A Summer With Bitter Rivals - Chapter 68

Chapter 68: If Not Lovers, Then What?

Emeline sat idly on the sofa, her gaze lowered in silence.

With her legs crossed and arms folded, she was lost in deep thought. Her furrowed brows were evidence of her intense focus.

After sitting still for a long time, she finally reached out and picked up the teacup resting on the table. A faint scent of peach tea wafted through the air.

Taking a slow sip, Emeline quietly stared at the tea.

‘Why did Lady Fendine say that Zenon can’t eat peaches?’

He likes peaches.

As she mulled over the thought, Emeline gently swirled her teacup. The deep red liquid rippled inside. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she watched.

She couldn’t understand why Labore had stated the opposite of the truth regarding Zenon’s food preferences.

There was no reason for her to do so, and fabricating such a lie seemed unnecessarily troublesome.

Perhaps she simply didn’t know much about Zenon and had spoken carelessly.

‘Or… she might have been talking about someone else entirely.’

Setting down the teacup absentmindedly, Emeline rose from her seat and walked toward her desk.

She opened a drawer and retrieved a diary that had been tucked inside.

The pages contained cherished memories and emotions woven throughout them.

Flipping through, she searched for an entry from four years ago, tracing her fingers along the edges of the pages.

She stopped at a familiar section—the very part she had been looking for.

‘The woman I saw when I went to Zenon Trancium’s house…’

The diary detailed that day’s events, the confusion she had felt, and the desperate denials she had written.

As Emeline reread the words, her memories resurfaced.

The woman who had been with Zenon that day had undoubtedly been Labore Fendine. Her distinctively wavy hair and petite frame, which looked exactly the same as now.

Now convinced it had been Labore, Emeline recalled what had happened next.

When Labore had thrown herself into Zenon’s arms, how had he reacted?

He hadn’t embraced her.

He hadn’t immediately pushed her away, either.

Instead, he had spoken.

After murmuring something to her several times, he eventually pried her off. Not gently, but roughly—almost as if he were irritated.

Piecing together the details, Emeline placed both hands on her desk, her mind racing.

Something felt completely off.

The more she thought about it, the more questions arose about Zenon’s behavior.

“…He was irritated?”

If they were so deeply involved, why would he react that way?

Even when Zenon had been playing with her emotions, he had never once acted like that toward her.

Even in their final moments together, right before he had abandoned her, he had looked at her with eyes full of love.

Perhaps it had all been a façade, but if Labore was truly the only woman Zenon had ever cared for, wouldn’t she have been treated better than Emeline had been?

Moreover, if their relationship was as profound as it seemed, why did Zenon keep flirting with other women? And why did Labore allow it?

Could it be… that they weren’t actually lovers at all?

The thought made Emeline scoff.

‘What am I even doing right now?’

Why was she getting caught up in these thoughts and assumptions? It had been four years—her memories could be distorted.

If they weren’t lovers, then what?

Even if that were true, it wouldn’t change the fact that Zenon had used her.

Besides, if they had been nothing to each other, it wouldn’t explain why Zenon had taken Labore into his house after pushing her away.

Even if he had done so rather harshly—harsh enough that she had nearly stumbled…

Emeline let out a deep sigh and looked down at her diary once more. The entries from that day, filled with repeated denials, made her heart ache anew.

‘Don’t be foolish.’

Even after everything, was she really still chasing after traces of him?

After receiving that cruel letter, Emeline had written back in fury, demanding confirmation of its authenticity. Through her efforts, she had learned that neither her father nor her brother had intervened in the matter.

The letter had been undeniably in Zenon’s handwriting, and his tone was unmistakable.

After that, Zenon had left. And soon after, he had taken a fiancée without hesitation.

There had never been any reason to doubt the wounds he had inflicted.

‘Emeline Delzeier, you’re letting Zenon Trancium consume your thoughts again…’

Closing the diary, she shoved it deep into the drawer as if trying to bury it away.

In an attempt to clear her overwhelmed mind, she pulled a book from the shelf and began to read.

A warm summer breeze stirred her hair.

***

For days, Emeline had been consumed by endless thoughts. Letting out a weary sigh, she stood before the mirror.

Her reflection showed her neatly dressed appearance.

Soon, Mathis would arrive to escort her to the opera.

She hoped she wouldn’t fall asleep from exhaustion while watching the performance.

As she gazed at the mirror with a complicated expression, Mel approached her side.

