I wondered if I was also that rich in my previous life. Who was it? The feelings were hereditary. Out of all things, that was the only thing she took from her father.
‘I don’t want to either! Never mind.’
My attempt to change the original story of the novel seems to have failed miserably. A young man’s laughter sounded loudly from the next room, but I felt so bad that I didn’t even think to argue with him.
D*mn. Did the story go according to the original story?
I was forced to change my strategy. Gloria will probably get married according to the original story. Of course, if she chose to run away, I was willing to support her enthusiastically.
‘It would be so much fun to screw this old man over. If I can’t have him, I’ll destroy him.’
I hid my clenched hands behind my back and spoke to the baron.
“In that case, I have something to discuss with you. It’s about your wedding date with Gloria. When do you think it will be?”
The baron called the butler to check the schedule upon my words. The butler brought a calendar and immediately pointed to the weekend at the beginning of the next month. I looked at the date before shouting at them.
“Don’t choose that day. Please postpone it for a week.”
“Who are you to dare interrupt my wedding?”
The baron’s sharp eyes stared at me. I tried to make excuses.
“Women always have a week-long menstrual cycle within a month. The wedding date happens to be the day of Gloria’s period. That’s why I ask for it to be postponed for a week.”
I actually didn’t know much about Gloria’s menstrual cycle. My intention in bringing this thing up in the first place was to postpone the wedding for a week from the proper schedule.
The baron and butler were momentarily bewildered by my harsh words, and coughed loudly.
“You’re not doing this because of other things, are you?”
“No, I’m not. I will persuade Gloria to sign the marriage registration form before the wedding day, so tomorrow. Do you trust me?”
I obviously have no intention to tell her two options. Marry the baron, or run away. However, there was no reason to tell this man that. And I even sent Claude and Gloria to the lake today so that they could have had an ‘accident’.
“Oh, I’m the president of the newspaper and a reporter. I want to grace the front page with the story of the baron’s wedding in the form of articles about the founding of our newspaper publishing company. Can I interview you for a moment?”
If it couldn’t be helped, I intended to make this marriage known as widely as possible to the people of the Morris Empire. That way, everyone would know about Gloria when she became a widow. If the rumors started off this way, it would attract the attention of the crown prince who would be the male protagonist in the future.
If I can’t get rid of the thorny path that the heroine walks on, I would have to pour cement and lay a path of flowers on it. Of course, if Gloria and Claude do well today, I would throw away this interview article.
* * *
Bright sunlight shone through the small window of the carriage, and the little curtains fluttered in the wind. Claude looked out of the carriage without saying anything. He was feeling very annoyed right now.
‘Why did Noona ask me to take this troublesome woman to the lake on such a fine day?’
Of course it was because she was a noona with a strong sense of justice, Claude knew that her intention was to get involved in the wedding of the girl beside him. However, why would Haley want to destroy someone’s marriage?
In the first place, Claude had no interest in any woman other than Haley, so he just waited for these boring moments to pass quickly.
Unlike the bored Claude, Gloria blushes at the sight of his good face. She fiddled with the box in her pocket and picked it up as she talked to him for a while.
“Uhm, Claude. When I speak in front of Baron Stephen, could you accompany me? I think I’ll be a little braver if you’re by my side.”
Hearing that, Claude looked dumbfounded at what she was talking about.
“Didn’t you hear it from Noona?”
“Huh? What?”
Gloria tilted her head like a puppy hearing the hushed question.
‘Oh, is this a secret?’
He brushed his hair and spilled the truth.
“My Noona went to the Baron and said that she would negotiate with the baron or something on behalf of you. I was asked to get you away from the capital today, and bring you home again later.”
“What?”
Gloria couldn’t hide her embarrassment. She felt like she had gotten a lot of help from Haley. Gloria didn’t expect Haley to help her father in this accident. Gloria was very grateful and felt guilty towards her friend.
‘Actually, I wanted to run away because I was afraid of meeting the baron.’
How could Haley possibly know what Gloria felt and made up an excuse like this. However, she was also the type of person with common sense. Just because Haley went to the baron instead of her, it’s not that her head was a flower garden to think that she could solve this problem.
She was already too mature and smart to believe in fairy tales that always ended with a happy ending.
‘What are you fond of a friend who wants to snatch the guy who likes you? Why are you so nice to me?’
Gloria thought so, after all there seemed to be no other solution than to marry the old Baron Stephen. Although she stated that she would break off their relationship, they were still family members related by blood. If she didn’t marry and get sold to the baron’s family, she wondered how their family would pay off that much debt. (Gloria also didn’t know how much it was).
‘If only Claude asked me now, he would probably be able to help me with my current situation.’
Gloria was used to seeing Claude as an ordinary little boy, and he turned out to be the son of Duke Lischer. Gloria was grateful that he showed up at the right time.
Actually, Gloria was already thinking of seducing Charon, the guy who had a crush on Haley. Gloria’s long-cherished dream is to get married and escape from her family’s interference. If Charon was confirmed to be employed at the Imperial Palace, Gloria thought he could get her out of this boring city. However, with the appearance of Claude who was born to be a nobleman, her intention changed in a blink. And the feeling became genuine before she realized it.
