I Just Needed Someone to Hate - Episode 10.1

Retrospection

“Poetry?”

Silence followed where the reporters had been.

Inside the Salenner Hotel suite, Ludwig Rex spoke, revealing the edge of a cigarette case from his jacket. Its flamboyant design resembled him.

This is a rather fresh taunt. Seated on the sofa opposite him, Vivianne thought, gazing at the side table, smaller than her knees, and the ashtray on it. It seemed her sedated self from a year ago had left a strong impression on his mind.

“It’s alright. I have my own.”

Vivianne rummaged through her clutch, avoiding his persistent gaze.

“I don’t remember you enjoying these.”

Ignoring Ludwig’s words, Vivianne pulled out a plain case.

“I learned.”

Turning her head, she clumsily placed a pink cigarette between her lips. Ting, the metallic sound of a lighter opening echoed, and she felt his gaze lower. As Ludwig flicked the lighter’s roller, bringing the flame closer, Vivianne recoiled.

“I have my own.”

Meeting his indifferent eyes, Vivianne took out a matchbox from her bag. She ignored Ludwig’s scoff, easily deducing it came from the kitchen.

Taking a deep breath, her trembling subsided.

As she exhaled the smoke, her fiancé’s face disappeared beyond it.

In the moment she’d forgotten his presence, his voice pierced through the smoke faster than his image, jolting her back.

“Herbs. And herbs from the sedative family.”

At his low chuckle, Vivianne avoided the gaze she would soon meet.

“So, this is it? What you were smoking last time?”

After her last meeting with him at the Salenner, the article Cynthia had commissioned about me spread like wildfire, seizing the social circles.

Since that day, Ludwig Rex had been strangely quiet, only filling his place as her fiancé at events attended by his father, the Chairman.

Occasionally, when he accompanied her on business, he wouldn’t even look at her or speak to her. Their relationship was precariously maintained because neither side mentioned breaking off the engagement. Only when the heads of the families started bringing up the planned engagement gala did he act like his old self in front of her.

It was strange how his restraint seemed like an attempt to avoid breaking off the engagement. Could there be no other fiancé as easy to manipulate as her?

Herb smoke escaped Vivianne’s lips. Her hands still trembled slightly. Just being alone with him in the enclosed space suffocated her.

Her chest heaved, perhaps from the effects of the herbs.

She slowly closed and opened her eyes, then looked directly into her fiancé’s eyes.

Her rapid breathing calmed, and her mind cleared.

“Who taught you?”

“……”

“Ah. Did Agent teach you?”

Vivianne focused on smoking the burning cigarette.

“I guess you’re not in the mood for small talk.”

Since he was right, she didn’t feel the need to answer.

She had vowed not to smoke the last herb cigarette she received from that man. She would keep it as a memento. As a reminder of him, an object to recall that moment.

So, she was even thinking of asking Madison to ask a friendly military doctor to get her some of the same cigarettes. But when she actually looked into her eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

There were days when she was grateful for her position, protected within the walls of the mansion, not having to live a life like Madison’s. But now, to bring up the topic of herb cigarettes.

She was terrified that she would be exposing her bottom line without any embellishment. It was surprising that the agent had made her think this much.

How precious had that man become to her?

And how scary would it be to lose him?

She felt that knowing fear would create hesitation. She shouldn’t. Yet, she had been holding onto this cigarette, determined not to smoke it. She thought she could endure it. She thought she had become desensitized to most things. But she wasn’t. She ended up reaching for it after all.

“I’m not going to the engagement announcement gala.”

Vivianne raised her head to face reality.

The voice coming from the blond man was as arrogant as his posture. Beneath his languidly lowered eyelashes, two red eyes scanned Vivianne, seated across from him.

“Is it because Miss Carolina Russella told you not to go?”

Suddenly, the ribs she had forgotten ached. Unpleasant memories, like poison, consumed her mind. Still, she felt nothing, as if the sedative was working.

“You know her well.”

Ludwig said, filling his whiskey glass on the table and taking a sip.

“I’ll tell the Marquis myself. That I’m busy with work.”

The whiskey glass was placed next to the ashtray.

Vivianne watched her fiancé, who was also someone else’s, and might even become her husband if she wasn’t careful, get up without hesitation.

“The Marquis of Mergoville will be pleased that you got a good photo for the front page of the press. He seems to enjoy flaunting his power with what the media is saying these days.”

To have that agent, she couldn’t keep trembling in front of him like this every time.

To attract the attention of the head of the underworld, she always had to be the center of attention, and this was a crucial turning point.

So, for the first time, Vivianne pondered. What did Ludwig Rex want from her?

