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

Chapter 67

 

As she walked away with Ruth, Evelia had mixed feelings. I felt like crying because I was angry and worried that Ruth had been hurt.

Also, I was worried about whether I responded well.

‘Did I respond to it well?’

It was questionable whether it was right to refer to her as ‘Adelhard’ when she was not a proper Duchess. But even if Cassis was angry about what happened today, I had no regrets.

‘From now on, I will never let others look down on Ruth.’

At that time, Ruth, who was holding her hand and quickly following her, muttered an apology.

“I’m sorry.”

It was a faint voice, but Evelia heard it clearly. She stopped in surprise.

“Why are you apologizing, young master?”

“Because I am an illegitimate child….”

The words that I had hoped would never come out of the child’s mouth finally came out. Evelia held Ruth’s cheek.

“That is absolutely nothing for young master to apologize for. It was those people who were at fault.”

“But why….”

Ruth lowered her head and whispered.

“Why don’t you call me Ruth?”

“Ah… .”

Evelia gently touched the child’s cheek.

“Do you like being called Ruth?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, Ruth. I will call you more in the future.”

“Uh…”

“Huh?”

“Can I still call you mom?”

Evelia grinned.

“Of course.”

Ruth hugged her neck again.

“Mom.”

“Okay. Now let’s go home. When we get home, I’ll make us some of my Ruth’s favorite hot chocolate.”

“Yes!”

The two people left the mansion holding hands side by side and were about to climb the carriage.

“I….”

Marchioness Evans, who hastily followed, called out to her.

“I’m sorry, but if you’ve come to ask me to accept the Countess’s apology, I won’t accept it.”

The Marchioness shook her head.

“How could you say something like that? I just came to tell you that young master seems very surprised, so please rest a little longer before leaving.”

Her eyes turned to Ruth’s bruised arm.

“I think we need to treat young master wounds as well. If the young master stays longer, Anthony will also like it.”

Evelia asked Ruth’s opinion.

“What are you going to do, Ruth? Do you want to stay a little longer with Anthony, or do you just want to go?”

“Umm.”

Ruth thought for a moment and answered.

“I’ll leave a little later. Anthony is a good kid.”

“Really? Then let’s do it.”

The Marchioness’s face brightened after hearing the two people’s conversation.

“Then let’s go in.”

 

*****

 

Anthony was a child with bright blonde hair and blue eyes, just like the Marchioness.

His eyes were droopy like a puppy’s, and he had a big smile on his face, so even Evelia, who had never seen him before, was drawn to him.

“Hello, Ruth?”

Ruth answered while hiding behind Evelia’s skirt.

“Yes, hi.”

Anthony came a little closer.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you earlier. I should have told Thomas not to do that.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“Come on, Ruth. Stop doing this and play with Anthony.”

“Yes, Mom.”

Ruth now spoke softly of her mother. As if once wasn’t enough, he whispered ‘Mom’ one more time and turned to Anthony.

The two children sat together at the table and played a puzzle game. Meanwhile, the doctor called by the Marchioness Evans treated Ruth’s wounds.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

Anthony asked. Ruth shook his head.

“This is nothing!”

“Thank god.”

Evelia kept an eye on Anthony, just in case, but the child treated Ruth without much prejudice.

He did not look down on Ruth because he was an illegitimate child, nor did he tremble at him because he was the heir to the Dukedom. I liked him.

‘I hope they can become good friends…’

With a smile on her face, she looked at the Marchioness Evans sitting across from her.

As I felt before, the Marchioness had a benevolent impression. It was a face that anyone who saw her would be attracted to.

The Marchioness hesitated for a moment and then took Evelia’s hand.

“I will apologize on her behalf.”

“No. It’s not you who have to apologize.”

“But it happened at a tea time I hosted. As the organizer, I owe you an apology.”

“I’m truly sorry for causing a commotion.”

The Marchioness waved her hand.

“What do you mean… They’re the ones at fault, not you. If I’d known they were the kind of person who usually thinks like that, I wouldn’t have invited them this time.”

Evelia read the consideration of the Marchioness Evans. She was not flattering Evelia because she was the ‘Duchess of Adelhard’, but was caring for her as a person.

‘Maybe I can become good friends with the Marchioness.’

Evelia was a little excited.

While the children played, Evelia talked about various things with the Marchioness Evans.

There was no special story. We just talked about how we live each day, or raising our children.

But Evelia actually liked such trivial conversations. So, without realizing it, I ended up suggesting it.

“Next time, I will invite the Marchioness and Anthony to the Duke’s residence.”

“Oh my, it’s an honor.”

Evelia and Marchioness Evans looked at each other and smiled.

Even though we had only met for a few hours, I really felt like we had become friends.

 

*****

 

Even after coming to the mansion, Evelia kept an eye on Ruth.

Fortunately, I couldn’t find any sign of hurt from Ruth. Rather, he seemed very excited about playing with Anthony.

On the other hand, Evelia was still distraught.

‘This will happen again in the future.’

I wondered if Ruth would be criticized more because I was an illegitimate child, and became the Duchess of Adelhard.

So her face was dark the whole time she was eating with Cassis and Ruth. Fortunately, Cassis didn’t ask anything.

No, I thought he wouldn’t ask.

That night, Cassis came to Evelia’s room. Evelia was not surprised.

We had already agreed to share a room three times a week, and we actually slept in the same bed a few times. This was because I was conscious of the gaze of those around me.

But nothing special happened. Cassis slept on the edge of the bed as much as possible and left the room before Evelia woke up.

There was no special conversation between the two.

But today was different.

“What happened today?”

Cassis asked Evelia as soon as he saw her. Evelia pretended like nothing had happened.

“Nothing happened.”

I didn’t want to worry Cassis for no reason. But Cassis made a face of disbelief and gently squeezed her cheek.

He looked down at Evelia, unable to see that she was surprised.

When Evelia, embarrassed, tried to step back, he grabbed her arm with his other hand.

He didn’t grab it too hard and I could have shaken it off if I wanted, but for some reason I couldn’t.

“Why, why do you look at me like that?”

“The face….”

“Is it strange?”

“That’s not it, something seems to be going on.”

Evelia smiled bitterly.

“Are you not going to let me go until I tell you?”

“…….”

It seemed like that was the intention.

“All right. I’ll talk about it, so let me go for now.”

Evelia took advantage of the opportunity Cassis let go and took a step forward, as if running away, and sat down on the bed. I tapped the seat next to me and he carefully came over and sat down.

“Um, so….”

Evelia could not easily open her mouth.

‘How will he react?’

This is because Cassis’ reaction was not imagined. Would he be angry, would he be okay, or would he be sad?

If he was angry or unconcerned, that would be fine, but if he was sad, that wouldn’t be good either.

But Cassis would also find out someday. If I ever found out about something, I wanted to hear it from you directly.

“Actually, today at the Marquis Evans’ residence, Ruth had a fight with the Count’s child. I think the child saw Ruth and said he was an illegitimate child.”

“…….”

“That’s why I firmly told the Countess that I wouldn’t forget what happened today, but I don’t feel good about it.”

“Why…”

“If you’re asking why I don’t feel well, I don’t know. I don’t know if I can say that. I am not the real Duchess Adelhard.”

Cassis still had a puzzled expression on his face.

“I don’t have permission to use Adelhard’s name.”