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

Chapter 64

 

Evelia flinched in surprise for a moment. When she didn’t respond, there was another knock on the door.

‘Who is it?’

Evelia slowly approached the door and asked.

“Who is it?”

“… It’s me.”

It was Cassis’ voice. Evelia was even more embarrassed and stuttered.

“W-what’s going on?”

“Logan…”

“Why Lord Logan?”

“He asked me to go and see…”

“Ah…”

Evelia seemed to finally know what was going on.

‘Well, people will think it’s strange if we share separate rooms from the first day of the wedding.’

That’s probably why Logan sent Cassis to Evelia’s room.

“Wait.”

Evelia hurriedly put on a robe over her pajamas and opened the door. Cassis, who was about to come inside, froze again when he saw her outfit.

‘It’s as if I was waiting.’

Evelia blushed in embarrassment and muttered as if making an excuse.

“The maids….”

At the same time, I checked Cassis’s outfit.

He was wearing a light shirt and pants, but the shirt was made of a different material than the one he usually wore.

Because the material was slightly visible, his muscular body was visible through the white cloth.

“Oh, Ple…. Please come in first.”

Evelia hurriedly took her eyes off his body and ran inside. Then she went under the blanket to hide herself.

Cassis came in awkwardly and sat down on the sofa.

“I’m going to sit here and go.”

“But….”

“……?”

“No. You can do that.”

Evelia smiled awkwardly and lay down.

‘It’s awkward.’

Evelia covered the blanket all the way to her neck and closed her eyes. However, the image of Cassis kept appearing above my closed eyes.

He must be tired from being around people all day, and he has to sit like that for hours.

‘Besides, they didn’t even give him a blanket. Logan is too much, isn’t he?’

The season is already autumn. The night air was cold. Eventually, Evelia stood up and approached Cassis.

Cassis, who was sitting in the same position as before, looked up at her with a puzzled look.

“……?”

“It’s cold. Duke must be tired too, so let’s sleep together.”

She added hastily as she saw Cassis’s expression subtly changing.

“No, what I meant was that you can sleep in the bed because it’s big. We can sleep on the edge.”

“It’s okay.”

After much thought, Evelia held his hand. Cassis was startled and his shoulders trembled.

“I don’t think I’ll be okay. How can I sleep comfortably alone when the Duke sits here and stays up all night?”

“……”

“So come to bed thinking you’re doing it for me.”

Cassis looked down at his hand held by Evelia and stood up creakingly. Evelia let go of his hand and lay down on the bed.

Cassis also lay down on the other side with some distance between them.

There were several pillows, but there was only one blanket, so they had no choice but to cover themselves with the same blanket.

With only one other person in the bed, Cassis, the temperature in the duvet seemed to warm up.

“I, um, so… Duke.”

Evelia looked at Cassis over his back and whispered quietly. Cassis, who normally would have quietly waited for her to speak, quietly opened his mouth.

“Until when will you call me, Duke?”

“… Yes?”

Evelia blinked because she did not understand what he said. Cassis added an explanation.

“Aren’t we married now? You can’t call me Duke forever.”

“Ah….”

That was it. Wasn’t there even a rumor that the two had a love marriage? It was definitely strange to call him ‘Duke’ in front of others.

“Then what should I call you?”

Cassis blinked as if asking why she was asking that this time. Evelia guessed the answer in her own way.

“Ca..sis?”

At that moment, Cassis, who was looking at Evelia, turned his head. Evelia tilted her head, looking at the back of his head.

“Isn’t this it?”

“No, that’s right.”

“But why….”

Cassis hesitated before answering.

“I haven’t heard it in a long time, that name.”

“Ah…”

Evelia imagined the emotions Cassis must be experiencing right now.

‘I wonder what he feels.’

After his mother passed away ten years ago and his older sister Julia died seven years ago, no one would call Cassis by him first name.

Especially after he inherited the Dukedom, he would only be called ‘Duke’ or ‘Master’.

Losing your name. That was really sad.

‘I’m not your real wife, but….’

I thought that I should call Cassis’ name more often from now on.

It was then. Cassis asked, looking at her again.

“Evelia… Can I call you that?”

For a moment, Evelia’s heart skipped a beat. It felt like he was calling her by her name, even though it wasn’t her real name, etched in her soul.

Evelia placed her hand on her left chest. Thump, Thump, Thump. My heart was beating loudly.

But if possible…

“Please call me Eve.”

“Eve…”

“Yes. Even my family doesn’t call me that, but I want to be called that by the duke, no, you and the young master.”

“Eve… I see.”

Cassis looked at her quietly. Even in the darkness, his red eyes were clearly visible.

Evelia later became embarrassed and went under the blanket.

“Then good night.”

“Lady, no, you too…”

We felt a little closer to each other when we called each other “you.” Evelia smiled and answered without realizing it.

“Yes,you too.”

Evelia closed her eyes after saying her final greeting. But I couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. It was the same for Cassis, as his breathing was irregular for a while.

Evelia was the first to fall asleep. She woke up early in the morning and was tired.

When her breathing evened out, Cassis, still awake, sat up.

He stared down at Evelia’s face.

The moment he lifted her veil at the wedding, he thought he would stop breathing.

The Evelia I saw then was as beautiful as the statue of the Goddess of Beauty I saw when I was young.

The lifeless appearance she had when we first met had disappeared everywhere. Her cheeks were red, and her eyes were bright with fire.

Especially the moment our eyes met, when she slightly closed her eyes and smiled, my heart pounded uncontrollably.

At the same time, I remembered what Ruth had said before.

―Eve said she liked father!

Evelia said that whatever he heard from Ruth wasn’t true, but if she did have feelings for him…

Just that assumption alone seemed to bring life to my body.

Until now, he has lived to continue the Adelhard family and, after Julia’s death, to pass on the Adelhard family to Ruth.

I couldn’t feel what it was like to be alive.

But for the first time, I felt lucky to be alive.

Additionally, I felt grateful to Evelia for enduring that difficult time.

Until then, I could see Julia in Evelia. But since when?

Cassis no longer saw Julia in Evelia. Evelia was just Evelia.

-If you want to cry, you can cry. I’m… the one who’s going to be the Duke’s wife.

Maybe, just maybe, it was after hearing those words.

Cassis wanted to feel something special for the woman who had said the words he had wanted to hear so badly, words that not even his parents had said to him.

I want to protect you. It’s not because you’re similar to Julia, I just want to protect you.

I want to let you cry as much as you want, as long as it’s in front of me, because I’m your husband.

Because I’m your husband.

Husband.

One insignificant word made my heart ache. I was out of breath and couldn’t stay next to Evelia any longer.

Cassis ran away and sat down on the sofa. Then, he stayed up all night with his eyes open, as if he were protecting Evelia.

And so on, until dawn.

 

*****

 

“Catherine, you are useless.”

Count Venion gritted his teeth and threw the glass he was holding. The glass hit the door and shattered.

“To take care of things like this!”

He tried to use Catherine to break Evelia’s engagement. Since Catherine was confident, I knew it would go well.

But it turned out like this.

Rather than disrupting the wedding, Venion was buried out of social circles.

Count Venion had now given up trying to get Duke Adelhard on his side. But Evelia, even if he died, he couldn’t bear to see her pampered as a Duchess.

“A hunting dog that can’t hunt deserves to be killed.”

In the darkness, Count Venion’s eyes glowed menacingly.