He passed where Vivianne was sitting and walked towards the door. Then, Vivianne, holding the almost completely burned herb cigarette in her hand, commanded.

“Sit.”

Having committed the act, she suppressed her nausea and listened to the approaching footsteps of her fiancé.

The shuffling stopped, and he knelt right in front of her. He looked up at her.

‘……’

His face alone was beautiful enough to understand how he easily lured countless women into his bed.

Vivianne could only see his lower face, but even that was flawless. His lips, crookedly pulled up, were rebellious.

“Vivianne.”

The man called her name more tenderly than ever, fixing her with an oppressive gaze.

As she realized that, he slowly rose from his spot, grasped the armrests of the antique chair with his hands, and looked down at her.

A large shadow covered her.

“If you call someone, you have to say something.”

Instead of answering, Vivianne blew smoke into his face.

“Someone?”

“Yes, someone.”

The smoke slowly cleared, revealing the man’s face, coldly smiling instead of enraged.

“I’m the one indulging in your aristocratic games.”

“Whose fault is that?”

Vivianne’s eyes lowered. Of course, he wasn’t the kind of man who would tolerate her arrogance.

Knowing that the chair was shaking from the man’s grip, Vivianne continued.

“If I am a woman sold to you, weren’t you your father’s stud sold to my family?”

Seeing a sneer form on the man’s face, almost all color drained from Vivianne’s face.

That didn’t stop Vivianne from speaking.

“I remember hearing that the Chairman was going to make you a senator. So, you needed a title, so you joined hands with my family. You sold my title to do business with the underworld because you didn’t like that, and thanks to that, you stand in the same position as the eldest son, pretending to be the real thing.”

“……”

“Isn’t that right? No matter how great you pretend to be, in the end, you need a title, and therefore we are equal. So, I told your mistress the same thing I’m about to tell you now. Know your place and act accordingly.”

Vivianne’s voice was as calm as when she had walked in here.

“If that woman is being spiteful to you because of that, I apologize. She’s quite fair. She did the same to me. I didn’t expect her to have her followers push me down the stairs.”

Vivianne’s eyes looked straight into her fiancé’s red eyes.

Her whole body was bruised, and Vivianne continued as if it were someone else’s story, saying she had almost died.

“The Marquis and his wife don’t know. My injuries are their loss. I know exactly what my assets are, so I’ve never told anyone. But when your mistress negotiated with the media to sell my photos, making everything futile, I have to be compensated for that.”

Vivianne pushed him away, completely extinguishing the burned-out herb cigarette on the man’s solid shoulder, and said.

“Come to the engagement announcement gala. I won’t care if you buy your mistress a villa or do anything inside it in unofficial settings.”

Vivianne’s freed hand gently caressed the man’s tie, precisely fixing the loosely tied tie.

“Don’t do anything you’ll regret, because I know that your father considered your calculating nature when choosing a card to use.”

Not avoiding his gaze this time, she organized her thoughts. She concluded that he wanted three things from her.

First, respect.

She didn’t know why, but he would turn his anger on her whenever the Marquis of Mergoville, her father, belittled his lineage by flaunting his status.

If she and her father were nothing to him, wouldn’t he just laugh it off?

That’s what she, an aristocrat, thought. But he didn’t seem to, so this time she elevated him by mentioning his keen nature.

Next was her title. Whether he wanted to continue doing business with the underworld forces or become a senator, he would need her, and if he was polite, she would be willing to accommodate him.

Since her goal was to gain the protection of the head of the underworld anyway, being deeply involved in his business would also benefit her.

Finally, autonomy regarding his relationships with women in private. That was an item she wouldn’t regret either. As long as he kept the minimum level of decency, she wouldn’t care if he bought his mistress a villa or danced and kissed her there all night.

It would be even more beneficial if his mistress was satisfied and didn’t envy her, so she wouldn’t get hurt anymore. Until now, he had flaunted his mistresses without getting permission from her, his fiancée, but now it would be different. She wanted to let him know that even if the relationship became equal, he wouldn’t lose anything.

Vivianne spoke again.

“Think about who will help you more in the long run, me, a hereditary aristocrat of Daatro, or an actress who sells tickets with a clumsy aristocratic act. I’ve said everything I need to say, so you can leave now.”

“……”

The two stared at each other for a long time after that.

A transaction to secure each other’s interests, which had deteriorated into a game of thoroughly gaining the upper hand.

A clear line was him.

“Ah.”

As Ludwig Rex finally smiled again, Vivianne’s slender shoulders twitched.

