I Just Needed Someone to Hate - Episode 5.3

This man was so terrible that every time she saw a man, she had this awful symptom.

“Get up.”

“……”

“You have something to give me, don’t you?”

“……”

“You should just come along quietly and do as you’re told, huh?”

His shadow fell over her. It was always like this. And the man sitting across from them would try to avoid complicated matters, so he wouldn’t dare touch the son of the Speaker of the House….

“Waiter.”

The sound of paper rustling on the dinner table finally drew Ludwig’s gaze to Edmund. His eyes were not only sharp but bloodshot.

Regardless, Edmund said calmly,

“The security here is terrible. I thought I had reserved the entire floor.”

Vivianne shook her head as if to dissuade Edmund, and Ludwig slowly released Vivianne’s wrist.

“Bring me some cold ice.”

“Yes.”

It was when Edmund gave the order and the waiter disappeared into the kitchen that Ludwig grabbed Edmund by the collar as Vivianne massaged her throbbing wrist with her other hand.

“Do you think this is a joke?”

Ludwig’s voice turned harsh.

“Do you think I came here without knowing?”

Ludwig’s voice was low and calm, but it carried to where Vivianne was sitting.

“You think I can’t get rid of a little agent like you.”

“……”

“What kind of tricks did you pull in the lobby? How dare you….”

“Edmund!”

“Ugh.”

As Vivianne rose from her seat, Ludwig groaned and rolled onto the floor. Edmund had struck him in the side with the metal handle of his cane.

“Was it really necessary to act so presumptuously?”

Edmund slowly sat down, put his cane aside, and picked up his fork and knife.

“For me to have dinner at my own hotel.”

Vivianne stared in disbelief at her fiancé writhing on the floor and Edmund Colt, who was elegantly continuing his meal as if nothing had happened.

“How is this yours? This is….”

Edmund looked down at Ludwig, who was catching his breath, wiping his mouth, and trying to get up, with an arrogant expression. Ludwig Rex couldn’t speak, even as he gasped for air. Edmund said without changing his expression,

“Why can’t you speak?”

“……”

“The documents say this building is managed by your corporation, but it seems you’re just taking care of it for someone else.”

He didn’t know? The man who claimed he didn’t know that the hotel belonged to his fiancé was telling such fluent lies, or perhaps what seemed like the truth.

“This is a building owned by our family.”

Ludwig spat out the words with difficulty.

“Is that so?”

Ludwig’s face slowly began to show signs of dismay at the leading question. To avoid the situation, it was better not to say anything that could be misinterpreted as coveting the property of a mafia boss.

It was an immutable truth that had been passed down through all cultures. A vassal who coveted the king’s property, even falsely, was branded a traitor.

“Then, since the lady of Mergoville, who is going to marry you, is sitting right across from me, wouldn’t it be appropriate for me to be here?”

Edmund, who had also paid, muttered, and then happily cut the lamb, the fifth course, with his knife.

“What are you….”

Edmund, who instantly subdued Ludwig’s arm as he reached out as if to make up for the humiliation he had just suffered, replied,

“What am I?”

The two arms were stopped in mid-air, seemingly balanced in strength. But Ludwig’s arm was visibly trembling. On the other hand, Edmund looked relaxed, without changing his expression.

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

Ludwig was straining so hard that his jaw jutted out.

“I’m her lover.”

“What?”

Edmund looked at Vivianne and leisurely added,

“Lady Vivianne Mergoville herself told me that I am her lover.”

Vivianne, who was caught between the gazes of the two men, turned bright red for the first time.

That crazy…!

Edmund got up from his seat, twisted Ludwig’s arm, and threw him to the floor. He picked up the expensive cane he had bought on the way and handed it to the waiter, then said to Vivianne,

“May I escort you?”

Vivianne quickly accepted Edmund’s courteous escort to hide her flushed face and looked back as she left. Strangely, there was no waiter helping Ludwig up.

Even the secretary hesitated to approach him and scanned the two of them with a bewildered look.

Judging by their expressions, it seemed like they knew why, but looking at the situation and the overall atmosphere, it seemed like they didn’t know just from that.

“Was it really necessary to act so presumptuously?”

“For me to have dinner at my own hotel.”

Vivianne repeated Edmund’s words and looked up at his profile. After receiving the formal greetings of the chefs and staff standing at the door, she said to Edmund,

“I was wondering where everyone had gone.”

What was all this, she asked tentatively, but no answer came back.

“What was that just now?”

Vivianne said to Edmund as if demanding an explanation. This situation aside. Let’s not mix emotions with work, that was the unspoken question.

Why did you save me again?

“Didn’t you tell me to take the price of my life? I thought I should work as much as I received.”

“……”

“If you were going to gamble with your life, wouldn’t it be fun to screw over your fiancé a little before that day comes?”

