USML 26

Chapter 26

“Vanessa, that’s enough. Step back.”
“This is the task I took responsibility for, so finishing it is also my duty.”
“Vanessa, this matter is already over.”

The count reached out to pat my shoulder to calm me down, then startled and quickly pulled his hand back. He’d realized how close he was to me.

Given how distant the count and I had always been, it was only natural for him to be surprised.

Well, it couldn’t be helped. It was a sly tactic, but—

“Please, Father.”

Like someone still half-asleep, the count mouthed the word after me.

“Fa…ther?”

“Yes, Father.”

His lips trembled, and he couldn’t even close his mouth, overwhelmed with emotion.

Honestly, even I—who had intended this reaction—was taken aback by how he responded. The count looked as though he’d just heard a baby’s very first word, “Father,” for the first time in his life.

The “Father” he heard at annual family gatherings and the “Father” spoken of one’s own will clearly meant very different things to him.

The count’s handsome face melted and sagged like ice cream left out in the sun.

“Count Jegerd.”

Jegerd had been trying to sneak out of the drawing room on tiptoe when the count grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Ugh!”

The grip must have been strong; Jegerd twisted his shoulder and groaned.

“Did you hear that?”
“H-hear what, exactly?”
“My daughter called me Father. Father!”
“……”

Jegerd’s face cooled visibly, but the count was too busy beaming to notice. Seizing the moment, I pressed on.

“Father, I’ll finish this myself. You trust me, right?”

Only then did the count seem to realize something profound. He nodded vigorously, the corners of his mouth lifting in a bright smile.

“Of course. A father shouldn’t interfere with what his daughter is doing. Of course, of course. Because I’m her father.”

How many times was he planning to say “father”? Unsure where to even begin correcting him, I waited in complicated silence for him to step back.

After a moment, the count finally began to move, dragging Jegerd along by the shoulder. With every step, he kept glancing back at me, his eyes glittering with some inexplicable expectation.

“Vanessa, this father will be right outside, so if anything happens, rely on—”
“No.”
“……Then I’ll stand five steps away from the door—”
“No.”
“Then I’ll—”
“No.”

Just like Sherry’s father, honestly.

I’d wanted a chance to be alone with Evan. When I pressed a hand to my forehead and let out a strained groan, the count drooped, his lips sagging in disappointment.

“C-Count, we should really go now.”
Jegerd urged him, looking desperate to escape the room at any cost.

With a helpless expression, the count trudged toward the exit. Even as he left the drawing room, he kept watching my face for cues.

No. Don’t. Go far away.
I personally opened the door and saw him out. As he crossed the threshold, I added one last thing.

“Father, please take the people hiding behind the door with you too.”

Creeeak—

At that moment, the door shifted with a hinge squeak. Sherry and Dave, who had been hiding behind it, had startled and bumped into it.

I really couldn’t live like this. Sherry and Dave emerged, fidgeting as they rushed to explain.

“We were just worried about Vanessa…”
“We were only going to watch. Just watch.”
“No. Please leave.”
“But—”
“Tsk!”

I planted my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes as if truly angry. The three of them immediately slumped, shoulders drooping as though they’d been sentenced to death, and disappeared down the corridor with Jegerd.

Click—

The door to the drawing room closed with the sound of metal locking into place. It felt like I’d burned through all my strength in the first half of a match.

When I lifted my gaze after a deep sigh, Evan was there, waiting for me.

I walked to the table and picked up the contract that had been left behind, ownerless.

Evan tilted his head slightly and fixed me with icy, frozen eyes.

“Is it over?”

I set the contract back on the table and sat in the chair across from him. As if he intended to wait until I spoke, he leisurely lifted his teacup. Watching his firm fingers raise it, I finally opened my mouth.

“It’s not a contract Your Grace needs.”
“Oh, but I need it very much.”

Evan set the cup down, sneering as he jerked his chin. His expression said he found it amusing that I’d come to him of my own accord.

“See? You came to me on your own two feet.”
“……”
“That alone makes it a worthwhile contract.”

