FTPWR 15

Chapter: 15

Let’s think back on it carefully, step by step.

Once I followed her into a quiet alley where there were hardly any people around, I could finally breathe.

Regardless, even though I knew I had to let go of the hand I was holding as the emotions inside me continued to boil over, I didn’t let go because I wanted to savor the joy of victory a little longer.

The atmosphere had definitely seemed good.

‘I’m sorry, Ian. Because of me for no reason…….’

But the moment Vanessa confirmed that people were passing by here and there, she let go of my hand without any hesitation.

I felt disappointed for a moment, but then I shook my head at the apology she offered.

‘You don’t have to worry about it. But if something like this happens again, I might have to reconsider things.’

‘……What? Our relationship?’

‘Isn’t it obvious? My patience isn’t good enough to turn a blind eye to problems like this happening over and over.’

If something like this happened again, then even if Vanessa tried to stop me, I intended to beat Carlisle Leonard up once more.

To do that, I needed to make my relationship with her stronger than it was now.

To Vanessa Sharoz, Carlisle Leonard was someone she had once loved, while Ian Ruscliff was nothing more than a partner in a transaction.

Ian Ruscliff, who was bound to her by a contract, and Carlisle Leonard, whom she had once loved.

That difference kept irritating me.

Enough to stir up childish jealousy.

‘When that time comes, Vanessa, you’ll have to choose too.’

‘……What if I say I don’t want to?’

‘Who knows? Even so, I don’t think my feelings will change.’

Even if she opposed me beating him up, I would do it anyway.

After all, now that we had gone as far as getting married, I had absolutely no intention of letting her go.

But what if she and Carlisle Leonard became close again…….

What if, no matter how hard I tried, she never developed even the slightest feelings for me…….

Thinking about such things made my heart churn so much that I couldn’t keep my expression under control.

Vanessa’s expression wasn’t good either, and in the end.

We had to part without even having a proper date.

“Haa…….”

Ian slowly opened his closed eyes and took out the cigar he had been keeping inside his clothes, placing it between his lips.

It still felt as though the warmth remained all over his palm.

They say the first time is difficult, but from the second time onward, it becomes easy.

Once I had held her hand, I wanted to hold it a second time.

Eventually, an uncontrollable desire boiled inside me, strong enough to make me want to keep holding it forever.

Even though I knew it was greed.

Because the lukewarm warmth, unlike what she appeared to be, felt just like Vanessa’s true feelings.

Did I look like some inexperienced fool?

Of course.

I had been the one to suggest a date in the first place, yet I hadn’t properly done a single thing.

‘It’s not good to look as though you have too much experience, but you can’t act as if the only thing you’ve ever held in your hands since birth was a toy.’

‘I didn’t hold toys. I held a sword first.’

‘……Are you going to say that in front of Madam as well? That you’ve only held a sword since birth, so you don’t know how to hold hands?’

When he asked as though he found it ridiculous, I wondered whether even something like that needed practice.

But in the end, it did.

‘I didn’t know Madam’s hand was a sword hilt. Why don’t you just make a fist instead?’

Since there wasn’t much time, I had simply followed Denian’s advice to imagine that my own hand was Vanessa’s and practice holding it, so I had instinctively clenched it.

Because of the look and expression that immediately came flying at me, I had planned to cut his salary for this month without fail when I returned.

Still, if the date went well, I wasn’t entirely unwilling to reduce the number of months his salary would be cut.

Ian repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist, frowning.

‘Why on earth was she angry?’

In the end, after going around in circles, he was back at the starting point.

The reason he had restrained his anger in that situation was purely because Vanessa and Carlisle were childhood friends and had once been lovers.

There had also been a moment of hesitation because he was afraid that Vanessa might take Carlisle Leonard’s side if he stepped in.

Carlisle had been ill-mannered since childhood, so he had merely told the truth.

Could it be that she still had feelings for him?

Was that why his declaration that he wouldn’t let Carlisle off if the same thing happened again had sounded unpleasant to her?

No…… That couldn’t be it.

If it had been, she wouldn’t have told him not to casually call her by his name.

Then was she upset because he had said that even if she disliked it, his thoughts probably wouldn’t change?