You wouldn’t have any regrets when you die, he said, and then added as if he had just remembered,

“You were going to abandon me, weren’t you?”

“It seems it wasn’t today.”

“……”

He makes my heart flutter for no reason at times like this. It’s as if he knows all too well that I’m not trying to abandon him, but that I’m afraid of my fiancé.

Was he granting a wish that she couldn’t dare to dream of? He was showing this kindness even if it meant doing something she couldn’t handle.

“You’re really a bad person.”

Vivianne said with a hollow laugh.

“Why do you say that?”

The words were spoken without inflection, but they had weight. At this time, she had no idea what the meaning of this cold answer was.

“Just.”

Without being aware of it, Vivianne moved closer to him and said,

“For no reason.”

“Would you like to see an opera?”

As if to confirm her guess as to why he had brought her here, the man said in a smooth tone. It was as if her abduction had never been planned in the first place.

That’s why he’s bad.

“Is a movie okay too?”

“It might be a bit too chaotic for someone of your status.”

“I don’t care as long as you’re okay with it. I really wanted to see this ‘talkie’ that Madison told me about.”

“……”

“Please?”

The talkie she saw at a movie theater on the way while avoiding reporters was fun.

It was just as her childhood friend Madison had told her in a letter.

Hearing the actors in the screen talk was a new experience for Vivianne, who lived almost confined to her mansion. It was also amazing that it only cost one silver coin to see such a movie.

That was why she was holding a stamped movie ticket, even though she had told Edmund that it “wasn’t too bad.”

She was still reading books or talking about operas she had seen with her mother, so she didn’t know that the world was changing like this.

It was only after returning to the car with Edmund that she felt like she had woken up from a dream. As Vivianne breathed a misty breath over her gloves, he, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, said,

“I remember you saying you wanted to go to a pharmacy.”

“I did.”

“Now, would you tell me why the movie wasn’t too bad?”

“The plot was okay, but the actors’ aristocratic acting was terrible.”

“……”It’s obvious that their tone and manners are awkward, but I don’t know why people are laughing and crying without knowing anything.””

“Well, I thought you’d be immune since you already have one of those actors next to you.”

“Still, you’re perfect, at least in terms of manners.”

“Thank you. That’s quite a compliment.”

“I’m not being sarcastic. I mean it.”

“I meant it too.”

“Thank you for today at the restaurant….”

“……”

“This is what sincerity is, right? Do you understand?”

“It was a favor I expected something in return for.”

Edmund said as he started the car.

“It still is.”

“Thank you.”

Vivianne gave Edmund a beautiful smile.

“For reminding me every time I’m about to forget.”

The distance from the theater to the pharmacy was not that far.

Vivianne glanced at Edmund once and then turned her head to open the door of the saloon. She closed the door with a bang and walked forward without looking back.

The pharmacy he had dropped her off at was close to his villa. It felt like she was finally back to where she had started this morning. Vivianne, who was wrapping her arms around herself in the cold of the street, suddenly raised her head and looked at the light source in front of her.

Inside the brightly lit pharmacy window was a man. A clothing store… no, the clerk at that clothing store was a woman, so she had briefly dismissed the possibility that the opposite could also be true.

Vivianne glanced at her swollen wrist and then teared up again as the ‘symptoms’ recurred. Her body froze on its own, and she bit her dry lips.

Most of all, what was most pathetic was that she couldn’t do anything. If that man disappeared later, she would be left alone again.

It was terrible that she would always show this disgraceful behavior towards men.

‘If this keeps up, that man will come to help again.’

She couldn’t always receive help like today. In fact, it was uncertain whether there would always be someone nearby to help.

With that thought, she tried to put on a nonchalant face and walked into the pharmacy. Even when the bell on the door rang, the pharmacist at the counter was busy flipping through a magazine. That fact was a comfort to Vivianne.

“…Do you have any ointment for bruises and a tranquilizer?”

After pretending to look around, Vivianne walked hesitantly to the counter, lowered her head, and said without making eye contact with the pharmacist.

“Is it for a bruise on your face?”

“Yes.”

Vivianne quickly replied, feeling uncomfortable with the scanning gaze.

“It’s not on my face, it’s my, my husband’s.”

Now she’s calling him her husband instead of her lover, that man would laugh openly if he heard it, but her mind was blank and she couldn’t think of anything else.

In any case, “husband” was a less explanation-needed word than “a man I live with for circumstances.”

“Husband?”

Vivianne lowered her head towards the scarf she was wearing and shrank back.

“Miss, excuse me, but may I see your face? If it’s because of your husband’s violence, I’ll report it to the police.”

“It’s okay. Why did you ask if the bruise was on my face in the first place?”

