I Just Needed Someone to Hate - Episode 8.1

Moths

Vivienne returned home in a patrol car. Since the place she was with the agent was in the center of the district, there were unusually many patrolling officers.

Vivienne explained that she was lost, and they happily took her back to the mansion. Perhaps it was because of her brother, the officer. They were so kind upon hearing her destination, Mergoville Mansion, that she didn’t even feel like she was imposing.

On the way to Mergoville Mansion, Vivienne thought about how her family would react.

Would she be slapped again? Would she be beaten until her thighs were raw?

Thinking such thoughts, she arrived at the mansion, but her parents didn’t even come out to check her face. Vivienne waited for her parents in the drawing room as she was instructed, and they arrived with a gem appraiser. The appraiser examined the jewels Vivienne had returned with a loupe.

“One is missing.”

That was the first thing Vivienne’s parents said to her. It was a statement that made the noble surname of Mergoville feel like the name of a business rather than a proud family bond.

Vivienne understood the logic.

All they had were these jewels, a useless estate, and the name Mergoville. Among them, the most valuable asset they could sell was undoubtedly the name Mergoville. That was also why they hadn’t called the police about her disappearance. If the media got involved, the name would be tarnished.

Vivienne couldn’t drive, endure physical labor, or cook. After going out and realizing that firsthand, she didn’t resent her parents as much.

She, too, had to pretend to survive her whole life, just like them.

“I’ll consider that the price for remaining as the fiancée of the man you two chose for me.”

“……”

“That’s why I came back. Not for any other reason.”

She knew now that she couldn’t hate them. She knew she couldn’t blame the changed world. Then, who should she blame to resolve this stifling feeling?

“What would you need your father’s cufflinks for? Never mind. You may think that way, but it’s already too late, dear. The Rex family might not want you as a daughter-in-law anymore.”

“If that were the case, Ludwig Rex wouldn’t have come to the villa where I was staying this morning with officers in tow.”

“……”

“Excuse me, I have a call to make.”

Vivienne greeted them and rose from her seat.

‘I didn’t tell Cynthia when we would meet.’

Just then, a servant of the Moon family found Vivienne.

“There are items that need to be delivered to you, Miss.”

Vivienne went down to the first floor. In the entrance hall of the huge mansion were the thick winter clothes, bag, day dress, and accessories that the man had bought for her while sweeping the streets of the wealthy district, all in several shopping bags. They were the things she had left at the villa.

A farewell gift.

There was no sender’s name, and that was all the information on the note that accompanied the items.

❖ ❖ ❖

Edmund returned to the villa and went to Vivienne’s room first. As he was about to retrieve the pistol he had left behind, he found something next to it.

The sunlight streaming in through the window reflected off a transparent glass case. Inside was a precious and beautiful jewel that looked like it had been crafted hundreds of years ago.

An emerald-cut blue diamond. He thought the stone was too big to be an earring, but when he took it out, it turned out to be a cufflink intricately set in silver.

It’s the price of my life. Your share.

That was the note in front of the case. He turned his head and saw the things he had bought for Vivienne in the corner of the room, untouched. Edmund walked over to them and stared at them for a long time. That was why he decided to write a reply to that small note.

❖ ❖ ❖

-It’s me.

Not long after, the phone call that came to Cynthia’s mansion began like that. Cynthia chewed on the flesh inside her mouth. If the telephone exchange had connected the call to her room, it was obvious who the caller was.

“Mergoville.”

-Yes, that’s right. I’m calling to ask what time is convenient for you today.

“Are you with the agent?”

After a long silence, a voice was heard.

-No.

“……”

-How about seeing each other at three?

“Do you have clothes to wear other than off-the-rack items?”

-Yes. And it won’t be clothes I wore before. You’ll know since you’re so interested in what I wear. And I’ll tell you in advance, I don’t need the money you were going to give me.

“Does bluffing feed you?”

-Wouldn’t it be closer to saying I have the decency to feel sorry?

“……”

-Seeing how urgent you are, it seems like I unintentionally stirred up my fiancé and the fallout is heading your way, sorry. That won’t happen again.

“……”

-And. Considering that you were the one who didn’t want to give me the money or the vineyard, aren’t you the one bluffing?

“You seem to be doing well since you’re still acting high and mighty?”

Vivienne Mergoville’s family must have gone bankrupt, and Cynthia had no doubt about her assumption. But what was this girl thinking?

Marrying Ludwig Rex? Only now?

That couldn’t be it.

“If you’re sorry, come to my house right now. I’m busy.”

Cynthia hung up the phone and glared coldly at the receiver. The expression on her face reflected in the window in front of her slowly changed. By the time a friendly smile appeared on her face, Cynthia turned around cheerfully. She walked over and sat across from the tea table.

“Thank you for inviting me, Lady Eastwell.”

