Chapter 48

Seeing Cassilia looking so happy, Rivera felt envious but wished her well. Unlike herself, who had just broken up with her lover, Rivera hoped Cassilia would be happy from beginning to end.

When the couple kissed and displayed their affectionate behavior, Rivera slowly turned away.

‘I can’t bear to watch this with my lonely heart.’

They say feeling envious is like losing, but Rivera felt so envious that it was painful.

As she quietly tried to leave, someone spoke loudly.

“Look at that. The article was right after all.”

Did they not even have the decency to whisper?

“So, it’s really over, huh? She said she was going to get married, but it’s completely over now, isn’t it? Even when that article about the breakup came out, everyone said it was a mistake. But seeing it end like this, it’s kind of pitiful. She looks like an abandoned puppy.”

“Hmph, as if someone like her could ever match Duke Bartman. Someone like me would be more fitting.”

“Oh, stop it. Do you think you’d stand a chance? Rivera might not have a great family, but she’s still prettier than you.”

“What? What’s wrong with me? Besides, I’m way better than that cursed girl, aren’t I?”

Was there no one willing to clarify that the so-called curse wasn’t real?

Rivera made a bitter face and tried to ignore them. These were people she wouldn’t see again anyway.

Just as she was about to turn and leave, the hostess of the party, Cassilia, spoke in a voice full of anger.

“What exactly are you saying?”

Cassilia stood in front of them with her fiancé, Andre.

“Are you two enjoying yourselves right now? My friend just broke off her engagement, and instead of feeling sorry for her, you’re gossiping about her?”

“That’s not what we meant…”

Cassilia crossed her arms and looked down at those who had insulted Rivera with a haughty demeanor.

“What do you mean, ‘that’s not what we meant’? I heard you loud and clear with my own ears. You’re even saying you’re eyeing Duke Bartman. Isn’t that right, darling?”

“Uh? Oh… yeah…”

Andre, who had never seen this side of his fiancée before, answered awkwardly.

“I think there’s a misunderstanding. My usual way of speaking often causes misunderstandings with others…”

“And you expect me to believe that?”

“P-Please forgive me, just this once.”

Having caught the ire of Cassilia, the daughter of the influential Duke of Mongoberry, the young ladies from the two families were sure to be severely scolded when they returned home.

But their ordeal wasn’t over yet. Another voice, high-pitched and cutting, called out as someone else approached, parting the crowd.

“Well, look who it is.”

It was Julia, the daughter of Marquis Lillian.

Julia seemed to recognize the two young ladies.

“How is your father? I heard grain prices have risen quite a bit lately.”

“W-What? Oh, thanks to the Lillian trading company, we’ve been getting by…”

One of the women began to sweat nervously.

“Well, that’s a problem, isn’t it?”

Despite her cheerful tone, there was an unmistakable edge to her words.

“When grain prices rise, it’s the people of your estate who suffer the most. Your father must be quite worried.”

“…Lady Julia.”

“I’ve been keeping our business relationship out of old sentiment, but I suppose it’s time to find a new partner.”

“W-Why are you doing this?”

One of the women grabbed Julia’s hand and pleaded, but Julia shook her off.

Meanwhile, Cassilia stepped closer.

“When you first step into society, the elders always give you one piece of advice.”

Cassilia began speaking, and Julia finished the sentence.

“Don’t run your mouth carelessly.”

The two worked in perfect sync. Insulting Rivera had been a grave mistake.

“Get out of my house right now.”

After the two women were kicked out, Cassilia and Julia, proud of their teamwork, smiled at each other. But then, they noticed Rivera watching them from a distance. 

When their eyes met, Rivera hurriedly ran outside as if she were fleeing. She didn’t even give them a chance to stop her.

“You know…”

Julia began speaking cautiously.

“I hate to bring this up on such a happy day, but…”

“It’s fine. You don’t even need to say it. It’s about Rivera, isn’t it?”

“…Yeah.”

Julia looked disheartened.

“We’re not going to keep things like this forever, are we?”

“We can’t.”

Cassilia gently rubbed her belly.

“The three of us are like the Three Musketeers… What are we going to do if one of us is missing?”

Cassilia sighed.

Her premarital pregnancy had caused a lot of concern and gossip. Even though it was a child with the man she loved, and they had promised to marry, it was hard to receive pure congratulations.

“If it were Rivera, she would’ve sincerely congratulated me.”

It hadn’t been intentional. During a secret trip without her father’s knowledge, she had failed to take proper precautions, and the pregnancy had been an accident.

At first, her father had been furious, but in the end, he had no choice but to accept it and push for a quick wedding. He even applied some pressure on her fiancé’s family.

He threatened them, saying it made no sense for his precious daughter to become an unwed mother when she even had a boyfriend, and that if the wedding didn’t happen, he would make the second son, André, the first heir. That was tantamount to erasing the first son from the world.

Cassilia had wanted to share this joy with Rivera, but since she couldn’t, her expression darkened.

