A Summer With Bitter Rivals - Chapter 96

Chapter 96: I’ll Protect You

A ticklish yet tender whisper brushed against a corner of Emeline’s chest. It was just a fleeting sound, but its resonance lingered.

“I missed you too.”

Though they’d seen each other a few times since reuniting after four years, it finally felt like they were truly face-to-face.

Perhaps because the misunderstandings surrounding them had cleared, it was only now that she could confront him properly.

Emeline stretched out her arms and gently embraced Zenon. The familiar warmth, like a past summer, filled her arms, and her heart swelled with emotion.

Zenon’s large hand covered and stroked the crown of her head. The scent of roses and a faint trace of cigars from his body tickled her nose.

“How did you get here so quickly? I read in the papers that you were busy.”

“There’s nothing more important than coming to see you.”

Earlier, Emeline had asked Benica to send Zenon a letter.

That she would be in Hilbert for a while, and if he had time, she hoped he’d come.

Only three days had passed since she sent that letter, and he had already come to find her.

“Honestly, I wanted to come as soon as I got your letter, but there was so much work. Still, I should’ve come earlier…”

Zenon pulled away from her embrace and looked down at Emeline from an arm’s length away.

She was reflected in his crescent-shaped green eyes.

Eyes filled with deep affection. Eyes overflowing with unbearable happiness.

Facing those eyes, now grown from a boy’s to a young man’s, Emeline recalled the summer four years ago.

“Nothing out of the ordinary happened?”

“…A lot happened. That letter we received four years ago… it seems my father manipulated things to keep us apart.”

Those letters had hurt them and driven them so far apart.

As if he had already guessed, Zenon looked at her with calm, sunken eyes.

Emeline continued, “Honestly, even at the time, I knew you wouldn’t say something like that…”

Coincidentally, before all that, she had gone to see Zenon and saw him with another woman.

That incident, combined with the cryptic letter he sent, had caused an overwhelming ripple.

“That woman, was she Miss Labore Fendine?”

Zenon furrowed his brows slightly as if he couldn’t quite remember, then something came to him.

“Ah… I think so. Before we lost contact, Labore came to our house once.”

“Why did Miss Fendine visit you that day?”

“By now… you know, right? Labore and my brother were in a relationship. It was the same back then. She showed up drunk that day. She was looking for Allen but mistook me for him.”

“Now that I think about it, Miss Fendine mentioned you during one of our gatherings. Said she’d been seeing you for five years. That must’ve been about Lord Allen, not you.”

“Right. That’s around when the two of them started seeing each other. Though I doubt they’re on good terms anymore.”

Zenon spoke with a hint of vindication. He must’ve endured quite a bit himself.

A fiancée who appeared out of nowhere was his brother’s lover, kept seeing Zenon as if he didn’t exist, and to make matters worse, Allen’s side was desperate to ruin Zenon, who was a threat to the inheritance.

Recalling the misdeeds of Allen Trancium and Labore Fendine, Emeline frowned.

“No wonder it was strange. She said you couldn’t eat peaches, such nonsense. The Zenon Trancium I know would eat them nonstop if they were available.”

“I’m honored you remembered.”

At Zenon’s broad grin, Emeline relaxed her frown.

“…I asked Mathis for a breakup. I think he’ll agree.”

“Lord Renier seemed to like you.”

“But would he give up everything for me like you would?”

Mathis was the kind of man who would rather let go of Emeline than lose all he had. To him, there were things more precious than her.

Zenon, on the other hand, was a man who could give up everything for Emeline.

Everything he had, he had achieved for her. Without Emeline, none of it meant anything.

She didn’t know what or how much he had. But Zenon Trancium—if he owned an entire country, he’d still throw it all away for her.

“You’re right,” Zenon admitted readily with a smile.

Emeline looked at him and murmured quietly, “Honestly… both asking for a breakup and running away were impulsive acts done without my father’s permission.”

Back then, she had acted boldly, but as she reconsidered what she’d done, Emeline began to fear more and more what her father might do.

“What if this makes us part ways for good again…”

Even though she knew the circumstances now were vastly different from before, she couldn’t help the instinctive fear.

Because she had lost so much because of it.

She didn’t want to be separated again.

“Don’t worry. This time, I’ll protect you.”

Zenon’s hand, which had been gently stroking Emeline’s hair all along, came to a stop.

His green eyes, now much more serious, looked into her. Those eyes that always gave her unwavering trust and courage.

“You only live once. You should live the way you want. As long as you don’t ruin your life, I think it’s okay to do what makes you happy. I’m already living that way, and I’m satisfied.”

“……”

“I’ll protect you. Your dream is my dream too.”

Emeline, who had been staring blankly as he spoke, slowly relaxed her expression. At last, a radiant smile crept to her eyes.

Is that so?

Maybe the reason he had come so close to her was because her dream had become his as well.

Because he knew her better than anyone—her heart that longed for change and freedom.

What I’ve killed within myself, you’ve cherished so dearly.

His existence was so precious that Emeline’s smiling eyes began to blur with tears.

The only one who thought about and comforted her dream—one no one else protected.

Maybe from the beginning, a life without him had never made sense.

“Thank you.”

Emeline reached out and caressed Zenon’s cheek.

As his soft warmth covered her palm with the summer breeze, she felt a rush of indescribable emotion.

“Zenon, how long are you staying in Hilbert?”

“Honestly, I came here in a rush… I have a lot of work, so I think I’ll only be able to stay a few days.”

“Then come meet me tomorrow night. Hilbert has such beautiful scenery that they run a small tourist ferry across the sea in the evening. I want to go with you.”

“Alright, I’ll come.”

Zenon also broke into a bright smile. Behind him, the shimmering light of the sunset stretched endlessly, as if it would go on forever.

Four years ago, when he said they were fated, Emeline might have brushed it off—but now, she truly believed it.

This special feeling he gave her, this conviction that made her want to trust and rely on him completely—it had convinced her.

“Could you be happy without me?”

Maybe, even in the midst of his uncertainty that day, he asked because he already knew her answer.

In the end, Emeline couldn’t live without him either.

***

After meeting Zenon, Emeline returned to the villa in Hilbert and looked for her mother’s room.

‘Mother always said she hoped I’d marry someone I love.’

Because she had always been frail, Lillie Delzeier had rarely been allowed to go out, and she had longed for special love and romance.

‘I want to tell Mother about Zenon. I know she’ll understand.’

With that hope, Emeline headed to Lillie’s bedroom.

But the person she encountered was unexpected.

Her mother was nowhere to be seen—only her grandmother, Marcella, was seated in the chair by the bed.

“Oh… hello, Grandmother. I came to see Mother… is she out?”

“She went for a short walk. Normally, I would’ve gone with her, but today I felt like resting, so I let her go alone.”

“I see…”

“Come and sit down. I think she’ll be back soon if we wait a bit.”

“Yes, Grandmother.”

Emeline smiled and took a seat across from her without hesitation. The cushion of the soft wingchair gently wrapped around her skirt, scented faintly with the sea breeze.

Marcella gazed at her face for a while with a kind smile, then asked gently, “So, did you have a nice outing? From the looks of it, you met someone special… coming all the way here and all.”

“Yes.”

“The young heir of the Marquis of Trancium, yes? I didn’t expect you two would be seeing each other. Our families aren’t exactly on good terms.”

At Marcella’s quiet and smiling remark, Emeline stiffened for a moment.

‘I did tell the villa caretaker I was going out… but did I mention who I was going to meet?’