Chapter 20
“Did you investigate me? Have you decided to forget all the manners of a noble lady?”
His voice rose as much as his flushed face. The contents of the paper were written based on past memories and things Rian and Bessie had told her. So there were bound to be inaccuracies—but Cedric didn’t even notice.
Well, he had committed that many sins.
The more he raged, the more attention they drew. But the moment people recognized Cedric, they began leaving one by one. Some even went out of their way to avoid him, circling around and heading down the stairs.
“It looks like things will be easier to sort out now.”
“Did you know there’s a bet going around the club about when Duke Gotri will abandon you? So face reality. Get a grip.”
The one who needed to get a grip was you, Cedric.
Illyana, idly touching her teacup, tapped the table lightly with her long, pale fingers. She glanced toward the stairs. It seemed no more guests were coming—the sound of footsteps had completely disappeared.
“Oh, are you upset? Then make one yourself. I’ll overlook that much.”
Cedric showed no sign of calming down. Instead, he waved the paper as if to show it off—then suddenly tore it to shreds. In an instant, the pieces scattered like white dust. One of them fell into Illyana’s teacup.
“Well, that’s ruined.”
Tilting the cup slightly and rolling it around, the floating scrap soon sank to the bottom. She set the cup aside and lifted her head. Cedric’s furious eyes were glaring at her.
“Right. Where were we?”
“I’ve had enough.”
Unable to endure any longer, Cedric shot to his feet at Illyana’s indifferent tone.
He didn’t even consider that they were in a crowded restaurant. His mind was filled with only one thing—breaking Illyana’s arrogance.
Glaring at her with burning eyes, Cedric raised his hand without hesitation. Neither his father’s sharp words nor his mother’s reproachful gaze could stop him. Just as he reached to grab Illyana’s wrist—
“A mistress? Did we get that far? Well, what should I do? I’m already too annoyed to deal with anything, so I have no intention of making something like that.”
The moment his fingers brushed her, Illyana frowned and pulled her arm away. His hand, which had been about to seize her wrist, cut through empty air and fell pathetically beneath the table.
Above the darkened shadows, clouds gathered in the sky. The sunlight that had briefly shone vanished, replaced by thick gray clouds that made it look like rain could fall at any moment.
So it does sting, doesn’t it?
With a faint, mocking smile, Illyana shook her head lightly. Being ignored—and even mocked—made Cedric’s face twist horribly.
“You damn—!”
The curse slipped out, but he stopped himself midway, regaining some sense. Illyana ignored him again and pushed the documents and receipt toward him.
“Don’t bother wasting your energy. I have plenty more documents.”
“You think a piece of paper like this will protect you?”
Cedric slammed the paper aside, raising his voice. The moment Illyana revealed the receipt, he realized—things had already gone beyond his control. But no matter what, this broken engagement had to be Illyana’s fault. How she found out about him and Bella didn’t matter.
The capital was always full of rumors. And who knew what Rian might have whispered to that naive, foolish girl?
‘Damn Rian.’
Thinking of him, who always got in his way, made his blood boil. He must have manipulated Illyana into breaking the engagement. And now, knowing about Bella, she was being used without even realizing it.
“I’ve done my best for you all this time. No matter what people said after the banquet, I endured it all. But it’s not like we were passionately in love. Don’t you think it’s ridiculous to act like you’ve been betrayed?”
Illyana couldn’t agree.
No passionate love? No.
She had loved him. Even when she suspected he wasn’t the owner of the handkerchief, she tried to find reasons to keep loving him. She convinced herself that she loved him not because of memories, but simply because he was himself.
The more she did, the more she tried to give him everything he wanted. Even when her father mistreated her, she constantly met people to help Cedric gain recognition among the nobles of the capital. She spent all her allowance on gifts for him without a single complaint.
And that wasn’t love?
Now, she didn’t know anymore. She didn’t even want to think about what love was.
What she wanted now was something else entirely.
The moment her head was cut off—she wanted to crush every single person who had mocked her.
That was her reason for living.
So she didn’t have time to waste on something as trivial as a broken engagement. The sun had almost completely disappeared, swallowed by dark clouds. She needed to finish this before it rained.
The whipped cream on the cake slid down onto the tray. The neatly placed strawberries had lost their freshness and gone soft. She picked up her fork to put one back in place—but it was a pointless effort.
Just like trying to turn back time.
Illyana set the fork down and slowly stood up. As their eyes met at the same level, Cedric widened his eyes in confusion.
She stepped closer to him and brought her lips close to his ear. A warm breath slipped into his ear through the cool air. Startled, Cedric tried to step back, but Illyana grabbed his arm tightly.
His movement stopped.
She whispered softly,
“Say whatever you want. In the end, you’ll never get the justification that I’m at fault.”
“Just… justification?”
“This useless scrap of paper is that justification. Proof that you committed adultery.”
As she pulled away, a cold chill crept in. Cedric, who had been consumed by anger, suddenly came back to his senses. No matter how much the imperial family favored him, if there was clear evidence of adultery, even the emperor couldn’t ignore it.
Damn imperial law would undoubtedly side with Illyana.
“This… it’s just a gift. You know that.”
“An 800-gold gift? My, how generous. Oh! So it wasn’t an affair—it was a bribe.”
Illyana blinked as if she had just realized something. The more exaggerated her surprise became, the paler Cedric’s face turned.
Try calling it a gift all you want. You’ll only sink deeper.
Renting the second-floor terrace at Armand for half a day cost 1 gold—including tea and cake. That alone was equivalent to several months’ worth of food for commoners. So 800 gold was no small amount, even for a noble.
Cedric’s eyes darted back and forth.
Bribery or adultery—which was better?
Adultery damaged dignity, but bribery was a serious crime. Either way, once the receipt was revealed, the honor of the Piaget family would be destroyed.
“While I was in the south, Baron Louise helped me a lot. And Miss Bella too. That’s all.”
“So it’s not a bribe. Then it’s an affair?”
“That’s not it.”
“Either way, your finances seem better than I thought. Then you can return all the engagement gifts. You were asked to return them along with the annulment papers, but since you said nothing, I misunderstood.”
Cedric blinked, trying to follow the sudden shift in conversation.
“What misunderstanding?”
“That the marquis family was in financial trouble and deliberately withholding them. After all, receiving things for free would be quite disgraceful, wouldn’t it?”
“Of course we’ll return them if the engagement is broken.”
He snapped sharply, but soon frowned deeply.
No matter how things turned out, the items had to be returned. But his stepmother had insisted multiple times that they absolutely couldn’t return them. His father didn’t know, but many items had already been sold off.
And now, he couldn’t admit they had no money. If he did, he’d have to expose his affair with Bella—or worse, reveal the dire state of his family’s finances.
Not breaking the engagement would have been best—but that was no longer possible.
“You decide. Will you be publicly humiliated for adultery, or return what remains and end this quietly?”
Illyana picked up a glass of water. Cedric’s face tightened with unease.
She’s not going to throw it again… is she?
It seemed absurd, yet his shoulders tensed. Watching him, Illyana silently drank the water.
When hunting prey, you always leave a small escape route.
Only then will they never dare challenge a predator stronger than themselves.
Just as Illyana placed the empty glass back on the table—
