Don’t Trample on Innocent Love

Thump, thump, thump!

Early in the morning, a visitor arrived.

Robern woke up from the sound of footsteps piercing through the tightly closed door. Frowning, he groaned softly as he raised his heavy body, plagued by a throbbing headache. The aftertaste wasn’t pleasant. It seemed no different from last night’s debauchery at the social club, where he had taken drugs, as the lingering aftermath still remained.

The disheartening voice seeped through the crack of the door as Robern was pouring himself some water from a teapot on a side table.

“Your, Your Grace. I apologize, but Lord Bentley is here to see you.”

When he didn’t receive a response, the butler raised his voice.

“He was told to wait in the reception room, but he insists on seeing you immediately…”

Ignoring the butler, who anxiously awaited his reply, Robern reached for a teacup. Since he heard the sound of pounding on his door, he had anticipated it might be due to a visitor. The butler, who had lived in the mansion for a long time, had never once defied Robern’s sensitive temper by knocking on his door at this early hour.

The only person so rude to make him do this would be Charles Bentley, a friend who recently resigned from his parliamentary position to engage in idle pastimes. Robern casually draped his robe over himself, disregarding the annoying itch.

“Let him in.”

Charles stepped eagerly into the open door but abruptly halted. As if he had seen something he shouldn’t have, he covered his eyes and groaned. The distinct figure glimpsed through the disheveled robe was enough to extinguish the vitality of any man. Charles sighed deeply. 

That selfish bastard who has no consideration for the feelings of others.

“Could you please think about the people seeing you?”

“I doubt you came here to talk about work. What do you want?”

“You’re no fun.”

Charles clicked his tongue at the explicit demand to get straight to the point and plopped down in the chair across from him. 

When he saw Charles grinning meanly, he felt a strange sense of discomfort. Robern narrowed his brows as he looked into Charles’ clear eyes. This is because when Charles, who is intoxicated with drugs and alcohol every day, is sober, it could only mean that he came bearing trouble.

This time, too, his prediction was correct.

“I came all this way because I thought you might find it amusing.”

What Charles proudly presented was a well-known gossip magazine. Robern couldn’t help but sneer at the gossip magazine that mainly covered the trivial love affairs of the nobility.

“The Earl of Bentley must be really bored. If you don’t like it, you’d better spend your time fooling around with women. Don’t waste your time on that useless scrap of paper.”

“Well, just take a look.”

“Get lost.”

Robern picked up the neatly arranged cigarettes on the table, holding one against the candle flame as he leaned back on the sofa. That’s when it happened.

“I heard a marriage proposal came to Ophelia Denev.”

At the familiar name, Robern paused, his body tense. But only for a moment. Nonchalantly resting his body on the sofa with a relaxed gesture, Robern sent a questioning gaze that said, “What’s the big deal?” but Charles had already noticed that he was getting a little agitated.

Robern had some weaknesses when it came to that name.

“And Ophelia thinks highly of that man and is considering the marriage conversation in a positive light.”

“So what?”

“Well, if you’re lucky, she’ll be married off before the end of the year. Considering she’s passed the eligible age for marriage chasing after you and the fact that her feelings for you have already become public, it wouldn’t be inappropriate to say that she’s already taken. Who in their right mind would take a woman with such arrogance and a dirty personality? Moreover, you, Duke Valent, whom she has a crush on, despise Lady Denev, so among the people who want to build a relationship with the duchy, there won’t be anyone taking Lady Denev. In the midst of all this, the marriage proposal came in. How relieving is that?”

Indeed, it was a genuinely shitty piece of news.

No, let’s correct it. The news about Ophelia Denev itself is not bad. Robert dislikes Ophelia, but it’s not that he hates her as a person, but rather dislikes her foolish behavior. However, his foul mood might be due to the sense of responsibility he feels towards others’ emotions. It could be that because of her one-sided feelings, Ophelia Denev has remained single all this time, or her talks of marriage have always fallen through.

Robern released a cloud of smoke as he picked up the gossip magazine. Ignoring Charles, who chuckled and asked if he was finally interested, Robern raised his chin. He continued reading the gossip magazine for a while. What type of extraordinarily wealthy person… It’s astonishing that the proud Denev family would accept an offer of marriage from a mere wealthy individual.

“Must have been urgent.”

Robern casually put down the gossip magazine and took a deep drag on his cigarette. His gaze was still fixated on the magazine.

“Anyway, it’s something to congratulate you on, isn’t it? You were annoyed by Miss Denev. Maybe she lost interest in you because of your actions a few days ago. Well, even I would do the same in her place.”

At that moment, Robern’s gaze shifted to Charles. It was an expression that seemed impossible to understand. His hand, flicking the cigarette on the table, was elegant and restrained, but his behavior was as vulgar as Charles’s.

“Lost interest?”

“Then what can you call this? Hey, no matter what, asking her to crawl was a bit much.”