The woman sitting in front of Cynthia, offering a handshake, was breathtakingly beautiful, but somehow seemed vulgar. She was dressed very neatly and spoke very politely, but still.

“I’m grateful that you were willing to come.”

Cynthia responded to the handshake with an awkward smile. As if understanding the reason, Janet said in a gentle voice.

“Please forgive my previous rudeness. As you know, my story was reported in the news and I received many calls, from reporters, politicians, businessmen… It was quite fascinating to collect these business cards.”

Janet flipped through the business cards she had taken out of her jacket pocket, her eyes lost in thought.

“I was originally used to seeing those people naked.”

When Cynthia, who was drinking tea, started coughing, Janet said, “Oh dear,” and pulled out a napkin to hand it to her. As Cynthia wiped her mouth with the napkin, Janet continued.

“By the way, if you were a friend of Vivienne Mergoville, you should have said so sooner. I would have replied immediately.”

Janet’s lips twisted subtly when she said “friend.” Even when leaning back against the chair, Janet Watkins looked sensual. Her lips, filled only with red, contrasted with her translucent skin and blonde hair.

Ludwig Rex only meets blondes, so it must be true. As Cynthia was thinking that, Janet continued.

“Well. I thought Lady Eastwell was just another scoundrel trying to use my story for her election? How foolish of me.”

“Indeed. You had an unnecessary misunderstanding.”

Cynthia only raised the corners of her lips and quietly put down her teacup. Janet continued in a friendly tone.

“The same goes for the people I’m talking about. Well, they told me that if I helped the Prime Minister’s re-election, it would be revenge for my man who was acquitted of the assault charges I was involved in. That’s a truly foolish misunderstanding.”

“You love Ludwig Rex.”

“No. It’s not about that, but how is that revenge? Even I, a cabaret singer, know that the Speaker of the House of Lords doesn’t belong to any political party.”

“It’s just a formality.”

Cynthia said, suppressing the feeling of being twisted inside.

The Empire’s first opposition party represented the will of the workers and was close to the unions infiltrated by the underworld. It was the opposite of the ruling party, which advocated the extermination of underworld forces. Therefore, it was natural for the Speaker of the House of Lords to want the shadow cabinet (opposition party) to take power.

Nevertheless, the Eastwell family kept silent about what they knew about Vivienne to the Rex family and tacitly cooperated with the Prime Minister’s intelligence operation to be successful.

In return, her father’s string was cut, and the execution was barbaric. Cynthia gnashed her teeth. Maintaining a calm expression, she uttered words tinged with unconcealed cynicism.

“Are you unaware, or are you pretending not to know?”

“Well.”

Janet’s red lips drew a smooth arc. The enchanting smile somehow felt like sarcasm.

Cynthia glanced at the console visible over Janet’s shoulder. And the phonograph on it. The vinyl on the phonograph was spinning, recording Janet’s words. Of course, she hadn’t asked for consent, but if Vivienne, who would arrive soon, showed the farce of picking up banknotes in her yard, that woman would be satisfied enough.

“Why don’t we get to the point? Ludwig Rex, did that man hit you, Janet?”

“Well, there was a time when I made him very angry.”

“For example…”

“Giving the future mistress of the Rex family contraceptives as a gift?”

Cynthia, who was about to drink tea, coughed again.

“Oh dear, the tea must be too hot.”

This time, Cynthia brushed off the napkin Janet offered. Janet made a helpless face and continued.

“He’s sensitive about the dignity of his family.”

At those words, Cynthia looked at Janet with incomprehension, but Janet shrugged and dipped her fingertip in the chocolate syrup next to the strawberries and sucked it as it was.

“Well, if you do something presumptuous, you have to be punished. He’s especially sexier when he’s angry.”

“…Ms. Watkins.”

The playfulness that had been on Janet’s face disappeared at Cynthia’s voice. She wiped her finger with a worn-out expression and stood up. The napkin that Cynthia had rejected was stained with chocolate and crumpled on the neat tea table.

“It’s an honor to be invited by the daughter of a councilor, but if you’re having useless thoughts, you should give up.”

“……”

“You can’t do anything with me as a pawn. If you could, why wouldn’t the people who reached out to me earlier believe me? I know you want to ruin Chairman Rex’s plan and take revenge, whether it’s because you’re worried about your dear friend or for some other reason, but wouldn’t it be worse than just staying still like me?”

As Cynthia sat blankly, Janet, who was looking behind her, walked over and said, “So this is it,” approaching the phonograph.

When Janet lifted the phonograph needle and took out the vinyl, Cynthia’s bodyguard flinched, but Cynthia raised one hand to stop him.

Janet threw the vinyl into the fireplace. She turned around, shrugged, and looked at Cynthia. With an exaggerated curtsy, she was about to leave when Cynthia opened her mouth.