“No wonder. There was a lunch box like this in the carriage. I didn’t expect Haley to remember that I once said I wanted to go on a picnic with you.”
Gloria’s eyes curved beautifully as she smiled at Claude. However, Claude didn’t say anything in response, only looked out the window. Gloria’s mouth went dry at the sight of him. She looked down at the tip of her shoes and slowly confessed.
“Claude. I’ve actually liked you for a long time. You were my first love.”
Men aren’t interested in a woman who gives their heart first. Gloria had no other options left this time. This man was the only one who could save her. After making a confession with a trembling voice, it was when she raised her head.
“My God!”
Gloria unconsciously exclaimed quite loudly in surprise at the look in Claude’s eyes. She didn’t feel any emotion in Claude’s eyes looking at her. He replied as if the scene was boring to him.
“Then, what?”
He simply raised one of his eyebrows before looking out the window again. Seeing Claude’s nonchalant attitude, Gloria bit her lip and put her hands in her pockets. She gripped the box in her pocket firmly.
‘I think I might be the owner of this ring.’
The thread ring that matched the size of Gloria’s finger. Gloria had already worked harder to become the leader more than anyone else in the morning with a happy heart. On their way for the entire time, she thought Claude would propose and save her. Her heart was pounding all the time as if she was in a beautiful dream. Her efforts to seduce Claude, in fact, never impressed this man. It was a total defeat for her.
Gloria’s face turned pale after accepting that fact. Now, she had only one choice left. Getting the old baron as her husband.
However, her marriage with Baron Stephen could gain her noble status and great wealth. Gloria convinced herself that it was not a bad choice. Gloria let out a long sigh, deciding to think about the future in a positive light. After all, she thought she could have fun with her first love today.
She still had one last chance before giving up.
‘There wasn’t even a bottle of alcohol in the lunch basket. Haley, why are you so clueless?’
When they arrived at the lakeside, she was going to ask the coachman to buy some liquor. Gloria chuckled inwardly. She thought, perhaps, she would take advantage of this moment like she did to Haley last time, which was to make Claude pass out.
She decided to enjoy their picnic today. Brie also had a child after successfully marrying a nobleman despite the fact that she had a child. She could probably use her sister’s methods. The thought was naturally smoldering.
Gloria smiled back at Claude while putting her embarrassment aside.
“It’s just that I have to get married because of my father’s debt. I want to confess my feelings before I get married. If you sympathize with me, we should play a game of being in love with me today, Claude.”
Gloria thought that there was no way she couldn’t do what her sister had done. She was determined to seduce and devour this silly man effortlessly.
“I’m sorry, but I’m…”
The weather suddenly changed before Claude’s words were finished. The clear, cloudless sky somehow began to cloud over quickly as the horse-drawn carriage began to approach the lake.
Kwak Kwa Kwak!!!
Lightning flashed near the lake in the distance. At the same time, the train car shook violently as if an earthquake had occurred. Raindrops fell little by little from the sky, and soon there was a downpour that was impossible to see with the strong wind.
‘The weather wasn’t in my favor either.’
Gloria didn’t want to ruin her first date like this. Gloria thought bitterly as she only wanted to go home with good memories of today, if it’s possible.
The train finally stopped along with the pouring rain. The coachman opened the door slightly and spoke to them.
“Sorry, but there’s a traffic jam near the lake. I’ll go and see what’s going on. Please wait here for a moment.”
The coachman ran through the streets which were flooded with rain. Looking out through the window of the carriage, Gloria saw that all the carriages around her were experiencing the same thing, they seemed to be going out for a picnic and thinking that it was a good day, and ended up stopping in succession.
Gloria glanced at Claude and spoke to him.
“Something must have happened on the lake. It was sunny a moment ago, but suddenly it became cloudy.”
“I think so.”
Claude closed his eyes and leaned his back against the hard wall of the carriage, as if he had no interest in what was happening outside. Even the way this man slept with his arms folded looked as beautiful as a painting. Gloria caught the sight of the man in her eyes for a long time.
The heavy rain that seemed to be blinding, gradually diminished as time passed. As the rain subsided little by little, the scent of grass entered the carriage with damp energy. Their first date was ruined, and even her date, Claude, didn’t show any interest in her.
‘As expected, Claude only seemed to think of Haley as a woman.’
Gloria realized that she was not the owner of this ring, but she didn’t want to give up. She thought that if Claude was close to her, he might turn his eyes on Gloria someday. However, Gloria realized that now she had to give up. As she was about to become a baroness. If only Claude would comply, she could leave everything behind and run into Claude’s arms.
“You know what, Claude? First love usually doesn’t come true.”
Gloria said this to Claude because she somehow felt sad. That was what she said to Claude and to herself at the same time. Claude, who initially seemed to be asleep, immediately opened his eyes.
“Who said that? Don’t believe such nonsense. Fate is what you use to make it come true.”
Did he realize it? This foolish man, who didn’t even realize the unrequited love of a woman, had been the hope of life and joy for her for a while.
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