Chapter 46
“Emilia.”
Julian called Hera, who was standing near the door.
The tense atmosphere between the two men seemed to part slightly as they stepped away from each other.
“Is something going on between you two…?”
Before Hera could even finish asking, Merriot brushed past her. Though he gave a brief nod in acknowledgment, it happened so fast that it didn’t even feel like a proper greeting.
Hera’s eyes caught sight of the pamphlet sprawled on Julian’s desk.
Merriot must have come to discuss the same issue that had been bothering her.
As she confirmed what was on the desk, Hera looked up and met Julian’s gaze.
He was staring at her like someone who had never once looked away. There was a trace of unease in his eyes.
Hera knew she should check on Julian first, since he was family.
But her feet turned in the opposite direction.
Toward the direction Merriot had walked.
As Hera moved quickly away from the office, she heard Julian’s voice calling from behind.
“Emilia!”
Julian’s heart pounded in frustration.
So Merriot hadn’t been bluffing after all.
If that was the case… then what was he supposed to do now?
“Where did he go?”
Hera stood on the first floor of the City Guard Bureau, scanning her surroundings.
Though she’d rushed to follow after Merriot, she hadn’t even seen a trace of his hair.
Apparently, his stride was faster than she’d expected.
In hindsight, she should’ve stopped him right there in the office.
But the atmosphere between Julian and Merriot had been so heavy it had frozen her in place.
What had they talked about?
It must have been about the pamphlet.
But would that alone cause such a hostile mood?
And Merriot’s expression when they locked eyes…
I’ve never seen him that angry before.
Seeing that face, she couldn’t help but chase after him.
“Looking for someone?”
“…!”
While lost in thought, recalling Merriot’s expression, a figure suddenly appeared on her left.
Startled, Hera’s eyes widened, but she didn’t even manage a scream.
It was Merriot.
As if nothing had happened, his beautiful face was as composed as ever as he spoke to her.
“Don’t tell me… you were looking for me?”
He pointed at his chest playfully.
His tone had a teasing edge to it—slightly irritating in its mischief.
Hera took his words at face value and was about to answer.
But before she could, Merriot furrowed his brow and answered for her.
“Nah, no way.”
He stuck out his lower lip in a childish pout.
“Why would you look for someone as pathetic as me, right?”
He was clearly teasing her with sarcasm.
He was throwing her own words from the BeFlat District restaurant right back at her, making sure she knew how offended he’d been.
“…”
Hera didn’t respond for a long time.
She wasn’t even sure she understood his intentions.
When it came to things like this, she was particularly dense.
As Hera continued to stare at him blankly, Merriot scratched the back of his head and grumbled.
“What now? Gonna insult me again?”
In truth, Merriot wasn’t angry with her.
On the contrary, he felt a bit excited that she had come after him.
He had seen her looking around from the first floor but couldn’t bring himself to walk away.
Pretending not to have seen her and returning to his estate would’ve been the right move.
But he couldn’t free his heart from her.
“Did my words really hurt you that much?”
There was genuine concern in her clear eyes.
She was worried about him.
Was he really so hurt by what she’d said at the restaurant that he was still holding onto it?
Her chin trembled slightly.
“Kh…”
A pang of guilt—one he hadn’t felt in a long time—stabbed Merriot in the chest.
A strangled sound escaped him.
“Miss Emilia, you really ought to be more sensitive to sarcasm. I’m saying this because I honestly worry about you.”
Along with the guilt, another thought crossed his mind.
Her words almost sounded like, “Am I really someone you could be hurt by so easily?”
That interpretation made his ears redden.
He knew this naïve young lady probably didn’t mean it that way.
Still, he blushed anyway.
“There are too many eyes here. Let’s talk in the carriage.”
Merriot hid his expression and gently guided her toward his carriage.
Just in case, he looked up at the third-floor window of Julian’s office.
So that’s why my head was tingling…
A man stood by the window, watching them.
It was unmistakably Julian.
He was staring at Merriot and Hera with intense scrutiny.
Merriot’s face turned cold again, just like it had in the office.
That man… was a miserable bastard to the core.
Once Hera was seated inside the carriage, Merriot sat down across from her.
The carriage didn’t move.
Silence hung in the air.
“Did you see the pamphlet?”
“Yes.”
“It looks like Baron Tolyn Junior acted on his own.”
“…Yes.”
She didn’t look surprised, which meant she had probably assumed the same.
Well, she was part of the Tolyn family—of course she’d know.
Merriot often forgot she was the daughter of Ober Tolyn.
Maybe he just didn’t want to accept it.
“Was that what you were talking about with your brother just now?”
The question caught him off guard.
While Merriot was lost in thought, Hera had asked the very thing she’d been wondering.
To avoid delving deeper, Merriot diverted with a teasing tone.
“You’re curious about everything, aren’t you? What, worried I might’ve said something nasty to your brother?”
“So you did.”
“…”
Sharp when you least expect it.
Still, it would’ve been odd to say nothing in that situation.
The Tolyn family clearly saw Emilia as nothing more than a pawn.
Ever since Albert Bouvier’s trial, Merriot had begun collecting information on the Tolyn siblings.
They had only become nobility nine years ago, after earning recognition during a wolf hunt.
Unlike Julian and Cecilia, who were always in the social spotlight, Emilia had lived a life of complete neglect.
Her room in the estate was on the north side—the smallest and the one with the least sunlight.
They had treated her like she didn’t exist, and now they wanted to place her beside Merriot?
The intent was obvious.
To kill him while his guard was down.
They didn’t plan to use some subtle poison—they wanted to use her like a bomb, killing both her and Merriot.
“The mad lover of Duke Merriot Laurent kills him.” That’s the headline they wanted.
What else could you call that but using her as a disposable tool?
So he was furious—furious beyond control.
That timid eldest daughter had probably never dared defy Ober or Julian in her life.
That’s why Merriot had stepped in to deliver the warning.
That Emilia Tolyn was not to be underestimated.
…Not that I can say that out loud.
He couldn’t reveal everything, nor was there a need to.
Instead, he glanced at Hera and quickly changed the subject.
“What do you want to do about Emilia Tolyn?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re involved too, aren’t you? With the scandal.”
The conversation circled back to the engagement.
Hera’s gaze dropped to her lap.
“An engagement with His Grace…”
That thought had filled her mind all the way to the Guard Bureau.
What did she really want?
If she continued to pretend to be powerless, clueless, and obedient, maybe she could still end up engaged to Merriot.
Official announcements were a matter of honor in noble society. Undoing such a publicized engagement would take enormous effort.
And with less than a month left, that kind of clean resolution was nearly impossible.
The only remaining option was for Merriot to publicly cancel the engagement.
If that happened, Hera would be ostracized in high society for years.
Any young lady cast aside by a high-ranking noble was bound to become a laughingstock.
So, from a societal standpoint, being engaged to Merriot was the most favorable outcome.
“I don’t want to be engaged.”
Even so, Hera didn’t want to be engaged to him.
She didn’t want to be dragged around anymore.
Not by false ties, nor by fabricated scandals.
If things went further, she was terrified of what Ober might demand of her next.
Hera didn’t want to be the one to harm Merriot with her own hands.
It would be better if she were the one to suffer instead.
“Hah…”
“…?”
A sigh escaped Merriot, deflated and heavy.
It was full of disappointment.
But Hera, even with him sitting right in front of her, failed to notice his emotions.
