GAVAF 35

Chapter 35

Derrick gave up on making excuses and stopped the foot he had been about to use to run away. Then, to an out-of-the-blue question, he replied with a foolish question of his own.

As he replayed what he had just heard, Kardin’s lips slowly curled upward in an oddly unfitting smile. He soon scratched his head with his index finger.
To Derrick, the gesture looked extremely bashful, so he rubbed his eyes and looked at Kardin again.

“I mean things like what she eats well, flowers she likes, or gemstones she’s interested in.”

Derrick, who had been staring blankly only at Kardin’s handsome face—one that Harna would surely like—snapped back to his senses.
Suspecting that Kardin might be trying to torment him in some new way, Derrick tried to read his intentions, but chillingly enough, Kardin was simply waiting for an answer with an innocent expression. Left with no choice, Derrick opened his mouth.

“She eats meat well, likes roses, and as for gemstones…”

“Ah, no. That’s fine. I already know about the gemstones. Harna likes purple gemstones.”

“Purple?”

Seeing Kardin speak with more certainty than even he, her father, Derrick’s eyebrows twitched. Then he tilted his head at how naturally Kardin spoke Harna’s name.
Kardin replied with an eye-smile that could charm any woman.

“Purple gemstones—brilliant and beautiful, just like my eyes. Thank you for the valuable information. Please, go on in.”

Kardin smiled in satisfaction, gave Derrick a light greeting, and passed by.

Derrick stared dumbfounded at Kardin as he walked away, so certain of what gemstone Harna liked. It was a relief that the topic of breaking off the engagement hadn’t come up, but a father’s intuition was sending out warning signals.

Thinking I might have misread it, I rubbed my eyes and checked the letter again. The contents—asking me out on a date—hadn’t changed.

‘He doesn’t call me a goddess in the letter.’

Then I was startled by myself for feeling disappointed at the absence of that cringeworthy title and hastily tossed the letter onto the bed.
After glaring at the paper I’d thrown far away, a sigh escaped me on its own. The date he’d suggested was three days away.

‘What should I do?’

I had already failed at becoming a truly vicious villainess like in the original work, and I had also failed at bringing the protagonists together. Even so, I had no intention of continuing to see Kardin like this.

It was true that my heart had wavered at Kardin’s repeated confessions, but I had already made up my mind—to spend my life with my father and brother.
I politely declined becoming a mere extra by sticking myself between the protagonists.

Right now, Kardin and Mei had no interest in each other, but there was no telling when they might catch each other’s eye. If that happened, I didn’t have the confidence to endure being hurt and left alone.

‘What should I do?’

I pondered a way to decisively push Kardin away while he kept showing interest. Then a good idea suddenly came to mind.
Remembering the tone of voice, behavior, and over-the-top dresses that Kardin hated most in the original work, one corner of my lips slowly lifted.

Taking a deep breath, I began reenacting the original Harna—who had once fallen for Kardin—for the first time in a while.
All right, here we go. This is the perfect Harna performance by acting genius Yoon Seung-ah!

“Duuuke, you personally asked Harna out on a date! Harna is so deeply moved…….”

I clasped my hands to my chest, blinked my big eyes exaggeratedly, and twisted my body as I practiced excessive, awkward aegyo—when the door suddenly flew open.

“I knocked, but there was no answer, so I wondered if something might be wrong.”

“…….”

In a strange pose with my hips stuck out, I locked eyes with Vera.

“I’m sorry for interrupting. I came to inform you that the marquis has returned. Please call me when you’re finished.”

Vera bowed quickly and left. I turned my head back toward the mirror.
Staring at the forced eye-smile and the cheekbones pushed up unnaturally in the reflection, I relaxed my face with a bitter expression.

“Is something bothering you, Harna?”

It was mealtime with my father, who had returned after several days. But I was listlessly picking at my food, worried about the date. Hearing that, my father spoke in a concerned voice.

“It’s nothing.”

I answered weakly and began tearing apart my steak as if putting on a dissection show.

“Tell me anything, Harna. Your father will listen to it all.”

I lifted my bowed head and looked at him. After hesitating, I cautiously voiced the reason that had been on my mind.

“Actually, a letter came today from Duke Leturno. It was a request for a date.”

“……The duke?”

“Yes. It’s the first time something like this has happened, so I’ve been thinking a lot.”

While continuing to think about how to make Kardin sick of me, I put a finely cut piece of steak into my mouth.

“Harna, don’t worry so much.”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t it that Duke Leturno has finally realized your feelings?”

I smiled at my father’s encouraging words. Watching him gently soothe his daughter, flustered by the sudden interest of the fiancé she had always longed for, I felt I’d worried him for nothing and focused more earnestly on my meal.

“Harna.”

I was diligently eating my steak when my father, who had been hesitating for quite some time, called my name. He said nothing at first, then finally spoke after a long pause.

“What kind of gemstones do you like?”

The sudden, out-of-place question startled me, and I set my fork down. Could it be that Harna’s birthday was approaching and he wanted to give me a gift?
It was worth checking. Thinking about how to find out Harna’s birthday, I answered his question.

