YNSYM 12

Chapter 12

In truth, everything about him got on Lucian’s nerves.

The lips that called Elowen his fiancée, his tone of voice that seemed to already know who Lucian was despite this being their first meeting, and that unpleasant smile gathering beneath his dark red, blood-colored eyes.

Yet what displeased Lucian most right now was something else entirely.

‘This… man?’

To be honest, Lucian had never paid much mind whenever Elowen spoke about her ideal ‘scent’ in the past.

Of course, Lucian himself was well aware that he was quite far from Elowen’s ideal ‘scent.’

‘What kind of scent do you have? Why, without a doubt, a milk tea scent! A warm, cozy milk tea with plenty of sweet sugar! That’s exactly what you smell like!’

The milk tea scent Elowen said came to mind whenever she saw him—even at a rough guess—was bound to be vastly different from the sunset scent she always spoke of.

Even so, it hadn’t mattered.

There was no way a person existed in this world who possessed a scent that was ‘chilly like the evening air at dusk, yet dreamlike like a sunset dyed in red.’

So naturally, Elowen would never meet such a person either.

And yet… there was one.

Right here in front of his very eyes.

A man who was like a blazing sunset itself, while simultaneously exuding the chilly atmosphere of the evening air surrounding that sunset—in short, a man who seemed like Elowen’s ideal ‘scent’ brought to life in the flesh.

And that fact made Lucian instinctively tense up. He felt as though he couldn’t afford to lose to him in any aspect whatsoever. Consequently, Lucian’s voice grew cold, unlike his usual self.

“Yes, I came here on purpose. Because I heard Ellie was staying here. By the way, how did you know who I was? This is our first time meeting.”

Yet despite the sharp question, the man’s reaction was nonchalant.

“Because you are so famous.”

Answering with a casual smile, the man soon looked at Lucian with a serene gaze and spoke:

“Everyone said that if there were a young noble lord with dazzling golden hair, eyes resembling green foliage, and fair skin that looked as though he had never stepped outside, it would be none other than the young master of the Everhart family. And seeing you in person today…”

From head to toe. Slowly sweeping his eyes down Lucian, the edge of the man’s lips tilted upward.

“…it seems the rumors were entirely true. Without the slightest exaggeration.”

Naturally, the one whose feelings were hurt was Lucian. Of course, it wasn’t a statement with a precisely offensive point. It was just strangely grating. Along with the tone that treated him like a child, the fact that the person saying it was Elowen’s fiancé made it all the more so.

Is that why? As if trying to prove that he too was an adult, Lucian stood his ground more stiffly and said:

“Perhaps because you’re in business, you have a keen eye. To recognize me right away just by hearing what people say about me. In that case, you must have heard this story as well.”

Lucian’s green eyes darkened even further.

“The fact that I am Ellie’s oldest friend. One who has been with her for a whole fifteen years.”

However, it didn’t take long to prove that the card Lucian had sharpened and brought out had very little impact.

“Ah— yes.”

Not only was it a short answer, but it was also due to the man’s overly relaxed demeanor.

Thanks to that, the one left at a loss for words was actually Lucian.

‘Ah, yes? That’s… all?’

Lucian had always taken pride in the fact that he was Elowen’s oldest friend. Especially after the late Baron Bellfon passed away, Lucian had always strived to be more than just a friend to Elowen, who practically had no real family left.

Yet Lucian could not possibly tolerate a man who dismissed those precious fifteen years—containing all his effort—in such a trivial manner.

“At any rate, speaking of which, there is something I’d like to ask you. As a friend who has stayed by Ellie’s side for fifteen years and is no different from family, I absolutely need to know. Why on earth did you approach the innocent Ellie and volunteer to become her fiancé overnight? Of course, it’s not as if I can’t guess the reason at all.”

As he spoke, his emotions surged even more. Lucian tried hard to suppress his feelings as he continued:

“It’s because of Ellie’s background, isn’t it? She’s a noble, after all, and you must covet that background. Of course, you’ll deny it, but—”

“You’re right.”

In an instant, Lucian’s rapidly moving lips came to a halt. A moment later, barely snapping out of it, Lucian asked with a heavily contorted face:

“What did you just say? You’re… right?”

“Yes. To be honest, that reason is part of it. It’s just that it isn’t the entire reason.”

“Then what on earth is the other reason?!”

Glaring intensely, Lucian pressed him the moment the man finished his sentence. Looking at Lucian, a troublesome sneer spread across the man’s face.