He added calmly, tipping the teacup again. Dumbfounded, my lips twisted. Was that really the only reason he wanted this contract?

Trade route contracts were made on a yearly basis and required a substantial deposit. Even for Duke Dustin, who practically made money sitting still, what he was doing was tantamount to throwing money into thin air.

I let out a hollow laugh and nodded lightly. So that’s how it was. Once I’d confirmed it for myself, my head cooled rapidly.

Evan set his teacup down with an audible clink, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“If you accept my proposal, I’ll give you the contract—no, the trade route.”
“A proposal? Then what about my sister?”

Evan frowned, his neat brows knitting as if he doubted his own ears.

“Why is Sherry Feard coming up here?”
“She’s the one you—!”

You care about her.
I couldn’t finish the sentence and clamped my mouth shut. His brows lifted sharply in displeasure.

The one you want isn’t me—it’s Sherry. All you want is for me to bow at your feet, regret the past, and atone. So why insist on marrying me?

“You should’ve said so sooner.”

You know that? You deceived me too. If we’d never met from the beginning, if you hadn’t lied to me, I wouldn’t have needed to push you away like this and feel guilty for hurting you.

Once stirred, my emotions refused to settle.

I stood up, gathered my skirts, and knelt at his feet. My knees scraped against the worn gaps in the wooden floor, pain flaring, but I ignored it.

Evan froze instantly, like a marionette with its strings cut, and looked down at me.

“What are you doing?”
“Isn’t this what you wanted, Your Grace?”
“What?”
“You want me to beg you.”

When I slowly raised my gaze, I met his blue eyes. Sparks flared, and those blue eyes began to burn hotly.

“Ha—.”

Evan let out a sharp breath and roughly loosened his tie, tossing it onto the table. His immaculate attire came undone, exposing his throat.

“Get up.”
“I will if you forgive me.”
“Are you testing my patience?”
“I’m asking for forgiveness.”

Evan lazily reached out and grasped my chin. Contrary to my expectation, his grip was weak.

“That’s not the face of someone asking for forgiveness.”

When I stubbornly kept my mouth shut, Evan twisted his face, murmuring as if to himself.

“Just how much do you need to scratch at my nerves before you’re satisfied?”
“Don’t ruin your own life over something as simple as revenge.”

His stern mouth curved into a smile. I was certain—this was not a friendly smile.

“I just want to bind you to me. So that you can never abandon me again.”
“……”
“I’ll do anything to get that.”

Anything, just to take revenge on me?

I bit my lip and pushed his hand away with the back of my own. To my surprise, it moved aside easily. His fingertips brushed my chin once more before withdrawing.

“Are you saying you’d even kiss my feet?”
Evan tilted his head and stared at me for a long moment before letting out a low laugh.
“If you’d just marry me, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do.”

“…What did you say?”

In the blink of an eye, Evan seated me in the chair he’d been sitting on and knelt down before me.

The blue eyes I caught a glimpse of were far too resolute to belong to someone submitting.

My foot, hidden beneath my dress, was suddenly resting on his thigh. At the sight of my heel pressing into him, I lost control of my voice.

“Evan!”

I shoved at his shoulder, wrinkling the stiff fabric in my grip. The Evan I knew wasn’t someone who could do this. Shameless, yes—but not this bold.

Yet even as his movements were relentless, his hands were gentle as they wrapped around my ankle.

“Evan Dustin!”

Perhaps his name was a spell to stop him. He froze, then spoke in a voice thick with swallowed emotion.

“Don’t say it.”

When his lowered lashes lifted, his eyes were round, like a full moon.

“Damn it—when you call my name, it feels like nothing else matters.”

So don’t say it. And don’t abandon me.

His voice, whether command or plea, sank darkly into the air.

My hands were clenched so tightly around his clothes they’d turned white, yet I no longer knew whether I was pushing him away or pulling him closer.

“Stop it!”

Moments later, his dark hair spilled forward, brushing over the top of my foot, and his lips briefly touched it before pulling away.

“Go on. Try abandoning me again.”

He lifted his cold eyes and snarled softly.

“I’m prepared to do anything.”