Hearing the cat’s soft meow, she glanced down to find Mel looking up at her with bright blue eyes.

The sight of Mel instantly washed away her fatigue, bringing a small smile to her lips as she reached down.

But the moment she moved, Mel flinched and immediately backed away a few steps. Then, settling at a distance, the cat sat down and meowed again.

For a brief moment, Emeline had forgotten the nature of this cat, and she let out a chuckle.

“Alright, alright.”

Having spent years with the cat, she now understood the meaning behind those eyes and cries. Mel was asking for a snack.

Emeline shot the cat a glare before obediently handing over a treat.

Truly, it was an amusing creature.

It always ran away when she tried to touch it, yet it never hesitated to demand food.

“Honestly, who do you take after…?”

Muttering under her breath, she suddenly paused and shut her mouth.

Letting out a deep sigh, Emeline checked the time. It was almost time for Mathis to arrive.

Just as she was about to leave, a sharp meow sounded behind her.

Annoyed by the cat’s fickle nature, Emeline turned around with an icy glare—only to see Mel swaying its tail as it rubbed its face against her ankle.

At that, her stern expression melted away.

It was soft and warm. It reminded her of the distant past, of a sunlit library, and the laughter and chatter of a man who had once filled that space.

As if bewitched, she lowered her hand, but Mel, casting her a quick glance, darted away again.

The fleeting moment of sentiment crumbled instantly.

‘That cat…’

Suppressing the strange emotions that had surfaced, Emeline finally left her room.

As she stepped outside, she spotted Mathis waiting at the mansion’s entrance. Seeing her, he approached immediately.

“Thank you for accompanying me to the theater, Mathis.”

“Actually, I had been hoping to watch a performance with you, Miss Emeline. This was a perfect opportunity.”

“You look very handsome today.”

“And you, Miss Emeline, are as beautiful as ever.”

Mathis smiled as he took her gloved hand.

As she looked into his eyes, a strange sense of curiosity struck her.

‘Why is he looking at me like that…?’

His gaze, which had always been cool and formal, held something different today—something softer, more tender.

It was a subtle shift, but she could sense it.

‘Am I imagining it?’

Dismissing the thought as a trick of her mind, Emeline took his hand and stepped into the carriage.

Engaged in quiet conversation, they soon arrived at the opera house.

Emeline looked up at the grand and ornate building before stepping inside with Mathis.

Upon reaching their private box, she settled into her seat and glanced around.

The theater was filled with familiar noble faces, proof that this performance had become quite popular in high society.

With an amused smile, she deliberately leaned slightly closer to Mathis.

As they exchanged casual conversation while waiting for the performance to begin, Emeline’s gaze suddenly sharpened.

Across the theater, at quite a distance, she spotted a head of golden hair that seemed eerily familiar.

The color was one she knew all too well.

A man with strikingly familiar blond hair sat on the opposite side of the theater, far from her.

‘That man…’

However, the dim lighting and distance made it difficult to discern his face clearly.

‘Perhaps I’m mistaken…?’

Emeline had been about to associate him with Zenon Trancium but shook off the thought.

Why was she thinking of him again?

Even if it truly was Zenon, he was likely here with his fiancée. He might have even forced himself to endure a performance he typically disliked for her sake.

Perhaps he had simply disliked going to the theater with Emeline specifically, not performances in general.

Perhaps he had actually enjoyed them all along.

Stealing one last glance in that direction, Emeline then fully turned her attention away.

Soon, the performance began. Having been exposed to various forms of art since childhood under her father’s guidance, she naturally became engrossed in the play.

During her adolescence, she had found this forced exposure to the arts suffocating.

The Duke of Delzeier had made her watch countless performances, always demanding a detailed review afterward.

His required analysis was never short, forcing her to memorize every scene and nuance.

At times, the pressure had made her feel nauseous even while sitting in the theater.

‘It’s been a long time since I last attended a performance… It seems fine now.’

Eventually, the play reached its climax, and as the curtain fell, Emeline joined the audience in applause.

After the final bow, she turned to Mathis and spoke, “It was truly an impressive performance. What did you think?”

“I was fully engaged. If there’s nothing else left to see, shall we take our leave?”

“Yes, that sounds good.”

They left the theater together, casually discussing whether to take a stroll in the park before heading home.

However, just as they stepped outside the opera house, they unexpectedly stopped beneath the building’s canopy.