Love Doesn’t Matter - Chapter 37 – Someone Else

“Emilia,”

Confirming that the voice coming through the doorway was Charlotte, Emilia almost stumbled on the spot. When she opened the door, Charlotte stuck out her head a little.

“The Young Master is gone.”
“Is that so? Did he really go obediently? He didn’t doubt it?”
“Yeah.”

Emilia, who was relieved, felt embarrassed for nothing.
Charlotte is not an expressive child. But when you see her pouting her mouth like that, you feel bad.

“Here. The Young Master told me to give it to you.”

Charlotte handed her an envelope, abruptly.

Emilia hurriedly took it and took out what was inside. There was a note at the front of the thick stack of documents.
When she looked at Hadius’ neat handwriting, her heart pounded, and she felt herself suffocating.

The content was concise.

Documents that prove that Bernen Cavendish invested in the Quirren wool business, and that there was corruption in the process. Of course, I have other evidence as well. If you visit me within three days, I will give you all the remaining documents. I want you to know that I’m doing my best not to take care of Cavendish as I please.

Emilia, who had put down the letter, was unable to speak for a while.

“What’s wrong?”
“Huh? Nothing… It’s nothing.”

She stood there and flipped through the papers.
The more than twenty sheets of paper were full of numbers and legal terms. It must be a double ledger related to the wool business. It was something that Emilia, who had helped organize Sir Cavendish’s ledgers, had never seen before…

Is Mr. Haspel also involved?

Although she was worried, she felt strange. That man’s power and tenacity to dig behind someone’s back and find such secret evidence is a little eerie.

“What did the Young Master give you?”
“Huh? Oh… Documents related to the breakup.”

Emilia just lied.

“But why did you come back so late? Did that person help you ride the swing again?”
“No, it wasn’t that, the Young Master told me a story.”
“A story?”
“About the caterpillar. I asked if that disgusting thing really turned into a butterfly.”
“… And?”

A faint smile crept across Charlotte’s lips.

“The Young Master said you were right and told me about the pupa.”

Charlotte recited the process of a butterfly metamorphosis.

“But Young Master Meyer said something very strange.”
“What did he say?”
“Although it is true that caterpillars become beautiful butterflies, the Young Master said that caterpillars are not disgusting at all. He said he likes caterpillars much better than butterflies.”
“Ah…”
“The Young Master said that disgusting is just a feeling, not a fact. And this.”

Charlotte held up a book. It was a new Braille textbook.

“The Young Master gave it to me. He said that if I really want to become a butterfly, I must study hard.”

Emilia placed her hand on her chest without realizing it. Did the caterpillar she showed Charlotte sneak in or something?
Her heart kept tickling.

*** 

‘My sister Emilia is not here. If you ask me where she is, I will answer that I think she went to the market.’

Charlotte Bern swallowed dry while saying such strange words.

‘Of course, you don’t have to believe me. If you want to go inside the house right now and look for my sister, you can do so.’

As the child spoke clearly, her hair gradually pulled back, revealing the large lump.

It was a hideous and grotesque face. But strangely, Hadius kept seeing Emilia overlapping with her.
At 14 years old, she looked just like that. Although she was very nervous, she nonchalantly said everything she had to say.

‘Do you perhaps want me to look for her with you?’

Hadius laughed and replied that it was fine. His eyes went over Charlotte’s shoulder to the shabby cabin.

Emilia must be hiding somewhere over there with her ears pricked up like a rabbit.

Hadius started another fire to bring out the rabbit hiding in the burrow. He lured her using the Cavendish documents as bait.

He knew very well that it was the method Emilia hated the most. But he had no choice.
She always thought of running away, and Hadius didn’t want to wait any longer.

‘I dare to advise you that I think it would be good to tell Miss Bern some of the truth now. As with the mercenaries at Hilden Farm, continuing to hide things will only make it more complicated.’

Hadius looked at the shabby cabin for a long time while recalling Grozhang’s words. His eyes, lost in thought, looked around the dense forest surrounding it and then turned back to the child in front of him.

Emilia Bern cherishes her blind sister more than her own life.
Only her sister? It was the same for her stepmother and younger brother, with whom she didn’t share a drop of blood. They are bound together by a bond that Hadius could not even imagine.
That is why he had no choice but to make Hilden Farm. Her family will also risk their lives to protect Emilia.

What would happen if she knew all this?

