Raising my Fiancè with Money - Chapter 39

Chapter 39 Rebecca Evantheon
Lilia simply had breakfast with black tea, bread, and fruit. When she sat in front of the desk wearing only a light slip dress, an employee put down a box containing letters.

Checking the correspondence every morning was one of her routines. They poured out a lot every day, so she couldn’t handle it if she skipped a day. It ranged from letters asking about how she was doing to requests, but most of them were birthday parties, banquets, and invitations to gatherings.

Everyone was anxious to connect with Lilia even a little. Just because if they are considered close to the Blodens, their status will change. So they sent letters regardless of the status, but most of them were trash.

It may seem heartless, but Lilia was now disillusioned with creating relationships with people. It was because she noticed how people suddenly changed when they heard her name. Lilia smiled bitterly.

‘Is there anyone I can come up with now and make a pure friendship?’

In the past, she thought she wanted to be friends with someone she likes. But she knew well that she couldn’t do that now.

No matter whom she had a relationship with, the ending was betrayal. Even Richard pretended to love her for money. Because of that, Lilia was reluctant to be deeply involved with others.

Even if she could make a friend who really had intentions of a pure friendship, she would doubt them in the end.

Is it a real friendship between us or did you create a friendship for money?
She’d rather have a simple master-slave relationship. Their loyalty would be linked with money from the start. So, Lilia treated them differently from people who did not work for her.
The people inside Lilia’s borders were family and employees. Everyone else existed outside.

However, these days, those borders were difficult to define. It was because of Karhan Evantheon. He hung vaguely on the fence Lilia made. It was not a master-slave relationship, but it was difficult to say that he was a friend.

It was a transactional relationship, but when she saw him, she wanted to help him purely She didn’t know if it was because she saw him as a projection of herself from the past, or if it could be due to sympathy. However, it was clear that she did not want to stay away from him even if the deal was over.

“I don’t know what to define it as.”

Family, friends, employees, lovers…… First of all, he was a fake lover now. At first, she didn’t think much, but after she became conscious of it, the word lover felt strange for no reason.

Lilia’s hand, who was classifying the letters, stopped for a while. A familiar name and pattern were engraved at the bottom of the envelope. It was sent by Karhan. Lilia opened the envelope and checked the letter paper.

[My parents want to see you. If you don’t mind, I’d like to invite you to the Duchy.]
Lilia put down the letter. Now it was her turn
*
**

The day has come when she decided to visit the Duchy of Evantheon.

Lilia finished her decoration with a calm feeling. Instead, she focused hard on clothes, accessories, and shoes one by one. So that no one could ignore Lilia’s attire.

As she came down to the front door, she saw people with familiar blue and navy hair. It was Frances and Malek dressed more neatly than usual.

The carriage on which Lilia climbed crossed the large garden and exited the mansion. As she was thinking about this and that, Malek quietly told her,
“Madam, it’s the Duchy of Evantheon.”

“Already?”

Lilia came to her senses and looked out the window. It was a great garden, although smaller than the Bloden family’s, it gave a quiet and lonely feeling.
The wagon across the garden stopped. With the help of Malek, Lilia, who got off the wagon, slowly looked up.

The historic Evantheon Duchy came into view. The magnificent mansion held depth with the power of time. While looking at the building, Lilia found a man standing by the front door.

“Thank you for coming.”

When Karhan greeted her first, Lilia replied with a large bouquet of flowers,
“Thank you for inviting me.”

Karhan unexpectedly held a bouquet of flowers in his arms. It fit perfectly because it was a bouquet made according to his size. Karhan looked at the bouquet with very unfamiliar eyes. It seemed foreign, but he didn’t seem to dislike it.

“Flowers….it’s my first time receiving it.”

“It’s my first time giving a present to a man, too.”

Karhan was a little shaken by the words that it was her first time.

“When you came to my house last time, you gave me a bouquet of flowers. It’s in return.”
Karhan said thank you while fiddling with the bouquet.

“I’ll guide you, so please come in.”

Lilia followed Karhan inside. She climbed the stairs of the main hall and walked down the hallway. The window in the hallway was small and narrow, so there was not much sunlight. Because of that, the interior was a little dark, and the wallpaper and decorations were also calmly colored.

The Evantheon mansion, which felt solemn and heavy, was the opposite of the bright and eye-catching Bloden mansion. Walking through a very quiet hallway, Lilia asked,
“What about Tession?”

