19

Before Elsia could speak to Earl Portman, he called her first.

Feeling as if the necklace Richel had gifted her gave her courage, Elsia retrieved the necklace from the trash and hung it around her neck.

‘Give me courage.’

After taking a deep breath, Elsia opened the door to the study, where Earl Portman waved a letter and looked at her with a gentle smile.

“A letter arrived from Welsley.”

Mars had said he wouldn’t let things go, and it seemed he went straight to Earl Welsley. That meant he was really angry.

Elsia nodded with a determined expression.

“Judging by your face, something must have happened with Mars.”

“Yes, that’s right. What does it say?”

“They say you lack bridal training, so Welsley wants to teach you directly. They also say you injured Mars’s face. Is that true?”

Elsia just nodded silently. The Earl’s eyes widened in disbelief, and the relaxed expression on his face vanished instantly.

“What happened to you to injure Mars’s face?”

“I refused his kiss and accidentally hurt his face.”

“Aren’t you two engaged? Can you tell me why you did that?”

Elsia took a deep breath.

She knew her opinion wouldn’t be accepted, but she felt she had to say it anyway.

She grabbed the necklace. Her lips were stiff and trembling, but Elsia steeled her heart and spoke.

“I don’t want to marry Mars.”

“Why? Didn’t I ask you before the engagement? You said it was fine, so why did you change your mind?”

Earl Portman asked, unable to understand.

Elsia knew she had to speak now. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t marry Mars.

So she closed her eyes tightly and bowed her head as she spoke.

“I’ve fallen in love with someone else. So I don’t think I can marry Mars.”

“What?”

“I tried to love Mars, but my heart doesn’t go to him.”

Hearing something he never expected, the Earl was shocked.

He must have received some reports about Elsia’s actions, but he’d never heard she had another man, so he seemed quite surprised.

“Don’t tell me… it’s not one of Portman’s servants, is it? Who is it? Is it a knight?”

The Earl suddenly grew excited and asked. Since he always gave permission for outings, he assumed it was someone from inside Portman.

Elsia shook her head.

“Then who is it? How did you meet?”

“He’s a noble. I believe meeting him was fate. I fell for him at first sight.”

Elsia couldn’t bring herself to tell her father where she met Adrian.

The Earl thought for a moment, then, as if he suddenly guessed, he stammered excitedly.

“W-was it when you went to the dessert shop and Fortuna Square?”

That was the only place he could guess. Those were the only times she’d gone out with his permission.

“…Yes.”

Thinking it was better than mentioning the secret club, Elsia agreed with her father.

Earl Portman seemed shocked by her answer.

Suddenly, he shook his head as if an anxious thought had struck him, repeating, “No. It can’t be.”

Elsia was surprised by her father’s unfamiliar behavior.

What could he mean by “no”?

She tried to approach him to ask if he was okay, but then an unbelievable family name escaped his lips.

“Don’t tell me… it’s the Brightwell family… don’t tell me.”

Elsia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could her father know Adrian’s family name?

Elsia withdrew her hand and asked suspiciously,

“Did you investigate me? How did you know?”

‘No way…’

It couldn’t be. If he had, he would have been furious from the first day she went to the secret club. If not, how did Adrian’s family name come up?

But Earl Portman, looking just as surprised, grabbed Elsia’s shoulders and pressed her,

“Is it really the Brightwell family? Is it Adrian?”

When Adrian’s name came from the Earl’s lips, Elsia’s heart began to race.

She only wanted to say she didn’t want to marry Mars, but suddenly her father was mentioning Adrian’s name….

Something seemed off about the situation.

Of all the nobles, it had to be Adrian. Elsia couldn’t believe it.

Just seeing her father’s shocked eyes, it seemed he didn’t know what she had done.

‘What is happening right now?’

Elsia could only stare blankly at her father.

She didn’t want to hear what he would say next. She had a bad feeling it wouldn’t be good.