……How was he supposed to tolerate that?

His patience wasn’t broad or generous enough to overlook Carlisle constantly hovering around after they had broken up.

Judging from Vanessa’s reaction toward Carlisle Leonard, it didn’t seem as though that would be a problem.

Then what on earth was the problem?

‘……Ah.’

Only then did Ian realize his mistake.

From early morning until lunchtime, he hadn’t even eaten a proper meal.

“This is…….”

He had spent the entire time wandering around without even eating, then returned home, so of course she had a reason to be angry.

[Give me a chance to make up for my mistake.]

Today, two days after the date that had hardly felt like a date at all.

Vanessa examined the letter she had received from Ian Ruscliff.

‘What mistake?’

Was he referring to what he had said about reconsidering their relationship if something like this continued to happen?

Well, at the time, she had already been furious about the situation, and Ian had felt like he was fanning the flames of a burning house, so she had gotten rather angry…….

But after returning home and thinking about it carefully, she realized she probably would have said the same thing in his position.

For starters, she herself had never properly explained why she had broken up with Carlisle Leonard.

From Ian’s perspective, it was something he had every right to say.

He had accepted her proposal for a contract marriage, only to find himself having to continue watching her former lover pester her because she hadn’t properly dealt with that relationship. If I were in his position, I would probably feel as though I had gotten myself involved in an unnecessary nuisance.

Of course, the way he had acted so coldly, as though there would be no second chance, was a little annoying.

But in the first place, their relationship was nothing more than a contractual one, so it wasn’t something she couldn’t understand.

However, she was the one who had unilaterally ended the date, and she had spent all this time wondering how she should bring it up.

Why had he sent a letter like this?

If anyone should apologize for what happened that day, it should have been her.

Was he misunderstanding something?

Vanessa slowly recalled the date they had gone on that day.

The atmosphere had been better than she expected, hadn’t it?

She had thought it would be a waste of time, but seeing him awkwardly fumbling around had been surprisingly amusing.

She hadn’t been able to hide her emotions after meeting Carlisle.

Still, she had apologized because, in her own way, she didn’t want to ruin her date with Ian.

In that situation, Ian had responded, ‘If this happens again, I’ll reconsider our relationship.’

She had been unable to hold herself back and had left the place, but…….

If he was the one reaching out his hand first like this, she was grateful.

She didn’t know what misunderstanding he had.

In any case, they had to maintain their marriage until her revenge was over, so there was no reason to deliberately let their relationship fall apart.

Vanessa quickly wrote a reply and then called Dia.

“Miss, did you call for me?”

“Could you take this to the Ruscliff Ducal Residence?”

“Should I bring back a reply?”

“You only need to deliver it.”

“Yes. I’ll be back.”

Good. That solved one problem.

After confirming that Dia had left, Vanessa picked up the documents lying on the desk.

[Status of the Children at St. Berthold Orphanage]

“It would be troublesome if he isn’t here either…….”

There was one thing that was most important for getting revenge on the Marquis Leonard family.

It was to take away, from an early age, the person who had been practically the brains of the Marquis Leonard family in her previous life.

Even a broken clock needs a battery if it is going to be right twice a day.

The man who had turned every huge success the Marquis Leonard family achieved into a stable source of income.

Mareo.

He was a man who had practically always been by the Marchioness’s side.

The fact that she ever came to exchange words with him was almost entirely by chance.

When he told her that he had spent his childhood in an orphanage and had received the support of the Marquis Leonard family until he came of age, she couldn’t hide her surprise.

‘Even though he was obsessed with money as though possessed by an evil spirit.’

Could it be that their ‘broken-clock intuition’ had kicked in?

Otherwise, there was no way people who looked as though they were dying of regret every time they had to pay even the funds they were required to contribute to the Empire each year would voluntarily become sponsors.

In any case, since she only knew that he had grown up in an orphanage, she had no choice but to investigate the status of every orphanage that existed throughout the Empire.

In her previous life, Mareo had tried to report all of their corruption and illegal activities to the Imperial Family, but he had failed.

And that was on the very day a red diamond was discovered in the Margula Mine, which the Marquis Leonard family had acquired at a bargain price.