Chapter 5

Eliza silently closed her eyes.

A scent of vanilla, mixed with a hint of bitterness, came from the man standing before her.

At first glance, it smelled somewhat like alcohol or perhaps grass. It was a fragrance she liked.

But now that she thought about it, that same scent had lingered in Vanessa’s room too.

And it resembled the smell of medicine somehow.

Suddenly overwhelmed by anger, Eliza abruptly threw a punch.

“Ouch.”

Leopold took the blow from her cat-paw-like fist and honestly pronounced each syllable:

“Oh. Ow.”

Eliza glared at his infuriating face with narrowed eyes.

‘While I’m the one whose head feels like it’s about to split because of you…….’

Unable to say those words aloud, she merely huffed in frustration.

“Why did you suddenly get angry?”

“Because you don’t listen!”

“When have I ever listened?”

Eliza slapped his lips with a loud smack.

Only then did Leopold pull his head back and frown.

The handsome man before her, whose presence had somehow become noticeably sharper, was the only son of the Marquis of Hagen.

Seeing that exceptionally handsome face, Eliza was once again reminded that he was one of the male leads.

Her heart sank when she remembered just how cruel his possessiveness had been in the original novel.

‘Surely he wouldn’t become obsessed with his friend too? But…… what if that friend is his only one?’

Eliza did not want to be dragged away by him, locked inside a room, or left unable to walk for the rest of her life.

To prevent that, she needed to separate herself from this boy somehow, no matter what it took……

Eliza pushed his shoulder away and stood up.

“First, back off a little.”

It seemed she needed to be firm with him at least once.

After taking a moment to calm herself with a deep breath, she stared expressionlessly at Leopold.

“I think it’s time we reconsider our engagement, Leopold.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden? Illy.”

“I’d rather you didn’t call me that either. My name is Eliza.”

Only then did Leopold’s face harden.

All expression disappeared from his face, and an oppressive atmosphere radiated from him.

Eliza looked directly at him and declared,

“I’ve decided I want to marry someone else. I’m serious. And if that’s what I want, I think it’s better for me to separate from you.”

Just as Leopold called Eliza Illy, Eliza called him Leo.

But today, he realized that she had not called him Leo even once.

“Let’s break off our engagement.”

“Illy!”

“And I don’t want you coming here like this anymore.”

Eliza turned away from him, deliberately ignoring him.

She knew he wouldn’t accept such a one-sided declaration.

But perhaps it would buy her some time.

Leopold reached out to stop her, but then remembered that she hated being touched against her will.

He hesitated.

In that brief moment, Eliza entered her bedroom.

The door closed in front of Leopold.

‘It was only a few days ago that I told him that…….’

Eliza sighed repeatedly.

There were several reasons Leopold had earned the nickname the bastard of the Knights Order.

First, despite being a knight, he made ladies cry at practically every banquet.

Second, he had such a violent temperament that he picked fights regardless of where he was.

And in Eliza’s opinion, there was a third reason.

He simply never listened.

Especially when someone told him to leave her alone.

“Hey! Are you a knight or a thug?”

“A knight and a thug both fight, don’t they?”

Leopold brushed away the strand of hair stuck to her cheek and smiled.

Behind him, a man who had just been punched in the face clutched his nose and groaned.

“Ugh…….”

The man who had been knocked down by a single punch from Leopold was Rainer Charles.

He was the man Eliza had hastily chosen as her date.

She had thought he seemed like a reasonably well-mannered man, but he kept trying to lead her somewhere secluded.

Naturally, Eliza refused to comply and resisted with all her strength.

Then Rainer abruptly shoved her, causing her to fall into the lake.

That was when—

“Hello, pretty girl?”

A familiar voice suddenly appeared.

Before Eliza could react, a scream drowned it out.

Rainer Charles was knocked to the ground, and the owner of the voice was standing in front of her, smiling brightly.

Fuming, Eliza pressed her fingers against her temple.

“How did you know I was here?”

“Just…… by coincidence?”

“You really love that word, don’t you……”

“Then shall we call it fate?”

Eliza let out a deep sigh.

