A Summer With Bitter Rivals - Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Wasn’t Stood Up?

Emeline couldn’t say a word as she looked at him for a long moment.

She doubted what was in front of her eyes was real.

Because she had recently dreamed of Zenon Trancium, she wondered if this might just be another dream.

No matter how she thought about it, it didn’t make sense for him to be standing in front of the Delzeier mansion.

She finally snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the voice of a mansion guard standing by the back gate.

“Miss? Who is that gentleman…?”

Startled, Emeline’s narrowed eyes regained their focus. After staring at Zenon for a moment, she replied:

“…No one.”

“Pardon?”

The guard asked again in a confused tone.

He was new to the mansion and seemed unfamiliar with Emeline’s past or who Zenon Trancium was. Seeing the perplexed look on his face confirmed it.

Though Zenon often caused scandals and appeared in gossip columns, his face was rarely revealed, thanks to the intentionally vague and scathing nature of the articles.

Emeline turned back to the guard with her usual serene smile. “Just as I said. It’s nothing. Pretend you didn’t see anything.”

“Ah, yes…”

The guard stammered an awkward response before dutifully turning his head away, as if to follow her order.

Emeline straightened her slightly turned body and stared at Zenon again. The polite smile she had shown the guard was now gone.

‘Shouldn’t he be attending the opera with his fiancée by now? Why is he here?’

That wasn’t the only question on her mind.

The last time we met, I slapped him across the face. How could he possibly think to show up in front of me again?

Had he been hit on the head or something?

Her gaze unconsciously shifted to his slightly damp hair. Sweat trickled from his forehead, catching the sunlight and glistening.

Following the trail of her gaze, Emeline’s brows furrowed.

Now that she looked closer, Zenon’s face seemed slightly flushed, as if he were overheated.

Noticing her scrutiny, Zenon brushed back his damp hair with one hand. His hand continued to move to the back of his neck, where it stopped, as if he were feeling awkward.

Since Emeline said nothing, Zenon spoke again.

“I’ve been waiting since morning… I thought you’d come out in the afternoon, but you didn’t show up until sunset.”

The sweat pooling on his forehead and his flushed cheeks were all evidence of his wait since morning.

If he had asked a servant to announce him, they could have met earlier, but he wasn’t in a position to do that.

Emeline narrowed her eyes. There were far too many parts of his story that she couldn’t accept.

“Lord Trancium, do you even know where you are, coming here and waiting for me?”

Zenon let out a short laugh, almost like a deflating sigh.

Perhaps due to the heat, his laughter sounded weak and carried a peculiar undertone of displeasure.

“You’re using honorifics and formal speech again?”

“Look, don’t you realize how much trouble you’re causing me by behaving like this?”

Ignoring his reaction, Emeline spoke sharply, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

Could he be doing this on purpose?

At the shipboard party, he had kissed her recklessly without considering who might be watching.

Maybe what Zenon Trancium really wanted was to put her in an uncomfortable situation.

Perhaps this time, he had come openly to fabricate another scandal involving them.

Sensing her suspicions, Zenon frowned as if he found the notion absurd.

“I specifically waited in a spot where no one would notice.”

He glanced toward a tree off to the side. Following his gaze, Emeline saw the secluded tree and scoffed.

“And so? Don’t you think the real issue is that you came looking for me at all?”

“Let’s talk.”

“What do you mean, talk? Didn’t your letter already say everything you needed to say?”

You didn’t even bother to reply to my letters, no matter how much I pleaded. Do you have any idea how much I begged? To someone like you.

Suppressing her bitterness, Emeline steeled herself and spoke harshly to stop him from doing something foolish again.

“Does your fiancée know you’re casually showing up in front of another woman’s house like this?”

“……”

“Does she know you’re the kind of person who clings to someone who doesn’t want you and acts so recklessly?”

Zenon said nothing.

Emeline glared at him with resentment and anger. She wanted to slap him again, but causing a commotion that would draw the guard’s attention was out of the question.

After a moment of silence, Zenon finally spoke in a low voice.

“Alright, so that’s how it’s going to be,” Zenon said, a crooked smile forming on his lips.

Emeline found her gaze caught by his smile for a fleeting moment. Even after four years, the familiarity of that expression made her heart drop.

Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Zenon stepped closer. His hand reached for a lock of hair that had slipped over Emeline’s shoulder, lifting it gently.