Her arms, which seemed to be wasting away because she didn’t eat well, were emaciated. It was quite different from the curves that stood out over her dress.

“I almost forgot this.”

Ludwig rummaged through his suit pants pocket.

A luxurious box was brought out carelessly along with other miscellaneous items like a lighter. Vivianne slowly moved her gaze from his hand and raised her head.

“You have to have something to show at the engagement announcement gala.”

Only then did she prepare to get up from her seat. Her attempt to snatch the box from her fiancé’s hand was quickly blocked.

“Wear it.”

Ludwig tightly gripped Vivianne’s wrist.

Then, he knelt down and put the ring on her fourth finger.

He must be acting out of spite. He was showing her the ideal fiancé she wanted most, but it was a typical act of wanting to see her afraid of losing it.

Vivianne walked out without reacting and walked down the hallway.

On her fourth finger, a jewel caught the light of the lamps above the loosely hanging ring.

On the line that Vivianne drew, Ludwig also drew a platinum line on her finger.

It was a medium that conventionally meant marriage, but today those two lines were clearly parallel lines that could not meet.

Vivianne was reasonably satisfied with this result. Everything was going according to plan. It was going well. Sacrificing the cigarette must have been a stroke of good luck.

When she came down to the first floor, all the employees, including the concierge and reception staff, stood up and bowed to her. The Mergoville family driver was probably sitting in the lobby reading the newspaper. She didn’t think he was the type to keep reading in this atmosphere, so she hurried, thinking the driver would follow soon.

The bellman approached, keeping his distance, and bowed at the entrance.

The reason he hadn’t bothered to talk to her until now was probably because there was no need to ask what kind of car she came in or whether she had any luggage. He didn’t want to surprise her.

‘How delicate. Whose work is this?’

Strangely, ever since she last met the agent here a year ago, they had treated her as if she were the mistress of the owner of this place. It was strange because it didn’t seem like they were doing that to Ludwig, but today was different again.

Anyway, it was fortunate that it was quite helpful in the topic she was trying to create. The reporters didn’t leave.

“Miss Mergoville, please look this way too. Miss Mergoville…!”

“Is the ring on your hand a ruby or a garnet?”

“Why didn’t you come out with your fiancé?”

Standing in the dazzling light and becoming a special person, she thinks of that man who was nothing.

The times she stayed up all night wondering, ‘Won’t the officers or intelligence agents who read the article come to me today to ask about the facts?’

The times she struggled with her brother, who raised his voice and said, ‘Don’t get involved with the Metropolitan Police officers.’

The days she worried that Cynthia, who moved according to her words to get her this attention, would tell her parents about it.

She doesn’t regret any of it because there is hope.

The hope that all of this will end someday. The hope that she can leave with that man and live quietly somewhere.

She thought everything was fake.

Life, her fiancé, and the name of Mergoville that she loved.

That man too.

That’s no different from a year ago when she decided to leave home.

But there are real things in her life too.

The passport that agent showed her, the blood-stained agent ID, the letter from the Prime Minister proving that he was ordered to carry out the mission, and the signature written below.

Vivianne, who had been practicing handwriting all her life, could see that it was real.

Only the identity of being the Prime Minister’s son was fake, and everything else was real.

In the midst of the reporters calling her and the dazzling lights, Vivianne imagined herself going to the Prime Minister’s residence someday and revealing secrets that could ruin the underworld forces.

She hoped that the day would come when she would request the protection of her family and her father would receive a seat in the Senate as written in the Prime Minister’s letter.

She waited quietly for a year for that.

So that, the passport that fake gave her, the ID he gave her, the documents and letters had to be real.

Even if it was just that, it had to be real in her life.

❖ ❖ ❖

The chill that had permeated her collar from being outside for only a short time didn’t go away even in the car.

‘Is it because the sun is setting?’

Vivianne looked at the driver and bodyguard of the Mergoville family walking across the window opposite her. Small crystal-like things left patterns here and there on his black suit. When she lowered the car window, the unique pungent smell of winter rushed in.

The car door opened and closed in no time. Vivianne, who had been distracted by the snowflakes outside the window, reflexively looked at the source of the sound.

Her keen gaze reached the shoulder of the Mergoville family driver in the passenger seat. Vivianne slowly moved her gaze. The hand placed on the car door handle was trembling slightly. At that moment, the eyes reflected in the rearview mirror scanned Vivianne.

The brim of a beret was visible above her eyes. Vivianne, who knew that among the same people, there were people who killed people and those who just lived their days diligently like herbivores, could easily guess his affiliation.

At that moment, the car started. People of that kind reek of blood or tobacco, but strangely, he had no smell at all.

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