Chapter: 83
From behind me, Gregory let out a scoffing laugh, loud enough for me to hear.
“Hmph. Even so, you’re still my wife.”
Gregory’s lingering gaze persistently followed my back.
I hate this.
I bit down gently on my lip.
Why was he so confident?
As if he had something to rely on…
My chest felt stifled, as though a large thorn were lodged inside it.
That evening.
“What?!”
Evangeline, who had just been about to start dinner, dropped the utensil she was holding.
“Who is registering their marriage with whom?!”
Evangeline stared wide-eyed at the attendant who had brought the news.
The attendant replied with an awkward expression.
“I have heard that the marriage registration documents for Lady Ancy and Young Master Gusto have been submitted to the Marriage Registration Office.”
“That’s impossible!”
Bang!
Evangeline slammed both hands against the dining table and rose from her seat.
The attendant cautiously continued.
“And so, Young Master Gusto went to the Ancy family’s townhouse and proposed to Lady Ancy…”
Evangeline raised her voice again.
“That can’t be true! Lari…”
But then—
“What uncouth behavior is this?”
Dietrich looked up at Evangeline with a cold gaze.
“Sit down, Eva.”
“What?!”
Evangeline turned toward her older brother, breathing heavily.
Dietrich’s face was frighteningly calm.
“You’re not even angry, Brother?!”
In response to her protest, Dietrich answered without even twitching an eyebrow.
“It’s Lady Ancy’s personal matter. Regardless of whom she chooses to form a relationship with, neither you nor I have the right to interfere.”
“No, is this really the time to talk about whether we have the right or not?!”
Evangeline could not hide her disbelief.
Then she shook her head and immediately left the dining table.
“Forget it. I’m going to hear it directly from Lari.”
With that, Evangeline stormed out of the dining room.
A heavy silence descended.
“……”
“……”
Dietrich slowly raised his gaze toward the attendant.
Beneath the calm expression he had been pretending to wear,
a face as cold as ice was revealed.
“Tell me in detail what happened.”
The attendant felt an intense sense of danger.
In truth, Dietrich was even more frightening when he was that calm.
It was like carefully walking across a frozen lake.
As if one wrong step could cause the ice to crack, allowing the freezing water to swallow you whole…
The attendant swallowed nervously and opened his mouth.
“This is what Young Master Gusto said. He admitted that their relationship had been poor recently, but he claimed that, even so, his feelings for Lady Ancy are genuine now.”
“And how are people reacting?”
“They seem to be taking it with a grain of salt. Of course, Lady Ancy did send Young Master Gusto a letter of annulment, and there have been many occasions since then when she was seen rejecting him, but…”
The attendant carefully chose his words.
“It is also true that Lady Ancy once showed affection toward Young Master Gusto.”
“……”
After remaining silent for a moment, Dietrich nodded.
“I understand. You may leave.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The attendant bowed his head and left the room.
Dietrich leaned back against his chair and fell into thought, his face expressionless.
Why?
Honestly, he could understand why Evangeline had been so shocked.
She was extremely close to Larit, and she had always hated Gregory for treating Larit so rudely.
It was only natural for her to be flustered when her precious friend had fallen into trouble.
What he could not understand, however, was his own reaction.
Whether Lady Ancy chooses some man and marries him has absolutely nothing to do with me.
And yet—
His blue eyes sank deeply.
Lady Ancy… becoming Young Master Gusto’s wife, huh.
The moment he imagined such a scenario, Dietrich became unbearably displeased.
He tightly gripped the armrest.
The veins on his arm bulged prominently.
About three hours after Gregory had caused a scene and left.
The young lady suddenly visited the Ancy family’s townhouse.
“Lari!”
The princess rushed over and grabbed my shoulders tightly.
“Are you okay?!”
Her blue eyes, filled with concern, stared intently at me.
“I’m sorry for coming without contacting you first. I was so worried that I couldn’t stand it. What on earth happened?”
The words came pouring out of her mouth in rapid succession.
As I looked at the princess, the mental pressure I had endured throughout the day seemed to ease, even if only a little.
“Well…”
I briefly explained what had happened today.
“What?! That Gregory bastard! Has he lost his mind?!”
After hearing the story, the princess stamped her feet in outrage.
“I already hated the way he kept clinging to Lari, but what? A marriage registration? Marriage?!”
The princess’s voice rose higher and higher.
At this rate, she looked as though she might clutch her throat and collapse…
I hurriedly tried to calm her down.
“Calm down, Eva.”
“How am I supposed to calm down at a time like this?!”
The princess shouted sharply.
“There must have been some kind of mistake.”
I tried my best to think positively.
“It’s already too late today, so I’m planning to visit the Marriage Registration Office tomorrow and check. Could you wait just a little until then?”
“A mistake is one thing, but how could they forcibly turn Lari into a married woman?!”
The princess stomped her feet again.
“And on top of that, with that detestable Young Master Gusto!”
“……”
Normally, I would have at least forced myself to smile, but I simply could not bring myself to laugh.
I continued speaking while pretending to remain calm.
“Thank you so much for worrying about me like this.”
“……”
Only then did the princess quiet down a little.
Soon, she let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“I’m sorry. Lari must be even more upset, but I ended up making an even bigger fuss.”
“No, thank you for getting angry on my behalf.”
I gently comforted the princess.
“Having you take my side like this makes me feel a little better.”
Phew.
After letting out a long sigh, the princess stared at me with worried eyes.
“About the Marriage Registration Office… Should I go with you tomorrow?”
“It’s okay.”
I quickly shook my head.
The princess’s reputation had finally begun to improve.
Since she was such a conspicuous person, it would be troublesome if she were seen moving around with me.
I might end up dragging the princess into my own scandal for no reason.
Especially since the princess had openly shown her dislike of Gregory all this time.
If Gregory insisted that the marriage registration was legitimate and instead claimed that the princess was persecuting him…
That can’t happen.
I clenched my teeth.
I absolutely must not cause trouble for the princess because of me.
And so, I suddenly felt unbearably sorry toward her.
Although our friendship contract had now become a thing of the past,
the original purpose of us becoming friends had clearly been to restore the princess’s reputation.
But that purpose had disappeared somewhere along the way, and instead, I had become the one holding the princess back…
“I’m really sorry, Eva.”
Unable to bring myself to meet the princess’s eyes properly,
I slowly lowered my head toward the floor.
“Because I got caught up in a scandal for no reason…”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about?!”
The princess suddenly sprang up from her seat like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
“My goodness, how can you say something like that…? That’s absolutely ridiculous!”
Then she glared at me and fired off her words one after another.
“If I were the one going through something like this, would Lari just pretend not to know?!”
“What? Of course not.”
I instinctively became serious.
“Why would you say something so absurd?”
How precious the princess was to me!
If anything, I would have gone out of my way to clear her name…!
“I’m exactly the same.”
After hearing my answer, the princess declared firmly.
“Lari is my one and only friend, and you are truly precious to me.”
