Raising my Fiancè with Money

Chapter 21

Tea party

Richard was silent for a while, he murmured, looking only at the consent form for a breakup.

“I absolutely don’t agree.”

Richard’s eyes glistened.

At the unusual appearance, Franchse and Malik came closer to Lilia.

“Don’t come any closer.”

At Malik’s warning, Richard gritted his teeth. At once, he reached out and snatched the consent form for break up.

Then he ripped it off without mercy and spread it in the air.

Richard looked at her and wondered what she was going to do now.

Lilia brought up a new consent form for break up as if she knew that this would happen. Lilia opened her mouth as she looked at his shaking crimson eyes.

“Let’s break up quietly before we see each other’s dirty state.”

Richard’s expression hardened at the harsh words that came out from Lilia’s mouth.

He looked like he didn’t know such words would come out of her mouth, as she had always said nice things.

Of course.

That was because she didn’t show the real herself to Richard.

She just pretended to be nice and understanding because she wanted to be loved by him.

‘Come to think of it, we were dating without knowing each other’s ‘real face’.

Lilia swallowed as she laughed inwardly.

“You’re gonna regret it. You know how deadly rumours are in society!”

“So what?”

Richard was speechless, so he shut his mouth.

Anyway, because of Richard’s pride, it led to his fiancee loving another man.

He could never say that.

In addition, Lilia’s new lover was the Little Duke of Evantheon. No one would go so far so as to talk openly.

‘I have money, but what does rumours have to do with it?’

It was the social world that overlooked rumours if they had money and power.

Even Karhan’s reputation couldn’t get any worse than now. She also knew that, so she made a deal with him.

“Do whatever you want. I don’t care about rumours.”

“……”

“And you were the one who cheated on me first, right?”

Not long ago, Richard begged Lilia for forgiveness. He admitted himself that he had an affair.

Richard, who had been grinding his teeth, was sarcastic.

“Don’t pretend to be clean alone. Evantheon’s little duke also has a woman. In the end, aren’t you cheating on me too?”

Lilia paused for a moment.

But she didn’t have to tell him that Stella was Karhan’s stalker, and were not on any terms yet.

When an answer didn’t come back, Richard was elated and shouted.

“To the Evantheon little duke, you’re just playing with fire.”

Richard whispered that she would be thrown away soon.

“Lilia, it’s not too late now. You can put everything in order and make it back to the way it was…”

As she listened to him, Lilia looked down at the broken-up agreement scattered at her feet.

Even if they are attached together in detail, it would still be different from the original form. Just like the relationship between her and Richard. Lilia then got up from her seat.

She took out all the written forms for consent to break up and scattered them towards him.

“What are you doing!”

Richard burst into anger.

Lilia then said, while she looked at him as he was burning red.

“There will be no reunification even if there is just me and you in the world.”

This was the last chance she gave him.

If Richard simply accepted the breakup, she was also planning to settle it to the appropriate extent.

But Richard kicked that opportunity. If he didn’t intend to agree, he would be forced to agree.

“Please, I will make you beg for breakup.”

“……Do you think I’ll just wait and see?”

As if growling, he spit out his words with a seething voice.

Richard had faith in himself.

His father was a high-ranking official in the Empire who had ties to the Imperial family.

No matter how much it was called “golden is almighty,” power could not be ignored.

(QC/N: No Matter how much money is valued, power/connections could not be ignored so no matter how much rich Bloden family is Richard’s family has connections and power)

However, Lilia had more power behind her back than Richard did.

She was planning to bring in authority of the Duke of Evantheon through Karhan, so no matter how powerful he was as the Marquis of Tersian, he would not be able to thrive.

“Do whatever you want.”

Lilia turned away.

The last compromise was broken.

There was no reason to stay here anymore.

Lilia then halted before she left.

“Oh. I’m saying this because I keep hearing news…, Stop selling my name.”

Lilia said, as she looked at him from top to bottom, just like how Richard would do.

“Because it’s lame.”

* * *

Roses in full bloom were spread all over the path.

