The Male Lead’s Father Refuses to Break Off Our Engagement

Chapter 18

 

“I haven’t decided yet. I have to think about it step by step. I think it would be nice to have a cafe in a secluded place.”

“Cafe?”

“Yes.”

Even after that, I did a part-time job at a cafe for a long time to earn school fees.

“So what’s your answer to the divorce?”

“That’s something I’ll have to think about a bit more, but I agree to make a deal with Lady instead of Count Venion.”

“You know what it means to make a deal with me instead of my father?”

“…….”

“I want to cut all ties with Count Venion, and of course I don’t want him to interfere with me and Adelhard.”

“All right. I will never let that happen.”

Evelia emphasized, looking Cassis in the eye to make sure he understood what had been said.

“I’d like to get this whole deal in writing and sign it formally, even the part about the divorce.”

“I will consult with my aide and arrange the contract. However, there are many things to discuss about divorce, so why don’t we discuss it later?”

Evelia, who was worried, decided to take a step back.

‘Certainly there’s a lot to think about.’

Exactly when to divorce, how to pay alimony, and so on. It is not something to be easily discussed.

“Okay.”

“Is there anything else you want to ask for?”

“There is one more.”

“Tell me.”

“While you’re still married to me, I want you to pay a little more attention to Ruth.”

Evelia demanded boldly. Earlier at dinner, she’d decided not to come between Cassis and Ruth.

Because I didn’t deserve it, and I thought I shouldn’t have done it.

But now it was different. She intends to stay here for the next few years and change the relationship between Cassis and Ruth.

Cassis, who loves Ruth but doesn’t know how to express it, and Ruth, who wanted his love but was hurt by his constant reticence.

With a little effort, the relationship between the two could have changed.

At this moment, Evelia made a firm resolution.

‘Ruth, I’ll change your future.’

We will make Ruth grow up with warm feelings as they are now, instead of Lucius Adelhard, who was stiff of emotions in the But with that one word, Cassis rose like a wary predator.

“I don’t know why your Highness cares about that, but I still care enough about Ruth.”

“That’s the Duke’s idea. Would Ruth think so too?”

“…….”

“Still, Ruth is sick, but the Duke isn’t next to Ruth, and looking at the papers here.”

“Didn’t the doctor say that Ruth’s condition wasn’t serious and that he would get better with a good rest? And Ruth doesn’t get better faster just because I’m by his side.”

This is why Ruth misunderstands. Evelia let out a big sigh without even realizing it.

“Ruth might be thinking that the Duke is not around because he doesn’t care about him. But it wasn’t right? The Duke is also worried about Ruth, so he’s not even handling the paperwork properly right now.”

“…….”

“If you’re so worried, why don’t you just go be with Ruth and take care of him, you know? Maybe Ruth will be in such a good mood because of you that he’ll get better soon.”

That was all I had to say. Evelia rose from her seat, bowed to Cassis, and turned to leave the room.

But before she could say goodbye, Cassis stood up and grabbed her wrist.

“Why do you care about Ruth? If you’re going to marry me….”

“I know what the Duke is worried about. But as I said, we are not officially married. Since I will never give birth to an heir to Adelhard, there is no reason to be wary of Ruth.”

“Then why…”

“I am an illegitimate child.”

No. ‘Evelia’ is an illegitimate child, but the Han So-yoon who was in her body now was not.

However, So-yoon was no different from Ruth, an illegitimate child, in that she did not belong to the family and was left out.

Besides, Evelia is really an illegitimate child, so it’s not wrong.

“That’s why I know better than anyone how illegitimate children are treated in the mansion.”

“Ruth is being treated well as the heir of the family.”

“I know. But it doesn’t change that Ruth is an illegitimate child, right?”

“…….”

“So I wanted to help. I thought he’s looking for you.”

Cassis didn’t answer this time either. Evelia urged him on.

“So what’s the answer? I don’t think it’s a bad suggestion to the Duke either.”

“I’m not sure what you mean by caring.”

Ah, Evelia seemed to understand why he hesitated.

He has never received affection, he didn’t know how to express it. So even if he cared, he didn’t know how to express it.

Cassis, who was well over twenty years old, somehow looked like a child today, even younger than Ruth.

If I felt sorry for him, I wondered what had happened to my head.

“I’ll tell you about that.”

Evelia explained softly, like teaching a child how to brush their teeth.

“First, put away the papers and go to Ruth.”

 

* * *

 

After Evelia left, Cassis looked at the papers again. But the letters didn’t catch his eye.

In fact, as Evelia had said, he hadn’t focused on the papers since Ruth had fallen ill, and he was forced to sit there because he had paperwork to deal with urgently.

Cassis pushed the papers to a corner of the desk and leaned lazily on the back of the chair.

The image of Evelia, who had just left, passed over his closed eyes. He remembered the stormy words she suggested.

“Divorce…”

It had been somewhat impulsive of him to say that he would not divorce Evelia, but would proceed with the marriage as it was.

Evelia, whose face was swollen from being beaten by someone, but I kept seeing glimpses of Julia in her, and marriage was the only way to get her out of the Venion family.

So he impulsively agreed to marry her. I gave her a flimsy reason, saying that I needed time to determine the truth of the information.

Reasonably, I should have accepted the proposal to break the engagement in exchange for information about Ruth’s biological father.

Even thinking about it now, breaking up the engagement seemed like the right choice.

However, Cassis had no regrets. The mere fact that I had brought Evelia out of that hell with my own choice was a worthy choice.

However, it was unexpected that Evelia asked for a divorce first.

Yes, divorce. As she said, it was not a marriage that both of us wanted, so it seemed like a good choice to divorce when the time came.

However, Cassis was not happy with that word for some reason.

Where will Evelia go if I divorce her? She said she herself hadn’t decided yet.

It was fortunate that she didn’t want to return to the Venion family, but that was also a problem in its own way.

What kind of divorce do you mean when you have nowhere to go? Didn’t that woman just grow up in a noble family and not know how rough the world is?

I wondered if she was going to get tired of it and go back to Count Venion again, and the thought made me angry with him again.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry in my life, except for Julia.

Why in the world should I feel this way about Evelia?

“Hah…”

To dispel thoughts of Evelia, Cassis called Logan, his aide.

Logan, who had been waiting, came quickly.

“Did you call?”

“Please make a marriage contract.”

Cassis listed the conditions Evelia had just said.

Evelia agreed to give him the information he wanted in exchange for marriage.

Prevent Count Venion from approaching Evelia in the future.

Pay more attention to Ruth, as she told him to do during their marriage.

However, the divorce story she emphasized the most was left out.

“Is this enough?”

Looking at Cassis, who was still lost in thought, Logan asked curiously. Cassis pondered a little more, then nodded his head.

“Yes.”

Logan went outside saying he have something to do

Left alone, Cassis began to rationalize himself.

Divorce is not an easy thing. Moreover, the timing of Evelia’s request for divorce was ambiguous.

‘I want to leave when there is no need to hold me anymore’.

I mean, when is that time?

We still don’t know who Ruth’s biological father is, and we don’t know how to break Ruth’s curse.

Naturally, it was unknown when Ruth’s curse could be lifted.

So, in a situation where it wasn’t exactly decided how long I should hold Evelia, I couldn’t hastily put that as a condition.

Cassis tried to understand the psychology that he himself couldn’t understand.