Was my illusion that his echoing voice sounded unusually low?
I took one more step back and clenched my fist.
“……Have you, by any chance, returned to the capital and met Margaret?”
“Margaret?”
Duke Pieren’s eyebrows narrowed.
Unlike Margaret’s claim that they spent the night together, he seemed to have no proper memory of who she was.
I laughed in vain and let my shoulders sag.
“If you don’t know, that’s fine. After all, you don’t need to know her.”
“Do you have a reason to talk about such a person here?”
I wished he would just pass by, but his gaze insisting was persistent.
He would never back down unless I explained it properly.
In the end, I was the one to wave the white flag.
“……She told me she had your child.”
“……”
It was momentary, but I clearly saw it.
The pupils of the expressionless man shook for a moment.
But I pretended not to know that fact.
There were many things I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t ask anything.
There was nothing to change by bringing up the past.
Too much time had already passed for that.
“Do you understand now? All the conversations we’ve had so far were misunderstandings.”
“……”
“Once again, I apologize for my misjudgment that made the situation bigger. If you want, I’m also thinking of giving you proper compensation.”
“……”
I couldn’t understand what the gaze looking at me slightly meant.
To put it more honestly, it would be more correct to say I didn’t want to know.
I let out a slow breath and embraced myself as if to protect myself.
I wanted to finish what I had to say quickly and leave this place.
“If you have nothing more to say, I’ll leave now.”
I couldn’t face Duke Pieren any longer and took a step.
But that step didn’t get far.
Duke Pieren, who had blocked my way with quick steps, was looking down at me.
I lifted my head without strength.
“Do you have anything else to say?”
“……”
“If not, could you please move?”
As I urged him with my gaze, Duke Pieren finally moved aside.
At that moment, I couldn’t tell what the man with the still expressionless face was thinking.
But whether it was love, guilt, or some other hidden intention, it didn’t matter to me.
What I knew was that we had already ended a long time ago.
“Bake. What’s this about drinking in broad daylight?”
“……It’s noisy.”
“Ah, I get it. You heard the news, right? The beautiful Duchess has entered the palace today!”
“…….”
“Don’t look at me like that. I’m on your side.”
Count Naret smirked and put his arm on Bake’s shoulder.
Bake glared at Count Naret with bloodshot eyes, then drank his cup in one gulp.
“I’ve been busy for a while. There’s no problem between us.”
“Of course. There’s no way the noble Duchess would be involved in such a vulgar jealousy fight. Except for that jerk who was wallowing like a dog in the countryside.”
“…….”
“No matter how noble the bloodline, what’s the use? Now he’s no different from the dirty mercenary bastards. There’s no way such a guy could have decency.”
Count Naret spoke in deliberately exaggerated tones and refilled Bake’s glass.
Given the way his tongue was slurred, it looked like he had been drinking heavily before he came, but that didn’t matter.
From experience, the more Bake drank, the better drinking buddy he became.
“Remember? That guy was the one who approached first in the party room seen by everyone. Honestly, was that possible if he respected you even a little?”
“…….”
“To think about it, it’s too much from the Duchess. Everyone clearly knows how they look, but to have a separate conversation with him.”
“…….”
“Poor Bake.”
Count Naret clutched his chest and frowned.
Bake did not look back at Count Naret, but his mouth was tightened.
“I’m not messing around, be careful, my friend.”
“…….”
“Just by looking at the Emperor already, it seems like he’s ready to give anything to Duke Pieren, to solidify his position.”
Squeak
The chair was pushed back with a strange noise.
Count Naret supported Bake, who was struggling to stand up.
He couldn’t even handle his own body, how much had he drunk?
“Oh dear. I should call for the carriage.”
“No need for the carriage.”
Bake awkwardly pushed Count Naret away and turned his body.
Count Naret watched Bake, who was walking dangerously as if he would fall at any moment, with a smile on his lips.
How long had it been since he became a noble, yet watching Bake who couldn’t hide even a single emotion, a smile naturally came to his lips.
“Where are you going!”
“Mind your own business!”
At the moment when he raised his voice irritably, Bake’s unstable body eventually collapsed.
“Such a big voice for a halfpint.”
Instead of supporting him, Count Naret checked Bake’s wallet while observing the pitiful state of Bake.
As if to prove he was a merchant’s son, his wallet was packed with bills.
Count Naret naturally took all the bills out of the wallet and put them in his own.
Judging from the situation, there would soon be a need for someone to make excuses for him, so there was nothing wrong with receiving the fee in advance.
[This is the time separator]Bang! Bang! Bang!
There was a rough knock on the door.
Margaret got up from her place as if she was familiar with it.
Liviana acted confidently, but nothing had changed.
If it was a relationship that could end with just one piece of paper, it would not have continued until now.
Margaret opened the door while holding back a smile that was about to burst.
As soon as the door opened, a terrible smell of alcohol stung her nose.
“…Wasn’t it over between us?”
She tried to speak coldly, but she couldn’t hide her overflowing expectations.
The time apart had been quite long.
She missed the embrace of the man who held her, and she was just as longed for him.
“Shall we go again then?”
Bake leaned on the door and looked down at Margaret slightly crookedly.
Margaret swallowed dry saliva at the gaze looking down on her.
His eyes were slightly dilated as if he had been drinking heavily somewhere.
“What happened?”
“…….”
Bake tightly shut his mouth.
But judging by his flushed face, she had a rough idea of what had happened.
His pattern was always the same.
He couldn’t say a word in front of his wife and suffered, and in the end, he came into her arms.
In the end, the winner was her.
Margaret reached out both hands and wrapped her arms around Bake’s face.
And standing on tiptoe, she slowly kissed him.
His gaze wavered for a moment, but it was only for a moment.
Margaret knew Bake wouldn’t reject her.
“I just want to comfort you.”
“…….”
“Just for a moment. Just a very brief moment.”
As she lifted her lips, Margaret looked up at him quietly and bit his lips as if to show off.
And at that moment, Bake’s hand roughly grabbed her hair.
Margaret’s eyes widened for a moment, then she wrapped her arms around Bake’s neck.
That was the start.
There was no more conversation.
Only rough breathing and blatant hands tangled, exploring each other.
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!!!