A few days ago, Robern called Ophelia to the villa. Despite the considerable distance, Ophelia rushed over without asking for a reason. Her face stiffened as she entered the space covered in acrid smoke, the smell of semen, and the scent of blood. After casting a disgusted look at the men with gazes clinging to her like beasts, she staggered towards Robern.

Robern was distant from the pleasures and amusements of the world. Sometime in the past, he had been consumed by apathy, and he yearned for even more intense pleasures, but everything felt dull. The only thing that brought him some joy was tormenting Ophelia.

Tormenting her.

He knew how despicable his actions were, but he lacked the will to change. It was Ophelia who provided him with an excuse to torment her. If she hadn’t shown him her one-sided emotions, none of this would have happened.

[Ophelia. Crawl over here.]

He scanned Ophelia, who stood upright, from bottom to top. She didn’t look like she belonged here. The green dress that tantalizingly covered her chest, the perfectly arranged black hair that he wanted to twist in his hands, the red lips that begged to be kissed, and the emerald eyes whose thoughts he couldn’t decipher.

[If you came running at the words ‘I miss you,’ you should at least do that much, shouldn’t you?]

In response to the clear insult, Ophelia stared at him for a while and then abruptly turned her back. That was the end of it. His interest waned, and he didn’t pursue her. Someone else followed behind her, but he paid no attention.

It was something he always did.

Trampling on Ophelia’s feelings.

But…

“Lost interest?”

“That’s the case; she held on for a long time. She was ignored for three years. If it were me, I would have strangled you long ago.”

Robern couldn’t possibly admit it. Can a woman who, just a few days ago, would come running at his words suddenly discard her feelings overnight? He didn’t believe in love as a concept, but he believed in Ophelia’s infatuation. Since the infatuation, she claimed to have exhibited the form of love, and he considered it love for now.

So, in Robern’s thinking, it was unlikely that this grand love would come to such a swift end.

As he logically organized his thoughts, the frustrating emotions that had plagued him calmed down. In the first place, he didn’t care about gossip from an unknown source. He understood that he had only been slightly surprised because Charles had made a fuss when he had barely woken up.

However, Robern’s calm was short-lived.

It was because Ophelia, who always hovered around him like air, was nowhere to be seen. He didn’t even notice for a day or two, but it wasn’t until someone said, “I don’t see Miss Denev around,” that he realized. He couldn’t just brush it off, thinking that she might be secretly watching him. Ophelia was bold when it came to her unrequited love and openly lingered around him. If he wanted to see her, she would be there, staring at him without a word, right in front of his eyes.

As the days turned by, one day, two days, three.. and more than ten days, a slight doubt began to emerge in Robern’s mind.

‘Why should I care? What’s so special about that woman?’

And it was about two weeks without seeing Ophelia when he had witnessed “that sight.” 

“Where is Miss Denev doing right now, and what is she doing?”

Ignoring the uninvited intruder who had barged into his study, Robern lowered his gaze and continued reading his book. Charles, who had suddenly appeared as always, cautiously observed his reaction as if he were someone trying to gauge it. However, like someone enjoying the sunlight streaming in through the window, Robern stood there calmly and leisurely turned the pages. Although he had lost the leisure of sitting and reading, he could still convey the message that he didn’t care about Ophelia or anything of the sort. Even after Charles grumbled and left, Robern continued reading the book for a while.

When the sunlight began to fade, Robern closed the book abruptly.

“Your Grace, shall I prepare clothes for your outing?”

“No, I’m just taking a walk.”

Robern had truly intended to go for a walk. The expansive walking path that stretched behind the mansion was helpful for clearing his mind. However, as if being led by the whimsical wind, he chose the wrong path.

The carriage came to a stop at the coffee shop Charles had mentioned.

“They’re so cute together. Maybe they’ll get married this month instead of this year.”

Robern stood in front of the modest coffee shop and chuckled at his reflection in the glass window. What am I doing, acting like a fool? Whether Denev gets married or not. Robern turned his back and then, meaninglessly, glanced back at the coffee shop. Just then, a clear and cheerful sound of a bell rang out.

And there she was.

“Miss Denev, may I hold your hand? I’m afraid your heel is too high, and you might trip.”

The man who was known as a remarkable businessman

“What will you do if I say no?”

“That would be awkward, wouldn’t it?”

He gazed at Denev with a shy smile.

… She’s smiling?

Shyly?

It was a sight as unfamiliar as seeing Denev in the villa. Her laughter belonged solely to Robern. It wasn’t resentment, but during those three years, Robern had monopolized Denev’s laughter and heart. Only he knew the dimples that appeared when she smiled, and he was the only one who knew the redness of her tongue when she flicked her teeth.

Ophelia treated any man other than him like a mere rag.

That Denev with her high and mighty attitude.

“Just kidding. It’s fine if you hold it.”

She had changed.

_________

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