A Summer With Bitter Rivals - Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Because I Promised You

Emeline’s blue eyes were filled with confusion and shock, shaking violently. She could still vividly recall the shock of first seeing Bellina, the mistress of the marquis.

From a young age, her father had taught her that keeping a mistress was a shameless, old-fashioned, and base act. He had always said that if an illegitimate child were born from such a relationship, it would remain an indelible stain on one’s life. Because of this, Emeline had engraved in her beliefs that mistresses were lowly beings.

But now… A mistress? And of all people, the one belonging to the marquis her father always criticized as vulgar?

As Emeline stood there, her gaze wandering aimlessly in shock, the voices of the maids pierced her ears again.

“I doubt he didn’t know things would turn out like this…”

“Sandy, don’t jump to conclusions. I don’t want to say this while working here, but nobles who seem so refined and spotless often have surprisingly dirty personal lives. The more they have, the greedier they become.”

“Benica, you shouldn’t say things like that.”

“I know, but you seem unaware of how nobles truly are… Let’s drop this conversation.”

“Yes, we should keep our mouths shut… Even though we’re speaking among ourselves now, if the young lady hears or if this gets out, we’re as good as dead.”

The conversation ended with a sigh from the maids. Emeline, holding onto the railing, couldn’t move for a while.

Then, suddenly, a question came to her mind.

What about Zenon?

Emeline thought about it seriously for a moment. He couldn’t have failed to recognize the voice of Bellina, which had seemed so familiar during that situation.

Just as she was about to delve deeper into her thoughts, a voice called out to her from behind.

“Oh, miss?”

A servant who had spotted Emeline called to her. The maids cleaning the upstairs staircase were startled and turned their eyes toward the source of the voice.

“When did you arrive? Milton, who was accompanying you, already returned, and I was curious about it, but it seems you came home early.”

“…I just got back. I’d like to rest, so please prepare a bath.”

Worried that the maids she had overheard might get into trouble, Emeline feigned ignorance.

“Yes, right away, miss.”

Emeline nodded and continued up the stairs, reaching the landing on the second floor. Though she felt the maids’ gaze following her, she maintained a calm face and walked steadily down the corridor.

***

After her bath, Emeline received a letter from one of the servants just before dinner.

The thought of seeing her father at the upcoming meal left her feeling utterly bleak, and she skimmed over the letter indifferently.

Then her eyes paused.

‘A letter from my brother?’

Emeline’s eyes narrowed slightly. She wasn’t particularly close with her brother, and they didn’t usually exchange letters.

He had achieved what Emeline desperately desired without facing any hardships, making him one of the most difficult people for her to deal with.

Feeling puzzled, Emeline opened the letter.

[Hello, my dear sister. I’ll be coming home soon, and I have some interesting news to share. I hope you stay well until then.]

…What?

After reading the brief letter, Emeline was left speechless.

Interesting news? What was that supposed to mean?

The timing of the letter couldn’t have been worse. Emeline was in no mood for such trivialities right now.

She looked at the letter again. It seemed to have been sent with a specific intent, but she couldn’t figure out what that might be.

In the end, she placed the letter carelessly at the edge of her table and left the room.

It was time for dinner. Time to meet her father.

With heavy steps, she made her way to the dining room, where she saw the duke had already arrived.

“Did you have a pleasant day, Father?”

Feigning composure, Emeline greeted him while studying his expression.

Instead of responding, he nodded with a serious face, which didn’t look very good. Now that she knew what had happened, she could tell why.

“Let’s begin.”

“Yes. Thank you for the meal.”

As Bernard began eating, Emeline followed suit, moving her cutlery.

The quiet meal proceeded for a while until Emeline found an opening and spoke.

“Father, during my outing today, I happened to hear something. I heard that the marquis withdrew from the business venture he was working on with you.”

Suppressing her tension, Emeline spoke calmly while watching her father’s expression. Sure enough, his frown deepened.

“Things turned out that way. It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with.”

“I see. So it wasn’t such a big deal.”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

Despite his words, Bernard’s expression grew increasingly grim. Seeing her father’s unwillingness to tell her anything, Emeline felt a surge of anger welling up again.

