I Just Needed Someone to Hate - Episode 2.1

One Year Ago

Sometimes life lies to us.

In Vivianne Mergoville’s case, it was, “You’re not lonely, it will be okay, and in the long run, that man will be a good choice.” Yes, life was a privilege for her.

Even in this era when the emperor’s privy council had a grandiose name like ‘Cabinet,’ as her grandfather once said, and even if her father’s hereditary noble status didn’t guarantee prestige in politics.

Even in this world where imperial citizens were learning equality and denying the blue blood passed down to nobles, Vivianne believed she would live a life as a noble, envied by the entire empire.

Her marriage to her fiancé was an exchange of his social prestige and her barony title, a relic of the old era.

Connoisseurs called it a transaction like precisely meshing gears. An ideal with no inevitable errors or gaps between the teeth of the engaged gears…

“Milady.”

Vivianne sat by the window, unaware that her fingers were growing cold as she touched the glass. Only the spots where her fingers and breath touched the frozen window were transparent.

“Milady, you mustn’t be like this on such an important day. Look, the wind is so cold!”

With a scolding, something warm was draped over her shoulders. Vivianne slipped her hands into the sweater sleeves and smiled at the maid.

“Martha.”

“What were you looking at so intently?”

Martha craned her neck toward the massive window and peered around. Her gaze, searching for something interesting, soon settled on the same familiar scenery and returned to Vivianne.

“Nothing. I was just looking to see if it would snow.”

“Even so, your lips are purple. You wouldn’t want to be a lady who sneezes in front of Ludwig Rex, would you?”

Vivianne smiled instead of answering. Then, as if remembering something, she asked.

“Oh, did a letter come from Madison?”

“You know, milady. People are saying there will be a war between the Kingdom of Akaro and the Kingdom of Savebridge across the continent. As a war correspondent, Madison must be very busy right now.”

“I suppose so.”

Vivianne lowered her eyes. Martha said cheerfully.

“Don’t worry. Our Daatro Empire’s Prime Minister is actively trying to mediate the war, isn’t he? Madison will return to your side when the situation improves.”

“……”

“You just wait in the safest place, and then you can say everything you want and catch up. Besides, you have quite a few friends besides your childhood friend, don’t you? Now, you should get up. You can’t be lazy on such a busy day.”

Vivianne followed Martha, who was leading the way to the dressing room, but turned back once more. The front yard she had been watching was still the same. The mailbox was still there, and no servant was greeting the postman.

“You said there’s a social gathering today before meeting your fiancé, right? I was already planning to show off my skills, but it seems like I really have to do my best today.”

Even as she followed Martha, Vivianne turned her head two, three times to look at the window. Her reply hadn’t come today either. Numerous open envelopes sat on the table.

❖ ❖ ❖

“Even so, no one is as fortunate as Miss Vivianne when it comes to having a good groom.”

The conversations at social gatherings always covered the same topics and reached the same conclusions.

Money. Family business, war, the Cabinet…

Men.

Even if the world changed, to not fall behind in high society, one still had to win ‘him’ as a trophy.

He was also the common denominator of the aforementioned topics.

“Of course. She’s about to become the Rex family’s daughter-in-law, isn’t she?”

“We should try to make a good impression from now on, hohoho.”

“What’s it like to be marrying the son of the Chief Justice, Miss Vivianne?”

In the empire, the Senate, which was the House of Lords, also served as the Supreme Court, so it wasn’t wrong to say that. Receiving all the attention at the table where the most distinguished people of the social gathering were seated, Vivianne swallowed the warm tea.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m just following my parents’ decision.”

Humility about her situation. And praise for her parents, who had put her in this position. That would be an appropriate answer to conceal the truth.

“Miss Vivianne always speaks so eloquently. I told you, she would get married well someday.”

“Don’t hide him too much, and brag about your fiancé sometime. You two look so good together in official settings, but I’ve never seen him at gatherings like this…”

“Oh, why would she show off such a great husband to the world? Miss Vivianne goes to her fiancé’s hotel every time she meets him, so there’s no need to say more. Right?”

Vivianne knew what they wanted to say. She knew what they wanted to confirm, and she knew that the truth wouldn’t satisfy them.

Yet, why did she deceive herself every time?

“To tame such a dangerous man, I thought you were just demure, but you’re quite shrewd, Miss Vivianne.”

“I agree. It proves that my judgment in bringing the young lady to this social gathering was correct.”

“That’s right. Having a lot of money is nothing; Miss Vivianne Mergoville is much more aristocratic and elegant than Miss Cynthia Eastwell, who is arrogant and full of herself.”

