I’m Done With Unrequited Love - Chapter 53

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Chapter 53
Kiara and Rene sat in the mansion’s library, poring over books.
Most of them dealt with love and marriage.
The two children’s minds worked in perfect unison.
‘We have to get Fidellia and Ernan married, no matter what!’
Once that decision took root, the world narrowed to a single point in their eyes.
Kiara and Rene became allies.
United in the cause of their guardians’ marriage.

Which was why Kiara and Rene had come to the mansion’s library.
To bring Fidellia and Ernan together using the exact, professional methods described in these books!
The two of them sprawled across a sofa in the center of the library—vast enough to be called a lending library—and flipped through the pages.
Neither had been reading for long, so their pace was slow, but their passion burned bright.
An hour in, Kiara was the first to flag.
“Ugh… this is so hard. My eyes feel like they’re going to fall out.”
Kiara slumped backward on the sofa, rubbing her eyes with both hands.
“I… me too….”
The moment Kiara declared a break, Rene set down the book she’d been holding.
To be honest, the two children had understood maybe half of what they’d read.
Part of it was poor reading skill, but even the words they recognized refused to yield their meaning.
“This isn’t going to work.”
Still lying on the sofa, Kiara stared up at the ceiling and muttered.
This really wasn’t going to work.
Then she went on.
“For now, let’s figure out how to get the two of them together next time.”
Rene nodded at Kiara’s realization—the books were useless.
“The p… pajama party excuse is a… already used…. What do we do?”
“Hmm….”
Kiara and Rene put their heads together and began to think.
The answer came from Rene.
“Oh! Oh! A p… picnic. What about a picnic?”
“A picnic?”
“Yeah. It’s s… spring, and the weather’s nice….”
At those words, Kiara’s eyes lit up and she bolted upright.
“Are you a genius?”
“Wh… what?”
“Let’s do exactly what you said.”
“…!”
Rene’s cheeks flooded with color in an instant.
But moments later, Rene seemed to remember something and hesitated.
“Th… that’s the thing though….”
“What?”
“Er… Ernan.”
“…. Ernan? What’s he got to do with anything?”
Rene’s expression darkened in a heartbeat.
“H… he said, from now on, don’t make promises with me… without asking him.”
“….”
And a few seconds later.
Kiara exploded.
“No! That man is useless to my life!”
“….”
“Not just me, Rene—he’s useless to your life too! Do you know how much you want to be a family with Fidellia and me? Do you?”
“….”
“And it doesn’t help him either! You think I don’t know he’s crazy about Fidellia?!”
Kiara thrashed on and off the sofa, tearing at her hair, venting at full volume.
Rene silently agreed with Kiara’s tirade.
“I mean, seriously—that man’s hopeless. Is it all just about having a pretty face?!”
And then, just then.
Click.
The library door swung open, and someone stepped through.
Kiara and Rene’s eyes snapped toward the entrance in unison.
And there, framed in the doorway, stood…….
“……Caesar Bertrand?”
“…….”
It was Caesar Bertrand himself, his face dark with displeasure.
What on earth was he doing here?
While Kiara and Rene struggled to make sense of the situation, another figure appeared behind Caesar.
“Pardon the intrusion, ladies.”
Noel Joneus.
Fidellia’s younger brother, whom they’d just met that morning.
“Our young master here was hoping to make some friends.”
“When did I say that?”
At Noel’s words, Caesar’s face darkened and he flatly denied it.
Noel chuckled and corrected himself.
“……Our young master needs to make some friends, rather.”
“I said I don’t want to.”
“Please bear with me. Opportunities like this don’t come around every day, you know. You spend all your time at the Bertrand Estate mansion with hardly anyone to speak to as it is.”
“…….”
Caesar didn’t argue, but his expression remained thoroughly disgruntled.
“Come now, let’s exchange proper introductions again. Get to know each other with some real conversation. It’s an assignment.”
“I said I don’t——”
“No, I’m afraid I can’t listen to that, young master. Ladies, please do look after our Caesar. I’ll be on my way!”
And with that, Noel vanished without a trace.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
Leaving Caesar alone with them.
* * *
An awkward silence settled over the library.
“…….”
Caesar cursed Noel inwardly.
‘Friends, for what reason……. What a waste……!’
He’d always been remarkably good at seeing himself objectively.
So he was well aware that he possessed not a shred of social grace, and the probability of him ever forming a genuine friendship approached zero.
And now, friends?
It was laughable.
In Caesar’s entire life, the only person he could truly call a friend was Noel — his tutor and guardian since coming to the Capital.
Even that bond had taken six months of him ignoring Noel before he’d finally let his guard down.
‘And Noel knows all this…….’
Yet he’d thrown Caesar into the lion’s den anyway, abandoned among peers he barely knew.
‘How cruel.’
Caesar resolved to make Noel pay when they next met, but his eyes fell on the girls before him.
Of all things, they had to be girls. Men and women were such different creatures.
“Ah, hello…… there. It’s… nice to see you again.”
It was Rene who spoke first.
The adopted daughter of House Cleroor.
<According to the information, Rene was the illegitimate daughter of Count Flora. However, Count Flora was imprisoned on tax evasion charges, and the Duke Cleroor took in the orphaned Rene, it was said.>
At least, that’s what Noel had told him.
<As for Kiara…… there’s little information available. What I know is that she was a street child before catching my sister’s eye and being adopted.>
Everything Caesar knew of Rene and Kiara came from Noel’s account.
Having never left the Bertrand Estate since he was five years old, Caesar was naturally ignorant of the wider world.
He had no choice but to rely on the information Noel brought him, and his assessment of the two girls was…….
‘They’re lucky.’
That was all.
<I’ll come for you when it’s time for dinner.>
Since Noel had said as much, Caesar decided to remain in the library until then.
After all, Noel must have abandoned him here for a reason.
So when Rene greeted him, Caesar inclined his head in acknowledgment.
Yet the dissatisfaction had not entirely left his face.
“I’m not pleased to see you.”
“I— what?”
Caesar’s blunt words struck Rene visibly.
Rene still carried a deep fear of rejection, of being turned away by someone.
Kiara, who knew this, caught the tremor in him at once.
“Excuse me. Caesar?”
Kiara narrowed her eyes and addressed him directly.
“Is that how you normally speak to people?”
More precisely, she was spoiling for a fight.
Caesar’s already poor expression twisted further at her words.
“What did you say?”
“I asked if that’s how you normally speak to people.”
Kiara repeated the words slowly and deliberately.
“‘I’m not pleased to see you’—is that really what you say to someone standing right in front of you?”