Chapter 008
“Evgenia, you’re strange. Even more so since the Name manifested…!”
SMACK!
This time, the fan hit Raimund’s lips, which were shouting recklessly.
“Shut your mouth! How dare you block my way.”
Raimund’s expression crumbled further at Evgenia’s low growl.
“…Why are you really like this? How can a person change so much? You said you loved me. You said you desperately craved a single glance from me, enough to die for!”
That was Evgenia’s repertoire of love confessions she had spouted endlessly in the past.
One had to wonder whether Evgenia was amazing for openly proclaiming such things, or if Raimund was amazing for memorizing them.
Of course, either way, it was the worst possible thing for the current Evgenia.
She scowled sharply and let out a sarcastic laugh.
“Yes, I did. But I’m not so stupid as to hand over my family’s estate to the bastard son of a stranger. Thanks to that, that ‘love’ or whatever it was, was neatly resolved.”
“…What? Just over something like that, your love died?”
“That’s truly absurd. Anyone would think we were ardent lovers, huh? What if my love hadn’t died? Are you suggesting I should slap Lady Ael across the face right now?”
Her voice was filled with utter disbelief.
It was only natural that she couldn’t hide such feelings, as she found it preposterous even as she said it herself.
The presence of Stella, who was standing right next to him, staring only at Raimund like a puppy caught in the rain, was starting to become pitiful.
‘Honestly, how can I be so kind? They are both cheating bastards, yet…’
She shook her head at Raimund, who couldn’t offer an answer easily.
Just as she was about to command the servants with a slight nod of her chin to escort him out, an unbelievable reply came back.
“…Yes.”
“No, this guy is truly, utterly insane.”
“…What did you say?”
“You were promoting yourselves as a loving couple with your entire bodies just ten minutes ago, you lunatic. As someone who has watched you since I was five, I advise you to start by becoming a human first.”
“…”
“You beast, less than an animal.”
After uttering the last words, she felt completely relieved.
With a brief nod of her chin, the polite hands of the servants guided Raimund away.
Perhaps because he was a well-bred young man, or perhaps because the person who insulted him was Evgenia.
Raimund was led out quietly, despite having spouted such madness just moments before.
Stella’s retreating figure, hesitating as she looked back and forth between the dazzling banquet hall and Raimund before exiting the venue, looked far too pathetic to be a heroine.
“Tsk…”
Evgenia frowned slightly and clicked her tongue loudly without realizing it.
The atmosphere instantly turned icy, and not even the sound of a shoe could be heard.
Noticing the change, Evgenia turned back towards the nobles with an artificial smile.
“Now, everyone. We’ve chased out the drunkard, so let’s resume the banquet. First… I think the music should be playing.”
A small wink and a single word.
That was all it took for Evgenia to fill the banquet hall with music again.
She had always been infinitely small in the face of so-called love.
But after shattering the insignificant illusion, this crystal-clear reality unfolded before her.
A place where everyone dared not lift their eyes in her presence, and lacked the courage to even speak to her.
This was the position held by the one and only Duchess of the Atrox Empire.
Evgenia smiled sweetly, curving her eyes.
“Shall we dance, everyone?”
* * *
After the enjoyable(?) banquet ended, Evgenia leaned her slightly flushed cheek against the carriage and closed her eyes.
As she slowly retraced the day, her soft expression suddenly contorted.
‘Raimund, that piece of trash. If I marry this kind of bastard, my mother will surely cry bitterly in heaven.’
Goodness, the man who used to call her devotion disgusting and repulsive when she declared her love, now asked, ‘How could your love die?’
Standing next to the lover who he openly declared he was having an affair with, she couldn’t understand what kind of thought process led to the nonsensical suggestion that she should rather slap his lover’s face.
‘…No, it’s natural that I don’t understand. He’s a lunatic, and I’m not.’
If she had to stick with someone, wouldn’t a madman be better than a lunatic?
Knox might be a madman who recklessly demands her body, but as long as she knew his weakness, rational conversation might be possible.
“Since we’ve already shown our cards, it might work even better if I pretend to be sincere.”
* * *
Was it thanks to having already visited Knox’s office once in a short period?
It seemed her entry to this place was now considered commonplace.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have let her into a room without the owner present.
“Isn’t the security too lax? What if important documents get stolen…”
“Why, are you planning to steal?”
“Ack, you startled me!”
Goosebumps instantly erupted from her neck at the sudden breath against her ear.