“Are you okay, are you hurt anywhere?”

Janet was just heading for the door. She lowered her gaze and then smiled. It was a self-deprecating smile that she didn’t show to the people behind her. Janet stood in front of Cynthia’s footman, who had opened the door for her, and hesitated before finally opening her mouth.

“It was bearable. When I believed that I was just paying the price for insulting the woman who would have the family name that he cherished so much.”

“……”

“But you know, let me tell you something interesting?”

Janet continued calmly.

“I sometimes feel like his family isn’t the ultimate goal, but just a trivial means.”

“What does that mean?”

Cynthia jumped up from her seat, but Janet left Cynthia’s drawing room with those words.

To Ludwig Rex, the name of the Rex family is a trivial means?

Cynthia couldn’t dare to ask what it was a means for.

Because she felt like she knew the answer.

Feeling suffocated, Cynthia quickly walked over and opened a window. She happened to see a Langston limousine from the Mergoville family stopping in front of the mansion.

As the chauffeur opened the car door, Vivienne got out of the car. She was wearing the most expensive items in the district from head to toe. Even though she was mocking Vivienne’s situation and scattering money, she still looked like the most dignified daughter of a family in this wealthy district.

Before getting out of the car, Vivienne’s worries were simple. She didn’t feel good about walking into that mansion knowing Cynthia’s intentions.

The wind was really cold when the driver opened the car door. Maybe it was because that man wasn’t there, but it even felt lonely. It might have been especially hard to endure if she didn’t have this coat he sent.

Vivienne tried to act nonchalant and walked towards the building. And soon, she watched a new worry approaching from the other direction.

Janet Bell Watkins.

As if she didn’t know how to hide her expression, she looked somehow empty, contrary to her glamorous appearance. When her gaze, which had been wandering around the floor, turned to Vivienne, her face, slowly tinged with betrayal, looked somehow vicious. As Vivienne was about to pass by Janet, Janet opened her mouth.

“You nobles are really disgusting.”

Pretending to worry. Pretending to care, making people a laughingstock. Janet muttered. It was a tone as if those words were spitting on the floor.

“Isn’t it?”

The elegant tone was in stark contrast to Janet. It was hard to believe that the elegantly smiling face belonged to someone who was even slightly upset. Vivienne, who took something out of her leather clutch that looked expensive at first glance, handed it to Janet. It was a familiar object to Janet.

“I’m returning the contraceptives I received back then. I kept them carefully just in case, but I guess I didn’t need them after all.”

Vivienne walked past Janet as if she had said everything she needed to say.

“Oh, since we’re talking about nobles. My fiancé is only half blue-blooded, so I guess you liked that much of his lower body.”

“……”

“I wondered if you allowed yourself to like even his face because he was a noble, but not of aristocratic descent.”

Vivienne sent an arrogant gaze towards Janet, who was glaring as if she would kill her, and said.

“I always thought so. My fiancé, even if his face looks like a noble young master, his lower body is vulgar. I guess it’s because he’s only half.”

“……”

“Then you should have liked only half according to your beliefs. Then your heart wouldn’t have been hurt.”

Vivienne raised one corner of her lips and walked forward.

Janet impulsively reached out, but she was stopped by a bodyguard before Vivienne could even notice. Soon, the front gate of the mansion opened, and the Eastwell family butler greeted Vivienne politely.

Janet blankly watched the Countess of Eastwell welcome Vivienne and hug her without formality. Then, she straightened her clothes for no reason and left the mansion sadly.

❖ ❖ ❖

“If you’ve returned safely, that’s all that matters. Yes, is your mother doing well?”

“Yes, Lady Eastwell.”

“There must be worried faces at home, but thank you for coming all the way here to say hello. Cynthia was very worried about you, even though she doesn’t seem like it.”

“Of course.”

Cynthia appeared in front of Vivienne and Lady Eastwell, who were walking in the hallway, opening the door to the drawing room. She looked at them with eyes that seemed to say, “Mother, don’t you have any sense?” but Vivienne was unfazed, and Lady Eastwell didn’t care either.

“Then you two have a good time, I think I should go see him now.”

“Thank you, Madam.”

“Cynthia, you should be kind to your friend too. I don’t want to hear that you’ve been acting childishly.”

Cynthia nodded towards her mother with a face that said she had a lot to say. As the Countess of Eastwell disappeared, Cynthia headed into the room that the footman had opened. Vivienne followed, and when the door closed, soon only the two of them were in the drawing room.

“Who was it? The one my fiancé touched.”

It was Vivienne who spoke. Cynthia stood with her arms crossed, turning her back to Vivienne. It felt to Vivienne like she didn’t even want to see her face.

“You’re unnecessarily quick-witted, whether it’s when you were young or now?”

It was a voice that had suppressed anger. After a moment of silence, Cynthia continued.

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