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Chapter 13 – Combination of Opposites
“You’re the one who wants to be with Edric Felton… … .”
“Hand it over!”
Mellie tried to grab it, but Francis was faster.
He stood up and raised his arms high. The small and delicate Mellie jumped up and down on the spot, trying to grab it somehow, but her fingertips couldn’t even touch the diary.
Mellie begged with a face that looked like she was going to cry.
“Please, please.”
“I’ll give it to you, of course. Why would I keep this? It’s of no use to me.”
Francis took a step back and reassured Mellie.
“Come on, come on, let’s sit down and talk for a bit. There’s something I definitely want to ask you.”
He sat down on the chair again. This time, instead of taking the center seat, he moved to the side. He had left the empty seat for Mellie, but Mellie completely ignored his consideration by sitting in the armchair opposite him.
“Ask quickly and give it to me. Then leave.”
Francis burst into laughter at her cold attitude even in the midst of such desperation.
Francis got straight to the point without further ado.
“Do you like the Duke of Felton?”
“… … .”
Mellie didn’t answer, but Francis didn’t ask twice.
There was no need to. The answer was already in the diary.
“Have you ever told him?”
“… … No.”
“Why?”
Mellie was annoyed by the informal speech, but it didn’t seem like arguing about it would help her get the diary back.
“Why would I… … tell him? What can he even do when the marriage is already set?”
“That’s why you should tell him more. He’s going to be someone else’s man soon, so shouldn’t you at least stab him once?”
“That’s a really good reason.”
The more she talked, the more pathetic the man seemed to Mellie.
“Are you cursing me inwardly?”
“No.”
“You think you’re a good liar.”
Mellie lowered her gaze.
“If I were you…”
Francis shook the diary and continued.
“I would have told him once and all that I like him and love him instead of writing it in a diary. If I tell him, everything will work out, right?”
“… … .”
“You know what? Your confession might shake the Duke of Felton’s heart.”
“There’s absolutely no chance of that happening.”
Mellie said in a clear voice.
“I know Edric well, and there’s not even a single percent chance of that happening.”
Francis thought as he watched Mellie speaking with an attitude that left no room for doubt.
‘Is he hiding his feelings well, or is this woman really dull?’
The former was certain. And the latter… … seemed right.
‘What a combination of opposing views.’
A combination where one side can never know the other’s true feelings unless they openly talk about them.
There was a reason they had lived in the same house for over ten years and remained only friends.
‘Rosaline and I fell for each other in an instant without anyone saying anything first.’
Even without saying anything, they caught the secret emotional currents that were coming out of each other’s gestures.
He wanted to tell the woman in front of him that she was mistaken, and that in his opinion, there was at least a thirty percent chance of that happening. And he wanted to teach her the secret to shaking a man’s heart. It seemed like something interesting would happen.
“And even if my confession could shake Edric, I’d still stop,”
Mellie said, looking straight at the other person.
“Even so, I’d end up in the same situation as you.”
“… … .”
The playful smile slowly disappeared from Francis’s eyes. He knew what she was saying. Mellie said again clearly.
“I wish you would stop your relationship with Miss Rosaline at this
point.”
“Why should I?”
Francis’s mouth tilted to one side.
“Rosaline and I love each other, and the Duke of Felton seems ready to tolerate anything for the sake of our family union.”
“That’s why I’m telling you to stop even more.”
“… … .”
“Because if Edric decides not to let you go, you two won’t be safe.”
Francis’s eyes narrowed at those words.
‘You’re judging quite accurately. You’re not completely blind.’
Francis felt a strange curiosity about this unusual occurrence.
On the other hand, Mellie wanted to end the conversation.
“Now that you know everything, give me back my diary.”
But even as she said that, she didn’t expect much. He would definitely ask her this and that and make her bleed. She was prepared to answer a couple more questions. Now that the diary had been revealed, there seemed to be nothing she couldn’t answer.
“Okay-.”
But surprisingly, he handed her the diary without saying anything.
At Francis’s sudden action, Mellie looked back and forth between the diary and him, her expression disbelieving.
“Have you become a fool?”
“… … .”
“Take it. Quickly.”
Francis twitched the diary in his hand.
She didn’t know what it was, but she felt like she had to accept it before his mind changed.
