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

Chapter 24 

 

“……”

“I think Ruth should know someday.”

“What do you mean?”

“The thing that you and I know.”

Most of the employees went back to their rooms, and no one would wander around in such a private place at this time, but I expressed it in this way just in case.

“Why on earth does Ruth need to know that?”

“You can’t hide it from him for the rest of your life.”

“He will never know.”

“There is no secret in the world that can’t be revealed in a lifetime.”

Evelia recalled what she had seen in the original story.

As Cassis said, if Ruth hadn’t known this all his life, everything would have been fine.

Unfortunately, he found out the truth after Cassis’s death.

How will people react when they find out that the person they’ve thought of as their father all their lives isn’t actually their biological father?

Would he feel more grateful to his father who took care of him even though he was not his real son, or would he feel betrayed by him for hiding an important truth.

Unfortunately, Ruth was the second one.

He felt betrayed and angered by Cassis, who coldly refused to tell him about his birth mother each time.

He also doubted Cassis’s affection for him, given the way he had treated him so bluntly, perhaps even coldly.

Did my father ever love me? Maybe I killed my mother and he resented the day I was born.

He had no choice but to take on me because I had no other siblings, but he didn’t want to bother with me.

That’s why he didn’t give me any affection.

He wanted to ask, but Cassis, who could tell him the truth, had already been buried in the grave.

Ruth was more troubled by the fact that Cassis, whom he admired, was not his father and had no affection for him than the world’s accusations of having been born of an unknown mother.

If only Cassis had told him sooner that he was his uncle, not his father.

What if he had told him that despite what happened, he didn’t resent him, that he cared for him as much as he cared for his sister.

Maybe then Ruth wouldn’t have suffered like that.

Evelia asked herself that question as she watched Ruth confide in the heroine, Aria, about the pain he had been unable to tell anyone.

‘I would rather have known the truth beforehand…’

So, unlike the original, I wanted Ruth to know the existence of his birth mother.

Cassis, however, had a different idea.

“Ruth doesn’t care what anyone says!”

Cassis screamed and grabbed Evelia by the shoulder. As if he couldn’t control his strength because of his surging emotions, her shoulder hurt as he held her.

“He is my son.”

He lowered his voice and whispered, perhaps conscious of people’s ears.

It was a voice similar to the low growl of an animal.

“I know what to do with him. That’s a different story from the promise I made with the young lady. Do you understand?”

I knew it was off topic. However, Evelia could never forget Ruth’s face as he looked at Julia’s portrait and missed his mother.

“His aunt.”

Cassis, who opened the door and gave a silent order, turned to her again. Evelia continued, forcing herself to squeeze out a voice that didn’t come out properly.

“If young master is the Duke’s son, then Lady Adelhard is his aunt.”

Cassis slammed the door he’d opened back shut. It seemed to indicate that he wanted to hear what she had to say, so Evelia gained a little more courage.

“Hiding his aunt from her nephew is an act that doesn’t make sense. Right now, everyone thinks that you still think of the dead Lady Adelhard and didn’t tell him because it’s painful, but what do you think will happen if you continue to hide it?”

“……”

“In order not to arouse suspicion, it’s good to tell the young master the story of his aunt. It’s also a way to avoid other people’s eyes.”

Evelia took a deep breath and continued speaking with confidence.

“Besides, since you said you wouldn’t make a deal with my father, I don’t know how this will turn out. And I want you to think of the shock Ruth will get when he finds out about this later.”

“Why on earth would you care so much about that?”

“I just want the young master to be happy. You know, I am also an illegitimate child.”

“…….”

“I can see the stares he’ll feel as he grows up, the thoughts he’ll have, the things he’ll go through. Can Ruth really be happy if the Adelhard family protects him and raises him as a strong successor that no one can dispute?”

It’s a lie. She’s not the real Evelia, how she’s been treated as an illegitimate daughter, and I have no idea what she’s been thinking.

She can only make assumptions based on what has happened over the past week.

But she wasn’t lying when she said she could predict Ruth’s future, because she had actually read it.

It was because she had seen the future of Ruth, who had lost all of his will and was devastated.

“Besides, I know the pain of growing up without a mother.”

And this is sincere.

“So please understand Ruth’s feelings at least a little.”

With those words, Evelia left the room. What happened next was Cassis’s choice.

She had done all she could.

 

* * *

 

After standing still for a while to catch his breath, Cassis changed into his practice clothes and headed to the gymnasium.

In order to settle his complex head, it would be better to overwork the body until it collapsed from exhaustion.

However, even while swinging the wooden sword more violently than usual, Evelia’s face and the words she said didn’t disappear from his mind.

It was only when he reached the point where his whole body was covered with sweat that he let out a rough breath and threw the wooden sword to the floor.

It was a complete opposite of what he usually said that a wooden sword is also a sword and should be handled with the same care as a real sword, but it made his feelings all the more clear.

“Damn it.”

He sat down on the dirt floor and buried his face in his hands.

He didn’t swear so much that anyone who knew him would ask if he was really Cassis if they heard this now, but he couldn’t stop saying it now.

It has already been seven years since Ruth was born. Seven years is not a short time.

A time long enough for a newborn baby who couldn’t even open his eyes to skillfully express his intentions and run around the entire mansion all day long.

During that time Cassis tried to forget Julia.

Every time I thought of her, my chest was so stuffy that I couldn’t breathe properly, and my head hurt like it would break, so I chose not to think about it.

Seven years, and he thought he’d finally gotten over her, but why does she and Evelia keep appearing and wandering through his head like this?

“Damn it…”

Cassis eventually put down the wooden sword and went to see Ruth.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Ruth was sleeping soundly.

On a small table by the bed, there were several children’s books that Evelia had read to Ruth.

Cassis touched the cover with the dragon-slaying knight on it with his fingertips, then reached out to Ruth.

However, his hand couldn’t reach Ruth and only hovered in the air.

Ruth always looked up at him with a look that seemed to be begging for affection.

But Cassis couldn’t bring himself to show the child any affection.

It was never that he resented or hated the child for what had happened to Julia.

He was sincere in saying that he cared for Ruth as much as he cared for Julia.

But…

 

―I will love this child a lot when it’s born. I’ll love you twice as much, no, more than that, while the father is gone. So that this child doesn’t feel lonely at all. Cassis, will you do the same?

 

When I saw Ruth, I thought of Julia, who kept caressing her swollen stomach and smiling brightly.

The child she gave birth to with love for ten months despite all the judgment of the world.

A child she loved so much, but had to part with before she could even express her affection.

Can I call such a child my child, not Julia’s? Not even aware of his mother’s existence?

Did Julia really want that? I don’t know. That question always stuck to Cassis’ mind like wax.

 

―I just thought Ruth should know someday. You can’t hide it from him for the rest of your life.

 

Evelia’s words came to mind once again. In fact, Cassis also thought Ruth should know about his birth mother.

After all, Ruth was a child that Julia cherished, and he had no right to take Ruth away from her.

However, when all the facts were revealed, he was afraid of the shock Ruth would receive. He was also afraid that the face of the little child who always smiled brightly and wanted affection from him would change.

Ever since Cassis grabbed the sword, he had been prepared to die fighting on the battlefield at any time. To him, who was not afraid of death, this little child gave him great fear.

“Hmm….”

Cassis looked down at Ruth, who was soundly asleep, making various noises, and eventually left the room without being able to stroke the child’s head.