Like Virgin Road, rose shrubs were planted on both sides, and at the end of the road were two white pillars supporting a dome roof.

The pink roses climbed up the pillar and covered it thickly up to the top of the white roof.

There was a round table under the dome.

With the table in the center, the women sat down, and Stella was at the center.

Today’s meeting was Stella Delotta’s regular tea party.

All those invited were unmarried young ladies, consisting of no less than those with the county status.

As everyone gathered, the employee standing behind poured the water.

The dried roses in the teacup began to bloom slowly. While everyone was admiring the ecstatic scene, Stella opened her mouth.

“This is the rose tea that is to be released as a new product this time.”

“It smells really good.”

“The color is pretty, too.”

Everyone gave compliments one after another.

Stella smiled at their words.

She used to invite the group and held tasting sessions before launching the new product.

There was no particular opinion to refer to because they would always give out compliments, but it was comforting.

After the tasting, they began conversing.

Then, when a topic was decided, everyone started talking.

Since they were young ladies who were at the marriageable age, lovers and marriage were mainly the talk of the town.

A viscount lady sighed deeply and opened her mouth.

“There’s a talk about marriage this time that I’m worried about. It’s the best condition for my situation, but it’s still a pity….”

She pretended to be lamented, but a subtle pride could be felt from her words.

Everyone pretended not to know and said that they were envious.

While talking about each other’s fiancés, one young lady sneaked a peek towards Stella.

“Miss Delotta must be very happy. You’re going to be the Duchess.”

Everyone looked at Stella with envious eyes.

Stella was the only child of the Delotta family, who had nothing to be ashamed of, and was about to rise in her status through marriage.

Although the reputation of the little duke was not good, there were a number of people who would not refuse to take a place as part of the old nobles if they could seize power.

Stella was also one of them.

She was willing to jump into the fire pit to get what she didn’t have.

She chose Karhan who had power that she could not resist even if she struggled all her life.

“We haven’t even had an engagement yet.”

Stella was modest in her own way, sweeping up her navy blue hair.

“But you two meet often, right?”

“I’m curious. Please tell me a story.”

Stella stared silently at the untouched refreshment.

Actually, there was no specific story to tell.

It was because she never even had a proper date with Karhan.

There was only a conversation between families about engagement, but it was still the same as others.

Everyone thought that the wedding was set, but the reality was that she was the one unilaterally chasing him. They haven’t even met since the palace banquet.

Karhan’s frowned face kept popping up, so she was refraining from visiting for the time being.

Unable to tell the details, Stella mixed up the lies and glossed over them.

“We’re usually meeting at home. But I’m tired because of the rumors.”

Everyone nodded because they had heard about Karhan’s rumors at least once.

“It is said that little duke is a scary person, but in the first place, such a person is decided on a lover.”

“That’s right. In a novel I read a while ago, such a male protagonist appeared.”

The topic quickly shifted to romance novels.

Stella listened eagerly, while she pretended not to be interested.

She didn’t tell anyone else, but in fact, she also was into romance novels.

The reason why she lost weight was because of the influence of the female lead in her favourite novel.

Especially since the novel that she was reading these days was the story of a female protagonist who was able to tame a bad man.

A bad guy that no one could handle.

Although he was handsome, he was a tragic person who did not give his heart to anyone and only the female protagonist was able to tame the male protagonist.

When she first read the novel, Stella felt like her heart was going to explode.

She cried and laughed, and later substituted the characters as herself and Karhan.

When she thought that despite Karhan pushing her away or being blunt was an ordeal, she would get even more flare up.

Although at the moment he was a cold and bad man like the main character in the novel, she would eventually be the one who captures Karhan.

“Oh… a while ago…”

A young lady opened her mouth without much thought but she shut up in a hurry.

The sight made Stella ask.

“What happened a while ago?”

She hesitated and reluctantly opened her mouth to Stella’s gaze.

“A few days ago, I had a business trip in the downtown area. There I happened to see the Evantheon little duke…”

She then looked at Stella instead of talking.

Stella nodded as if to say to keep talking.