Prologue. Their Strange Relationship
“Eat a lot, Irina.”
A young man and woman were sitting face to face and having breakfast. The Count speaking to the woman was a very aesthetic man, and his low voice was infinitely smooth and soft, even in the early morning.
But from time to time, a desire that could not be concealed flowed from him.
His gaze that stayed on the woman’s slender wrists, dry shoulders, and wavy hair one after another was undeniably dark and gloomy.
“What are you doing today?”
When Elenoa hid such signs and asked politely again, Irina fell into trouble. Hmm. After a while, she replied that she had made up her mind.
“I’m going to learn how to work in the garden. I will do laundry and other things when I have time.”
Irina Noviak.
She was the eldest daughter of a declining aristocrat family and now owes a huge debt to the man in front of her eyes.
Her family, which once boasted great power and prestige, collapsed entirely because of the former Marquis Noviac. To put it a little more accurately, it was because of the businesses that were entering a new era and her family couldn’t keep up to the demands.
Former Marquis Noviac was an owner of an indescribably bold character compared to his ability, and his successive investment failures made him owe huge amounts of debt that the family had to suffer from debt for a long time even after selling their title and estate.
It was Count Elenoa Schuberg who took over the Marquis’ remaining rights along with the debt.
He was the owner of the Merchant Guild of Schuberg, boasting great wealth in Keissen, and was Irina’s academy colleague.
“Come here.”
“Huh?”
Elenoa’s voice softened.
It was a sweet voice as if he were dealing with his lover, but when she lifted her head to answer, her face looked sour. In fact, it seemed a little uncomfortable.
Staring at the brilliant and clear gold eyes, Elenoa spoke in a friendly manner,
“The sunlight is strong during the day. Be careful not to injure your body while overdoing it. Tell the maid and make sure to wear a hat with a wide brim.”
“Okay, I got it.”
After entrusting herself to the Count, Irina was paying off her debts from time to time with a salary of about a maid. However, it was only an act to properly wrap up the relationship between the two as normal.
No Head of a household would have taken such care of their maid who worked in their household and of course there would never have been such a warm debt relationship.
Also, no matter how much she devoted her life to working, she will not be able to repay the large amount with a small salary.
So, the biggest right Elenoa acquired along with the debt was Irina Noviak.
He did not try to wield that right as recklessly as a tyrant, but at times he felt a dark euphoria and deep satisfaction in that very one fact.
That was the essence of the human being named Elenoa Schuberg.
No matter how friendly he pretended to be, or be a gentleman, it did not hide the fact that he possessed a cruel and sadistic nature.
Everyone, even Irina, noticed it to some extent, and when dealing with Irina, he used to act as if he were a pretty normal and friendly man
In fact, it was all bullshit.
However, dealing with that bastard after seven years she started to think that this—friendly attitude is truly not his personality.
Even the servants of the Count, who had been serving Elenoa for a long time, sometimes suffered cognitive dissonance, whether their master was like that.
(T/N: cognitive dissonance— the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioural decisions and attitude change.)
“But when it comes to gardening, isn’t it like having scissors or a saw in your hand?”
Elenoa asked Irina if he suddenly remembered.
He was frowning a little and had a strange face that seemed to hold back his laughter.
Irina asked, puzzled.
“Yes, I guess so. What’s wrong with that?”
“I’m worried that Irina might cut someone else’s hand or neck and not a tree.”
“Ahem…..”
Irina dropped her head a little as if she was ashamed.
At first glance, it sounded like a joke, but in fact, it was not a joke. Still, her body was always intact, and that was her talent.
The Count’s servants were grateful for that reason alone.
“Don’t do anything too risky in the first place.”
Since there were not one or two accidents that she had committed, Irina turned her words around while making a heartbroken face.
“I’ll be careful on my own. But Elenoa.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Hmm.”
She seemed to have something to say. Elenoa put down the knife and fork he was holding and made a puzzled face.
Soon after, the words that came out of her mouth were something that no one expected.
“I’m going to marry Ludwig.”
At that moment, terrible silence sank in the space where they were eating.
The staff of the Guild, who were waiting a few steps away, flinched by the sudden drop in the surrounding temperature.
However, ignoring everyone’s embarrassment, Irina continued in a calm manner,
“I’ll make sure it doesn’t interfere with my work.”
“…….”
Elenoa hasn’t spoken for a while.
And it was then.
Elenoa’s lips, who had only been quietly listening, began to draw a flexible curve.
It was a very elegant and dignified smile. However, the servants watching had to feel goosebumps.
It was because they knew that their owner was not a person to smile in a situation like this.