“I like gemstones with vivid colors. I like rubies, and I like sapphires too.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

A satisfied smile appeared on my father’s face at my answer.

“Without even knowing properly…….”

“What did you say?”

“It’s nothing, Harna.”

My father’s quiet muttering was strange, but he looked pleased, so I only tilted my head and picked up my fork again.
We resumed our meal, chatting about trivial things. When we were almost finished, my father lightly wiped his mouth with a napkin and spoke seriously, his golden eyes—just like mine—gleaming.

“Harna, remember this. Always be confident. You have me and your brother behind you, and you are the daughter of a marquis. Just because someone likes you a lot doesn’t mean you have to give in every time. You’re beautiful, and your personality has gotten better too…… hasn’t it?”

Dad. Why do you hesitate so much when you say my personality has gotten better?
I chuckled without realizing it and nodded.

“Well, you do like Duke Leturno, but there are plenty of men in the world, so there’s no need to cling to just one. And you remember what I told you before, right? That marriage isn’t an obligation. So what I mean is, ahem!”

My father cleared his throat awkwardly, took a sip of water, and continued.

“Go and enjoy your date.”

“Okay.”

When I answered, my father patted my head as if praising a small child. His touch was rough, but I could feel the warmth of his affection, and it made me smile.

Haren was able to come to the marquis’s estate late at night, after Derrick had returned. Worried about having left Harna and Arsen alone, he had hurried to finish his business and come back.

But he was immediately summoned secretly by his father. Thinking something bad might have happened, Haren rushed to his father’s office and opened the door after knocking.

“What is it?”

According to what he’d heard from the servants, Harna had entertained their guest Arsen well. Yet Derrick was pacing back and forth in his office with an anxious expression.
Sensing something ominous, Haren’s face hardened.

Seeing his son, Derrick let out a deep sigh and finally sat down.

“Harna received a letter.”

“From whom?”

If it were just a social invitation or an ordinary letter, his father wouldn’t be acting like this. With a foreboding feeling, Haren waited for what his father would say next.

“Kardin Leturno.”

When the name he had expected came out of his father’s mouth, Haren pressed his lips into a straight line.

“I met that bastard earlier today.”

Derrick explained how Kardin had asked what Harna liked and had confidently claimed that her favorite gemstone was purple.

The man who had ignored and hurt Harna—who had always longed for Kardin’s love—had suddenly changed.
The father and son, who remembered Harna desperately wanting even a single glance from him and shedding tears at his cold treatment, did not like this sudden shift in Kardin’s attitude.

“Why would he ask Harna out on a date? He was making such a fuss about wanting to break off the engagement.”

“At the last imperial ball, I happened to see him and Harna together, and it didn’t look ordinary. Perhaps he suddenly took an interest in Harna—or perhaps he has some other ulterior motive.”

“……!”

“We can’t just leave it like this.”

“I agree, Father.”

Thinking of Harna—still young and fragile, someone who needed to be protected—the father and son shared the same resolve.

Like someone awaiting an important exam, I spent an anxious stretch of time before finally facing the day I wished wouldn’t come. Seeing the bright sunlight streaming in through the window, I frowned unconsciously, then forced my heavy body to get up.

Today was the day I had promised to go on a date with Kardin. Steeling myself against the urge to run away, I busied myself from the morning.
The time was lunchtime, and the place was a popular restaurant in the capital.

Determined to completely block Kardin’s excessive interest through this opportunity, I took a bath.
When I came out of the bathroom, something was waiting for me. Among the dresses that had been sealed away in the corner of the dressing room, it was the most extravagantly flamboyant one of all.

I clenched my fist. I can do this. Operation: Make Kardin Sick of Me!

If I showed the lavish appearance, cloying aegyo, and subtly intrusive touches that original-work Kardin hated most, I could get rid of him today.
Confident in my acting, I resolved to end it decisively—but contrary to my thoughts, my hands trembled. With shaking hands, I stroked the dress adorned with large gemstones.

“Hoo… I’m ready.”

Leaving behind Vera, who looked worried as she watched my ever-changing expression, I changed into the hard-to-wear dress.

A large emerald the size of my palm was attached to my chest along with a big ribbon, and hundreds of small gemstones were sewn into the flared A-line skirt, making it extremely heavy.
But as I’d said before, the true value of this dress lay in its excessive flamboyance. Touching the gemstones that reflected light with every movement and sparkled painfully bright, I looked into the mirror.

I saw myself wearing an emerald necklace just as large as the emerald attached to the ribbon on my chest. I smiled bitterly to myself.

‘If I go to a party like this, I’ll definitely be the worst-dressed.’

“Are you really all right? Of course, miss, you are beautiful, but this is……”

I met Vera’s attempt to stop me with unwavering eyes. Reading my resolve, she said no more and closed her mouth.

‘Thank you, Vera. You’re truly on my side. If you had praised this outfit as suiting me, I would’ve been disappointed—it would’ve been a lie.’

I lightly patted the shoulder of Vera, who was in charge of my styling.