“Honestly, I don’t know why I have to explain this to you, Young Count, but since you ask, I shall answer.”

Tilting his sneering lips sideways, the man replied:

“Because I like her. Miss Elowen, I mean.”

At the indifferent answer, a hollow sigh burst from between Lucian’s lips.

Haa. Unbelievable. From what he heard, this man had arrived in Arlen merely three months ago. That meant even at the longest, it had been less than three months since he met Elowen. The audacity to utter the word ‘like’ after having seen her for merely that long. And… for some reason, those eyes that had been consistently dry from earlier.

The man’s gaze was undoubtedly emotionless. Though he said he liked her, if one were to look only at that gaze, it was enough to make one doubt whether those words were truly genuine. That was why Lucian could not accept it. All the more because this was a man who casually spewed out with such dry eyes those words that Lucian himself had cherished for so long—words he had harbored for a whole fifteen years.

“Haa. This is absurd. Just how much have you even seen Ellie to…”

However, even that deep anger became a mere trifle in front of this man.

“Does that matter?”

“…”

“What matters is that the person who will become her family now is me. Unlike you, Young Count, who only managed to occupy the spot of a ‘friend no different from family’ despite spending a whole fifteen years together.”

The man’s voice, striking accurately at the sore spot, was chilly and razor-sharp—as if determined to see Lucian bleed and collapse. And that wish was fulfilled to an extent.

Lucian’s body stumbled. He almost fell over on the spot, but barely managed to regain his balance, avoiding an unsightly sight. In reality, however, his current state was no different from having collapsed.

He had known ever since this spring, when the Baron—who used to act as though playing poker was his sole purpose in life without caring whether his niece of marriageable age grew old and died a spinster—suddenly began dragging Elowen out to ballrooms. That the Baron intended to forcibly push his niece into the marriage market. Yet even while knowing that, Lucian had believed the time was not yet right, intending to confess once everything was prepared.

Once he persuaded his father, who thought Elowen was far too lacking to sit in the position of his only daughter-in-law, even if she were fine as a friend. Once he built enough capability to be recognized by his father for that purpose. And once he slowly approached Elowen, who still regarded him merely as a friend, to establish his standing as a man.

‘I’ll confess then. Without fail.’

Fortunately, the men her uncle brought were all so terrible that they clearly posed no competition to him. They didn’t even know their place and failed to recognize Elowen’s worth, rejecting her one after another. While thinking it pathetic—how could such bastards dare decline Elowen?—Lucian felt secretly relieved inside, believing he still had time.

However… it was all foolish.

If he had known that such a perfect version of Elowen’s ideal ‘scent’ would appear—if he had known he would lose his precious girl overnight—he would have hurried a bit more.

‘Why on earth was I acting so naively relaxed?! Why?!’

He couldn’t stand how pathetic he was. More so than those pathetic groom candidates her uncle had brought.

Yet the arrow of resentment targeted an unintended spot.

“Do you… dare have the right to become Ellie’s family?”

Directly at that man—Elowen’s fiancé.

Of course, Lucian himself knew full well that he had no right to act like this. But the arrow had already been shot. In fact, he had to struggle even harder to justify the arrow he had already loosed.

“I can tell by seeing you in person. You don’t love Ellie at all. So why are you trying to marry Ellie with merely that degree of feeling? How dare you try to snatch away my precious Ellie with such a half-hearted heart?!”

However, there was something Lucian had overlooked: no matter how much he struggled, in this man’s eyes, he was nothing more than a mere novice. And the man’s thoughts were…

“Young Master.”

…laid bare in his following words.

“Stop throwing a tantrum.”

It was merely four words. Yet Lucian’s already flushed face turned an even deeper shade of red.

However, this was still merely a prelude.

The man took a step closer. Thanks to that, when the tips of their shoes were close enough to almost touch, the man slowly lowered his gaze and stared straight at Lucian.

“You were the one who wasted fifteen years and ultimately lost that woman. So what are you doing now, throwing a reckless tantrum like this? What’s more…”

Between the lips of the man staring down at Lucian, a chilly rebuke flowed forth:

“…to the man who will become that woman’s husband?”

“…”

“How dare you.”

It was an extremely cold voice. That made it all the more spine-chilling.

Yet even that was nothing compared to his gaze.

In the man’s eyes right now, not a trace of the dryness or indifference seen earlier could be found. Instead, filling that space was a vivid, glittering glint. And that glint in his eyes crushed Lucian relentlessly, like the weight of actual physical pressure.