“I wouldn’t have investigated you. If I had, I would have stopped you from seeing him from the start…. You’ve been deceived. He didn’t meet you for the first time. That guy has asked me three times before to marry you, and I refused each time. So now he’s gone behind my back?”

“No. That… that can’t be.”

Elsia wanted to deny her father’s words.

“No. He deliberately approached you.”

The Earl’s answer was resolute.

Elsia was shocked by her father’s words.

When she first met Adrian, he acted as if he didn’t know her.

Did that mean everything Adrian showed her was false and planned?

“That can’t be…”

“I’m the one who’s dumbfounded. Of all people, you’re involved with him again!”

“Involved again?”

“I thought it was lucky you forgot about it, but now you’re involved with him behind my back! He’s the one who hurt you when you were young, the one who did something so bad you lost your memory!”

“…I can’t believe it.”

Elsia didn’t want to believe her father, but suddenly the blue eyes from her dreams appeared in her mind.

“When Adrian visited you in the hospital, you were so shocked you lost your memory. After hurting you, how could he dare come to see you? I tried so hard to keep him away from you, but you met him in an unexpected place….”

The Earl revealed everything honestly. All the things he had hidden from Elsia, the fragments of memory he’d kept deep inside her mind.

“No, it’s not true.”

Elsia wanted to keep denying it. Seeing her strong reaction, Earl Portman covered his mouth, looking regretful.

He seemed to have revealed the past in anger without meaning to.

‘What did Adrian gain by deceiving me?’

Elsia’s chest tightened. She wanted someone to resolve this suffocating pain.

“There’s no reason for him to deceive me. What would he gain?”

“Well, Earl Brightwell is greedy. Who knows what his intentions were? Maybe he approached you to take the mining rights.”

“That… that can’t be.”

Adrian didn’t seem like someone who would pursue her for money, so Elsia couldn’t believe her father.

“Adrian did terrible things to you, but the Earl insisted his son would never behave that way. There was no apology. After tormenting you so much you lost your memory, who knows what he’ll do to you this time.”

As he spoke, the Earl watched Elsia’s face for signs of distress.

No matter how she thought about it, Adrian didn’t seem like someone who would hurt her to the point of memory loss. But since she didn’t know why he deceived her, Elsia felt frustrated.

Seeing Elsia’s disbelief, Earl Portman sighed deeply.

“You lost your memory and suffered every time you tried to recall it, so I kept quiet, but I never imagined things would blow up like this. When I heard you weren’t having nightmares, I should have told you right away. That was my mistake.”

No matter how much she thought about it, Elsia couldn’t believe her father.

Adrian was in her memories, and every time she recalled them, the pain was all because of Adrian… it didn’t make sense.

Moreover, she still couldn’t understand why he deceived her.

As soon as she left Earl Portman’s study, Elsia ran to the Brightwell mansion.

“I’ve come to see Adrian.”

Adrian was in the mansion, and soon appeared before her.

Seeing Elsia waiting, Adrian looked both pleased and puzzled.

She had come straight to the Brightwell mansion after learning his family name, not to his villa.

As soon as she saw Adrian’s face, Elsia grabbed him by the collar and shouted,

“Is it true what my father said? That we were friends as children, and you were with me when I got hurt?”

Adrian looked at her with surprised eyes.

“…I’m sorry. I deceived you. We were friends as children, but since you didn’t remember me, I couldn’t say I knew you first.”

Adrian couldn’t meet Elsia’s eyes and bowed his head.

‘So my father was right—Adrian deceived me.’

Realizing she’d been played by Adrian, Elsia couldn’t stand still. Her body felt heavy, her head started spinning. She staggered, searching for something to hold onto.

Adrian quickly grabbed Elsia’s hand and pulled her into his arms.

The moment their bodies touched, Elsia felt chills all over.

Being close to Adrian made her wish she’d just collapsed to the floor instead.

“Let go!”

Elsia finally came to her senses and pushed Adrian away.