“…..He’s working in my room.”
Karhan, who answered a beat late, continued,

“And my father is out because he has urgent business. I think you’ll only see my mother today.”

Karhan apologized for not telling her in advance. She thought it would be a little too much to deal with the ducal couple alone at the same time, so she thought it was better.
As he was walking in the hallway, he stopped in front of a room.

Karhan said, putting his hand on the doorknob,
“My mother is waiting here.”

His voice was stiff as if he were nervous. Rather, it felt strange because it was stiffer than when he came to the Bloden mansion. Looking at the closed door for a while, Lilia slowly exhaled. She was nervous to meet the Duchess.

In fact, she was in a position that she could not be welcomed. It was like coming to break the engagement just before it took place.

I don’t think she will slap me in the face for seducing her good son……’
What if she hands over a bundle of money and tells her to break up with him? Then should she say no because she already has enough? Lilia wrote a novel in her head. Anyway, it was too late to go back.
“I’m going in.”

When Karhan turned the doorknob, the inside of the drawing room was revealed. A woman sat in the center of the neatly arranged drawing room. She was an elegant woman with dark brown hair.

Lilia could tell that she was the Duchess of Evantheon without anyone telling her. Overall, she didn’t recognize her, but if she looked at her traits individually, there are a lot of similarities to Karhan. As she looked quickly, she made eye contact with her.

“Welcome.”

As if she had waited very long, the Duchess stood up with a big smile. She came straight to Lilia.

“Was it hard to get here?”

It was very favorable to ask gently. Lilia blinked at the unexpected hospitality.

‘If it weren’t for the cheeks, I think she’d have baptized me with tea…….’
Is she being nice to her because he’s next to her? Otherwise, she couldn’t think of any reason to be so good to her. It was strange, but Lilia accepted it without showing it.

“Thanks to you, I was able to arrive comfortably. This is our first greeting, I’m Lilia Bloden.”

“I’ve heard about you. I’m Rebecca Evantheon.”

Rebecca quickly looked through Lilia. Her outfit was not colorful, but it was only worn with the finest quality from head to toe.

Her gaze briefly stayed at Lilia’s diamond necklace. It was a necklace that was previously sold at the highest price ever at an auction. After confirming Lilia’s value, the corners of her mouth widened into a bigger smile.

“Let’s sit here.”

When Rebecca recommended a seat, Lilia sat opposite. However, even though everyone sat down, Karhan stood tall. Feeling strange, Lilia looked up at Karhan.

“Sit down, too.”

Only then did Karhan sit down.

“Is it because he is nervous?”

Considering that, he looked a little different from usual. Lilia gaze was drawn from Karhan and she stared at the table. There were high-quality refreshments on the table. It was obvious that they cared about teacups and dishes.

Lilia put an elongated box down on the table. The grained wooden box was adorned with ribbons of velvet and gold thread.

“It’s small, but it’s in return for the invitation.”

When Rebecca showed interest in the box, Lilia opened her mouth,

“It’s a wine produced by my family, and it’s been exactly 100 years this year since it was made. I was originally planning to deliver it to the imperial family, but wanted to give it to someone more important.”

Rebecca’s smile deepened at Lilia’s words. It was an immeasurable gift. Rebecca recommended tea after telling the employee to keep the gift well.

“I heard that you two are dating.”

Rebecca, holding a teacup, looked at Lilia quietly.

“How did you meet him?”

“I fell in love at first sight at the banquet.”

Rebecca’s eyes narrowed when she gave an answer that she had fretted over several times. They were eyes that were focused on measuring her authenticity. For her, she would have needed to find out if this relationship was true. In order to welcome Lilia, she had to let Stella go, the best fish she had caught.

She seemed to have a hard time being deceived. Lilia turned her head toward Karhan. At that time, Karhan carefully reached out toward Lilia.

His fingertips were shaking a little. Lilia immediately grabbed his hand. Fingers dug in little by little and intertwined. His pulse was pounding from their clasped hands. It was beating so loudly that it flowed to her chest.

‘It’s warm……’

All his nerves headed to the hand. Karhan’s hand remained with Lilia’s palm wrapped widely. Come to think of it, they had crossed arms so far, but never held hands. It felt weird. Even though it was a contractual relationship, it felt like they were really dating.