The sensation of the low voice burrowing into her ear was something she could never get used to.
Evgenia hastily covered her ear and spun around.
“Knox, when did you come in?”
“Just now. Since I still have only one client, they called me right away.”
“…Hmm?”
Something felt off.
In the original story, there was always a scene where Stella grumbled to Knox about being too busy with too many clients every time she requested a job.
So, she hadn’t thought there would be any major issues meeting him a little earlier than Stella…
“Am I perhaps your very first client…?”
“Oh. I’m hurt that you didn’t know that.”
Knox, whose eyes curved round as if he had caught her out, exaggeratedly drooped his eyebrows.
Thinking and moving with such calculation in every small action wasn’t cute; it was merely chilling.
“To think I was the only one who thought our relationship was special… You came to me the day after I decided to consider taking on a commission from you, and I even thought we might be destined.”
“N-Nonsense. It’s just a coincidence.”
“Well, whether it’s destiny or coincidence, we’ll find out eventually…”
The dark green eyes revealed between his sweetly curved eyelids shone dimly.
Knox was definitely smiling, but he couldn’t hide the coldness in his eyes.
‘Ha, no wonder. I thought he was too cooperative from the start.’
He had been suspicious of her ever since Evgenia first came here.
And she had revealed her trump card—that she knew his weakness—right in front of him…
Evgenia swallowed a sigh and pressed her throbbing forehead.
Just then, a cold touch reached her neck.
“Hick…! W-What is it?!”
“Quite sensitive, aren’t you? I just lightly poked you. Like a joke.”
“It’s because you suddenly touched me, it’s not sensitivity…”
“Is that so?”
Sliding—
The tip of his fingernail, which had lightly touched her neck, painlessly scratched from her chin down to her collarbone.
Was it because she couldn’t see how his hand was moving?
The touch lingering around her neck felt excessively sensitive.
She instinctively hunched her neck and subtly moved forward.
However, Knox’s hand ignored her intention and followed right along.
“Why do you keep touching me…”
“Hmm? Isn’t this what you came to me for? I thought I made myself clear in our last meeting.”
“…Ugh.”
Stung by the accuracy of his statement, she was at a loss for words.
But she still couldn’t grasp what this… act had to do with erasing a Name.
Perhaps it was to mask the extreme pain that came with erasing a Name with heightened pleasure, or simply that this man was a sexually deranged lunatic.
In this situation, where she couldn’t predict what was coming, Evgenia knew only one thing.
‘The only lifeline that will break my engagement is Knox, or, to be precise, his ability.’
She squeezed her eyes shut, firmed her resolve, and grasped Knox’s hand.
“Knox, no, Yulhan Atrox.”
“…Usually, a woman calling a man by his full name in this kind of atmosphere means something has gone very wrong.”
She put more force into her grip on Knox, who was smoothly trying to evade the situation.
It was a level of strength that could easily push him away, yet her hand didn’t move easily for some reason.
Biting her lower lip, she hesitated for a long time, then spoke in a trembling voice.
“Please, just help me this once.”
“…”
“I’ll do whatever you want, so please…”
These were words that would never come from an arrogant noble, especially one from a high-ranking house like the Martyre Dukedom.
It meant Evgenia was cornered, and it was as good as exposing her true feelings.
Evgenia tightly held Knox’s frozen hand with both of hers and cautiously looked up at him.
“My fiancé has someone he loves.”
“…”
“And I can no longer bear that fact. So…”
“So, the Duchess is giving up?”
At his skeptical voice, she nodded vigorously.
“Because I can no longer bear the thought of the person he loves being unhappy right beside me…”
She didn’t forget to slightly angle her head to show him her trembling eyelashes.
It felt as if Knox’s demeanor softened slightly.
“…You mean you want to erase the ‘Name’ just because you want to protect your fiancé’s happiness?”
Otherwise, this question wouldn’t have even come up.
Evgenia forced down the corner of her mouth, which was trying to creep up, and nodded weakly.
When you lie, do it with maximum effort.
That was one of the pieces of practical knowledge taught to her by her father, who was famous as a cunning politician.
And Evgenia was a good student who quickly internalized lessons.
“If I continue like this, I might do something truly terrible, driven mad by jealousy. Of course, what I’ve done so far isn’t exactly mild… but I feel like I’ll truly become a monster. It’s better to cut it off myself before that happens.”
“…”
“That is the path for everyone’s sake.”
