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

Chapter 81

 

When Cassis finally put the necklace on Evelia walked a few steps forward as if running away. Then, I pretended to be as calm as possible and turned around.

“How is it?”

“It’s pretty.”

“Really? It’s my first time seeing such a pretty necklace.”

“That’s not it…”

Cassis came forward and narrowed the distance that Evelia had widened.

He pushed Evelia’s hair back and looked at her exposed neckline.

“My wife is pretty.”

“Ah….”

Evelia was feeling embarrassed and was fiddling with her necklace. Meanwhile, Cassis’ eyes were on her neck.

His gaze was hot. I felt like I was thirsty for no reason. As Evelia moistened her lips with her tongue, Cassis’ eyes turned to her lips this time.

Evelia cleared her throat and whispered.

“Thank you. But like I said, stop giving me gifts from now on.”

“Would wife be angry with me if I gave you more presents?”

“No, I’m not angry. Why would you get angry about something like that?”

Evelia, who spoke softly, spoke firmly once again.

“That doesn’t mean you can give more presents to me. Okay? It’s a promise.”

Evelia held out her little finger toward Cassis. However, Cassis only looked and did not raise a finger.

 

*****

 

A few days later, Aria and Samuel came to visit. The reason was to help Aria and Ruth meet, but Evelia knew that Samuel’s goal was different.

“Ruth, won’t you show Miss Aria the new flowers you planted in the garden?”

“Yes!”

After sending the children away, Evelia headed to the parlor with Samuel.

As soon as she sat down on the sofa, Samuel handed her a bottle the size of a thumb. It was filled with clear liquid.

“What is this?”

“It’s poison.”

“Is this…”

“Yes. This is the medicine that Count Venion recently purchased.”

Samuel picked up the bottle, opened the cap, and drank it without hesitation.

Before Evelia had time to stop him, half of the liquid entered his mouth.

“Sir!”

“Don’t worry. If you drink it alone, it’s just a nutritional supplement.”

“What do you mean?”

Evelia asked as she took the bottle from Samuel, fearing that he might act unexpectedly again.

“That’s literally it. If you just drink this, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“But you said it was poison.”

“Yes. If you take this medicine alone, it is a good nutritional supplement for your body, but if you take it together with certain medicines, it can be poisonous.”

“If it’s a specific drug….”

“It’s headache medicine.”

“Ah….”

At that moment, someone came into Evelia’s mind.

‘I heard Ruth’s nanny has migraines.’

I once heard Ruth say that he was worried that his nanny might be sick.

“But how does a supplement become a poison?”

“It is said that if you take this along with headache medicine, a severe allergic reaction may occur. If you’re lucky, you live….”

“In severe cases, you could die from breathing difficulties. How are such nutrients distributed? If you accidentally take it with headache medicine….”

“It is a drug originally formulated for the purpose of poisoning. It is also being traded secretly in other countries. There are only a handful of people in the Empire who know this medicine.”

“Aha. So, there is little chance of it being discovered to be poison. If you just eat it, it’s a nutritional supplement.”

“That’s right.”

Evelia was lost in thought.

‘That’s how the nanny was killed in the original work.’

I did wonder how Count Venion was able to poison the nanny and not get caught.

But such a sophisticated murder.

‘Then what should I do? It’s impossible to tell the nanny with migraines not to take medication without warning.’

While Evelia was thinking, Samuel took out another bottle from his pocket. It was a bottle containing a slightly scarlet liquid.

“It’s an antidote. If you eat this within 10 minutes, your symptoms will improve quickly.”

Evelia smiled happily. With this, there was no need to worry even if the nanny got poisoned by taking headache medicine.

“Okay, thanks for the heads up, I’ll make sure to make a good case for this one.”

But Samuel’s face didn’t look good. He was looking at Evelia with a face that had a lot to say.

“Do you have anything else to say?”

“That…”

Samuel hesitated and spoke quietly.

