🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 3
Emilia was speechless.
The situation was so absurd that she was more shocked than angry.
Judging from Reyna’s current situation, she was probably going through a very difficult time.
She must have been terrified of being sold off to some horrible noble at any moment.
But even so… how could she try to steal a man who already has a fiancée?
No matter how desperate she was.
Emilia felt a headache coming on.
If the male lead found out about this later, he would be utterly stunned.
“Reyna, I’m sure there are better choices waiting for you.”
That was the only advice Emilia could give her.
Even if she told Reyna that she would one day enter a contract engagement with the male lead and spend the rest of her life happily with him…
There was no way Reyna would believe her.
“No! You’re only saying that because you don’t know my situation!”
Reyna suddenly lifted her head and shouted.
“I really need Cedric… I can’t live without him!”
She looked at Emilia almost resentfully, as if Emilia’s calm attitude annoyed her.
“And Cedric said he’s tired of you too! He told me he wants to break up with you! If you stay together, you’ll only make each other miserable!”
Emilia’s expression froze.
Until now, she could dismiss Reyna’s words as the desperate nonsense of someone in a difficult situation.
But what she had just heard…
“…Did Cedric really say that himself?”
Reyna bit her lip tightly before giving a small nod.
As though she had never wanted to say those words.
The image of Cedric at the dinner table flashed through Emilia’s mind.
For a moment, it felt as though someone had struck her on the head.
“So… please give Cedric to me.”
“…Leave.”
Emilia’s voice became cold.
“I don’t want to hear another word from you.”
There was no reason for her to keep listening.
She needed to find out whether Reyna was lying or telling the truth.
If… what Reyna said is true…
If the confidence Reyna had came from Cedric himself…
If Cedric’s closeness toward Reyna wasn’t simply because he was happy to see an old childhood friend again…
“Aren’t you leaving?”
Emilia looked back.
Reyna still hadn’t moved.
It was as if she wouldn’t leave until Emilia agreed to break up with Cedric.
“Fine. Then I’ll leave.”
Emilia stood up and grabbed the doorknob.
She had planned to find Cedric anyway.
But before she could open the door—
Reyna’s desperate shout stopped her.
“T-The truth is… I’m pregnant with Cedric’s child!”
* * *
Emilia’s arm fell limply to her side.
“…Say that again.”
“I’m… I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.”
Her voice trembled.
“Say it again.”
“Hic… sob…”
“Who do you think should be crying right now?!”
At last, Emilia exploded.
How could Reyna be the one crying…
When Emilia had just been told that another woman was carrying her fiancé’s child?
At that moment—
Bang!
The door flew open.
“What is all this shouting about?”
Emilia turned around.
Cedric was standing there.
His eyes swept across the room before widening in surprise at the sight of Reyna crying.
“Reyna…? Why are you here…?”
He hurried over to her.
“What happened? Did Emilia do something to you?!”
Looking flustered, Cedric knelt beside Reyna.
Then, as if they were lovers, he gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
Seeing that, Emilia’s eyes grew cold.
“Cedric.”
“What?”
Still busy wiping away Reyna’s tears, he answered without even looking at Emilia.
“She says she’s carrying your child. Is it true?”
“…What?”
Cedric slowly turned his head.
“Reyna… is carrying my child…?”
His face went blank.
Judging by his reaction, he hadn’t known about the pregnancy.
But seeing that only made Emilia laugh bitterly inside.
The fact that he isn’t angrily denying it…
Means they really slept together.
And then—
She saw it.
A flash of joy in Cedric’s eyes.
“…You’ve really lost your mind.”
Emilia clenched her fists.
“You’re worse than an animal. How can you still call yourself a human being?”
Only then did she finally understand why he had never contacted her.
He hadn’t even thought about her.
He had been too busy spending time with Reyna.
And I was worried about him all this time…
She felt like a complete fool.
Just then, Cedric suddenly stood up.
His face was bright red with anger.
“W-What was I supposed to do?! I just couldn’t see you as a woman! You’re nothing like Reyna! You’re not sweet, you’re not lovable! All you ever do is act like you know everything and try to teach me!”
“…Me?”
Emilia asked quietly, almost a moment too late.
“Yeah!”
Cedric shouted as if years of frustration had burst out all at once.
“Do you know how miserable that made me feel every single time?!”
He continued glaring at her.
“And Reyna said she likes someone like me! She even said she’d make me a count!”
At last, he proudly lifted his chin.
“But what can you do for me except hold me back?!”
Emilia quietly looked at him.
From the perspective of the Illake Count family,
Reyna was nothing more than a shameful illegitimate daughter.
There was no way she could give Cedric a count’s title.
Besides, the count planned to sell Reyna for a high price.
He would never gladly accept Cedric.
Anyone who thought about it calmly would realize something was wrong.
If they weren’t completely blinded by Reyna.
But…
What was the point of explaining any of that now?
To Cedric,
She was only a woman who didn’t know her place and always tried to lecture him.
“…So that’s what you really thought of me.”
Emilia slowly lowered her head.
They had spent four years together.
The only reason she hadn’t immediately doubted Cedric after hearing Reyna’s words…
Was because of those four years.
I should slap him.
I should grab him by the collar and shake him.
But…
She didn’t feel like doing any of that.
The strength slowly left her clenched fists.
Instead of anger,
She simply felt exhausted.
She couldn’t stand sharing the same space with those two any longer.
I can’t breathe.
As she silently turned to leave,
Cedric reached out toward her.
“Hey! Where are you going?! I’m not finished talking! So let’s break u—”
Smack.
Emilia firmly slapped his hand away.
“I’ll break up with you.”
“So don’t ever touch me with those filthy hands again.”
“W-What?”
Cedric flinched at the icy tone in her voice.
While he stood frozen,
Emilia ran out of the house.
Whoosh—
A heavy rain had begun pouring outside.
It blocked her path,
But she simply wiped the rain from her face as if it were nothing.
* * *
Creak.
Thud.
Without even changing out of her wet clothes,
Emilia collapsed onto her bed.
Bastard.
You’re a terrible person.
Whether it was because of the rain,
Or everything that had happened,
Her body felt as heavy as soaked cotton.
She covered her eyes with her cold arm.
If only…
If he had apologized the moment he came back…
If he had shown even a little regret…
No.
At the very least… he could have stopped making me look like a fool while I sat alone at that dinner table.
If he had done even that…
Maybe she wouldn’t feel this miserable.
Was I really that ridiculous to him?
What hurt the most…
Was realizing that, to him,
She wasn’t even someone who deserved the smallest amount of respect.
That alone made her heart ache.
Emilia forced down the emotions rising inside her.
She tightly closed her eyes before the fever returned.
For now… don’t think about anything.
Curled up as her body shivered from the cold,
Emilia slowly fell asleep.