“It’s because the ingredients in the medicine can be irritating, so we distinguish between medicines that can be applied to the face and those that can’t. I’m just trying to help.”

The pharmacist’s gaze, who had said that much, returned to Vivianne’s face. This time, it was a calm, analytical gaze.

“I was wondering where I had seen you, you were in today’s evening paper….”

Vivianne quickly turned around before his gaze reached her wrist.

“I’ll check out another pharmacy. I just wasted my time here.”

She was about to walk out of the pharmacy without looking ahead when she bumped her forehead into someone’s solid chest.

She could tell who it was without looking up, thanks to the pungent and masculine scent emanating from him.

She was suffering from hyperventilation again like a child. Vivianne hated this version of herself more than death.

A hand stroked her back a few times and whispered in her ear if she was okay. When she was at her most pathetic and weak, he became more kind and gentle than ever. As she became aware of the fact that he had been watching all along, a fire spread across her face for no reason.

“Husband…?”

It didn’t take a few minutes for the mood that had been so good to subside.

Husband, huh. How much is this man laughing at me? He already gave me back the word “lover” in such a funny way.

The man’s lips touched Vivianne’s cheek, which had turned red again to her ears. Vivianne was trapped in the man’s arms and could only freeze in place with wide eyes.

“Yes.”

“……”

“If my wife says so.”

Vivianne couldn’t think properly with each word he uttered.

Was she hearing those words correctly? Only that question was repeated in her mind.

Is that why that terrible symptom doesn’t appear when she’s with him?

He is someone she can lean on, someone who understands her situation, someone who is there when she needs him even if he doesn’t tempt her with sweet words, someone who doesn’t ask more than necessary.

“As you know, my wife came to find ointment for a bruise on her husband’s face, and that’s right.”

“Ah, yes. I think she said that because she was worried about me. I’ll pay.”

The man patted Vivianne’s back twice as if to comfort her, then walked past her to pay.

“As you know, tranquilizers require a doctor’s prescription. It shouldn’t be difficult to get a prescription, so you can bring it and come back.”

The man’s voice was directed at Vivianne, passing over Edmund. She said while looking outside,

“What if I don’t have one?”

“There’s a way to get it from dealers who trade drugs illegally on Mirabolta Street, an hour’s walk away,”

The pharmacist replied in a passing tone to Vivianne’s answer.

“I don’t recommend going there because it’s such a notorious neighborhood. The drugs they sell to civilians aren’t of very good quality.”

Edmund paid, and Vivianne opened the pharmacy door and walked silently to the saloon. It was to avoid the pharmacist from misunderstanding her wrist and contacting the police.

Mirabolta.

Before Edmund followed her out, Vivianne turned her head and looked at the distant horizon. What could be at the end of this street where people live? The place where the lights never go out even at night.

“What will you do when that guy, your fiancé’s boss, comes looking for you? ”

“That’s not something you need to worry about, Count, and it never will be.”

She thought about the time when she would no longer be able to receive his help.

When that time comes, this won’t do. Not in this state where she can’t say anything in front of men. That’s why she needed that medicine.

She suddenly wondered what was beyond the boundary she would cross in a few more steps.

❖ ❖ ❖

Back at the villa, Vivianne held the ointment that Edmund had given her and paced around the room.

If she delayed the decision any longer, he would leave. He often leaves the mansion silently in the early morning.

Some days he would come back the next day, and last time it was three days. She didn’t know how long he would be away this time.

‘I’ll go to Mirabolta Street to get a tranquilizer then.’

But before disappearing as the man wanted, she wanted to spend more time with him. She liked the way he stroked her and the low voice that whispered in her ear. It was just that the weather was too cold. No, it was because that warmth was too warm.

Vivianne held the ointment tightly and went out of the room, taking a step towards his door with a pounding heart. Perhaps because it was dawn, all time seemed to be buried in a bleak darkness.

“Edmund.”

She said, standing in front of the door where she could feel his presence. After knocking a couple of times, she opened the door at his answer to come in.

As expected, the man was about to leave. Vivianne took a deep breath as her eyes met his.

“I thought you might need this, so I came.”

“……”

“It’s also a bribe. Please don’t leave.”

“You can give it to me and I’ll apply it when I need it.”

It was as if he regarded her as a nuisance, but the tips of his outstretched fingers seemed to be saying that it was okay to come closer.

“Your fingertips are trembling.”

Vivianne’s gaze moved from his fingertips to his eyes. Edmund quickly withdrew his hand and clenched it tightly.

“You should leave now….”

“Will you be able to apply the medicine properly with that hand?”

Vivianne ignored him and headed for the bed. She patted the side of the slightly sunken mattress and looked at him. It was an action without any intention, but she was very conscious of the fact that she was calling him to the bed.

“Why can’t someone who has slept in a park empty lot sleep here?”