Like a memory tethering her to the past, Emeline could do nothing but watch his actions.

He seemed a little taller than before. His hair was shorter than she remembered, as though he’d recently had it cut.

But his eyes were the same color. The same summer-green hue and the heat radiating from his presence remained unchanged.

Leaning down slightly, Zenon pressed his lips to her hair.

As the distance between them lessened, their eye levels grew closer, creating an oddly intimate moment.

Zenon whispered as if revealing a secret, “My fiancée doesn’t know… just like your fiancé doesn’t know anything either.”

His eyes glimmered with amusement, but the sparkle in his green eyes dimmed as he closed them slowly.

Holding the lock of black hair in his hand, he stroked it gently, inhaling deeply as if savoring her scent. The intimate gesture made Emeline’s face flush crimson.

When he reopened his eyes, they locked with hers again. His gaze was now filled with a blazing desire even hotter than before.

“You look beautiful today. Not that there’s ever been a time you weren’t, since you’re exactly my type…”

Emeline’s dazed expression began to shift into one of shock. Regaining her composure, she forcefully pushed Zenon away.

He only stumbled back two steps.

Fuming, Emeline glared at him incredulously. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“You started this, so I’m not about to stay idle.”

Emeline couldn’t make sense of his words.

Started it? He was the one who’d behaved so cruelly from the start.

Zenon Trancium was the one who toyed with her, wasn’t he?

But as Zenon continued speaking, Emeline’s eyebrows twitched in surprise.

“You have no idea why I’m acting this way after four years, do you? I can see it in your eyes.”

“…No, I don’t. Should I? We’ve been nothing but strangers for years.”

Zenon smirked at her answer, as if he had anticipated it. His smile carried a trace of bitterness.

His demeanor shifted, and with a serious and cold expression, he spoke in a low tone, “You should know, Emeline Delzeier. I’m going to break your engagement. That’s why I’ve come.”

“What did you just say? What are you even talking about…”

Emeline couldn’t believe what she was hearing. For a moment, her words caught in her throat.

Zenon, maintaining his icy expression, continued without a hint of humor, “Lady Delzeier, we may still be rivals tied by our families, but let me make one thing clear. We’re no longer the naive children of that summer.”

His tone sounded like a mix of a warning and advice.

Emeline, whose gaze had been faltering, suddenly let out a derisive laugh.

He was clearly out of his mind.

“Stop talking nonsense. It’s disgusting.”

Did he think she would fall for his manipulations again?

Frowning deeply, Emeline glared at Zenon before turning on her heel. There was no point in engaging with him any longer.

The sound of her heels striking the ground echoed several times before a voice stopped her in her tracks.

“See you again.”

She paused briefly, scoffing under her breath, before disappearing inside the gate.

What was his scheme this time, showing up again after abandoning her and now spouting such insolence?

How many others had he treated this way?

‘…Don’t live like that, Zenon Trancium.’

Emeline gritted her teeth silently. Her mood was thoroughly ruined once more.

Whether it was years ago or now, Zenon Trancium always managed to disrupt her peace—that man alone.

***

The fresh morning breeze brushed against her skin.

Sitting by the window, Emeline was being groomed while reading the morning paper.

The fragrant scent of freshly brewed tea filled the air around the small table.

But as she turned a page of the newspaper, her hand suddenly froze.

Her gaze narrowed as she read a particular section.

“Lady Fendine… wasn’t stood up?”

She murmured in a questioning tone, her eyes fixed on the photo accompanying the article.

The image showed Zenon and his fiancée, Lady Fendine, enjoying the opera the previous day. The picture, seemingly taken discreetly, was slightly out of focus.

As expected of a man constantly embroiled in scandals, Zenon’s name frequently appeared in gossip columns.

Emeline’s brows furrowed as she skimmed the article and its distasteful headline: “A Romantic Date.”

The report detailed the event—11th, yesterday, 5 p.m., at the Elvarto Opera House.

Noticing the timing and location, Emeline’s mind traced back to her own encounter with Zenon.

Around the same time, just outside her mansion’s gate.

Staring again at the blurry image, she saw the man’s broad figure, the woman clinging to him, and his shining golden hair beneath a fedora.

Something felt off.

The timing aligned too closely.

When exactly had she encountered Zenon Trancium outside her home? It must have been right around then.