The Villain Has Gone Mad For Me - Chapter 98

No. This is a bit ridiculous.

I whispered quietly while hiding myself behind the wall.

“When a woman acts like that, wouldn’t she usually be caught?”

“Unless His Grace wishes it, he never allows himself to be caught by others. And he originally dislikes women.”

Ah, right, that’s true. I had completely forgotten because he was so natural with skinship towards me.

That man, he really disliked women. Extremely so.

As I nodded slightly, Ruben added one more thing.

“Except for Lady Latieana.”

At those words, I couldn’t help but smile unknowingly.

Then, coming to my senses at Ruben’s gaze staring down at me with lifeless eyes, I peeked my head out to observe the two people.

Fortunately, as if she hadn’t fallen, the woman stood upright and was staring directly at Edan.

Her gaze seemed to contain a bit of resentment, as if she felt hurt by his attitude.

“Grand Duke Ed…”

“Let’s not cross the line.”

Edan coldly cut off her words while brushing off his jacket sleeve.

Although she only made a gesture of grabbing, she didn’t actually touch him, but he acted as if some filthy insect had touched him and fallen off.

As if he was disgusted just by the fact that she tried to approach him.

“That woman is Princess Ciella…”

She’s pretty. She looks incredibly pure. Wouldn’t she look like the personification of dew on grass blades at dawn?

Ciella had neatly let down her golden straight hair that reached her chest.

She was very delicate, with skin so white it was almost transparent, and slender.

Even her standing posture exuded a calm atmosphere.

Though not flashy, her well-placed, delicate features made her look very attractive at first glance.

How should I put it? She’s the type to provoke protective instincts.

She watched Edan’s actions, and only when she saw him put both hands in his pockets did she open her mouth again.

“You knew I was coming, didn’t you?”

Again, her tone contained some resentment.

I furrowed my brow.

What’s with that confidence? So what if he knew you were coming? Was Edan supposed to welcome you grandly or something?

“I knew. That’s why I kindly sent a letter of rejection telling you not to come.”

Edan spoke coldly, lowering his eyes frigidly.

At those words, Ciella flinched and lowered her voice a little.

“You know I couldn’t do that.”

Along with her slightly trembling voice, her shoulders drooped a bit as if she was intimidated.

To an outsider, it might look pitiful, as if Edan had done something terrible.

“So?”

“…Pardon?”

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to accomplish by telling me this. Am I supposed to consider your position as well, Your Highness?”

Seemingly quite taken aback by Edan’s cold attitude, Ciella blinked her eyes rapidly a few times and then raised her voice slightly.

“Grand Duke!”

Regardless, Edan tilted his head askew as if annoyed, and her face became even more dejected.

“How… how can you treat me so coldly like this?”

Edan silently shifted his gaze, which had been thrown into empty space, towards Ciella.

As their eyes met, Ciella gathered courage and took another step towards Edan.

Because Edan had retreated with such large strides, the distance between them didn’t close much, but even that was irritating to me and I frowned.

What on earth is she trying to say?

It was then, as I was narrowing my eyes and concentrating.

“Please help me.”

What?

Ciella looked up at Edan with her hands neatly folded and tightly clasped.

“You signed the marriage proposal scroll, didn’t you? I came here believing in that. It means you’re going to marry me, right?”

Still maintaining a frigid expression, Edan exhaled lightly as if mocking her, seemingly not feeling any pity.

“You believed that even after being tricked like that? If you had thought about it a little, you would have known there was no way I would sign that, right?”

“But…”

As Ciella’s eyes wavered as if she truly hadn’t known, Edan looked down at her with an even colder gaze.

“But, because you ultimately protected me back then, I thought you would do so again this time.”

“You seem to have forgotten the last words I gave you?”

“…”

“I told you to throw everything away and run.”

Ciella’s pretty coral lips tensed as she avoided Edan’s gaze.

“I also would have told you to give up if you couldn’t do that.”

She remained silent. Edan gently furrowed his brow and turned his body.

“The arranged marriage will be canceled soon. Please return now.”

“Pardon?”

Ciella, who thought she had given up, hurriedly raised her head at Edan’s words and approached him again with large strides.

And again, she tried to reach out her arms towards him, and he clicked his tongue with an irritated sigh and retreated further.

“Ah.”

Ciella’s hand remained in the air again, flustered to the point her ears turned red.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“If you come close to me one more time, I won’t end it with just avoiding you.”

