The nobles who had received the invitation from the Achilles family wondered whether they should go or not until the day of the event. Even if Dukes Achilles was in a better situation, his family’s status had long since declined, so what good would it do to go?
However, the nobles who were invited heard news that Count Aster was also participating and they were forced to go to the Achilles Mansion.
“How did they prepare for a party without any servants?”
“I know, throwing a party is too extravagant under those circumstances.”
“I’m afraid it’ll make you laugh.”
“I hope this isn’t too painful.”
Some nobles ignored the invitation, worried they’d become a laughingstock, but there were quite a few aristocrats who used the party to build a relationship with the Achilles family.
In the past, it was only a powerless ducal family, but now Enoch had become a member of the Imperial knights and Elle had a successful business. In addition, news was spreading among the nobles that Ian had become an Imperial civil servant. Pink diamonds had also begun appearing, so they couldn’t help but covet those as well.
However, they didn’t have high expectations for the party that the Achilles family had invited them too. They had heard rumors about how the Achilles family had been spending their time.
Their expectations were quickly proven wrong.
The party venue was truly perfect. With the dazzling jeweled chandeliers; the beautiful performances of the musicians, who were famous for being difficult to liaise with; the neatly lined food and the luxurious wine; the nobles couldn’t hide their surprise. It seemed that he had returned as a duke in name and reality.
“I guess things are better.”
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“I think it’s safe to say their situation is good.”
“It could be their having a party because their debts have been paid down.”
As she watched them, the some nobles coughed and made sarcastic comments, unwilling to admit they were wrong. Other nobles, who had come to make a connection with Enoch, were too busy looking for him to take notice.
Leticia was quietly watching the scene from a corner while she drank a cup of water. The nobles who talked behind their backs were annoying, but there was something else that bothered her.
‘Will the two of you come too?’
Marquis Leroy and Levion El.
When Enoch hesitated to invite them, Leticia sent the invitation herself. It was done because of her shameful desire to show them she was living a good life, and that she had no regrets.
She was just unsure of what expression to wear when she faced them. She sighed deeply because it was going to be the second time she’d see Marquis Leroy after being kicked out.
Having barely escaped from the nobles that were surrounding her, Elle approached her. Soon after arriving, she stopped walking and just stared at Leticia blankly.
“Ha… Isn’t my sister so pretty?”
She’d already seen me wearing the dress at the shop, but she hadn’t seen her after she’d completely dressed up. The light purple dress with silver embroidery made her white skin stand out even more. Every time she moved, the embroidery shined beautifully, and Elle almost turned red.
“I can’t do this. I’ll take my sister. You can live with me.”
“Elle, really… We already live together.”
She could feel the clear sincerity from the deadpanned praise, so Leticia smiled and tapped Elle’s arm.
“Where is brother now? Are you alone?”
“I haven’t met up with him yet.”
“Really? What are you doing over here then?”
Elle held Leticia’s hand for a moment when she frowned at the fact that the party’s main person hadn’t arrived yet.
“Your hands and arms look so empty.”
“Is that so?”
“Why don’t we go back to your room and put on a ring or bracelet?”
“No!”
“….?”
“Oh, well…”
Leticia, who’d unintentionally raised her voice, touched her fingertips together with an awkward look.
“Accessories are so uncomfortable.”
“I thought it would look good on you. What a shame…”
Fortunately, Elle nodded as if it couldn’t be helped. Leticia was relieved by the sight and sighed secretly.
‘I’m going to wear my engagement ring today.’
She didn’t wear any accessories on purpose. She even put away the matching ring she has with Enoch.
‘I want to hurry up and get the ring.’
In fact, she wanted to officially show herself as his fiancée to everyone.
Wherever her greed popped out, Leticia realized how possessive she was. Luckily, Enoch seemed to like it, even though it embarrassed Leticia.
As she was thinking how she wanted Enoch to arrive as soon, Elle sighed in annoyance.
“I think he’s not coming, so I’ll go find him.”
“Yes, I understand.”
When Leticia said she would wait here, Elle left the party, saying she’d be back soon.
Watching Elle leaving, she felt a presence nearby. When she looked back, she found Levion standing nearby with an unhappy look on his face.
“Please talk to me.”
“I have nothing to say.”
Leticia tried to pass Levion without looking at him. However, he annoyingly blocked her path.
“Get out of my way.”
“Then should we talk here? It wouldn’t be good for others to overhear.”
Leticia sighed shallowly, as she felt the increased interest of the people around them. There was no one who didn’t know about her broken engagement with Levion, but the gazes and whispering around her were still unpleasant.
Leticia was forced to follow Levion to a balcony where there was no one around.
“’Make it short and get it over with. I don’t have time for this.”
While talking, she couldn’t look away from the party. Enoch should be arriving soon, and she didn’t want there to be any misunderstanding because she was alone with Levion.
Levion pulled on Leticia’s arm and forced her to turn to him.
“Have you awakened?”
“….”
Despite it being phrased as a question, he sounded confident. She was surprised for a moment, but Leticia looked up at Levion without saying a word.