Her dress, soaked with water, was heavy, and the body that had been robbed of its warmth was quickly becoming cold, making her irritation rise.

“Stop playing with words and deal with that.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Without hesitation, Leopold’s black boots stepped into the water with a splash.

He grabbed Eliza’s hand and pulled her toward him.

Her body stepped out of the water, and Leopold removed his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

A fragrance poured over Eliza like whiskey at dawn, wrapping around her like a veil.

Without thinking, Eliza tightened her grip on the jacket.

‘Seriously. He never listens.’

Leopold approached Rainer, and Eliza watched him casually prod the man with the tip of his shoe.

She ignored the increasingly heated voices between them and walked away first.

After roughly settling things, Leopold quickly caught up with Eliza.

When she heard footsteps following behind her, she turned around in front of the carriage.

“Oh. I’ll give this back.”

Eliza took off the jacket and held it out to Leopold.

But he merely stared at her for a moment.

Instead of taking the jacket, he stepped closer.

“What…….”

“Fortunately, you don’t have a fever.”

His hand casually touched Eliza’s forehead.

For a moment, Eliza took in the smooth features of the man’s face.

The instant their eyes met, Leopold drew his habitual smile.

His sapphire-blue eyes narrowed into gentle crescents.

For a moment, Eliza’s heart fluttered.

Knowing that this foul-tempered boy only ever acted sweetly toward her, she felt her heart soften.

‘I can’t let this happen.’

Eliza quietly took a step backward.

Because they had been close for so many years, she kept letting her guard down around him.

That was precisely why she needed to be even more cautious.

She could not forget that perhaps even this kindness had been intentional.

“I told you not to come looking for me.”

“It was a coincidence, I told you. Illy.”

“I also clearly told you not to call me that.”

“How strange. You were serious about that?”

There must have been dozens of men Eliza had rejected over the years.

Cutting off a stubborn man was hardly difficult for her.

Eliza made an exasperated face and filled her voice with irritation.

“How many times do I have to say it? Just stop……”

“Are you going to cut ties with my father and mother too?”

A hollow laugh escaped Eliza.

Leopold didn’t know it.

He didn’t know that mentioning his father and mother in an attempt to hold on to Eliza had instead hardened her resolve.

‘So you knew that I depended on them too.’

Her heart turned cold.

Eliza twisted up the corners of her lips.

“If necessary, I suppose I should.”

“Why all of a sudden? I don’t understand.”

“You don’t have to understand. We won’t be close enough for that anymore.”

Her voice was completely calm.

The polite smile on her face only caused Leopold’s brow to stiffen.

“You should meet someone good too. We’re past the age of playing house together.”

“Because of some bastard like that?”

Leopold clenched his teeth and glared at the carriage as it departed in a somewhat awkward manner.

Eliza threw her head back and laughed.

“Are you jealous?”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“See? We’re not that kind of relationship.”

It was true that they regarded each other as special.

But whenever even the slightest hint of romantic feeling appeared between them, they had both recoiled in disgust.

Eliza was somewhat relieved by the fact that she wasn’t the heroine of this world.

At some point, this boy would become obsessed with that woman and forget about her.

“The person I said I like isn’t Lord Charles. But it is true that you’re getting in the way of me meeting him.”

“You think I’m going to just let you meet some man?”

“You’ll have to.”

Eliza smiled beautifully.

Then she shifted her gaze and looked toward the distant sky.

“We promised each other that from the beginning, didn’t we? We agreed that if either of us found someone we liked, we’d break off our engagement.”

“……You really meant that? You……”

“Yes. There is someone I like.”

Standing before him, Eliza lightly turned away.

“I want to meet someone who loves me too and live happily. So our engagement is over now, Leopold Hagen.”

Leopold had no idea what expression he was making.

But he was fairly certain it must have been an unbearable one, because he covered his face with one hand.

‘Who?’

Leopold reached toward the sound of her departing footsteps, then slowly clenched his hand.

Watching the woman climb into the carriage without looking back even once, Leopold thought—

My friend.

My fiancée.

The first person I ever had.

My……