The appearance of smiling gently with the corners of his lips raised was very aristocratic, but the temperature of his eyes was incredibly low.
With a cold smile, he asked,
“With which bastard…… you are doing what?”
“… What?”
Irina asked back in surprise, but Eleanoa’s expression remained unchanged. His dark blue eyes now seemed to be bursting with dark flames.
Irina quickly frowned. This is because it was a deep tone that she had never heard from him before.
Eventually, a frown gradually began to appear on her face.
“…… Mr Elenoa.”
It was the young butler who dissuaded the Head on behalf of the people around him who were at a loss. Everyone knows Irina’s fiery nature and Count’s long-standing obsession with her.
Neither one was of a normal personality. Irina, who couldn’t control anger, from throwing a plate containing food or breaking the window and running out with the intention of breaking the Count’s head.
They are worried that the relationship between the two will become irreversible.
Elenoa, who was smiling with a bitter face, soon stared into space and sighed briefly. His face, which showed a little emotion, was still neat, but it looked much more sincere than before.
“You seem to be mistaken, but you didn’t come here to work for money and we’re not in a normal employment relationship. So you can’t do whatever you want.”
It was his usual polite way of speaking. However, he could not hide the cold anger contained in him.
Looking at Irina, who is listening to him with a firm look, he summarized what happened just a few months ago.
“The Count Schuberg took over all the debts that the former Marquis Noviac had. Some of the payments are over. When the damned loan shark picked you up to sell on a ship that you didn’t even know where it was heading to, I was the one who paid off the debt and transferred your rights and the title.”
And the relationship between you and Ludwig is already over.
By the way, will you only receive favors from me and not allow a slightest chance or the slightest leeway?
Elenoa’s eyes seemed to burn coldly.
What he said was a complete fact without any lies. However, Irina felt a strong rejection from his words and ways.
Elenoa didn’t seem to intend to stop at that point.
He wanted to make sure of all this now. He wanted her to know that she had only one option and no other possibilities.
Look, where you stand is a dead end.
Standing up from his seat, he approached Irina. It was an elegant and slow step as always. Coming right next to her, paused and reached out his hand.
His white hand overlapping Irina’s cheeks were infinitely sweet, but—
“Do I have to say it more clearly? Irina, I have a right to you.”
The contents of the following words were not sweet at all.
“So you can’t marry a bastard other than me.”
“…You trash, you punk.”
Immediately, Irina’s face, which she had been trying to listen to with patience, burned with anger.
Everyone was nervous about the sudden explosion, but Elenoa looked down at her rebellious face with endless still eyes.
The emotions contained in those eyes were clearly cold. However, by the time the coolness gradually heated up, he said the words he had been delaying for a long time.
“I’ll come to the room you’re staying in tonight. Don’t lock the door.”
Sexual implications was obvious.
After Elenoa went out, Irina, who had been angry for a long time, eventually threw a glass of water hard at the door where he went out.
The place where the glass broke with a loud noise was full of stains.
* * *
It was near midnight when Elenoa visited Irina’s bedroom.
Having already washed up in his room, he was dressed lightly, but Irina, sitting on the bed, was exactly the same as what he saw in the morning.
She was lost in deep thoughts while he came in and looked at her dissatisfied as he leaned against her door.
Irina seemed to have something to say while Elenoa only looked at her from afar.
“Hey, I didn’t tell you to come in yet.”
The words that finally came out of her mouth were very empty.
She looked like a child with a blunt expression. So Elenoa laughed a little bit. Even though the world has changed, Irina was still the same when he first met her.
He walked slowly and sat at an angle next to her, in a relaxed position. As he got closer to her, he smelled a deep and cool bath.
He kindly replied to her words.
“This is Count’s estate. I’m Count Schuberg. There is no place in the estate that the Head can’t go to.”
Then Irina muttered something with a sound that was hard to hear. Looking at the movement of her lips, she seemed to be swearing.
Elenoa once again smiled because it was Irina-like behavior.
When his white and long hands touched Irina’s red hair, Irina pulled her shoulders back a little, but he didn’t care and tucked it behind her ear.
Is it because of his pretty face? Even such a simple movement seemed obscene to Irina’s eyes.
“Ugh, you are a pretty trash bastard.”
What should I do with you?
Irina shook her head and called out the man’s nickname. However, Eleanoa only smiled without wavering, as if nothing had happened.
After staring at him for a long time, Irina sighed deeply. Her eyes on Elenoa were serious as ever. She had a face which looked like she was determined to do something.
“Elenoa, I have something to say.”
His eyes, smiling nicely, shone sharply at the moment. The eyes of the man and woman were tightly intertwined in the air.