NOVEL NEXT chapter 22
22 – 22. Hatred
Ariel took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then opened them.
What could make her so tense in this empire? She didn’t know, but even the emperor wouldn’t be to this extent.
The door of the mansion opened, and Ariel followed the butler’s guidance.
In the reception room, a woman in a yellow dress was sipping tea.
“Oh, have you arrived? I was quite surprised when you came suddenly.”
Seris Derin spoke while looking at Ariel. Ariel sat down and got straight to the point.
“I want to meet Eden.”
Upon hearing those words, Seris widened her eyes for a moment and looked at Ariel.
“…Well, that might be a bit difficult.”
Ariel narrowed her eyes at Seris’s words. Seris just silently observed Ariel, looking somewhat annoyed.
“Why can’t it be done?”
Ariel asked while looking at Seris. Seris, seemingly irritated by Ariel’s expression, chuckled.
“Do I have a reason to let you meet him?”
Ariel’s expression became even more infuriated. In contrast, Ceris showed no sign of wavering.
“Are you suggesting we engage in wordplay now?”
“No, I’m sincerely speaking. Why should I try to fit into the Duke’s company?”
Ariel glared at Ceris, but Ceris calmly took a sip of tea, then spoke.
“Don’t misunderstand. You may be a duke and one of the pinnacles of this empire, but you have no authority to command me.”
Ariel scanned Ceris’s icy gaze with orange eyes. Ceris poured tea into Ariel’s cup.
“Besides, to be honest, I have no desire to facilitate a meeting. Why should I show Lord Edun someone like my former fiancé, who has already been discarded?”
Ceris’s gaze remained cold, but her lips were forming a smirk. Ariel couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being played.
“I helped him when he was at his lowest, unlike those who only whispered about separation. Do you have the right to claim anything about Lord Edun to me?”
He didn’t. Ariel was well aware of that. However, that didn’t mean he could simply retreat.
“…Fine, I may not have the right to say anything about Edun to you. But what matters is whether Edun wants to meet me or not, isn’t it?”
Ceris smiled awkwardly, touching her chin.
“Well, no matter how you look at it, it seems you’ve given Edun something to worry about. Meeting you doesn’t seem to bode well for him.”
Ariel clenched his fist and glared at Ceris. She looked back at him with a mocking smile.
“Why do you want to meet Lord Edun and say whatever you want to say?”
Ceris asked, looking at Ariel. Ariel, with guarded eyes, retorted.
“…Why are you asking that?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Unlike anyone else, my priority is my lord, Lord Edun.”
Ariel felt his lips dry. The fact that she still revered Edun even when he had fallen lower than her was almost maddening.
“Unlike those vultures, I am still loyal to Lord Edun, and asking questions is part of that loyalty.”
Ceris tilted her head slightly.
“For example, what if the Duke mocks Lord Edun or says something hurtful, making my lord sad?”
A smirk didn’t leave Ceris’s lips. Ariel looked at her, narrowing his eyes.
“I would never do such a thing!”
In the end, Ariel, unable to contain his patience, burst out first. However, Ceris elegantly sipped her tea and spoke.
“Why?”
In response to Ceris’s question, Ariel stammered, “What…?”
Ceris, observing Ariel’s reaction, spoke in a gentle tone, “Why do you think that way?”
Before Ariel could answer, Ceris spoke methodically, one word at a time, “You already said in front of him that you would abandon him, right? How am I supposed to believe your words, ‘I would never do that’?”
Ariel felt her breath caught in her throat.
As she struggled to find words, Ceris continued to gaze at Ariel with eyes that traced lines, yet with a profoundly cold stare.
“Well, fine.”
Ceris said so and continued with an even brighter smile, “What did you want to say? If you let me know, I’ll try to change my thoughts.”
It wasn’t something one would say to a duke leading the empire, but Ceris boldly expressed her thoughts.
Leaning forward, Ceris compelled Ariel to bring her face closer.
“Are you trying to suggest we start over? Go back to the way things were? If that’s the case, I’ll gladly meet you with joy.”
Ariel pressed her lips tightly. Ceris tilted her head and said, “Oh, is that not it?”
…What was she trying to say? Lost in confusion, Ariel sat silently.
Helplessly, she was being torn apart by the sword of words from her counterpart. Even the deepest recesses of her innermost feelings were being laid bare.
In stark contrast to Ariel, Ceris chuckled and said, “I don’t want to say this, and I don’t want to say that. Are you just going to sit there like that? Haha.”
Ariel gritted her teeth. Ceris looked down at her. At this moment, Ceris stood above Ariel.
Finally, Ariel couldn’t hold back.
With a chilling aura and bloodshot eyes, she spoke, “Enough, wherever it may lead.”
Seris watched Ariel as if enjoying a spectacle, the sound of clinking tea cups filling the air.
Ariel stood up, facing Seris with a face full of anger.
“Where is Idun?”
Finally wiping the hint of a smile off her face, Seris gently set down her teacup.
With the smile erased from her face, all that remained on Seris’s countenance was a chilly gaze.
“…I never knew you were such a sentimental person.”
Ignoring Seris’s sarcastic remark, Ariel spoke again.
“Enough already, Seris. Where is she?”
Seris tilted her head and made a humming sound before opening her mouth.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t arrange a meeting with Idun for you.”
Ariel grimaced as she spoke.
“Don’t talk nonsense. Do you think I came here to listen to your excuses?”
Seris replied with the same cold gaze.
“No, really. Because Idun is currently at the academy.”
“What…?”
Ariel’s eyes flickered. Seris crossed her legs and continued speaking.
“She’s at the academy. On an island in the Mediterranean. I can’t arrange a meeting because of that.”
Ariel looked at Seris in disbelief. But Seris continued, slow and calm.
“She couldn’t stay here any longer, that’s what she said. So she got a job as an assistant professor at the academy and left the mainland.”
Ariel sat down in shock, unable to say anything. Still speaking in a slow, soothing voice, Seris continued.
“I don’t know who or what made her unable to endure the mainland, why she chose to work on the island. But I’m also sad that she left my side.”
Ariel remained silent, looking at Seris with a bewildered expression. Seris smiled at Ariel, who seemed out of place.
“I liked Idun.”
A sudden self-confession. However, Ariel didn’t say anything in response.
“But one day, she suddenly told me she was engaged to someone else. It was really heartbreaking.”
Seris closed her eyes, as if recalling memories of the past.
“But still, what could I endure? As long as he could be happy, it was fine, even if it wasn’t me.”
Ariel knew what words would come next, but she simply listened in silence.
Seris, who had closed her eyes, contorted her expression, wrinkling it.
“However, dare his fiancée, without even knowing his grace, abandon him. My beloved lord’s heart was torn to shreds.”
Seris stood up and approached Ariel, whispering.
“You’re the one who made it like this.”
Pure hatred filled each word as Seris pressed down on Ariel.
Ariel bit her lips. The blood started to seep due to the force, but she didn’t care.
Seris whispered to Ariel once again.
Her voice was small, but the hatred contained within was so dark and red that it seemed to instantly stain even the sea.
“I don’t know what Edunim will do, but… I can never forgive you.”
Ariel just listened silently to those words.
After saying that, Seris stood up, smiled again, and spoke.
“Just go away.”