A Summer With Bitter Rivals - Chapter 120

Chapter 120: Father’s Handwriting

***

After Emeline left, silence lingered for a while in the drawing room where the two men sat.

The stifling atmosphere, which had lasted only a few minutes, was broken when Antony let out a soft sigh and placed a cigar between his lips.

“Care for one?”

“No, thank you.”

Antony raised an eyebrow at Zenon’s honest reply.

“I heard you were quite a heavy smoker.”

“Me? It’d be a problem if you’re already seeing me in such a light. I’m actually more upstanding than I look…”

“That’s what Emeline said.”

“…She said that about me.”

Instead of responding further, Antony simply smiled faintly.

In truth, Emeline had nothing to do with it. Antony had discovered the fact by chance while looking into him.

He had only brought up her name to imply the topic of conversation.

Antony pulled the cigar from between his lips and, with an air of consideration, offered again.

“Go ahead. I know you’re still hiding the habit from my sister. If you smoke now, you could just say the smell came from me.”

“…So you didn’t hear it from Emeline.”

Zenon, having quickly grasped the situation from Antony’s words, relaxed his tense brow. The day had grown a bit brighter.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll pass. Emeline dislikes the smell.”

Wearing a cheerful smile, Zenon reached out and took the cigar from between Antony’s fingers, placing it in the ashtray.

Then, in a clear voice, he gave a warning. “So you shouldn’t smoke either. If the smell lingers, it’ll end up on me—and Emeline doesn’t like that.”

“…That’s amusing. Taking someone else’s cigar like that.”

“I’m the host here. Shouldn’t the guest abide by my rules?”

“……”

“If my actions save us from needless arguments later, isn’t that a good thing? Otherwise, I’d have to lecture you on manners.”

Antony, taking Zenon’s words at face value, let out a faint snort.

He then brushed off his hands indifferently and changed the subject.

“Honestly, I thought you’d refuse my request to speak privately. Unexpected.”

“You’re not an uncomfortable person to talk to. I saw no reason to avoid you.”

They might have seemed to have no common ground, but Zenon had once spoken with him at close range.

“You’re not talking about that time four years ago, are you?”

“Yes, that’s right. As expected of Emeline’s brother, you’re quick.”

As Zenon replied with a friendly smile, Antony’s brow subtly furrowed.

It must have been right after the Robelque University entrance exam.

Zenon had come to see Emeline, who was being kept at home, and ended up being badly beaten by the Duke.

After the Duke left, Antony had come to the stunned Zenon—disheveled and bleeding from a split lip—and handed him a handkerchief.

“Thank you for that.”

“I didn’t really do anything. If anything, I think I said some harsh things.”

“I remember.”

For someone claiming to remember, Zenon looked entirely unbothered.

That day, Antony Delzeier had said some incredibly cruel things to Zenon.

But they hadn’t been mere insults. He had spelled out exactly why Zenon had been unworthy to stand by Emeline’s side, and why the Duke despised him.

The expression Antony wore as he spoke those words hadn’t been mocking.

He had looked conflicted.

More than that, his eyes had held doubt, and the disarray of someone who had made a mistake and didn’t know how to recover.

Zenon had taken those words to heart, and during his four years abroad, he worked to become someone worthy of Emeline.

Everything he had prepared had addressed what Antony had once pointed out as lacking.

“Anyway, what did you want to talk about today?”

“…It’s nothing much. I just wanted to say I’ve decided to trust you.”

“……”

“As you said earlier, I only ever harshly criticized you back then. But you’ve returned having filled every one of those shortcomings.”

Antony was certain that it was Emeline who had moved Zenon Trancium to act.

This man had done all that—for Emeline alone.

“Since I trust you, I hope you’ll grant her everything she wants.”

“Everything she wants…”

“Emeline’s probably preparing to return to university, isn’t she? Am I right?”

“…Yes.”

When Antony spoke Emeline’s name and mentioned university, Zenon’s smile faded.

