Chapter 54

“……”

“Working with you is business, and in private, colleagues. Schoolmates. That is exactly where it ends.”

To Carlisle, Vivian was someone he had known by face since childhood because their families had long been close. A fellow graduate of the same military academy, and in the military, a subordinate who had served under him. That was all.

A partner bound by comradeship. Neither more nor less than that.

To begin with, unless someone approached him first as Hugo had, there were not many people who fell within what Carlisle would call the category of a friend.

And Vivian was precisely someone who, since their military academy days, had a history of fervently seeking his affection, a presence who barely reached the boundary line of close friendship.

“Do you really have to speak like that, drawing the line so clearly? It’s been over twenty years that I’ve stood by your side, Carlisle.”

“I’ve told you again and again. I will never see you as a woman, so if you intend to play those kinds of emotional games, then ask to be removed from my sight….”

Vivian’s tightly closed lips, robbed of words, trembled faintly. Her cheeks, humiliated, flushed red in an instant.

“Do I need to tell you again?”

Meeting his cold, inorganic gaze, empty of all warmth, Vivian felt anger toward Carlisle, who still would not acknowledge her despite her lowering her pride this far and clinging to him. But she knew his temperament well, having watched him for so long.

There had once been a time, after she first confessed to him, when she had tried by any means to make him her man.

At that time, this man had trampled her heart without even blinking an eye. Even knowing he was not a man who would leave her any opening, she had been utterly unable to give up, and all the efforts she had made in order to marry him had come to nothing under his rejection.

Fearing that she might not only fail to marry him but might not even be allowed to stand by his side, Vivian had kept up the act of being a cool-headed woman who had supposedly sorted out all her feelings.

But there was no way those feelings had truly vanished.

He was a man far removed from anything like blazing love to begin with, so if she could only remove the woman who was his wife, she ought to be able to aim for him one more time.

That plan, however, was now on the verge of becoming wasted effort because that fox-like woman had gone back into that house, and naturally anxiety rose in her.

And what Carlisle had warned her of was exactly that. When no answer came, his dry gaze pressed for one.

“If it’s going to be like this, then I suppose it will be difficult for us to remain partners even in work from now on.”

At those words, her senses snapped fully awake.

Vivian knew full well that if he discovered she still had feelings for him here and now, this man would thoroughly turn away from her. So she forced the corners of her lips upward with feigned confidence.

“What are you talking about? I’m only saying this because I’m worried about Miss Yvonne. As you know, I care about you too, Carlisle, but I also care about Miss Yvonne, whom I’ve known for three years.”

Though she knew her pride was being mercilessly torn at, Vivian replied as though it were nothing. The sharpness in Carlisle’s demeanor eased slightly.

“That’s true. The two of you did get along rather well.”

“Yes. I’m only worried about Yvonne. If you’re going to make her unhappy, then I’m saying you should separate. As you know, Yvonne feels uncomfortable around you.”

“That’s true. She’s a woman whose thoughts are impossible to read….”

After that reply, which even carried a faint note of bitterness somewhere within it, Carlisle fixed his eyes back on the gun.

Vivian quietly let out a slow breath. Fortunately, he seemed to have believed those words without particular suspicion.

Separately, it was dissatisfying to use Yvonne as an excuse, but she could not afford to push too hard here and end up at a disadvantage.

At that moment, Henry, who had entered quietly, looked at Carlisle as if he had something to say. While Vivian was wondering what it was, Carlisle jerked his chin toward the door.

“As I said, I’ll take care of my own affairs, so stop taking an interest where it’s unnecessary and leave.”

At the pitiless dismissal, Vivian glared at Carlisle, then gave a sharp huff and went out.

Curious what it was that made him send her away, she pressed an ear lightly to the door, but far from hearing the conversation inside the military affairs conference room, renowned for its strict security, she could not detect even the slightest sign of movement.

With no choice, Vivian left the company in order to return to the unit, where her waiting aide approached her.

“We searched not only the Royal Hospital but private hospitals as well, and there is nowhere that the name Yvonne Polshared appears.”

“Ha… just as I thought.”

Confirming that her intuition had not been wrong, that the woman had clearly lied, Vivian let out a hollow laugh.

Then a curious point caught at her mind.

“Then where was she for that whole week?”

“Her whereabouts for that week are unknown.”

“Unknown? Everyone in Aerondo knows that woman’s face, so how does that make any sense?”

“They say there is no trace at all of where she stayed after leaving the ducal residence and during the week before she went to Lisian House.”