Mellie got up from her seat. Then she took two steps closer and grabbed the diary he handed her without any doubt.
At that moment, a meaningful smile formed on Francis’ lips. By the time she realized something was strange, it was already too late.
“Ugh!”
Her wrist, which had been caught off guard, was pulled hard, and Mellie collapsed on top of him in an instant.
“This… What are you doing?”
Mellie said in a bewildered voice.
Francis smirked and hugged Mellie’s waist tightly so she couldn’t get up.
“I’ll buy you a meal later.”
“… … .”
“You’ll be grateful to me.”
Food? Something you’ll be grateful for? What does that mean?
But Mellie didn’t have time to think about it properly. She was struggling to get out of his arms.
That’s when.
Suddenly, an inexplicable sense of discomfort spread through her body. Mellie stopped struggling. Then she slowly turned her head to the source of the murderous aura.
She felt her blood run cold.
***
‘Why isn’t my mother here?’
Edric carefully rolled up his wrist so that Rosaline wouldn’t notice.
It wasn’t even eleven o’clock yet. It felt like a long time, but he was dumbfounded by the fact that it hadn’t even been an hour yet. He still had an hour or two to kill before his mother came back .
This had never happened before.
He had met so many people that he was sick of it, but he had never had a conversation where he ran out of things to talk about.
What could be the problem? Was it because of what happened in the morning?
‘I’m asking you to accept me as your legal family.’
Yes. That might have been the case.
The moment he heard those words, his mind was like a desk that had been swept away by the wind. For a moment, his mind was blank, like when you look at a pile of documents without knowing where to start.
“… … .”
He felt slightly dizzy.
He wanted to get some fresh air alone.
He was waiting for the right timing, but thankfully his fiancée helped him out.
“Fran is really late. What could be going on?”
“I’ll go out and look for him. The layout of the mansion is a bit complicated, so he might have gotten lost.”
“No, that’s not something that would happen to him… … .”
Before Rosaline could finish speaking, Edric got up from his seat and left the living room.
Just leaving that place felt like a relief.
The sunlight streaming through the hallway window was definitely the same as before, but it felt much warmer and more stable, and the air was much fresher.
As he was walking around the hallway for a while, a butler who happened to be passing by noticed him and approached him.
“Your Majesty, is there anything you need?”
“Nothing like that, so go and take care of business.”
“Oh, then this… …”
The butler seemed to think this was the moment and held something out. It was a piece of paper.
“What is this?”
“Miss Mellie asked me to give it to you.”
While the butler politely left, Edric unfolded the folded piece of paper.
[Forget what happened this morning. I was reckless.]
Whoosh-.
The headache that had barely subsided was coming back.
Edric walked down the hallway again, thinking about what happened this morning.
Family. Family… .
When he thought about it, there was nothing wrong with it.
He had always thought of Mellie as family. Rather, he had been dissatisfied with the restrictions that came with not being a real family.
For example, whenever there was a family gathering at the duke’s residence, Mellie would be kept in her room, or she had to be left at home because her name wasn’t on the invitation to the banquet. His parents would pretend to be kind on the outside, but they would be worried about getting rid of her behind his back, and so on.
Yes. If we were legally family, I could keep her by my side and protect her without any problems.
‘It’s such a simple thing, so why am I hesitating? After all, isn’t there no other way than to give this tight bond the name of family?’
After thinking about it rationally, Edric laughed at the thought that he had been worrying about something so absurd.
Yes. I must have just been flustered. I was flustered because I suddenly heard something unexpected… …
There was nothing more to worry about.
I should tell her now.
I’m sure Mellie took back what she said because she thought she was being shameless, but there was no need for that.
I should tell her right now that I will make you a member of our family, the Duke of Felton’s daughter.
He immediately walked towards Mellie’s quarters.
His heart felt relieved, as if his old congestion had been relieved. He even felt happy when he thought of Mellie’s face after hearing his story.
She might look indifferent on the outside, but she must be jumping for joy on the inside.
She had always missed her family, and now he could be that family for her.
“Mellie.”
He threw open the door of her room.
And the warmth in his heart that had been created by anticipation and joy at the sight before his eyes grew terribly cold.
Suddenly, he couldn’t think of anything to say.
“… … .”
In her room, Mellie was hugging Francis Adele.
