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

Chapter 48

 

I did something wrong. It wasn’t really my fault.

I just couldn’t answer properly when my father persistently asked me if I was studying properly these days.

I was afraid of his father’s stern words.

Seeing Cassis stutter, Duke Adelhard was furious.

“I can’t believe I’ve been raising this stupid thing!”

The Duke dragged Cassis by the arm and locked him in a small room.

“I was wrong, father!”

The door didn’t open despite Cassis’ cries to ‘please let him out’, saying he was scared.

Cassis knocked hard on the door and cried.

How long has it been like that?

The door opened. Cassis was dazzled by the light seeping through the gap and closed his eyes without realizing it.

When I opened my eyes again.

“It must be very scary, right?”

Julia was in front of him, smiling with a face that looked like she was about to cry.

“Sister.”

“Shh. I came here without father knowing.”

Julia took Cassis to her room. After saying it was okay, she put him to bed and sang him a lullaby.

They were only two years apart, and she treated him like a very younger brother.

But Cassis didn’t mind it.

And he didn’t know. The fact that Julia was later scolded by their father for letting him out that day.

 

*****

 

When Cassis finished reminiscing, he clenched his fists to control the emotions squirming inside him.

Alex Marc, Ruth’s swordsmanship teacher, was also his swordsmanship teacher.

He taught Cassis the same way he taught Ruth now.

When I was young, I resented Alex a lot. His harsh words and sparring with him hurt the child’s heart.

But when the adults around him, including his father, blamed him for it, he thought it was strange.

Maybe it was closer to resignation.

Regardless of the training method, Alex Marc was highly skilled and, above all, a loyal vassal to the Adelhard family.

Thanks to that, I was able to be where I am today. That’s why I entrusted Ruth with his class.

But was my choice wrong? and if so, where had he gone wrong?

He wanted to ask someone about it, but unfortunately, there was no one to share it with.

Julia, the one person who had stood by his side, was no longer of this world.

Also, I couldn’t visit Evelia, who had declared that she would keep her distance for the time being.

After much thought, Cassis decided to find the answer on his own.

I compared Ruth to my past self.

Perhaps Ruth is holding back even though he wants to say that he is having a hard time like he was young and that he wants to change his swordsmanship teacher.

If Ruth grows up like this, will he be like himself, walking around with a blank expression, not showing any emotion, unlike Julia, who was always smiling.

Julia’s son, Is this okay?

Shouldn’t Ruth grow up to be more like Julia than himself?

As I thought about it, a realization struck me like a thunderbolt.

Cassis immediately got up and went to see Alex Marc. I was planning to meet him in person and make a decision.

There was a part of him that wanted to get this over as soon as possible so he could meet Evelia, but he didn’t admit it.

“Duke, welcome.”

Alex, who was observing the swordsmanship of the knights in the training hall, welcomed him as if he had known he would come.

“Yes.”

“What’s going on?”

“I heard there was a conflict with Lady Venion.”

“Ah…”

Alex laughed heartily without any signs of embarrassment.

“It seems that the Lady doesn’t like my teaching methods. Never mind. The knights’ lessons might seem a bit harsh in Lady’s eyes.”

Having said that, he whispered in a low, almost inaudible voice.

“This is what women are like.”

There is no way that a Swordmaster like Cassis could not hear that whisper, so it must have been something he told him to listen to.

“From what I heard, it sounds like you keep calling Ruth an illegitimate child.”

“That…”

Alex calmly made up a lie.

“You misunderstood.”

“Misunderstood?”

“Yes. I didn’t say that.”

Cassis’s eyebrows moved slightly. Cassis looked at Alex, as if sizing him up, and then suggested.

“I would like to challenge you to a duel.”

“I would be honored, Duke.”

When Alex gestured, a knight brought out two wooden swords.

Two people sharing wooden swords spaced out a distance and greeted each other politely.

The other knights in the training hall watched the rare duel with interest.

Neither Cassis nor Alex made the first move.

When the question ‘When are they going to start?’ came out among the knights, Alex rushed in with all his might.

Cassis easily dodged the sword by moving his body minimally.

Alex attacked again, aiming for his side. This time Cassis raised his wooden sword and blocked the opponent’s sword.

“You’ve improved a lot.”

Alex said with a smile. It was not something he, who had not yet reached the level of a sword master, would say to Cassis, who was already a sword master.

Alex was his teacher, but Cassis has now reached a point where no one dares evaluate his swordsmanship.

Cassis knew instinctively what those words meant. Alex was still looking at him as his subordinate.

Once I realized that, everything started to look different, as if a black cloth had been removed from my eyes.

Is the person who tries to control Cassis and Ruth really loyal?

The face of a younger Alex overlapped with the one standing in front of me. The one who had berated me for being the heir and that’s all he could do.

I had no choice but to admit it. Although he was pretending not to be like that, he was still afraid of this person.

And he didn’t want Ruth to feel the same way.

Ruth, only Ruth will grow up like Julia. Unlike myself, who is already irreversible.

Cassis seemed to have made up his mind and immediately aimed at Alex’s vital spot. Alex quickly defended himself, but his strength was lacking.

In the end, when Alex’s sword flew far away and fell, Cassis coldly declared.

“Leave the capital.”

“Duke?”

“You must remain out of my sight, and out of Ruth’s sight, and you know better why.”

He spoke with emotion in each word.

“Do you understand?”

 

*****

 

After expressing her anger at Cassis, Evelia returned to her room and lost in thought.

‘Why on earth did Cassis do that?’

Although he can’t express it, Cassis loves Ruth. It was certain.

It was not because of what I read in a book, but because of my experience.

This is evident from the fact that when Evelia first met Ruth, he was very wary of me and protected Ruth.

Evelia naturally thought that if Cassis found out about this incident, he would be very angry and punish Alex appropriately.

‘But why is there no reaction?’

However, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about abuse.

Although the exact circumstances were unknown, he was obviously very angry when he saw me being abused and brought me in. He was trying to protect me from Count Venion.

But why is he so indifferent to Ruth’s abuse?

‘There’s something I don’t know.’

Evelia felt the need to know more about Cassis, and specifically his childhood.

‘Maybe something happened in his childhood that affected him.

So she sought out the nanny who had cared for Cassis since he was an infant. Just then, the nanny was coming out of Ruth’s room.

“Ah, young lady.”

“How’s the young master?”

“Young master went to bed.”

“Really?”

“He was very worried until he went to sleep. He wonders if the Lady is angry.”

My heart sank.

‘Why are you so worried?’

The only person Ruth needed to worry about was himself. He had to worry about his delicate soul, who had been beaten to the point of bruising and had heard harsh words that made no sense.

But in the meantime, he was worried that he would be hated. The more I learned, the deeper Ruth’s wounds seemed.

“Are you going to see the young master?”

“No, actually, I came because I wanted to ask the nanny something.”

Evelia headed to her room with the nanny, who had a questioning look on her face.

“What was the Duke’s childhood like?”

Hearing her question, the nanny made a puzzled face.

“Can I ask you specifically what the Lady are curious about?”

Evelia decided to speak honestly.

“The young master was being abused by Sir Alex Marc. Both physically and mentally.”