What Remains at the End of Regret - Chapter 39

A woman with a delicate air, one that would never be seen in the capital. Large eyes and mysterious green pupils filled her finely sculpted features. Smooth, pure white hair flowed down in waves, covering her slender frame. Everyone present couldn’t deny that the woman, who was scattering her gaze anxiously, possessed a beauty worth admiring. Filled with curiosity, sharp, wary eyes followed Vivian Mabel relentlessly.

“That’s definitely a face I’ve never seen in the capital.”

“Isn’t that Bender Harper standing in front of her?”

As Pourin watched the hall begin to stir as she had predicted, she quietly tightened her grip on the fan in her hand.

The gazes that flew more blatantly as she moved towards the center of the hall were tailored into increasingly sharp forms, as if sizing up prey, and reached the lady who exuded a beautiful and unfamiliar aura, crushing her.

The corners of her lips, hidden invisibly by a lace fan, lifted high into the air.

As if she had expected this moment to come, Pourin couldn’t hide the faint sense of elation that was rising within her.

The careful movements following the Baron were perfectly poised, just as she had taught.

Her trembling eyelashes, perhaps from nervousness, evoked a fragile impression in those who saw them. Her unusually pale skin and snow-white hair made it even more striking. The line that followed her smoothly sculpted nose was exceedingly soft.

At last, the flower of Fober had bloomed.

As she had predicted one day in the past, Vivian Mabel had grown into an attractive lady who would catch anyone’s eye.

The pride in herself for having raised the headstrong girl who used to run wild through the village so perfectly surged fiercely, creating a thrilling sensation.

In a social gathering that was somewhat cliché, where everyone already knew each other, unfamiliarity would be the most dangerous and splendid weapon.

Therefore, at least tonight, the main character would be the country girl who had completely seized everything in Fober!

Pourin smiled with utmost satisfaction, crinkling her eyes.

“Hold your chin up.”

If there was a problem, it was only one thing: today’s protagonist was trembling as if she were afraid of everything.

Vivian, quietly catching her breath, looked as if she wanted to escape this place immediately. Hayden’s expression, as he looked at Vivian with concern, was also quite misleading. A gathering where all the nobles and high-ranking officials of the capital were gathered was not easily obtained. And yet, such an uncooperative attitude in the face of such an opportunity!

Pourin quietly spat out a sharp rebuke.

“Are you going to ruin everything?”

“Just, give me a moment.”

As she approached the Duke, who was greeting the attendees with a gentle smile and a handshake, a dizzying sensation shook Vivian’s mind.

Vivian had been having a difficult time since she was forcibly kissed.

Every moment, a trap called guilt strangled her. The guilt of having created a secret from Hayden, and the shameful events of that day that she couldn’t bring herself to tell him for fear of hurting him.

The more difficult it became to look at Hayden, the more intense her anger towards the Duke became.

The Duke’s attitude towards her, which was only visible to her, revealed a particularly clear difference in places where he was with other people. So he would do such a thing to me, too. She was sad and angry at the fact that she seemed like someone he could ignore.

Grandpa Ren’s bookstore was always a precious and warm space, but now it had become a place she couldn’t go to with a happy heart.

In that way, the Duke was slowly ruining her beautiful daily life.

Vivian squeezed her eyes shut and exhaled the breath she had been holding deeply, as if to refresh herself.

I’m not alone now. So no one will treat me carelessly.

Having thought that far, Vivian moved her feet, which wouldn’t fall, and approached the Duke. Hayden was by her side, and so was her father, Baron Mabel.

Repeating that fact in her mind, she finally arrived at the end of her steps, where Edmund Lockberg, the master of this splendid world she so despised, was.

Vivian straightened her shoulders and raised her head. The Duke’s beautiful face, holding hands with her father, was clearly drawn in her eyes.

“It’s been a while, Duke.”

Edmund, who nodded politely at the greeting from Baron Mabel, smiled gently. Baron Mabel stepped back slightly and introduced the man standing next to him.

“This is Bender Harper. He deals in high-quality wines.”