* * *

The melody of the violin flowing from the gramophone softly wrapped around the small space. In between, the sound of teacups being set down rang out from time to time.

Yvonne placed the teacup she had sipped from, her posture still perfect and unruffled, back on the table.

“How did you know to come here?”

Yvonne asked warily, certain that Ethan must have been deliberately waiting for her.

“There is quite a romantic little cafeteria even near Valley Lane. Is this one of your favorite places, Miss Yvonne?”

The place the two entered after changing locations was a small cafeteria on the main street of the neighboring district, not far from Valley Lane. Given the area, most of the customers were middle-class, and the sight of the two of them seated by the window drew the eyes of passersby.

Not only because of the way they were dressed, but because their noble bearing was enough at a glance to show they were not mere ordinary nobles, the owner had been so overly tense that he could hardly take their order properly.

“That’s right. I come here often.”

“Then I suppose I should thank you for bringing me to a place so beloved by you, Miss Yvonne.”

Ethan sipped his tea with that characteristic smiling gaze of his. It was not the fine Boblasia tea he usually drank, but it was decent enough.

“Not bad. I took you to the play last time, so let’s say this time you have brought me here, Miss Yvonne.”

At Ethan, who was subtly steering the conversation elsewhere, Yvonne asked again with a face devoid of a smile.

“You were waiting for me on purpose, weren’t you? Did you investigate me?”

“Oh dear, there you go again. Hadn’t we gotten a little closer?”

Showing subtle disappointment at Yvonne’s businesslike tone, Ethan crossed one leg over the other.

“That’s why I sent a letter asking you to wait just a little. I’m disappointed, Marquis Inglebert. To think you couldn’t even wait that much and came all the way here after looking into me.”

“To be honest, I did investigate you.”

Ethan, who had been observing Yvonne’s sharp reaction, admitted it readily.

“You….”

At the displeased look on Yvonne’s face, Ethan lightly waved the open hand he had raised, as if telling her to wait.

“This side first, before that.”

In that instant, all trace of expression vanished from Ethan’s previously smiling face. The change from his pleasant look was so sudden that anyone seeing it would tense up without meaning to.

“Do you know the back of my head is still throbbing right now? What exactly are you trying to do with me?”

“……”

At Ethan’s question, in which his twisted mood was obvious, Yvonne moistened her mouth with a sip of tea.

While they had agreed to work together, she had even acted like his lover, and then turned the rumors of divorce with Carlisle into nothing and gone back into the ducal residence, so from his standpoint his astonishment was natural.

No, facing Ethan, who was undoubtedly truly angry, Yvonne chose her words carefully. But as though he could not even bear to wait for that, Ethan spoke with sarcasm.

“Where did the you who always spoke so boldly go? Do you have any idea how shocked I was when I saw the newspaper article?”

In truth, Ethan himself had also prepared actions that would have enraged Yvonne, but he deliberately said nothing of that and instead pressed her.

“I’m sorry about that. It wasn’t something that happened of my own will, but I’ll apologize all the same.”

Ethan silently stared at the crown of the woman’s head as she bowed, saying she was apologizing properly. When no answer came from him, Yvonne, her lips moving slightly, spoke again.

“I don’t know if it’ll make you feel any better, but I got hit on the back of the head right alongside you.”

(T/N: Here “struck on the back of the head” is figurative, not literal. It suggests: being caught off guard.)

At the answer that came back without yielding even a single word, Ethan felt some of the irritation he had built up before coming here lessen a little. But since he had no intention of letting the matter pass so simply, his words did not come out gently.

“Were you threatened by that great husband of yours or something?”

“Something like that. I ended up in a rather difficult situation, so I had no choice. Still, I’m sorry for having caused you trouble unintentionally.”

On Yvonne’s face as she apologized again there was both dignity and regret. Even to Ethan, who was skilled at reading people’s expressions, it did not appear to be a lie.

Even so, there still remained a feeling of resentment too strong for him to let it go with just a few words.

Folding his arms, Ethan looked at the woman with her half-lowered eyes while lifting his chin slightly.

“My position’s ended up looking rather bad for me to just accept an apology. I’ve become a man openly cast aside. Do you know I’m the most pitiful man in all Aerondo right now?”

“As of today, the rumor will be corrected.”

“How can you be so sure?”

At Ethan’s question, asking by what means she intended to change the rumor that had made him look like such a pitiable man, Yvonne glanced out the window instead of answering. Just then, the door opened and the clear chime of the hanging bell rang through the quiet interior.