Chapter 44

‘Why is he doing this instead of sneaking in like last time?’  

As Rivera pondered, she came up with a hypothesis.  

“Could it be… a proposal?”  

Excited by the thought, she grabbed her coat and left the room.  

It was late at night, so most of the servants were asleep in their rooms. Only her personal maid, Meriang, stood outside her door, waiting for any unexpected errands.  

“Miss? Where are you going?”  

“I’ll be right back.”  

“In that outfit?”  

Though she wore a coat, Rivera was still in her nightwear. And it was quite revealing.  

If an unmarried noblewoman walked out of her house with her bare legs exposed, she would undoubtedly become the subject of scandalous rumors.  

“No way! What if strange rumors spread before your marriage?”  

Meriang protested in concern, but Rivera responded nonchalantly.  

“It’s fine. I’m just going to the garden. Besides, I’m meeting Adrian, so there’s nothing to worry about.”  

Eager to see him, Rivera ignored Meriang’s shouts and headed outside.  

* * *

“Huh?”  

Why isn’t he here?  

He had definitely been standing in this spot earlier, but now, under the large tree, there was only grass. Thinking he might be hiding somewhere, she searched the area thoroughly.  

“Stop playing games and come out.”  

Muttering that such pranks weren’t funny, she even checked the bushes.  

“Where did you go in the meantime?”  

When she couldn’t find Adrian no matter how hard she looked, Rivera’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. She wondered if she had seen wrong.  

“Ugh. I wanted to see him.”  

If he had come to propose, it would’ve been even better.  

As Rivera crouched on the ground and let out a deep sigh, she suddenly heard footsteps.  

Step, step—  

Of course, if it was Adrian, this would be the moment for him to approach.  

Standing still and waiting as the sound of footsteps drew closer from behind, Rivera suddenly stood up and threw her arms around him as soon as he was near.  

“What are you doing? Sneaking into someone’s house at this hour. Is that really okay?”  

She chuckled and hugged him tightly, but something felt strange. It wasn’t the familiar scent she was used to.  

Feeling uneasy, Rivera looked up and saw the face hidden under the hood. She couldn’t believe her eyes.  

“…Antonio.”  

She hadn’t expected him to come all the way here.  

“Wait a minute…”  

Rivera stepped back in hesitation.  

Antonio, trying not to frighten her, stood still and spoke.  

“Please don’t avoid me. This will be the last time I appear.”  

“What is it this time?”  

“Duke Bartman sent me a letter. He said he’d kill me if I didn’t leave this country immediately.”  

“…So you’re here to ask me to persuade Adrian? To let you stay in this country?”  

“No, that’s not it. I just… wanted to see your face one last time before I leave.”  

He smiled bitterly.  

“I’m sorry for leaving bad memories behind when we finally met again.”  

Rivera remained wary of him.  

Could I really trust what he was saying? After everything he had done?  

“I know you’ll hate me no matter what I say. But please know this one thing.”  

“…What?”  

“I never wanted to hurt you.”  

“Do you think that makes sense? Have you forgotten what you said to me eight years ago?”  

“I remember. I know.”  

“No, it seems like you don’t.”  

Rivera trembled with betrayal.  

“That day, you insulted my mother.”  

He had been someone she liked for a long time. She had truly loved him and was happiest when they were together. Like everyone said, she thought she would marry him someday and even imagined what their children would look like.  

Rivera had secretly loved Cedric for three years.  

– Let go of me! Are you doing this because you want to profit off me like your mother did?! 

That was what he had said to Rivera when she clung to him, begging not to break up.  

Rivera’s father, Earl Iaron, was a nobleman, but her mother, Elina, was born into a poor family as a commoner. One day, her father saw her mother and fell in love at first sight. He confessed his love, but Elina rejected him, aware of the insurmountable gap in their statuses.  

If it had been any other nobleman, they might have been enraged at being rejected. But the Earl visited her home every day for an entire year, enduring the judgment of others to win her heart.  

When Rivera once asked her father why he had gone to such lengths, he replied:  

– She was the one and only person for me. 

He had tried to give up on his feelings because of her commoner status, but no matter how much time passed, he couldn’t forget her.  

Knowing her father’s sincerity, her mother eventually accepted his love. But instead of praising their love story, the nobles gossiped that her mother had seduced her father for his wealth and position.  

Antonio had thrown those very words at her.  

“That day, I was so upset that I went home crying. When I got home, Mom and Dad asked me why I was crying.”  

“……”  

“What was I supposed to say?”  

After that day, she locked herself in her room. Even in her second life, all she could do was cry like a fool.  