She gripped the knife in her hand more tightly and spoke, “Oh, there’s something else I heard… It’s ridiculous, but they say that the marquis’s mistress is somehow involved in all this. People are saying that someone in our household did something indecent with her, which led the marquis to abandon the business…”

Stopping her words, Emeline looked directly at her father. As their eyes met, Bernard’s expression changed, his face growing thunderously fierce.

The next moment, he roared, “Where did you hear such nonsense, and why would you repeat it?!”

Emeline flinched, staring at him. Bernard’s face flushed red, as if he had suffered an unbearable humiliation.

“Do you mean to say that my carefully built tower collapsed over something so trivial? How dare you mention rumors that disgrace our family?!”

As his rant continued, Emeline hurriedly tried to end the conversation. “I’m sorry, Father. I wasn’t thinking. I knew from the start that such rumors were baseless.”

It wasn’t someone in the household who did anything with the marquis’s mistress. It was you.

Lowering her head in apology, Emeline clenched her teeth tightly.

It was a lie that didn’t work on Emeline, who had seen his adultery firsthand.

It was clearly her father she had seen there, and now she knew that the voice she had heard belonged to the marquis’s mistress.

“In repentance, I will do whatever I can to help, Father.”

Emeline blinked her eyes, feigning innocence, but Bernard turned his head away as if displeased.

“There’s no need. What could you possibly do? If you understand your mistake, never bring it up again. It’s all the marquis’s scheme to discredit our family. Falling for that vile man’s tricks is the worst disgrace you could bring to us.”

Bernard’s harsh words were laced with deep resentment toward the marquis. As Emeline had expected, the feud between the families had deepened.

“I will remember that, Father.”

“…I’ll be very busy for a while, so you’ll have to eat alone from now on.”

“Yes.”

Emeline answered calmly and resumed eating, trying to suppress the burning anger inside her.

‘You are truly selfish.’

She had never found her father so despicable before.

The way he shamelessly acted as though he were ignorant of his own wrongdoing, and the way he treated her as though she were worthless during all of this.

Emeline swallowed dry saliva and continued eating silently.

***

“Haa…”

As soon as she returned to her room after dinner, Emeline let out a sigh.

“I will remember that.”

The fact that she could only respond like a doll to her father in this situation made her despise herself. The frustration even made her feel as if something were stuck in her throat.

After leaning against her door for a long time, her head hanging low, Emeline finally moved.

With heavy steps, she walked to her desk, pulled out her chair, and took out a book she had hidden in the back of the drawer.

It was a textbook for her university entrance exam preparation.

She opened the book with a hardened heart. Studying in secret was the only thing she could do now.

Part of her wanted to expose her father’s affair and make him reflect on his actions, but… Emeline feared all the countless things that would follow.

Her mother, whom she visited with her father every week.

She feared that if her mother found out about her father’s infidelity, the shock would worsen her condition.

She was still in the process of recovering, and whenever Emeline and her father visited, her mother would smile brightly, overjoyed as if she had been waiting for that moment.

She couldn’t hurt someone precious to her just to treat her own wounds.

Closing her eyes tightly, Emeline let out a long sigh and looked at her textbook. She then forced her hand, which had been frozen, to pick up her pen.

Even if it was all she could do…

Though it was pitiful that the only thing she could do was study, unrelated to this entire situation.

If there was nothing she could do about the situation at hand, then Emeline would do what lay right in front of her.

Being in shock, doing nothing, waiting for some change—that would be a foolish thing to do.

‘Get it together, Emeline. The exam is soon. If I become a better person, maybe… something will change.’

The power to protect those dear to her. The strength to punish those who have done wrong. The confidence to assert her own will. Perhaps she would have all those things then.

Trying to gather her resolve, Emeline clenched her pen tightly, forcing her pale hand to move.

Even if her handwriting trembled and looked messy, she kept writing, kept going.

Because I promised you. Even in this miserable situation, I need to keep going.

‘Zenon, whether you knew about my father’s affair or not—I need to talk to you about it directly.’

There was no point in making assumptions.

Finally, Emeline drove out all distractions and focused solely on studying.

To meet him without losing her composure. To become a better person capable of resolving this one day.

And to keep her promise to Zenon.