“…”

After confirming Edan’s hardened face, Ciella slowly withdrew her hand.

“…How will you cancel the arranged marriage? It’s the Empress Dowager’s doing, isn’t it? Even you won’t be able to refuse it, Grand Duke.”

“What are you misunderstanding? In the past, my not refusing that matter wasn’t because of the Empress Dowager. It was because of my elder brother Killian that I endured it.”

“…”

As soon as Killian’s name was mentioned, Ciella’s complexion darkened instantly.

“The reason I didn’t make an issue of you lying that you liked me was also because of my brother. But in the end, you ruined everything by breaking your promise.”

Edan’s voice sank lower and lower, to the point of being frightening.

The gaze that had been treating her indifferently changed in an instant, piercing her so sharply it was hard to continue speaking.

Ciella, with a pale complexion, moved her lips a few times before speaking.

“That was the best I could do at the time. It was the only thing I could do!”

“Yes, let’s say it was like that.”

Edan nodded briefly as if he didn’t care either way.

“Let’s say… it was like that… Are you saying I’m not even worth talking to now?”

The princess seemed to have difficulty controlling her emotions due to Edan’s attitude that had changed since Killian’s name was mentioned.

Taking a deep breath in and out, Ciella swallowed hard.

“Pressuring me like this won’t cancel our marriage. The Empress Dowager won’t allow it, and I will definitely marry you, Grand Duke.”

Edan let out a mocking laugh.

“The sooner you give up, the better.”

“You know what you’re saying now is absurd, don’t you?”

“In what way?”

“Saying that our marriage is impossible.”

Now Edan’s patience seemed to have run out.

Taking one hand out of his pocket, he furrowed his handsome brow, let out a deep sigh, and tilted his head back.

Then, straightening his posture again, he roughly ran his hand through his hair.

“Princess.”

Edan’s eyes, as he spoke coldly, looked completely annoyed.

Startled by the chilling voice that was cold enough to give goosebumps, the princess stepped back.

Edan took a step towards her and looked down at her intimidatingly with his large frame.

“I’m sure I told you clearly. That incident in the past was just me taking a step back.”

“But…”

“Or are you under the delusion that I actually liked you back then?”

“That’s not what I meant, Grand Duke!”

“If that’s not it, then I’m telling you to go back. There are plenty of ways to overturn an arranged marriage.”

Showing his contempt so clearly that even I, who was peeking, could feel it, Edan averted his gaze from Ciella.

A cold attitude clearly showing that clinging like this would yield no results.

The tips of Ciella’s clasped hands had turned so white from the force that the blood had drained from them.

“Ki-Killian…”

Ciella’s voice trembled as she finally opened her mouth in the silence.

“If you marry me and form a connection with the Eastern Empire, it will help when Killian ascends to the throne.”

Edan showed no reaction.

“If that’s the reason, it seems you’ve found the wrong person. Shouldn’t you have proposed marriage to my brother?”

At those bluntly spoken words, Ciella’s face contorted greatly.

She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

“You know that’s not possible! Why do you keep pretending not to know? You know I can’t avoid marriage…!”

“It’s not that you can’t avoid it, but that you’ve chosen the easier path, right?”

Ciella’s lips trembled.

“Please. You helped me before. Please help me again, for Killian’s sake.”

“I refuse.”

“You’re someone who would do anything for your brother, aren’t you?”

“Not anymore.”

“W-why? You said you would help your brother for life. Why…”

“Do I have to explain such things to you? Who are you to me?”

“…”

The conversation between the two ultimately ended in Princess Ciella’s defeat.

At Edan’s words drawing a perfect line, Ciella couldn’t continue speaking and froze like a fool.

What did that woman do in the past?

First of all, the rumors the maids were talking about in the temple were clearly false.

The conversation between these two just now was completely different from that. Edan never wanted to marry, nor did he ever like Ciella.

Damn. My waist is killing me from peeking out like this!

I plopped down in a squat. Then, while patting my waist, I looked up at Ruben almost glaring.

“Sir Ruben, are you really not going to tell me?”

“That’s why you should ask the Grand Duke directly…”

“I’m going to hear it anyway. Since I’ll hear it anyway, couldn’t you just tell me a little beforehand?”

“I…”

Just as Ruben was touching his forehead in distress, it happened.

A large shadow loomed over my head from behind me.

“What are you doing.”