RYL Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Mathieu entered the banquet hall in a foul mood and immediately started drinking one glass after another.
Seeing him arrive late and drown himself in alcohol, Alex, who had been there earlier, greeted him.

“You’re here, Mathieu. I thought you were so lovesick that you’d skip the banquet altogether.”

Mathieu’s brow furrowed deeply at Alex’s teasing remark.

“Shut up.”

Noticing the sharp edge in Mathieu’s mood, Alex tilted his head in curiosity and continued speaking.

“I heard the Crown Prince couldn’t attend today because of his heir training.”

“How would I know?”

Mathieu answered irritably, downing another drink.

Alex, watching him with a puzzled look, casually asked, “Did you find that woman from the park?”

“……”

“She looked like a noble lady from a high-ranking family.”

“……”

Mathieu remained silent, making Alex look at him curiously.

“You said she was exactly your type, even from a distance.”

Mathieu’s eyes flared up as he glared fiercely at Alex.

“When did I ever say that?”

“What do you mean? I clearly heard you say she was your dream woman.”

“Stop talking nonsense, Alex.”

With Mathieu looking ready to grab him by the collar, Alex wisely decided to back off.

“Well, judging by your mood, I think I should leave you alone. I’ll go enjoy the banquet instead.”

Sensing that nothing good would come from provoking Mathieu any further, Alex walked away.
Mathieu, ignoring him completely, continued drinking his wine.

“Damn it, how could I not recognize that country bumpkin?”

He had seen that face for ten years—ten long years!

And to make things worse, he had even told his friends she was his ideal type, boasting that he would win her over in a month.

Just thinking about it made his face burn with embarrassment.

Frustrated, Mathieu’s gaze landed on Claire, who was on the other side of the banquet hall.
That bright red hair—so ridiculously noticeable. How had he failed to recognize her?

Hah, he must have been out of his mind back then.

As he brooded, watching Claire calmly enjoy the banquet, his irritation grew even stronger.

Worse yet, men were casually approaching her, striking up conversations.

Damn it. Whatever she had done in the past few weeks, Claire had changed. And she had become exactly his type.

Yes, this had to be intentional.

She must have studied his preferences and styled herself accordingly.

After all, she had spent ten years trying desperately to win his favor.

But despite his glare practically boring holes into her, Claire didn’t spare him a single glance.

That fact annoyed Mathieu even more.

Snatching another glass of wine from a passing servant, he took a deep gulp.

Just then, someone spoke to him.

“Um… Lord Mathieu?”

A soft, flirtatious voice made him glance over indifferently.

Standing there was a lady he had once casually invited for tea, blushing as she looked at him.

Mathieu was all too familiar with this kind of situation.

Women who knew he was engaged but still threw themselves at him, hoping to catch his attention.

Normally, he found such advances tiresome, but an idea crossed his mind.

So, making sure Claire could see, Mathieu smiled and started chatting with the lady.

What was her name again? Matilda? Marlene?

Didn’t matter. It wasn’t important anyway.

***

After cutting off yet another man trying to talk to me, I let out a sigh and wiped my forehead.

Was this what banquets were always like?

I was sure they knew I was engaged, so why were they so persistent?

As I took a sip of champagne to quench my thirst, someone suddenly blew softly against my ear from behind.

Startled, I instinctively stepped back and turned around.

Standing there, grinning, was Sabrina in an elegant navy blue dress.

“Why do you look so gloomy at such a fun banquet?”

“Sabrina! I thought you weren’t coming!”

Hearing the excitement in my voice, Sabrina glanced around and whispered,

“The villain isn’t here, right?”

“Duke Valerian? According to Lilianne, he was invited, but he declined because of work.”

“Whew, thank goodness.”

Relieved, Sabrina suddenly leaned in close and whispered to me,

“Oh, I saw something interesting on the way here.”

“Something interesting?”

I asked curiously.

After quickly scanning the surroundings, Sabrina leaned in even closer and murmured in my ear,

“Do you know Lady Helsing?”

“Who’s that?”

“One of Mathieu’s many rumored love interests.”

I blinked in confusion, not fully understanding.

Seeing my puzzled face, Sabrina shielded her mouth with her hand and whispered,

“I overheard that she and Mathieu are meeting on the terrace later.”

She smirked.

“You know what that means, right?”

In most banquets, the terrace was where lovers or newly interested couples met for a private moment.

Which meant this was the perfect opportunity to expose Mathieu’s shameless behavior.

“How did you find out about this?”

Sabrina confidently placed her hands on her hips and said,
“I may look like this, but I used to be a bodyguard. Now I work as a maid. I overheard Lady Helsing flirting with Lord Mathieu.”

Hearing that, my eyes turned toward Mathieu.

Just as Sabrina said, he was chatting and laughing with some woman.

Well, it wasn’t surprising anymore.

Mathieu was a notorious womanizer. Of course, he’d respond to a lady’s advances.

I quickly looked away and nodded at Sabrina.

She grinned and gave me a thumbs-up.

“I’ll go tell Lilianne that the plan is starting!”

Like a shadow, she disappeared into the crowd in an instant.

Watching her go, I smirked as I looked at Mathieu.

You’re caught now, you cheating bastard.

***

Mathieu was about to leave the banquet hall and head toward the terrace when he hesitated.

He had already drunk a lot of alcohol and honestly wasn’t in the mood to flirt.

For a moment, he considered just going home.

Then, he glanced at Claire.

Even though her fiancé was heading toward the terrace, she didn’t spare him a single glance.

That annoyed him.

Lately, he had noticed that Claire had changed—not just in appearance, but in attitude as well.

She used to follow him around like a scared little chick, but at some point, she started acting indifferent toward him.

She still smiled, but it felt fake, like a doll’s expression.

Before, he had always been the one annoyed by her presence, the one eager to avoid her.

But recently, it felt like she was thinking the same way about him.

“No way.”

Mathieu scoffed.

There was no way she had truly changed.

She had chased after him for ten years—she wouldn’t suddenly give up now.

She was probably just trying a different strategy.

Even a dumb dog learns after ten years.

Maybe she finally realized that chasing after him directly wasn’t working, so now she was pretending to be uninterested.

And she had even changed her appearance to match his taste perfectly.

She must have thought that would make him interested in her.

Ridiculous.

He was already frustrated with this forced engagement, with no say in the matter.

For ten years, he had been forced to look at that plain face.

Just because she changed a little now didn’t mean he would suddenly care about her.

“Lord Mathieu…?”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Mathieu realized he had already arrived at the terrace.

Across from him stood the woman—Matilda? Marlene? He couldn’t remember her name.

When did she get here?

“I’m so happy to be with you like this.”

Suddenly, she leaned into his arms.

A strong, overwhelming perfume filled his nose, making him frown.

As he reached for her wrist to push her away, a memory flashed in his mind—

Claire’s wrist.

Hers was thinner. Softer.

“Lord Mathieu…?”

The woman blushed as she looked at him, confused by his intense stare.

Realizing what he had just been thinking, Mathieu snapped out of it, shaking the thoughts away.

Damn it. What the hell am I thinking?