“What answer do you want to hear from me?”
“Leticia?”
“Awakened or not, nothing will change.”
“No, the relationship between you and I will change.”
“What does that mean?’
It had been a long time since their engagement had been broken off, so she couldn’t tell what would change.
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She thought it wouldn’t be anything good, so she was about to turn her head away.
“Since you’ve awakened, Marquis Leroy will accept you back.”
“No way, I don’t think so.”
Levion seemed to think that everything could go back to its original state. As soon as she realized what he meant, Leticia’s face immediately turned cold.
“So you want to be engaged again?”
She couldn’t believe that he wanted to be engaged, break it off, then be engaged again.
At the sight of Levion speaking so casually about it, Leticia asked with a tired look.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“Are you going to get engaged to Duke Achilles?”
The moment she was about to say that it wasn’t any of his business, Levion was one step faster than her.
“Do you really think a commoner is suitable for a duke?”
“….”
He could only say that because he didn’t know that she’d become the foster daughter of Count Aster.
However, the words ‘suitable’ caused Leticia’s hands trembled, and the water in her glass shook.
“That’s not for you to judge.”
“Come to think of it, you don’t even have a ring.”
Levion’s gaze suddenly looked to Leticia’s hand. The corner of his mouth turned up when he saw that she wasn’t wearing the ring he saw last time.
“You see? It seems the duke has lost interest in you…”
Even before he finished talking, he felt a cold touch with a splashing sound on his face. He was wet from his face to his neck, Leticia had thrown her cup of water at him.
Levion looked up with a look of disbelief on his face. Leticia stood in front of him with a radiant smile on her face, but her eyes were not smiling and shone coolly.
“What are you doing?”
“I thought splashing you with cold water would wake you up, but it doesn’t seem to have worked.”
“Is it so upsetting to hear that it didn’t work out with the duke?”
Levion smirked coldly at her. However, Leticia’s subsequent words hardened his expression at once.
“So do you think you would suit me?”
“What?”
“I don’t think so.”
Leticia took a step closer to Levion and placed her glass on the railing, while firmly saying.
“Not at all.”
At one time, she thought the sincerity she showed to the people she loved was wrong. No one realized her feelings, so she thought she just needed to try harder to reach their hearts.
However, she came to a realization when she met Enoch.
Her true heart wasn’t a mistake. The problem was that they took her sincerity for granted.
“Please figure out reality, because you always treated me like I’m a waste of time for someone like you.”
At one time, she felt sorry for him and wanted to give him nothing but love and care, but now she no longer felt that. She just felt annoyed and irritated.
She couldn’t believe that he wanted her to return to the Leroy mansion and become engaged again now that he knew she’d awakened. As the news of his engagement to Diana had already spread, she couldn’t understand what he was thinking.
In addition, she felt frustrated by him asking her to return to a family that took her for granted.
“Don’t interfere with my life, it’s unpleasant.”
“You’ve changed.”
Levion said this and burst into laughter, as he shook out his wet hair. The tone of his words were nasty, and Leticia knew right away that he was being sarcastic.
“It was you who changed first, not me.”
At a time when they were both struggling because of their lack of ability, Levion awakened first. Leticia sincerely congratulated him, and hoped that Levion would show his ability to its fullest potential.
As soon as he awakened, Levion began to change rapidly. He often ignored her, treated her as if she was pathetic, and would urge her to awaken faster. Nevertheless, Leticia understood that Levion was doing it for her.
“Look at you. You’re acting like this because you think I’ve awoken.”
“Leticia.”
“I’m tired.”
“….”
“What’s different about doing this now…”
The anger that had been building up died down, and only mixed feelings remained.
As she lowered her eyes with a tired look, Leticia slowly spoke.
“Did you know? I once wanted to be a person who suited you.”
“Leticia…”
“You took it for granted, but I also thought you were right.”
Just because she hadn’t awakened.
For only one reason, she was abandoned by her family and abandoned by her fiancé, who was closest to her.
Come to think of it, it was really ridiculous, but Leticia thought everything had been her fault. She’d spent days blaming herself and suffering because she believed she was bad at everything.
“But Enoch let me know that it wasn’t true.”
It’s not normal to be hurt. She’s a person who deserved to be loved. He was a person who always whispered that she should love and cherish herself.
“I know better than anyone that I’m not worthy of Enoch.”
Leticia clenched her hand tightly because she felt suffocated. It’s a fact that she knew even if she didn’t say it, but when she heard it from a person who she hated the most, her heart sank.
“Leticia!”
When Levion tried to take a step closer to speak to her. Leticia immediately noticed, and stepped away to deny him.
“So I’m going to work harder.”
“What?”
“To be a good fit.”
It was a greed and desperation she’d felt for the first time when she was with Enoch.
It was significantly different from when she’d tried to be next to Levion. It was a feeling that she wanted to be much more deeply intertwined than that.
“I’ll take this opportunity to say this clearly.”
While talking, she faced Levion with a look of annoyance.
“I don’t want to go back. To my family, or to your side.”
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