“You flatter me.”

Was it because she felt a momentary sense of pride in these compliments, even as she ridiculed them for only engaging in empty conversations?

This feeling was addictive, like a swamp or a trap, and gave her a strange sense of comfort. It was a sense of security that she was on the right path and a sense of belonging somewhere.

Yes. As the mansion’s maids and her parents said, Vivianne believed that her life was much better than that of her childhood friend Madison, who was a war correspondent outside the continent.

Such sweet gazes of admiration and her parents’ teachings made her faithfully believe this truth. The greenhouse was always safe and warm.

While she was lost in thought, the topic of conversation had shifted. By the time Vivianne leisurely enjoyed her tea, the topic had returned to her.

“Even so, no one here is doing as well as Miss Mergoville when it comes to family, right? I heard there’s a Mergoville young master…”

“Oh, the one who entered the Central Metropolitan Police Agency on the recommendation of his in-laws?”

“Yes. I heard he passed the probationary period and topped the promotion exam to sergeant.”

“Is that true, Miss Vivianne? What a double blessing for the family.”

“My brother just says he was lucky.”

Vivianne said as if it were nothing.

“To become a police executive in the future, you have to be on the fast track for promotion, so it’s too early to celebrate yet.”

“Thanks to Miss Vivianne, her brother is doing well, and her father will soon be a member of parliament again, so how happy must they be.”

‘He’ll be a member of parliament again.’

This was the story. Around the time Vivianne turned ten, her father, the marquis, lost his seat in the Senate, which he held by hereditary noble status.

‘When I was curious about the Senate, my grandfather told me this.’

The empire consists of an emperor who reigns but does not rule, and a cabinet that is an evolved form of the privy council, which was once the king’s advisory body.

The cabinet consists of two houses, the Senate and the House of Commons, with the Senate being the House of Lords and the House of Commons being the House of Commons. The Senate, the House of Lords, was a place where one could join simply by being a noble, but that didn’t last long either.

Because times had changed. The imperial citizens complained that there were too many senators, nobles who were lining their pockets with their taxes.

The House of Commons used this as a weapon to cut down the senators and consolidate their power. They drastically reduced the number of hereditary nobles and filled the vacant seats with nobles of merit recommended by the Prime Minister.

‘They say they are commoners who have been granted titles equivalent to nobles of merit.’

Standing alongside the Senate filled with nobles of merit, the House of Commons held the reins of power in politics, so it could be said that being a hereditary noble was an obstacle to entering politics.

‘Even so, it’s great that my father will regain his original position.’

The salary of a senator had been a good source of income to support the family for some time. So it was really good that her father might regain his parliamentary seat through her marriage.

Everything was going well. Before Vivianne could sink further into thought, a voice erupted from the social gathering table.

“So, is it true that Marquis Mergoville will become a senator again, as rumored? Oh, I’m so envious.”

“That’s not certain.”

Because Vivianne was a noble, she concealed such solicitations behind a facade of smiles, even though she knew the essence of this transaction.

“How would I know what the adults are doing?”

Most of the people sitting here were of her mother’s age. Because she was a noble, she concealed the dirty aspects of her marriage being a transaction. Instead, she couldn’t hide the facts, so she glossed over them with the innocence that age gave her.

‘How nice would it be if that person came around this time?’

It would be a good picture if her fiancé, the hot topic of this place, appeared and took her away before the story got any dirtier.

‘But I’d be asking for too much, wouldn’t I?’

It would be a luxury to even wish for such a scene from a novel. Vivianne pretended to glance at the grandfather clock and said.

“Um…”

When Vivianne opened her mouth, the women at the same table stopped talking and all looked at her.

“I have something to do, so I’ll get up first. Would you mind?”

Vivianne said, looking at the host and chairwoman of this social gathering. When she nodded slightly as she spoke, Vivianne replied with a nod and turned around. Voices poured out from here and there as if they had been waiting.

“Oh, she said she was going to meet her fiancé today. How hard it must have been to wait…”

“Those are the best times, just like that. My dear…”

“Even if it’s an arranged marriage, it must be hard on the young lady alone. She’s still young, so she’s not very experienced.”

“That’s right, men in high society are like that; even if they give you a diamond ring in front, they’re worried about how to handle the receipt with two items on it behind your back.”

Laughter erupted from behind her. Vivianne walked out of the building.

‘That’s right. Most of the upper-class men in Daatro are like that.’

Vivianne had a very mature thought for someone who was about to turn twenty-two. Her aristocratic demeanor, as if she had been made to be noticed, invariably evoked praise and made her look like the protagonist today as well.

So she was on the right path.

