What Remains at the End of Regret - Chapter 41

Kissen was the first to snap out of it at Catherine’s words. Noticing Catherine’s discomfort, he subtly tried to read the room and raised his voice. It was clear that the reason Argent’s most eligible bride had come here was not for them, but for his friend Edmund Lockberg, who still seemed bored by it all.

“Then the Duke will soon have the best spouse. Won’t he?”

“With Verberosa, everything is perfect, from family and lineage to beauty!”

Kissen, using the officers to subtly shift the atmosphere towards Edmund and Catherine, gazed at Catherine with a proud expression. Catherine, smiling sweetly, looked at Edmund as if seeking agreement with the officers’ words.

Everyone knew she would be with the Duke without her saying a word.

Except for that man.

So Catherine wanted confirmation. She intended to get a definite answer today. To have him claim her as his own.

But the lips that wouldn’t readily open showed no sign of delivering the answer she wanted. Impatience surged like a tide, but Catherine didn’t lose her composure and calmly waited for a response. Before she knew it, everyone around them was waiting for the answer from Edmund, not just Catherine.

No one in their right mind would refuse Catherine von Verberosa.

The answer was as good as decided.

The moment Catherine took a confident step forward was when a gentle smile appeared on Edmund’s face.

“Well,”

But, defying everyone’s expectations, the words that followed instantly plunged Catherine’s heart into the mire.

“I’m not interested in such things, Grand Duchess.”

His red lips twisted upwards.

“That’s not something a Duke with the bloodline second only to the Imperial Family in Argent should say.”

“If you need a stud with good blood for breeding, you can find one here.”

Edmund slowly approached Catherine, bent down, and whispered softly.

“I hope you get a thoroughbred that pleases you.”

Catherine’s face turned bright red, as if she had been greatly insulted. Edmund glanced at her to confirm her expression, then slowly straightened up and leisurely scanned the interior of the large hall. Finally, spotting the back of a woman like a white flower leaving the ballroom, he put down the champagne glass he was holding.

“I hope that was the answer you wanted.”

Edmund’s movements, striding across the banquet hall with large steps, were decisive and concise. Watching his receding figure, everyone was speechless with bewilderment, only groaning. Felix, without trying to hide it, sighed as he looked at Catherine, who was a mess.

“What an amazing cousin.”

Felix shook his head and downed the shimmering liquor in one gulp.

＊ ＊ ＊

A flower before the wall.

It was a shameful expression, but Vivian volunteered to be a flower before the wall.

It was a victory won as a result of arduous negotiations.

Hayden looked back at Vivian several times with worried eyes, and each time, Vivian reassured him with a faint smile, as if telling him not to worry.

Her father and Hayden worked tirelessly to not miss the unrepeatable opportunity. The ball, attended by those involved in Lockberg’s business and upper-class nobles, was a high-level social gathering rarely seen even in the capital, and it included wealthy people from various classes under the name of Lockberg, transcending status.

They showed surprising interest in the lord of Fober, where the beautiful Lockberg Castle was located, and Harper, the emerging tycoon who would marry him.

Once the Baron had broken down the wall of title, Bender Harper, a born businessman, approached those who showed interest in the business with his unique, smooth attitude, gaining their favor. In that natural flow, Vivian had been granted some freedom under the pretext of her poor health.

She tried to stand quietly, but the gazes towards her were quite sharp. Vivian tried her best not to be a hindrance, but pushed to her limit, she thought she needed a place to rest comfortably.

Now was the chance, as her father and Bender Harper began to greet the new people who came to their side. Vivian, glancing around and smiling awkwardly, took advantage of the moment when attention was diverted from her and carefully turned her body out of the banquet hall.

It was not difficult for Vivian, who had visited the mansion several times thanks to the Lady’s kindness, to find a quiet space to be alone.

“I should go to the garden.”

Vivian muttered softly and headed without hesitation to the garden behind the mansion, facing the sea. It would be much better to escape than to stand awkwardly in the banquet hall, suffocating from the stuffy air. The people captivated by the splendor and beauty of the ballroom’s interior didn’t seem to feel the need to go outside.

Amidst the dim indoor lights cast over the dark garden, the serene sound of insects echoed. A relieved smile finally appeared on Vivian’s exhausted face.

The garden, devoid of people, was filled with the faint scent of grass. Unlike the well-maintained and manicured garden, the back garden was vast, like a small forest. Vivian slowly walked to the greenhouse where the daisies she had tended were in full bloom.

The complicated feelings seemed to flow away on the slightly chilly breeze.

Today will be the last time I come here.

Vivian captured in her eyes every detail of the beautiful garden that she would no longer be able to see after today.

There was a time when coming here was her wish. The only space in Fober that Vivian had not been able to visit.

A lot of time had passed before her longing for this beautiful mansion turned into fear, but she wanted to take away only the beautiful and dazzling appearance as she had once dreamed of, as the end.

Vivian leaned against the wall of the glass greenhouse, crouched down, quietly gathered her knees, and buried her face.

Cruel but beautiful.

Moments she would never forget even after this summer passed gently permeated her blue eyes.

When the rainy season came, the heat of summer, which had subsided, would finally bloom. At the height of that summer, Vivian would marry her beloved fiancé.

“I’m leaving all the bad things here.”

For the days that would be more beautiful than ever, Vivian would leave this summer’s nightmares here.

There was nothing she couldn’t do if she thought it was the last time.

There would never be a more turbulent summer than this. A peaceful life to live as planned.

This summer, with the Duke’s intervention, would only be fleeting.

The guilt she had towards the Duke. All the resentment and hatred, and even the faint expectations.

Leaving it to the quietly shining moonlight and the faint sound of grass swaying in the wind, Vivian watched the beautiful night sea for a long time.

＊ ＊ ＊

“Have you finally lost your mind?”

Felix, unable to bear watching Catherine’s expression filled with humiliation any longer, hurriedly followed his cousin out.

The bomb that Edmund had dropped instantly detonated the atmosphere. And very miserably. There was nothing that could survive. The moment the sophisticated face, which had been more aristocratic than ever, was distorted into a mess, Felix realized that this atmosphere could never be returned to before Edmund’s answer and despaired.

Crazy bastard.

He had expected it, but he wanted to beat up his past self for not suspecting that Edmund was more insane than he had expected. Felix strode down the hallway with long steps, gazing at Edmund’s back. And hurriedly followed him, walking urgently.

“No, stop. Edmund!”

Felix, thinking that there was definitely something wrong with Edmund’s hearing as he continued to walk neatly towards the end of the hallway as if he couldn’t hear him, stuck to his side more persistently. Finally catching up with Edmund’s pace and blocking his path, Felix glared at him with dissatisfaction.

“Don’t you know who Catherine is?”

“I know.”

“Yeah. Then you know very well. You must know why Grandma brought Catherine here!”

“I wonder.”

“Marriage, marriage. A marriage between the Duke’s daughter and you, the two most noble families in the Empire!”

Felix groaned as he looked at the gray eyes that were still incomprehensibly sunken. As if it were nothing, even while mentioning a very important story about his marriage, Edmund was only looking down at him indifferently as always.

Since when had his cousin had such eyes?

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