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

Chapter 50

 

“I don’t know why Lady is apologizing.”

“I heard that the Duke also learned sword from Sir Alex Marc. I mean, from your nanny.”

“…….”

“I think I now understand why the Duke reacted like that.”

“I still don’t know why the lady is apologizing.”

“So I….”

Evelia bit her lip as she looked at Cassis. I felt like crying again.

The man in front of her, who was taller than her, suddenly seemed as small as Ruth.

How lonely he must have been with his parents ignoring him.

“I don’t want the Duke to be hurt,” she said, “and I was worried that my words might have hurt you, so…”

“……”

“That’s why I apologize. I was afraid you might have been hurt by my words.”

Cassis had no answer to those words. Instead, he approached with wide strides and carefully grabbed Evelia’s cheek.

He carefully brushed the area around Evelia’s eyes with his thumb.

“Did you cry?”

Cassis stared into Evelia’s red eyes.

“Why?”

He wouldn’t believe her if she said she hadn’t cried at this point. Evelia spoke honestly.

“I feel so pathetic about myself. I also feel sorry for the duke.”

“So why….”

Evelia placed a hand on Cassis’s expressionless cheek.

“Because it must be hard for the Duke, too.”

The words came out carefully

Cassis’ eyes trembled. He let go of Evelia’s cheek and stepped back as if running away.

Evelia continued speaking with confidence.

“What Alex Marc did to the Duke is absolutely not ordinary. It’s not a given. He abused the young Duke unfairly, and the previous Duke pretended not to see it all.”

I know it’s presumptuous. But I needed to say it, even if it made Cassis angry.

“Therefore…”

Tears fell again from my left eye. My voice trembled.

“Don’t blame yourself too much. Those people are the bad ones. The Duke did nothing wrong and you did a good job.”

This might be something I want to say to Han So-yoon.

This is for Han So-yoon, who was trying to impress her family who ignored her, and was blaming herself when she did not receive love.

‘You did nothing wrong. The bad ones are your family. You did the best you could.’

At that moment, Cassis’s face twitched. his cheekbones rising and falling.

But the words that came out of his mouth were unexpected.

“Did I make you cry?”

Evelia shook her head, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

She wondered what was going on in this man’s head.

It didn’t make sense that he would care about her in this situation

Ruth was afraid of being hated by Evelia until the end.

Cassis is worried that Evelia is crying even in this situation.

This father and son are so similar.

“If this is because of Sir Marc, I fired him a little while ago. I told him to leave the capital, so he won’t run into Ruth again. And I plan to watch Ruth’s sword skills for the time being.”

Both were surprising. But Evelia could not react to those words.

She kept getting worried about Cassis.

“What about the Duke?”

Evelia observed the silent Cassis closely.

He still wasn’t looking at her, but he had calmed down to some extent and his neck and ears had returned to their original color.

But his expression still didn’t look good.

‘It must not have been an easy decision to fire him.’

It must not have been easy to realize that the person you followed as your teacher was in fact emotionally abusing you, and to shake off that trauma.

Nevertheless, Cassis did not ignore reality and achieved it in a short period of time. For my beloved Ruth.

But who will comfort his broken heart? He has no parents or Julia who cared for him.

Even the hurt in his heart would be much bigger than Ruth’s.

“Are you okay, Duke?”

“What do you mean…”

Evelia got up from her seat and carefully walked towards him.

Only then did Cassis finally turn his gaze towards her and watched her as she quietly narrowed the distance.

Evelia, who was now standing side by side in front of him, asked again.

“I asked the Duke how you feel.”

Cassis clenched his fists.

“Young master is not the only one who has been treated like that by Sir Marc.”

Was it too presumptuous? Even though she was thinking like that, Evelia couldn’t stop talking.

“If it’s hard, you can say it’s hard. You don’t have to bear it alone.”

It would have been nice if there had been someone who told Han So-yoon that she didn’t have to be like that.

That you are best just the way you are.

But now, ‘Evelia’ has that kind of person. Funny enough, the Cassis in front of me was like that.

He saw Evelia’s wounds and brought her to the Adelhard mansion.

Even if he hadn’t been there, even if she had continued to stay at Venion Mansion, Evelia would have found her way..

But was it easy? Was it possible for her to maintain herself in that mansion that was full of malice?

In the end, Cassis had saved her, even though it had seemed absurd at the time.

‘I don’t know why he reacted so sensitively at that time…’

I felt like I knew now. He was also a victim of abuse, so even though I said it was okay, he couldn’t just ignore it because he knew the pain.

He reached out to me first. Then it was her turn to reach out.

“You can cry if you want, I’m…”

Evelia took a deep breath and smiled.

“I’m the one who’s going to be the Duke’s wife.”

Cassis’ eyes widened slightly.

“If the Duke is willing to do his duty as a husband, then it would be natural for me to also do my duty as a wife. Isn’t that what a couple is like? She laughs with you when you’re happy and supports you when you’re having a hard time.”

“…….”

“Of course, it’s difficult to say that we are that kind of couple.”

Evelia cautiously reached out and took Cassis’s hand. His hand was stiff in hers.

“I don’t know how long it will last, but at least until then, right?”

There was no answer from Cassis.

‘Definitely what I said this time was a bit presumptuous.’

She was shunned even by her blood-related family. But to ask someone who was bound to her by a contract to become part of her family?

I made a mistake because I felt like I had gotten closer to Cassis recently.

Like a fool. Stupid Evelia, stupid Han So-yoon.

Are you in a position to discuss family? Even though I have never had a proper family.

Chuckling to herself, she withdrew her hand from Cassis’.

Cassis held her hand tightly as she pulled away.

“Did you say I can cry if I want to?”

Evelia’s eyes widened in surprise, but then she smiled.

“Yes.”

“Then is it okay for me to come visit you whenever that happens?”

“Yes. You can come anytime.”

Cassis used his other hand to tuck Evelia’s flowing hair behind her ear. It was a clumsy, but kind gesture.

“Are you okay now?”

“Of course.”

But contrary to what he said, Cassis did not cry. He just looked down at Evelia with a thoughtful face.

It went on like that for a while.

 

*****

 

“Eve!”

The next day, Ruth came to Evelia very excited. Evelia knew the reason, but pretended not to know.

“Young master, did something happen to make you happy?”

“Yes!”

Ruth replies with a red face.

“My father will be my swordsmanship teacher for the time being!”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“And you’re excited about it?”

“Awesome!”

Ruth, who had shouted loudly, giggled as if he was embarrassed. As Evelia hugged him tightly, the child wriggled and hugged her waist.

“What a relief. More than that, young master.”

“Yes?”

“I haven’t heard an answer yet.”

Evelia tapped the nose of Ruth, who looked puzzled.

“Would you please walk down in the aisle with me?”

This time Ruth answered without any signs of intimidation.

“Of course!”

Evelia hugged the child tightly once again. The sweet scent of chocolate from a snack came from the child’s arms.

If happiness had a scent, it wouldn’t be the scent of chocolate.

Evelia and Ruth laughed out loud without any hesitation.

It was a pleasant summer day.