Even though there was no longer any need for hostility, the fact remained that Antony had played a large part in crushing Emeline’s dreams once.

Watching Zenon’s response, Antony’s eyes softened.

“The reason I’m not interfering in your relationship now is because you’re the only one who can help her achieve what she wants. So I’m asking you.”

“……”

“And… if possible, don’t make her cry. I know I’m hardly in a position to say this. But if I ever sense she regrets being with you, I won’t hesitate to take her away.”

Emeline had already shed many tears because of Antony and their father.

Even knowing that saying this now wouldn’t mean much, Antony still spoke to the end and rose from his seat.

It was a moment that didn’t feel like the conversation had come to a close.

Surprised by how early he was leaving, Zenon asked in disbelief, “You’re leaving just like that?”

“That was all I had to say.”

“Even if you’re not waiting for my answer… you’re not going to speak with Emeline a bit more?”

“She probably feels more at ease not seeing me. I don’t want to ruin her day any further.”

Antony gave a dry chuckle as he said this with ease. His smile held both regret and a sense of peace.

That peace came from knowing that the person standing before him could safely take care of Emeline.

And from gratitude toward the man who would finally free her from the life he and their father had long suppressed.

With that, Antony quietly left the Trancium mansion.

Zenon watched the man who had come so suddenly now leave just as quietly.

The cat at his side rubbed affectionately against him, as if it remembered him despite the long absence.

***

Back in her room alone, Emeline opened the letter she had received from the maid of the Duke’s household.

‘Father’s handwriting.’

She had expected it, but still looked at it with a reluctant expression.

To send a letter timed so perfectly with Antony’s visit.

Still, Antony didn’t seem to be here for this reason.

‘Brother has already turned against Father to help me. That hasn’t changed now.’

The Duke, still busy with work, wouldn’t have sent a letter on a whim.

No matter how she looked at it, this seemed like a move pre-planned by the Duke, anticipating Antony’s actions.

Emeline ran her fingers over the dry ink of the letter.

‘He must have written this in advance and instructed that maid to follow my brother and deliver it once he went to the mansion.’

Since Antony had just visited, a maid from the Duke’s house would have had no trouble passing through the gates without suspicion.

Though she didn’t understand the purpose, perhaps the Duke was trying to lessen her resistance with Antony’s visit.

‘No sender written. He was clearly determined to make sure I’d read this letter.’

Maybe she shouldn’t have accepted it.

From the start, she had known it was from her father.

Who else could have sent it?

After a moment of deliberation, Emeline began to read the letter sent by the Duke.

She had feared he might lash out or make threats to brand her a disgrace, but to her surprise, the Duke gently inquired after her well-being.

Even stranger, the content felt uncharacteristically unfamiliar for him.

Emeline’s eyes settled heavily on the part that seemed to be the heart of the letter.

[It seems there are many things about you I didn’t know.

Emeline, would you grant me one chance to meet with you?

It appears we’ve had many differences in perspective, but please know that every action I took was for your sake. That has never been a lie.

I understand it will take time for you to open your heart.

The Edelroa Exhibition Hall is said to reopen soon after renovations. When that day comes, would you meet me there?

I want to have a sincere conversation with you.

So I ask this of you, my child.]

After reading to the end, Emeline’s gaze dimmed.

Suddenly, the words Antony had said earlier came back to her.

“Father wants to see you.”

News had already spread in society that Emeline and Zenon were soon to be wed.

Some even believed, as Zenon had intended, that the Duke had given his blessing to the marriage.

In this situation, what could he possibly gain by clinging to his old stance?

‘Maybe Father really is giving up and trying to accept my relationship with Zenon.’

Emeline, her expression conflicted, reread the Duke’s letter and fixated on the place he had mentioned.

When the renovated Edelroa Exhibition Hall reopens.

The Duke, who had once declared he would never allow another accident like before, had been publicizing the renovation process daily in the papers.

Since the renovations were still ongoing, Emeline had some time to think.

She sat loosely on the sofa and began to ponder.