Chapter 6
The bellboy, who had gone to the lobby to deliver the dress to Kaiden, returned to Chloe still holding the dress.
“I’m sorry, but he had already left, so I couldn’t deliver it.”
“I see. Thank you for trying.”
Chloe accepted the dress with a bitter feeling. Her eyes narrowed in distaste as she looked at the sparkling, luxurious gown like it was a cursed object.
“He couldn’t even wait a moment and left already.”
She didn’t want to keep anything even remotely associated with Kaiden Verder. All the more so if it was something he had bought for her.
“I can’t exactly throw it away either.”
But if she did, she could already hear him demanding why she discarded something that belonged to him.
If it were anyone else, she wouldn’t worry. But that lunatic was fully capable of saying something like that.
“He really is the second worst man in my life.”
The first, of course, was Dureu.
Though keeping it made her feel uneasy, Chloe had no choice. She folded the dress haphazardly and stuffed it into her trunk to get it out of sight. Once she returned home, she planned to send it to the Verder estate through a courier.
* * *
“Have you lost your mind?!”
Kaiden slowly blinked his eyes open at the booming shout that echoed through the office.
“I don’t care what women you meet or what kind of nonsense you get up to. But to interfere with your brother’s wedding? How disgraceful!”
Warren Verder, the Duke and head of the Verder family, was visibly enraged, the veins on his neck bulging. He didn’t bother hiding his fury toward his troublesome son.
“Interfere? Father, how does getting married just one week earlier than my brother count as interference?”
In contrast to the furious Duke, Kaiden remained calm and composed, his casual demeanor only further fueling his father’s anger.
“It’s the first wedding to be held at the Cent Hotel. Don’t you understand what that means? Are you saying this nonsense because you’re ignorant of its significance?”
The Cent Hotel, the finest in the Oselte Empire, had built an extravagant wedding hall. Everyone was watching closely to see who would be the first to hold a ceremony there.
And that wedding was meant to be the grand public union of the Empire’s most prestigious noble family, the Verder dukedom, with the immensely wealthy Crimson marquisate—owners of a powerful mana stone mine.
It was a carefully calculated display to squeeze every possible benefit out of the marriage. In the world of nobility, symbolism was everything.
To be fair, the ones who insisted on this loud and flashy approach weren’t the Duke himself, but rather Harne Verder and his bride.
“Because of your shameless behavior, we might suffer immense losses!”
Which, frankly, was exactly what Kaiden wanted. But he didn’t say that aloud.
“As shameless as I may be, I’m not the one who stole his younger brother’s fiancée.”
“That was… ahem.”
The Duke, who had been shouting, let out an awkward cough. But he quickly regained his composure and barked again.
“It was a political marriage! Such arrangements change depending on circumstances. How can you speak so childishly?”
Rosetta Crimson, who was to become his brother’s wife in two months, was originally Kaiden’s fiancée.
The Crimson family was a prestigious lineage, and they also owned a massive mana stone mine. In other words, they were an indispensable ally for the Verder family, which specialized in shipbuilding—since ships and trains in the Oselte Empire ran on mana stones.
Kaiden had hoped to use his marriage to Rosetta Crimson to solidify his claim to the dukedom. With the powerful Crimson family backing him, nothing would be out of reach.
But a few months ago, the Crimsons abruptly requested to break off the engagement. Instead, they wanted to form a marriage alliance with Harne.
Clearly, the Crimson Marquis had calculated that Harne would become the Duke’s heir.
‘That snake Harne must have persuaded them.’
Kaiden had never loved Rosetta. Nobles never married for love; it was always about calculated gain. So he wasn’t heartbroken.
Still, that didn’t mean he felt no betrayal. Allies one day had suddenly stabbed him in the back and joined the enemy camp.
He had no intention of winning them back. But to let it slide without retaliation? That wasn’t Kaiden’s style.
“Is this your revenge? Getting married before your brother, is that it?”
Kaiden knew that today’s stunt wouldn’t change anything.
