Love Doesn't Matter

Chapter 85 – I Will Be The Last

“How is the negotiating team doing?”

“It wasn’t at all perfect, and it is going the way you want it to.”

Caitlyn nodded her head as if it was nothing, even though she thought her son’s confident attitude was funny.

“It will not be easy. It is true that we are overwhelmingly behind in technology. The Reinen will be captious about it, too.”

Caitlyn swept her chin with her hand and waited for her son’s reaction. She knew well that her son Hadius, who had requested that she give him Meyer Steel, was struggling. And so she was looking forward to it – for the successor to declare surrender and ask her for advice.

Of course, Caitlyn also didn’t want Hadius to fail. Just because she was jealous of her son beyond common sense, it didn’t mean he could be overpowered by Reinen. What she wanted was to be a regent. All she wanted was to make her son, the future Duke Meyer, look to her every time he reached a dead end.

“There will be a dinner party this Saturday.”

Tobaro was the nickname of the Reinen Mansion. Hadius and Bianca will finally be reunited at the dinner party.

“Are you ready to meet Bianca?”

“Yes.”

“Madam Reinen contacted me yesterday. She wanted to meet me in advance before the formal dinner party. We will have a short breakfast with Bianca. What do you think?”

“Do as you please.”

The reason Caitlyn brought it up was to say that she wanted to go together. But the terribly cold answer made her feel strange.

“Of course, it would be nice if you make a surprise visit there. I’m sure Madam Reinen will also love that. It has been five years since you’ve met, so I think it would be awkward if you meet each other at the dinner party first.”

“… I’ll think about it.”

Caitlyn was briefly lost for words by his succinct answer. She felt that strange uneasiness again that she couldn’t pinpoint.

“Right, have you prepared a present?”

Caitlyn nodded her head, but she couldn’t relax her brow, as if something was missing.

“What else? Besides those plain jewels… I think Bianca would be very happy to hear that you prepared something special.”

“I ordered a set of Arutua chess.”

After a long pause, Caitlyn’s mouth slowly opened and arched into a smile.

“Yes, that’s a great idea. You two would look really cute when you played chess! Don’t you think so, Xavier?”

Caitlyn turned to the butler. He suddenly made a silly face at her candid question.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t comfortably watch their matches. My heart would pound, and I would be too nervous to watch it.”

“How is that so?”

“Because I used to bet on who would win.”

“Goodness!”

Caitlyn opened her eyes wide and laughed out loud.

“They played, right? So… who did you bet on?”

“Of course, it was Lady Reinen.”

“… What?”

Caitlyn stared at the butler before asking the Head Maid the same thing. The Head Maid also pretended to hesitate to continue the atmosphere, before replying, ‘I bet on the same person as well.’ The hall was filled with laughter.

Hadius walked quietly to the window, leaving the lively atmosphere behind. His two cold eyes stopped somewhere on the road leading to the main gate of the villa. The gardener was talking to someone – a person who wore shabby clothing, holding a pole and a broomstick – a female chimney cleaner. No one in the villa, including the gardener, could have guessed who it was. What was the true identity of that chimney cleaner?

It took him half a year to find that person, who he hadn’t even known existed. It took him another year before he planted that person here without being questioned by anyone. This Krambitz was like his mother’s hideout. It was also a place that contained all sorts of conspiracies, secrets, and the dark past.

From now on, that chimney sweeper would be able to see, hear, and do many things in every nook and cranny of this place, akin to an iron fortress. It was to uncover the truth of the brutal murder that took place ten years ago, and to avenge it.

* * *

Emilia was already waiting when Hadius returned to the Basilion House. She stood like a marble statue with her back against the window. Her eyes were cold, her face was expressionless, and her body was emitting cold energy.

The sun in the sky was sinking in the ridge, slowly giving way to darkness. She opened her mouth almost immediately after their eyes met.

“I don’t want to receive the sponsorship of the royal family.”

Hadius wasn’t disappointed as he had expected her answer. The third deal was a decision he made purely out of greed and not desperation, and another way to protect the woman in front of him was already in the works.

“I don’t even want your deliberate act. I don’t want to debut in society. I don’t want to waste my life laughing, chatting and gossiping among hypocrites.”

“Yes, it didn’t suit you at all.”

“But the problem is….”

Emilia hesitated, unable to continue speaking. She was so far from him that he didn’t notice how much she was trembling.

Hadius pushed the chair and stood up. He then took out the alcohol from the cupboard.

“Do you want a drink?”

Emilia didn’t refuse. She felt her esophagus burning as she took a sip, and the savory smell blurred her senses. Thanks to it, her tense nerves seemed to ease a little. Emilia took another sip and continued voicing her thoughts.

“The problem is my family. If I have to do what the Young Master tells me, then my family… if they receive help….”

“No, that’s not it.”

Hadius coldly cut off her words. It broke his heart to understand why she hesitated and what exactly she wanted to say. Hadius kept seeing himself in Emilia since the last time they met. It was close to instinct, wanting to get through things without begging anyone for help. If he had to call it in a particular way, it would be pride or if not, self-esteem.

More than anyone he knew, Emilia Bern had much more pride and self-esteem.