“Be careful.”

Evelia chuckled.

“Yes I will.”

Still, Samuel’s expression did not relax. He pursed his lips and then spoke again.

“I don’t want you to get hurt, madam.”

Evelia couldn’t laugh this time. This is because Samuel’s words could be interpreted in many ways.

“That means….”

However, Samuel stood up as if he had not heard Evelia’s whisper.

“Well, the business is over, so I’ll go now. I will also take Aria to the garden.”

“… Yes.”

Samuel left the mansion without Evelia seeing them off.

Evelia’s mind was complicated.

‘Why on earth did he say that?’

But she shook her head and began to think of more important things than that.

‘Is the nanny really what Count Venion is after?’

In the original work, Count Venion clearly targeted the nanny. This was because the nanny did not like Evelia abusing Ruth and tried to tell Cassis about it.

But what about now? Currently, Count Venion had no reason to kill the nanny.

‘Besides, the original work has already been changed a lot.’

In her previous life, Evelia had read many novels in which the female protagonist possessed characters in the books.

In that book, the content of the novel often went awry due to the presence of a female protagonist.

The content of ‘Aria of Light’, which Evelia is now entering, has also changed a lot.

Ruth and Aria, who met for the first time as adults, have already become close friends, and Cassis, who used to despise Evelia, no longer despises her.

‘I think he actually likes me.’

The same goes for the relationship between Evelia and Count Venion.

In the original, the relationship between the two was not bad. To be precise, Evelia acted like Count Venion’s puppet.

So, Count Venion hoped that Evelia would seduce Cassis and give birth to an heir to the Adelhard family.

In the process, he poisoned the nanny who got in the way, and his attempt to poison Ruth ended up being an attempt.

But what about now?

Evelia was completely at odds with Count Venion.

‘Just look at the way they targeted me during the hunting competition.’

Perhaps the current Count Venion’s goal is to kill Evelia and make a new puppet, the Duchess of Adelhard.

Who would be the first person to target in such a situation?

‘Maybe it’s me or Ruth.’

Ruth, who was a thorn in his eye from the beginning, and Evelia, a new thorn in his side.

If he wanted to target two people, he would have targeted them. There was no need to target the nanny.

‘But we can’t ignore the content of the original work.’

Among the novels she read, there were some where the story continued the same as the original, no matter how much the content was changed.

Therefore, it was not possible to completely rule out the assumption that it was the nanny that Count Venion was targeting.

Moreover, the poison that reacts to the ‘headache medicine’ seems to be targeting the nanny.

‘What should I do.’

Evelia, who was worried, eventually headed to Cassis. This is because I thought it would be better to put our heads together and gather opinions together with Cassis rather than thinking about it alone.

Evelia knocked and entered Cassis’ office.

“Oh, wife.”

Cassis, who had just returned from going out and was taking off his jacket, was delighted when he saw her.

The butler who accepted his jacket bowed to Evelia and left the office.

“Please sit down.”

Cassis took Evelia’s hand and made her sit on the sofa. Then he stood in front of her and looked at Evelia’s face.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yes. I’m okay.”

“Have you taken your medicine?”

After the hunting competition, Cassis treated Evelia very kindly.

As if gifting gold and silver treasures was not enough, he even called in a doctor from the Imperial family and prepared medicine suitable for Evelia’s physical condition.

‘It’s a very bitter medicine.’

Evelia frowned at the unimaginable bitterness.

Then Cassis asked in a slightly anxious voice.

“Have you not eaten?”

“No, I ate it this morning. I didn’t want to, but Annie made me eat it somehow.”

“That’s a good thing.”

“But It’s not good.”

I was just telling the truth, but somehow it seemed like I was complaining. The voice also came out like a complaint without me even realizing it.

Evelia, who was embarrassed, tried to correct her by saying, ‘I’m not complaining.’ But Cassis spoke first.

“The best medicine is always bitter.”