Hadius decided to shut his mouth forever for several complicated reasons. Among them, the most decisive one is because the answer to that question was so obvious.

She will never forgive him. Her entire body may burn with hatred and resentment and disappear like smoke.
Avoiding the man who put her life in danger, to a place where he will never find her.

Emilia was right. This is an extremely selfish and vicious greed. He will never be forgiven…

“Young Master, we have arrived at the Krambitz Villa.”

The coachman stopped the carriage and opened the door. As Hadius got off, the butler of the villa greeted him with a bright smile.

“You’re here. Your Mother is waiting for you.”

Hadius went straight to the study. Caitlyn Meyer was with Hannes in the secret study inside. They were amid a long discussion about William’s new plan, the ‘cheating fiancée’.

The two of them greeted Hadius, who opened the door just in time and appeared.

“Did you hear from Sir William? About our new plan.”
“Yes.”
“What do you think?”
“I’m not sure.”

His ambiguous answer left a strange impression.

“I am curious about one thing.”

Caitlyn lightly moved her head, telling him to continue.

“We need a partner to involve her in a scandal. Who will that be?”

Caitlyn and Hannes looked at each other. Caitlyn smiled mysteriously and slowly opened her mouth.

“Have you heard of the Cavendish? The place where that child is taking the bridal lessons.”
“Yes.”
“Sir Richards visited that place a while ago. He said that for the parliamentarians to suddenly take issue with your engagement, there must be some force behind them. Maybe that’s why he wanted to snatch the Cavendish side.”

Hadius shrugged casually.

“He discovered something very interesting there. He heard directly from the youngest daughter of the house that, for a while, it seems there were quite a few noble young men of the same age in the mansion. One of them was a guy named Nathan Malvin. He’s the oldest son of Count Malvin, who owns a large ranch in the West, and I think he is quite useful. He looks manly and dignified, so he must have been popular at local social gatherings. Anyway, according to Cavendish’s youngest daughter, that country child…”

Caitlyn smiled as she spoke, as if it were ridiculous.

“Seems to be very much in love with the oldest son of the Malvin family.”

Caitlyn waited for Hadius’ reaction.
Whether he would be surprised like her, burst out laughing, or be offended…

However, there was no change, to the point it was scary. Hadius just mumbled, “I see.”, and brought the teacup to his mouth.

Caitlyn looked at the boy, holding a cigarette in one hand and resting her chin in the other. Hannes cut through the silence.

“That’s why she agreed to break up the engagement so easily. In a way, it’s something very natural. Isn’t she the girl who dared to dream of becoming the duchess? She has no choice but to pick the second-best option.”
“You know what’s funnier? It is not a one-sided feeling of that country child. Nathan Malvin seems to have fallen for her too. Just like all the country aristocrats, the Cavendish family must have been a little too hard on her. But the oldest son of the Malvin family wrapped his arms around her, like a baby, and sided with her.”
“There is even a bet among the lower people. About whether or not she will become his lover as soon as you break up with her.”

Caitlyn frowned slightly at the consecutive silence.

“Say something.”
“It’s funny.”

Hadius smiled lightly and put down the teacup.

“Do you have any idea why we are talking about this?”
“You are going to use him as the scandal partner?”
“That’s right.”

Hannes, who had been standing by the fireplace, approached them, rubbing his hands in delight.

“If rumors spread that she and Malvin had an affair, neither the King nor the parliament will be able to force you to marry.”
“If there was such a good method, why did you only think about it now?”
“It is thanks to Sir Richards. He certainly deserves to be called a tycoon.”

Hannes clapped his hands as if he were already pleased.

“The ball you are going to attend with that child. From what I found out, Nathan Malvin is also attending. So, I’m planning on starting from there. I’m thinking of asking Lüen, the party organizer, to sit them side by side.”
“It will be enough to let some newspaper reporters in and come up with an appropriate story.”
“That’s great. It’s good for everyone.”

Hadius stood silently with his back against them. He was still calm as he looked out the window, with one hand crumpled in his pocket.

Until now, everything went according to his plan. As it was nothing but a life-threatening situation, he predicted all possible variables and prepared for them one by one.
But what he just heard opens up new possibilities that he hadn’t considered in the past five years.

They are not trivial things that are attached like flies.

Someone dared to wrap their arms around what is his.
Someone else is waiting for Emilia to be free.