But I, and the world surrounding me, trampled it.

The last five years would have been his continuing actions to deprive an aloof woman of her pride and self-esteem.

I knew. I knew I did, but I couldn’t hold it in. I was occupied with my impulses and impatience, killing that woman shining like a jewel with my own hands.

Hadius knew very well that he would never forgive that person if he had suffered such a thing.

“That and your family are two different things. It means that even if you don’t have the royal family’s sponsorship, your family won’t lose money. Even if it wasn’t for me, the King would have called for you at the same time as breaking off our engagement. You would be even given compensation so no one will talk behind your back.”

Her trembling body stilled as she took a deep breath in relief.

Watching her, he felt like he was being strangled. Should I say that it was something his heart felt as if he only knew the woman in his head? It felt like a punishment to Hadius.

His empty hand eventually reached out for a new glass. He poured the alcohol in at once.

“Although nothing has been decided yet, it will have nothing to do with me. It is the King’s duty and a right for your family. From the moment he cut off your family’s Royal grant, he owed you and your family. The only person who benefited from our engagement was the Great King His Majesty. So take it with confidence. It was the compensation for the last five years.”

Only then did blood return to her pale, tired face.

Hadius managed to swallow his internal rising bitterness with the alcohol. His eyes staring into his empty glass turned back to Emilia. The light of the full moon penetrated through the window and washed over her. The burning desire from his lower abdomen heated his blood. What if I make that aloof, shining body naked and thrust into her until she is worn out…?

Her rose-red lips opened slowly, opening its moist cavern, as if laughing mockingly at his inappropriate desires. Of course, the voice that issued was completely far from lust.

“I always… just wanted to live as Emilia Bern. Not as anyone’s fiancé.”

Hadius pushed his seething desire into the depths and listened to her.

“Charlotte speaks as if I am some great person, but… I… I am, in fact, nothing. I didn’t do anything to excuse the bridal classes. I didn’t feed my family… nor did I take care of them properly. My stepmother is getting sick in the factory, and Mitch was in an impure organization. Charlotte ended up… a child who thought that she was a monster.”

She vowed to never cry, but Emilia couldn’t stop her sobs from escaping. She clenched her fists with red eyes.

“It was all my fault… and even though I know it was my fault… I want to keep blaming other people. That’s why….”

Emilia bit her lower lip and rolled her eyes to stop the tears falling down. Then she spat out with hitched breath, “That’s why I hated Young Master more. I could never forgive your world.”

“…”

“Also… I don’t think I will get over it. I couldn’t even bear it. The name Meyer – I really couldn’t. To be Duchess… that’s impossible.”

“I don’t care.”

“No, I really can’t. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t. The only things that filled my head were fear, resentment and hate!”

“You still don’t know? Do you think I care about your feelings?”

“No! I can’t love you!”

Her outburst cut him sharply.

“Should I kneel down and beg you? Do you think I can’t do it?”

The man’s body was upright and straight without any signs of being swayed, but Emilia looked at him as if he was really kneeling in front of her. It began to slowly strangle her, like an illusion.

“I could get down on my knees in front of you – no, I could even beg you. Right now, whenever you want.”

“No, please stop. It is no use –”

“Yes, it will be of no use. Kneeling down on my knees and repeatedly begging you won’t change the fact that I am a Meyer.”

He put down the glass he was holding as if he was about to break it, and slowly approached her. Emilia couldn’t bear to face him and staggered back.

“So I thought: why don’t I throw it away? If I discard this disgusting Meyer, would you accept me?”

It really felt like her heart stopped for a moment. Emilia gasped, trying to get some air in her lungs.

“You know what the problem is? I don’t even have the freedom to abandon myself. And yet, I rashly said ‘Duchess’ with my mouth.”

“That….”

“I dared to tell you about the future when I couldn’t even shed these tedious things clinging to me. I only regret one thing – my unprepared, cowardly proposal.”

His harsh voice carried a sharply forged desire to kill. Emilia’s heart was about to explode with how much it was pounding.

“To confess again now, Emilia, we’ve already broken our engagement.”

Emilia barely grabbed her trembling hand.

“Do you know what that means? You are free. Whether it was washing dishes, managing account books, or taking care of your family, you can do whatever you want.”

The man stopped just within reach of her hand.

“If you want to receive the royal family’s sponsorship after that, just tell me. I will make you a princess anytime.”

Her blood gushed to the top of her head. Everything that had been raging was on the verge of fiercely exploding.

“If you still can’t forgive me, just leave me.”

“…!”

“If you want to meet this man or that man promiscuously… even if you want to enjoy your freedom with men like Nathan Malvin… do that.”

Hadius was burning with anger even as he said that.

“Do whatever you want. I don’t care anymore whether you follow that b*st*rd to the New World, or whether you roll with this and that man as you please. Do you know why?”

It was madness. The man’s eyes were completely engulfed by a suffocating madness.

“You will eventually come back to me. I will make it happen.”

The man extended his arm toward her. His hot hands caressed her pale, tired cheeks. Emilia froze, unable to breathe.

“Don’t forget, I had your first, so I will be your last.”

(T/N: These two people really needed time to understand each other haa….)