I’m Done With Unrequited Love - Chapter 52
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 52
Noel, having been caught and beaten by me, had locked himself away in his room.
It wasn’t even a convincing excuse.
Aside from Noel, Cesar—who was meeting everyone in this mansion for the first time—had shut himself in his guest room and not emerged.
And I’d given both Ernan and Rene their own guest rooms as well, but they weren’t staying in them.
Kiara had wheedled relentlessly, and I’d given in.
So Kiara and Rene had set off to explore the mansion on their own.
Ernan?
Ernan was in the Reception Room with me right now, having tea.
I couldn’t very well leave a guest to their own devices, after all.
“……”
“What?”
Ernan regarded me with an expression of rare displeasure.
“You seem to have a real gift for teaching children bad habits.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
Sip.
I drained my tea and replied without much inflection.
‘They want to play—what can I do about it.’
Ernan, who’d been tapping the armrest of the sofa with his index finger, suddenly opened his mouth.
“Come to think of it, didn’t you say you’d never return to the Capital?”
And just like that, he brought up the very subject I’d been pretending not to notice all this time.
“……”
That was true.
I had indeed said something like that once.
But.
“It’s because of the children.”
I answered casually. As if that would separate the two of them from each other.
The crucial reason I’d ended up staying in the Capital was Kiara and Rene’s relationship.
If it weren’t for those two, I wouldn’t have remained here at all.
Which meant I was the one most welcoming of their meeting.
Ernan seemed to understand my position.
“With a reason like that, I can hardly mock you for going back on your word.”
“Shouldn’t you not even think about mocking someone in the first place?”
“But it’s fun.”
Ha.
His shameless reply drew an involuntary sigh from me.
“You often say things like that while looking as though you mean nothing of the sort.”
“Charm emerges from exactly those kinds of unexpected facets, after all.”
“How absurd.”
I replied as if exasperated, but there was truth to what Ernan said.
I’d actually rather liked that side of him.
Yet this wasn’t the conversation Ernan and I should be having right now.
There was an urgent matter that needed discussing.
“You felt it too today, I’m sure—something’s off about Kiara and Rene.”
“I agree.”
Ernan nodded readily in assent.
In truth, Kiara and Rene’s condition was something anyone with decent sense and common knowledge couldn’t possibly miss.
“They seem to want us to get married.”
The outcry of a noblewoman I’d met during the audience with the prince.
It must have started with some remark that Kiara and Rene had made to the young nobles.
I didn’t know exactly what that remark was, but it was certainly connected to a marriage between Ernan and me.
“I wonder why.”
“Yes, why indeed.”
“I think I know.”
“Do tell.”
“If you and I were to marry, the children could see each other every day.”
Thinking about it, I was fairly certain that Kiara and Rene’s desire for our marriage stemmed from that very reason.
Ah, it’s exactly the sort of thing children would think.
I lifted the tea cup to my lips and took a small sip. Then I murmured,
“Children are remarkably simple creatures.”
“Yet the most exacting beings in the world.”
“People’s charm emerges from such unexpected facets of character.”
People’s charm emerges from such unexpected facets of character.
One of Ernan’s eyebrows flickered upward.
“You adapt quickly.”
“I didn’t earn the title of genius for nothing.”
I shrugged and lifted the tea cup once more.
“So then, what do we do from here?”
The children’s scheming—if one could call it that—seemed bound to continue without intervention.
If Kiara and Rene hadn’t orchestrated it, Ernan and I wouldn’t be sitting across from each other in this reception room right now.
Why else would they have insisted on a Pajama Party?
The one we’d held at Cleroor Mansion before had been their doing as well.
Children might lack refinement, but they were far from foolish; our own children wore innocent faces while behaving with a cunning almost charming in its craftiness.
“I can’t actually marry you, can I?”
I had no intention of clinging to someone who didn’t want me, insisting on marriage.
Besides, I’d already given up on my one-sided love.
“There’s something I wanted to ask you.”
Ernan, who had been silent for some time, posed his question.
“Go ahead.”
“How far along is the One-Sided Love Quitting Project?”
Before I answered, I set down the tea cup I’d been holding.
Then, lowering my voice as though sharing a secret, I spoke with utmost seriousness.
“Don’t be shocked.”
……
“It’s in its final stages.”
This wasn’t bluster or deception—it was the truth.
Letting go of one’s feelings was no easy task, yet lately I’d begun to see real progress.
The fact that my heart remained calm even now, sitting across from Ernan, was proof of it.
I lifted my chin and smiled triumphantly.
“When I decide to do something, I see it through.”
……
Yet Ernan merely watched me with my newfound confidence, unmoved.
At last, he spoke.
“So emotions can be controlled by sheer willpower, then. I never knew that.”
Something about the way he said it struck me as sarcastic, and I grew puzzled.
“I thought you’d be glad to hear this news.”
“I’m sufficiently pleased.”
“Oh…….”
Somehow, it didn’t seem like it.
Of course, I didn’t think Ernan had been deriving any base gratification from watching my one-sided love.
Then why did he not seem happy about this?
“But why did you ask? About the progress of the One-Sided Love Quitting Project, I mean.”
“If you’ve succeeded, it seemed worth considering.”
“……? Considering what?”
As I spoke, I took another sip of tea.
“Marriage.”
Cough!
I spat the tea right back out at Ernan’s answer.
……
I scrambled for a handkerchief, only to realize I didn’t have one, so I glared at Ernan instead.
He promptly produced a handkerchief and offered it to me.
I took it and wiped away the tea I’d spilled on my clothes.
‘……What is he thinking.’
Is he joking with me right now?
I narrowed my eyes to sharp slits and fixed Ernan with a piercing stare.
“Of all the moments I’ve lived through, this one has to be the most absurd.”
“So it would appear.”
“Why on earth is this person like this?”
In this most bewildering instant of my life, my true thoughts spilled out unfiltered.
“Do you enjoy toying with people, by any chance?”
Was that even a hobby of his?
To sum up Ernan’s proposition: if I’d succeeded at the One-Sided Love Quitting Project—if I no longer loved him—then marriage might be worth considering.
‘This is ridiculous.’
Hollow laughter kept escaping me.
When I was desperately in love, he wouldn’t have me; now that I’ve stopped loving him, he wants to marry me.
Did this even qualify as something someone should say out loud?
Just because words leave your mouth doesn’t make them sensible.
‘This is utterly insane.’
He’s mad.
“I’m asking sincerely—are you out of your mind?”
“My sanity is perfectly intact.”
“Right. Of course.”
That’s what they always said.
I drew a deep breath, trying to compose myself.
Once I’d regained some semblance of control, I managed to ask.
“……So, what brought on this line of thinking?”
There had to be a reason behind it.
Yet Ernan didn’t answer immediately; he merely brought the tea cup to his lips.
“…….”
“Hello?”
Even as I pressed him, his expression remained serene.
And in that calm voice, he said…….
“I can’t say why.”
“……??”
My exasperation took flight and soared away.
His sheer audacity left me speechless.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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