Living a Scheming Marriage with a Mad Villain - Chapter 56

Loelle Ivelle…

So she was the woman the Count and Countess adored so much. I had heard once that she rarely left the house because the Count’s family kept her too sheltered.

Just hearing that gave me an idea of what kind of person she might be. Probably soft and dull. In short, not someone worth looking forward to meeting.

Still, I was curious. About the face all the men admired, and about why my father praised her so much.

That’s the only reason our first meeting, which should’ve been cancelled, actually happened.

And so, through our parents’ arrangement, the two of us met for the first time.

Cassien Ersian treated Loelle with the utmost kindness and gentleness.

As if he would give her anything she wanted, as if he truly welcomed the engagement, and as if he would only look at her from now on.

His soft, smiling eyes, his gentle words, the kind consideration she had never received before everything shook Loelle’s heart.

Just as expected. A girl raised gently without knowing the world too easy.

There was nothing special about her to deserve all the attention from the men or the endless praise from his father.

After Loelle left, Cassien immediately regretted coming, swayed by the rumors.

An engagement with someone as boring as Loelle Ivelle? He already felt tired just thinking about it. Still, it’s not like he hated her. If anything, she leaned more toward the “nice” side.

But the problem was that even after just one meeting, his interest faded.

Even so, Cassien kept seeing her. He smiled kindly each time, doing his best to fulfill his duties as a fiancé.

Despite his efforts, other men’s gazes never left Loelle. Just like his father said, she really did seem like the kind of woman you’d want by your side.

Cassien tried to endure it, thinking that way, but…

Still, what could he do? His heart wasn’t in it.

He thought just not mentioning breaking off the engagement was already a huge effort on his part. Maybe because of that mindset, their already lukewarm meetings became less and less frequent.

Of course, before long, Cassien started seeking new excitement elsewhere.

Then, one day, he accidentally went to meet Loelle Ivelle with traces of another woman still on him. It wasn’t even a serious relationship, just a casual encounter, but the other woman had purposely left signs on his clothes.

At first, he was startled but then he thought maybe it was for the best. If Loelle cried and made a scene, it would make breaking up easier. Even better if she suggested it first.

But when she saw the red mark, she didn’t even blink. She didn’t cry. She didn’t ask any questions.

Loelle Ivelle simply acted like usual. That was when he became curious about her for the first time. He had assumed she was just a naïve girl who knew nothing. But Loelle Ivelle turned out to be more interesting than he thought.

She had known all along that he didn’t truly love her. She even knew he had been meeting other women behind her back.

Cassien was a terrible man who justified it by telling himself it didn’t count as cheating since he never gave those women his heart or body. But at least he understood it wasn’t something a decent fiancé should do.

So he was prepared to handle it if Loelle ever got angry. But she never did. No matter what, she stayed calm. That alone was intriguing but what kept the cruel habit going were her eyes.

Even after everything, those eyes still looked at him with real affection. That… brought a strange sense of satisfaction.

What made this woman so blindly devoted?

It wasn’t his background her family was noble enough not to be impressed by that. It didn’t seem like she fell for his looks either.

Could it be she was swayed just by a little kindness?

‘That’s too naive. Or maybe just plain stupid.’

But in the end, it didn’t matter. Whatever the reason, Cassien was satisfied. Then one day, he happened to see her cry.

Loelle Ivelle sobbed like she had lost part of her world. He had known she was just pretending to be okay. But he hadn’t realized she was hurting that much.

‘I used to hate crying women…’

Yet he couldn’t look away as she cried. Each thick tear that slid down her pale cheeks made his chest ache but he couldn’t tell what that feeling was.

Guilt? It couldn’t be. He hadn’t moved a step to comfort her. In fact, he leaned comfortably against the wall and watched her misery slowly.

And still, Loelle kept crying.

Each drop of her tear brought him a powerful rush like joy. A strange feeling of ownership. Mixed with excitement, and even a bit of guilt.

It was the most intense pleasure he had ever felt.

From that moment, Cassien stopped hiding the fact that he was seeing other women. And eventually, he made Loelle fall apart completely in front of him.

He enjoyed the sight to the fullest. Then, when she was at her lowest, he whispered sweet lies of love.

And Loelle, as if she had never been hurt, loved him again.

Loelle Ivelle was most beautiful when she clung to him in tears, begging for love.

Once he got addicted to that feeling, there was no escape.

But Cassien, spoiled by being loved so easily, had overlooked something important.

What he felt wasn’t love it was just pleasure. And no matter how deep the love, if trampled over and over, it would eventually fade.

If he had known what kind of resolve Loelle had made to open her heart to him, or what she was willing to give up to stay by his side would he have stopped playing with her heart?

Would he have felt remorse or kept using her for pleasure?

Now, it was a question that would never be answered.

Because the most important fact was this: Loelle Ivelle had left Cassien Ersian for good.

“It was only like that at the beginning… After that, I really loved you. I truly did, Roel.”

“You call that love?”

“I loved you… I loved you so much, and that’s why—”

“Are you saying you met other women because you loved me too much?”

Loelle let out a breathy laugh full of disbelief and sarcasm.

“How can you call that love? And with your own mouth, no less.”

“I know you’re angry, Loelle. I’m really sorry. You have every right to be mad. It was all my fault. But I’ve truly changed…! I’ll never… I’ll never do anything like that again, Loel…!”

Loelle slapped away Cassien’s approaching hand.

“You stopped me for this pathetic excuse?”

“No… no, I just wanted to explain. I thought maybe… you didn’t know that I really loved you…”

The more Cassien spoke, the more twisted Loelle’s face became.

“I love you, Loel… So please, come back. Please…”

Loelle took a deep breath, then used all her strength to shake off his hand. Just as she turned to leave, Cassien’s words froze her in place.

“If I didn’t see other women… your mother said she’d break off the engagement.”

Seeing her stop, Cassien thought maybe his words had moved her heart a little.

“That’s why I had no choice. It’s true. Please believe me, Loelle.”

Cassien quickly dropped to his knees, blocking Loelle’s way and grabbing her skirt.

“I couldn’t say that’s how it started… but really, after that, I didn’t want to break off the engagement. Please believe me…”

“So… you knew about all of that?”

“Yes, your mother—”

SMACK!

Loelle slapped him across the face with all her strength.

“Trash.”

Cassien’s head turned sharply from the blow, but he didn’t care. He clung to her again.

“Hit me all you want. It’s all my fault. I was wrong, Loel… Just don’t leave me… Please, don’t go like this, okay?”

As if willing to be ruined as much as she wanted, he guided her hand to his cheek. His voice started to break with sobs.

“Loel… Loelle, are you listening to me?”

Even when he rubbed her hand on his face, even as he begged Loelle didn’t move.

“Can’t you just look at me…?”

“I love you, Loelle.”

At that tearful confession, Loelle finally looked down at Cassien. The gaze he had longed for but Cassien only cried harder.

“I really love you…”

Loelle looked at him for a while, then spoke in a cold, emotionless voice.

“You really are a terrible bastard.”

“I know… I did everything wrong. I know that now. So please… don’t go.”

“Cassien.”

Hearing his name, Cassien lifted his head as if under a spell.

Loelle’s eyes held not even a flicker of emotion.

And then something even scarier followed.

“I… I hate you. I truly, deeply hate you. You disgust me.”

“No, don’t go. Don’t go, please. You can’t. I won’t let you—”

Realizing this was truly the end, Cassien desperately grabbed her skirt.

But Loelle remained cold and unmoved.

“Your love is horrifying, Cassien.”

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