But just by irritating Harne and Rosetta—and by showing that he was still a threat—it was worth it. Harne needed to be reminded that Kaiden was not someone to be dismissed.
“Bringing in some random woman and doing something so ridiculous…”
“Random woman? That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”
“So you’re telling me Chloe Garrett is someone special?”
The Duke had already finished his investigation into Chloe, thanks to Kaiden flaunting her around Berrington Street.
“The Garretts are a decent noble family, but they won’t hand you power. They’re respected scholars, but that’s all.”
It made sense. But what bothered the Duke more was something else entirely.
“Besides, that woman’s already been married once. Even if you’re blinded by pride, how could you make a scene about marrying someone like her…?”
A tongue clicked in disapproval. The sound of someone certain that Kaiden would never become the heir.
But Kaiden knew. She held a trump card that could help him win the succession. He had approached Chloe Garrett after discovering that very fact in his investigation.
“You’ll change your mind soon enough.”
With that bold declaration, he turned and walked out of the Duke’s office.
* * *
Her so-called “vacation” had ended in the blink of an eye, without feeling like one at all.
After three short days, Chloe returned to the count’s mansion, even more exhausted than when she’d left.
“Miss Chloe!”
The butler came running toward the carriage, breathless, as if he’d been waiting just for her.
And he wasn’t the only one. Every servant in the estate was watching her with curiosity in their eyes. Chloe sighed at the suffocating change in atmosphere.
‘Melvin, you blabbermouth.’
She must have already spilled everything to the household.
‘I’m definitely going to get scolded.’
No doubt her mother would criticize her for recklessly dating another man after already failing once.
‘But it’s fine now.’
She would never see Kaiden Verder again. Before the misunderstanding deepened, she needed to make it clear that whatever had been going on between them was over.
‘Not that there was really anything to call a relationship.’
Even a brief fling with a fake boyfriend would probably give her mother a heart attack. So she decided she’d just say that they didn’t get along and had split up quickly.
Thinking how fortunate it was that her father wasn’t home, Chloe made her way toward the study where her mother was.
“Mother, it’s me.”
“You’re back?”
Her mother, Ena Garrett, turned from the window and looked at her daughter.
“I heard from Melvin.”
“…”
“You have a new man? And that man is none other than Kaiden Verder?”
She was definitely about to get an earful.
Chloe tried to speak up before it began.
“Mother, about that—”
Grab.
“…?”
But Ena’s reaction was completely unexpected. Instead of getting angry, she grabbed Chloe’s hand with a face full of emotion.
‘Wait a second.’
Was that… joy?
“Well done, Chloe.”
“…Mom?”
“To think you managed to snag Kaiden Verder of all people!”
“…”
“Yes. Good job, Chloe. I’m proud of you! So proud!”
Ena’s voice rose louder and louder until it echoed through the study.
“You should’ve seen Melvin’s face while she was talking. She looked like she was about to explode!”
Chloe tried to say that she had seen it, three days ago, but Ena didn’t give her the chance.
“And Clara, that woman, when she found out you were seeing Kaiden Verder—”
Clara was Melvin’s mother, and once upon a time, Ena’s maid. She’d been expelled from the mansion after falling for Count Garrett when Chloe was six. But when Chloe turned fifteen, Clara had come back, claiming Melvin was the Count’s daughter.
The entire household was thrown into chaos. Ena fainted and screamed for them to be kicked out when she awoke. But the Count refused.
Whether or not the relationship had been improper, Melvin was his daughter. Clara had once been a woman he loved.
Against everyone’s objections, the Count welcomed them into the family. He even went out of his way to support Melvin, who had grown up in poverty.
Thanks to his love and support, the mother and daughter became arrogant. Melvin shamelessly claimed that everything Chloe had should belong to her—and in the end, she even succeeded in stealing Chloe’s husband, Dureu.
With all that history, how could Ena possibly like them? Her hatred had reached its peak long ago.