“The ones at fault are those men, so why are we the ones fighting?”

“Because we’re accomplices.”

“Even so, we did everything we could on our end. We warned her not to date those men, but she ignored us. And then, she ran away without even giving us a chance to explain.”

“Rivera must’ve been deeply hurt. Everyone deceived her. Even though we all knew, not a single person told her.”

Throughout the thirty men Rivera had dated, there had been countless opportunities to tell her the truth, but no one had spoken up. They had all been afraid of her resentment.

“Do you think those two will keep fighting forever? If they get back together, we might have a chance to talk things out.”

“Who knows? There was even an article about their breakup. It might really be over.”

Cassilia vented her frustrations.

“That newspaper is strange too. Duke Bartman must’ve known the article would be published, so why did he let it happen? It’s not like he suddenly stopped liking Rivera. There’s no benefit to everyone knowing about the breakup. It just makes people gossip, like today.”

“There’s one more strange thing.”

Julia shared her thoughts.

“When I saw Duke Bartman a few days ago, he still seemed to love Rivera. Normally, he would’ve apologized immediately in a situation like this. So why is he staying silent?”

Having been close to both of them for so long, Julia and Cassilia could confidently say they knew them better than anyone. They discussed how odd the situation seemed.

Moments later, as they watched a man head in the direction Rivera had gone, Cassilia tilted her head.

“Isn’t that Priest Antonio?”

Cassilia recognized Antonio, who had treated her fiancé, and found it strange.

‘He looks like someone I’ve seen before…’

But she couldn’t remember who. Too many things about him—his name, status, and appearance—had changed for her to realize he was Rivera’s first love.

***

Antonio approached Rivera, who was sitting alone.

“Rivera.”

Her expression as she looked at him wasn’t good. The resentment in her eyes made him feel bitter, but it didn’t matter. She had broken up with Duke Bartman.

As the party went on, Rivera’s visible pain stirred conflicting emotions within Antonio.

‘Seeing you hurt makes me hurt too, but at the same time, I feel happy.’

“You’ve realized I was telling the truth.”

“You said you’d leave. You said you wouldn’t show up again.”

“The High Priest ordination ceremony was delayed. I’m only staying a few more days.”

Since this wasn’t public knowledge, there was no way Rivera could verify whether the ceremony had been postponed or not.

“Can’t you just leave me alone?”

“You looked like you were struggling, so I came.”

“You’re the one who made me like this.”

“I only told you what you needed to know. You deserved to know how Duke Bartman and your friends were treating you behind your back.”

“I would’ve been better off not knowing.”

Rivera and Antonio argued.

“I told you for your own good.”

“No, you didn’t. You only told me to drive a wedge between Adrian and me. You knew I’d push him away after hearing what you said.”

Antonio felt a pang of guilt but pretended not to.

“Stop twisting my words.”

“But it’s the truth. All you wanted was for me to hate Adrian. That’s why you told me. You didn’t care about how much it would hurt me.”

“The one at fault is him. If he hadn’t done wrong in the first place, we all could’ve been happy.”

“So, because you’re unhappy, you wanted Adrian and me to be unhappy too?”

Antonio lowered his head and let out a short sigh.

“Ha. Fine. I’m the bad guy. I should’ve kept quiet even though I knew you were being deceived. But do you know something?”

He remained cowardly until the end.

“This isn’t the only thing Duke Bartman is hiding.”

Rivera trembled slightly. She was already in pain, and the thought of more pain terrified her.

Antonio pulled out a shining object from his pocket.

“Take this.”

It was a silver bracelet.

“I don’t need something like this.”

“You’ll want to keep it. If you don’t want to be deceived again, that is.”

The way he spoke made it seem like the bracelet had some hidden purpose.

“What is this?”

“I’ll tell you later. And if Duke Bartman comes and tells you to take it off…”

“Adrian?”

“Yes. But don’t ever take it off. He’ll try to deceive you again.”

As Antonio fastened the bracelet around Rivera’s wrist, he noticed she was still wearing her engagement ring. It annoyed him, but he held back and turned away.

‘I’m sorry, but Duke Bartman needs to suffer more.’

What he had given her was a holy relic. It was said that Duke Bartman couldn’t read the thoughts of someone wearing a holy relic, so Antonio considered it a safeguard.

【 His Downfall 】

It was a particularly warm day. Rivera, who hadn’t left the house and had been spending her days alone, received a visitor.

A carriage stopped in front of the main gate, and out stepped Trisha.

“What brings you all the way here, Sister?”

“There’s somewhere we need to go.”

Trisha, dressed neatly, looked at Rivera’s condition and clicked her tongue as if she had expected it. She ushered Rivera into the carriage.

“Where are we going?”

Without explaining, Trisha, who had dragged Rivera along, clicked her tongue again as she looked at Rivera’s skin.

“I’m taking you to someone who will make you beautiful.”