Rivera felt like crying even now, but she held it in and spoke. At least she had Adrian by her side.  

“I stayed inside for so long that Adrian came over, angry. He asked why I was crying like a pitiful mess and told me to hurry up and come out so we could have breakfast together. He said he hadn’t eaten yet and was hungry.”  

When Rivera refused, saying she didn’t want to do anything, Adrian dragged her to the most famous chef in the Empire.  

“He brought the Imperial Palace’s head chef just for me, saying I could cry all I wanted but shouldn’t starve. If I had known then that Adrian liked me, things might have been different.”  

Like a fool, she hadn’t realized it. Though her heart wavered, she tried to hide it by letting her bangs fall over her face and shoving the feast he prepared into her mouth.  

As she ate while crying, Adrian teased her, saying her already unattractive face looked even worse and that she looked like a pig.  

Recalling those memories, Rivera lashed out at Antonio.  

“And now what? You didn’t want to hurt me?”  

“You really don’t know what Duke Bartman has done, do you?”  

Antonio sighed in frustration.  

“Have you never thought it strange? Why, unlike others, your relationships never seemed to last long? Why didn’t any of them last more than a month? What were they all so afraid of?”  

Rivera’s face hardened.  

She had found it strange but had dismissed it as bad luck or her poor judgment in men.  

“Do you really think all those men broke up with you because they stopped liking you?”  

She wanted to ignore Antonio’s words, but once doubt crept in, it wouldn’t go away.  

‘No, it can’t be…’  

Rivera tried to deny reality, but Antonio drove the point home.  

“Doesn’t it seem too coincidental? The so-called ‘Seven-Day Curse’ that people whispered about disappeared without a trace when you started dating Duke Bartman.”  

It felt as if Rivera had been struck on the back of the head.  

“I don’t hate Duke Bartman for no reason. That bastard told me to break up with you. And if I didn’t…”  

Antonio clenched his fists.  

“He said he’d kill me.”  

Rivera shook her head.  

“You’re lying.”  

“If you don’t believe me, go ask your friends. They seem to know the truth.”  

By friends, he seemed to mean Cassilia and Julia.  

Antonio, saying that he had said all he needed to, draped his cloak over her shoulders.  

“This all started because of that man.”  

* * *

“What brings you here, Rivera?”  

The Marquis Lillian Residence lit up completely. The Marquis, displeased at having a visitor so late, said nothing when he saw Rivera’s expression.  

Rivera, looking dazed, apologized to the Marquis, saying she needed to see Julia.  

Julia came out in her pajamas. She looked half-asleep as she descended the stairs, but Rivera stood silently, saying nothing.  

“Are you okay?”  

She needed to speak, but no sound came out.  

Desperately hoping it wasn’t true, Rivera looked at Julia and finally managed to speak.  

“Is it true that Adrian threatened my boyfriends?”  

“…What?”  

“Did he really go to my ex-boyfriends and tell them he’d kill them if they didn’t break up with me?” 

“W-what are you talking about? How would I know that?”  

“Ha.”  

Rivera let out a short breath.  

“You’re not denying it.”  

“……”  

“If you really didn’t know, you’d have said it was nonsense. You’d have asked where I heard such nonsense.”  

“Rivera…”  

Julia’s voice, which usually sounded so pleasant, now felt unbearable.  

“Why didn’t you tell me? That Adrian was deceiving me. You knew.”  

“How did you find out…?”  

“Does that matter right now?”  

Julia dismissed the servants and took a deep breath.  

She had always known this day would come, but she hadn’t expected it to arrive so soon. She thought Bartman Duke would be the one to explain this, not her.  

“I didn’t mean to deceive you.”  

Rivera closed her eyes tightly, taking a moment to compose herself. Then she looked at Julia with wounded eyes.  

“That’s not what I want to know. Why didn’t you tell me?”  

Did she think Rivera was fine because she laughed off the rumors about the curse? Did she think Rivera was simple-minded because she always smiled like a fool?  

Maybe she should’ve complained more. Maybe she shouldn’t have tried to endure everything alone. Then, they wouldn’t have kept this from her.  

“…It was the Duke’s wish. He didn’t want you to know and asked us not to tell you.”  

Rivera felt all her strength leave her body. Her eyes turned red.  

As she covered her face with both hands and cried, Julia tried to console her, apologizing. But when Rivera pushed her hands away, Julia froze in shock.  

“Get your hands off me.”  

Through her tears, Rivera glared at Julia. Her eyes were filled with deep anger and betrayal.