managed to catch the ring. With a bewildered expression, she opened her palms that had been tightly clasped together.
The engraving on the golden ring and red jewel.
“I’m telling you to sell it.”
When Ludmila Perez Erdi, holding the ring that signified membership in the Havertz family, raised her head, Aden chuckled.
“I’ll take responsibility for you while you stay here, so sell me out.”
He had not the slightest intention of participating in such a cheap survival method.
[This is the timeline separator]Entering the room assigned to her and sitting on the chair, Ludmila Perez Erdi exhaled weakly.
Looking tired, Ludmila Perez Erdi rested her elbow on the desk and cradled her forehead, silently staring at the ring in her other hand. She never imagined she would receive such an item as soon as she arrived.
Naturally, she thought they would start by asking for useful information before she even entered the room prepared for her, inquiring about business trends, or matters like creating slush funds.
But contrary to her expectations, Aden seemed to have little interest in such information.
‘Telling me to sell him out.’
To her, who had always been the one sold out, being told to sell someone else out sounded strange, even bizarre.
Why? She couldn’t understand at all why he would take such an attitude without even checking if she had any useful information.
Ludmila Perez Erdi examined her reflection in the mirror. A lifeless face with pale skin.
Her dry hair, unwashed from rushing without even stopping by a village to conceal her identity, added a sense of an old doll.
‘…Let’s wash up first.’
Sighing, Ludmila Perez Erdi stood up, took off her coat, and entered the bathroom.
The bathroom wasn’t much different from those in the Empire, so she washed up without difficulty and came out to check her luggage that the porters had brought.
“…It’s not here?”
Ludmila Perez Erdi muttered softly while changing clothes and gathering necessary items.
She hurriedly searched through other bags, but the item she was looking for wasn’t there either.
I’m sure I put it here? Ludmila Perez Erdi’s eyes clouded with bewilderment as she bit her lip hard enough to hurt.
“Looking for this?”
At that moment, an unfamiliar voice echoed in the room. Turning her head, Ludmila Perez Erdi’s expression hardened when she saw the object in Beressa’s hand, who was standing askew in the doorway.
A small notebook the size of a palm.
It was filled with information to provide to Aden, Kedilen Erdi’s illegal activities to expose when leaving this place, and details of her own circumstances.
In other words, that notebook was her lifeline.
“Did you look at it?”
“Why would I have taken it if I hadn’t looked?”
At the sarcastic laughter, Ludmila Perez Erdi approached Beressa. Meanwhile, Beressa entered the room, closed the door, and leaned against the wall with her arms crossed.
“Please give it back.”
Ludmila Perez Erdi extended her hand, demanding the return of her property, but Beressa merely rolled her eyes.
“It’s mine. Please return it.”
“I know it’s yours. I’ll give it back. I will, but let me ask one thing.”
Beressa twisted the corner of her mouth while fixing her cold eyes on Ludmila Perez Erdi.
“Are you a [expletive]?”
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!!!