Vivianne confirmed that the bodyguard was following her and stepped away from the magnificent building and down the stairs. It felt like it was going to snow, but the air was just crisp and cold.

“Did you say there was no letter from Madison?”

Vivianne asked after getting into the classic limousine that was waiting. The black, massive masterpiece made by Langston, which was also used as a royal vehicle, revealed her status. The bodyguard in the driver’s seat replied curtly.

“As you know, I have been with you all along, so I am not familiar with the situation at the mansion.”

The car resembled other cars with only a long protruding hood, so even though it was a limousine, the distance between the driver’s seat and the back seat was quite close. Vivianne said to the back of the bodyguard.

“If a letter comes, tell them to call me where I am. If you tell the mansion staff to tell Miss Mergoville, they will know.”

“No mansion staff looking for me came while you were attending the social gathering.”

“Is that so? Then don’t worry about it.”

Vivianne said that and leaned back in the car seat. She threw a useless joke at the bodyguard, who didn’t say anything.

“Isn’t it a good thing that Madison is a woman? For my father and for me.”

It was a remark about her persistent efforts to receive the letter, which she had asked the maid and then the bodyguard about this morning.

“Yes.”

A curt answer with no warmth returned. While the car was moving, Vivianne thought of Madison.

Madison Parker was a childhood friend who shared Vivianne’s childhood. While Vivianne grew up as a noble lady surrounded by the walls of the mansion and tutors, Madison, who was the child of a well-to-do commoner family, went to school, met people, and went to college, leaving Vivianne’s side.

Madison, who grew up under lawyer parents, was an infinitely free person unlike Vivianne, so the marquis was reluctant for Vivianne to associate with her.

Vivianne was accustomed to and satisfied with this life, but sometimes when she became afraid of the future, she thought of her friend. Even though she secretly admired Madison’s life and could denigrate it as being extremely dangerous compared to her own, she had grown up wonderfully as a noblewoman.

‘When I become afraid of the future…’

Thinking that far, Vivianne could recognize the emotion that had settled in her heart. It was the tension of meeting her fiancé, Ludwig Rex.

If the problem before was that the reality of their relationship was only on the table, now the very act of meeting him was a bigger problem. The dirty part of this engagement that she had been ignoring had entered her consciousness.

‘The social prestige of the fiancé and the exchange of status, a relic of the old era.’

The prestige that her family would gain would be limited to her father regaining his seat as a member of the House of Lords. Having the family of the Speaker of the House of Lords as her in-laws was only half true.

‘Because Ludwig Rex is a bastard.’

It was ten years ago, when Vivianne’s father, the marquis, lost his seat as a member of the House of Lords. Long ago, the head of the Rex family, who had promised an arranged marriage, changed the conditions and presented them again.

Instead of the first son, he would give the second son, who was a bastard. He didn’t want to bury the intelligent child in the shadows under the stigma of being a bastard.

The title, which was now treated as just an honorary medal, would be more necessary for the second son than the first, so he said let’s do that, and they agreed.

‘But my father was strangely stubborn, so he insisted on asserting his pride.’

It was done in subtle ways, such as making her arrive 40 minutes late for their first meeting, or not attaching the surname when calling the name of his future son-in-law.

Her fiancé’s sense, which was said to be almost animalistic in business, was fully demonstrated in such places as well. Ludwig responded by deliberately showing off his grip when shaking hands with her father, and then at some point, he turned his cold gaze toward her.

From then on, his eyes looked at her as if she were a living, breathing title.

Vivianne was afraid of the wayward him. To the point where it didn’t even feel like a problem that he was replacing so many women with her.

He was a perfect fiancé in official settings, making people forget his lineage, but in private, he enjoyed her eyes, which smiled while trembling with anxiety, not knowing when that appearance would disappear.

Her father must have thought he could control him as he pleased, but the hunter who could control the situation was rather…

Vivianne took out a pocket watch from her pochette (a small bag) and checked the time.

‘……’

She had deliberately left the social gathering early so as not to be late, but today as well, the father’s subjectivity was embedded in the hands of the bodyguard who was driving, so it seemed inevitable that she would be late for the meeting.

‘Is today about the day when the engagement story really started to come and go, about two years ago?’

But Vivianne was no longer sorry about that fact. After all, her fiancé would have something to do as well.

❖ ❖ ❖

“Ugh, Ludwig, Ludwig… There was a sound from the door just now, huh.”

It was as dirty and instinctive a scene as she had expected. The raw air that usually permeated such places couldn’t be adapted to, no matter how hard she tried.

“The marquis’s daughter seems to have arrived.”

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