“The number of people who know my secret has increased from one to two?”
Lehart laughed while pouring the flower tea into another cup. Fernando seemed uninterested in the tea before him, his attention solely on Etienne.
“Etienne probably didn’t expect the number of people who know her secret to increase either.”
Lehart looked at Etienne as Fernando remained silent, putting subtle pressure on her to respond. Etienne awkwardly said,
“That’s true. I’ll keep the secret. Both I and Fernando won’t tell…”
“Wait.”
Lehart interrupted her, raising his hand. As Etienne turned to him, Fernando’s face filled with displeasure.
“Why are you lumping them together? The prince has a mouth and can speak for himself. Why do you answer for him, Etienne?”
“Well…”
Etienne glanced at Fernando, who remained silent as if his mouth was sealed.
“I’m answering together because it’s due to me that Fernando also came to know your Highness’s secret.”
Etienne’s explanation brought a pleased smile to Fernando’s face.
“Etienne came to see me and ended up knowing my preference… So what is your relationship?”
Lehart knew that the Shupracher Duke hadn’t chosen a partner for Fernando yet. He was curious about their relationship, especially seeing how fondly Fernando seemed to regard Etienne.
Etienne smiled faintly and replied,
“I met Fernando when our parents met.”
“So, it’s a family acquaintance?”
“That’s right.”
Both men’s expressions changed with Etienne’s straightforward summary. Lehart nodded and smiled, understanding they weren’t a special couple, while Fernando seemed dissatisfied with the explanation.
Fernando then interjected,
“Is that all we are?”
“Fernando?”
Etienne called him urgently, embarrassed by his behavior in front of the crown prince.
“You saved me. You risked your life for me.”
“Me? When did I? It was just me saving you when you fell into the lake. How is that risking my life?”
“You jumped into the lake.”
“Jumping into a lake doesn’t mean I risked my life.”
“You fainted. I was so heavy, but you still jumped in.”
“It was fine because it was in the water. Besides, why do I have to have this conversation with you?”
Etienne asked incredulously. Fernando suddenly said,
“We’re not just ordinary acquaintances.”
It seemed Fernando’s dissatisfaction was about this.
Etienne thought there was no need to disagree but nodded in agreement. Lehart, who had been observing, seemed to have a different idea.
“Shall I tell you what kind of relationship you two are?”
Lehart pointed at Fernando and Etienne, then tilted the teapot, taking a sip before smiling slyly.
“We share a secret, you see.”
Lehart neatly wrapped up the situation.
“Fernando and Etienne, and me. We three are like that.”
The crown prince had effortlessly linked the three of them together. Etienne quietly sighed.
‘Why is he so eager to lump people together?’
She had given up.
On the way back home, Etienne rode in Fernando’s carriage. She had intended to call for the Duke’s carriage, but Fernando insisted on taking her in his, saying there was no need for that.
She boarded the carriage, seeing no reason to refuse, but soon regretted it.
“Why did I mindlessly get on his carriage? When I first met Fernando, I was out of my mind trying to save him, and earlier, I forgot about it because the crown prince was there.”
That she had a crush on Fernando.
Before going to the guillotine, Etienne had put away her feelings for Fernando. Even now, she often thought she wouldn’t give her heart to him anymore and would live a different life, but it wasn’t easy being alone with him like this.
In the quiet carriage, where they could hear each other’s breathing, Etienne’s heart kept wavering.
‘I don’t like Fernando anymore.’
It was best not to show her feelings.
Etienne forced herself to look out the window, avoiding looking in Fernando’s direction.
“Aren’t you going to ask how I found you?”
Fernando’s question made Etienne realize. She had deliberately walked through the outer city to meet the crown prince, but Fernando had no reason to do that.
“I saw you by chance.”
“Me? Ah… I suppose you could have seen me on the way in your carriage.”
Etienne nodded without much suspicion. It seemed natural since she would have passed through the outer city before entering the inner city.
After that conversation, silence enveloped the carriage again.
Etienne fiddled with her fingers. They weren’t particularly pretty; stained with ink and calloused.
Looking at her hands, she thought about reading a book when she returned to the Duke’s residence. She planned to spend time for herself, pondering ways to prevent the crown prince’s death.
‘Reading books again, going for walks with the butler…’
As she forced her thoughts away from Fernando, sitting opposite her, his presence started to fade slightly. It was like taking a tiny scoop out of a huge mountain, but it had an effect.
Meanwhile, Fernando watched her with an expressionless face.
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!!!