Edmund turned his gaze to Bender Harper according to the Baron’s introduction and tilted his chin.

“Nice to meet you, Lord Harper.”

“It’s a great honor to meet you. Hayden, come here and greet him too.”

Bender Harper examined the Duke’s face, which was showing a friendly attitude, and hurriedly turned around so as not to miss the opportunity. All those who consumed expensive liquor were the upper class, and the name of Lockberg was at the very top of that class. It was a moment that highlighted Bender Harper’s will to somehow gain a foothold here.

Hayden, who walked out without avoiding the gazes focused on him, smiled gently.

“It’s nice to see you again, Duke.”

Hayden’s words meant their meeting at the pier. Edmund, recalling that memory, let out a low chuckle. Hayden, who suddenly rolled his eyes following Edmund’s gaze, stared at Felix, who was drinking champagne not far away. He chuckled softly at his flushed face, which seemed to be flushed with alcohol.

But the one who was most surprised by this situation was none other than Bender Harper.

“Hayden. Have you met the Duke before?”

“I happened to see him at the harbor when I went to check the logistics that arrived from Lehman last time. I exchanged greetings because he seemed to know Vivian.”

Vivian’s shoulders twitched slightly at those words.

“Ah, so there was such a coincidence! But how do you know the Baron’s daughter…?”

Even in the absence of malice, Vivian felt as if her lungs were constricting to the point of suffocation. In the moment she parted her lips, Vivian, who discovered the Duke raising his eyebrows as if he were interested in the gaze that brushed past her, couldn’t bring herself to reveal her emotions and said in a small voice.

“I took care of the flowers in the greenhouse for a while at the Grand Duchess’s request.”

Edmund’s eyes narrowed as he spat out the sarcasm that flowed out with those words. The gaze that urged Vivian, who was standing obediently next to her fiancé, was cold. The mocking smile, as if he would expose the hidden truth at any moment, made Vivian’s breath tremble faintly.

“I’ve only seen the Duke with the Grand Duchess a few times.”

Isn’t that right?

Her tearful eyes were shaking pitifully, as if begging him not to say anything more.

Her murky emerald eyes looked quite different from the eyes in the greenhouse, which she had confidently raised, covered in dirt. Where had the appearance of her shouting out what she wanted to say with fierce eyes gone, and what was with this docile attitude?

It was absurd, but on the other hand, it was also upsetting.

What was so great about love?

Vivian Mabel always had a foolish side to her, willingly handing over her leash to him with things that were nothing to him.

Guilt and responsibility.

The young Vivian, who peeked beyond the door of the backyard connected to the annex, felt guilty, and when she was asked to manage the greenhouse, she tended the flowers as if she had a sense of mission.

And all those moments always gave Edmund a favorable position over that woman.

He didn’t like such an innocent appearance, but at the same time, he liked it more than anything.

So she must have willingly set foot here too.

Edmund couldn’t help but laugh when he saw Vivian enter the ballroom. All his senses were drawn to where Vivian was. He never thought she would walk into the trap on her own. The head that was looking around anxiously and the eyes that were wavering meant only one thing.

“I thought I was quite close to Miss Mabel.”

In the end, aren’t you in front of me again?

She should have told her beloved fiancé honestly and insisted that she didn’t want to see the Duke’s face.

“Isn’t that, right?”

The woman, who couldn’t bring herself to say that one easy word and was dragged all the way here, was once again thrown into his hands. This time, she was caught up in guilt and worthless things called love.

Edmund felt an unpleasant feeling that was more than satisfying, but somehow twisted inside.

“Was there something between the Duke and my fiancée?”

The woman’s fiancé tilted his head, looking down at his lover with a sharp gaze.

Vivian, who was uncharacteristically anxious and parting the ends of her lips, tilted her head and pondered, then hurriedly said as if she had found an appropriate excuse to bring up. Edmund, who slowly captured that appearance in his eyes, slowly turned the champagne glass in his hand and waited for the words to come out of Vivian’s mouth.

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