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Herietta was so nervous that she held her breath without realizing it. Seeing this, Shawn laughed wryly. His gaze, sticky like a snake’s, stuck to her mind. He already knows everything. His eyes were saying so.

‘Herietta, calm down.’

She whispered to herself.

‘No matter what, you must not reveal Edwin’s identity to this man.’

She suppressed her trembling heart and urged herself to act as calmly as possible.

“How do I know who the man is? I met him for the first time at the ball that day.”

“You met him for the first time?”

“Yes. He was the one who helped me because you were so rude to me that he couldn’t just ignore it. But I didn’t know who he was or what family he was from. It was so busy that day.”

Shawn’s eyes widened at Herietta’s sly words.

“Really? You don’t know?”

“That’s right.”

Herietta pretended to pour milk into her cup, avoiding Shawn’s gaze. She couldn’t say her performance was perfect, but it seemed enough. As Shawn didn’t seem to take any suspicion on her words, she became more and more convinced that she had succeeded in tricking him.

“Kahahahaha!”

Until he, who had been sitting still, suddenly tilted his head back and burst into laughter.

“Aren’t you a very funny girl?”

He said. In contrast to his lips which were curved into a smile, his eyes looked very ferocious.

“Do you see me as an idiot? Did you think I would be deceived by such nonsense?”

“It’s not nonsense.”

“Edwin Benedict Debuer Redford.”

“!”

Herrietta was frozen on the spot as the unexpected name came out of Shawn’s mouth. Her vision went white, and it felt as if her thought circuit had stopped.

‘What did this man just say?’

Herrietta couldn’t keep her mouth from hanging open, and she stared blankly at Shawn.

‘Am I hearing him right?’

While she denied reality, she was convinced that she could not have heard wrong. Suddenly, fear overcame her. Her mouth was dry like a desert that had not experienced rain in years.

Seeing Herrietta visibly shaken, Shawn laughed even more deeply.

“Is that a name you know well?”

He asked softly as if he were enticing her.

“You don’t have to deny it. I already know everything.”

It wasn’t a statement he was hoping to be answered.

Clank. The teaspoon in Herietta’s hand fell onto the table, making a loud noise. But she didn’t even know she had dropped the teaspoon.

Her heart was beating like crazy. There was a buzzing sound in her ears, and her limbs tingled. Even with her eyes open, it was as if all of this was just a dream.

Shawn stared at Herietta. Her face and posture were stiff as if she were paralyzed by poison. Still, her hands were shaking like aspen trees. Seeing it, he smiled slyly.

“Oh, dear. It’s too easy to see through you. You’re no fun.”

“N, no, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Let it go. Don’t waste your time.”

Herietta, who had managed to gather her thoughts, once again tried to pretend, but Shawn coldly interrupted her.

“I kindly told you that I knew everything. Are you still going to lie to me?”

“..”

“I don’t know how I will act if you keep behaving like that. Would you like to try it?”

Shawn gave Herietta a soft warning. Although he appeared to be calm, he seemed to be able to act violently in an instant. Herietta shook her head. Judging from the attitude he showed at the ball a few days ago, it was quite possible.

Seeing Herietta stay quiet, he put on a satisfied expression.

“Alright. At least you understand what I’m saying.”

It was as if he was dealing with a domestic animal rather than a human being.

Shawn crossed his arms and leaned against the back of the chair. Then, he half-crossed his legs, and slowly, rhythmically swung the leg on top of it.

His gaze began to scan her slowly.

“How old are you? Seventeen? Eighteen?”

Shawn asked a silly question.

“You’ve at least celebrated your coming-of-age ceremony, right?”

“.. Why are you asking that?”

Herietta asked, showing vigilance. Shawn then tilted his head to the side.

“No matter how much you think about it, it’s surprising. It’s hard to believe that that proud Redford whose blood has not dried yet* (T/N: means to be young) is serving you as his master.”

“I am not his master.”

“Well, I don’t know what you think, but he seems to think differently.”

Shawn muttered, tapping his forehead with his finger. The image of Edwin, who was angry like a raging fire, came to his mind vividly when he acted as if he was going to slap Herietta.

He had known Edwin for over a decade, but he had never seen him so emotional. So he was very confused when he suspected that Edwin might be the man wearing the mask.

‘Is that Edwin? The Edwin who was indifferent and kept his cool in everything?’

He couldn’t even imagine Edwin’s anger, since he had never even seen Edwin genuinely smile.

“Was it about a year ago? Was he sent to Philioche?”

Shawn asked.

“The capital was turned upside down when he disappeared overnight. There were a lot of people who were looking for an opportunity to make him theirs, even if it wasn’t openly revealed. At first, there were rumors that he might have run away, but it soon disappeared. Count Vincent, his master at the time, was silent, and the royal family had nothing to say.”

Shawn recalled the incident at the time. Count Vincent kept silent about Edwin’s disappearance, no matter how much money he put in his pocket or put pressure on.

‘Even if you give me ten million, I can’t tell you. Because I promised to go to the grave while keeping everything a secret about him.’

And it seems that was not a bluff. Shortly after Edwin’s disappearance, the lively Countess Vincent suddenly lay in bed.

She was a wife thirty years younger than the count. She used to be triumphant to those around her that she had finally got the man she had longed for. But when Edwin disappeared, she withered faster than the winter leaves.

‘Well, how great the sense of loss must be to be by the old earl from now on.’

Shawn snorted and sneered, ridiculing the foolishness of the unmatched Countess Vincent, and of her husband, Count Vincent, who cared for her without knowing anything about her. He giggled as he thought, how ugly he must be to protect his woman.

But soon a woman’s face was pictured in his mind. It was the face of a woman he never wanted to recall at this moment.

‘If you look at it that way, it might be the same for each other.’

The smile faded from Shawn’s face as he remembered pitiful thoughts. When will he be able to free himself of this dirty feeling? Clench. He ground his teeth. His eyes also appeared even more bitter.

“Where is he now?”

“He is not here.”

“Whenever you open your mouth, all you say are lies.”

Shawn didn’t believe Herietta at all. Herietta clenched her fists. The atmosphere was not serious, but the moment the two met, it seemed as if something bad was bound to happen. She rolled her eyes.

“If it is because of what happened that night, I’ll apologize for it. I’ll admit that what I said to you was harsh. So can’t we just forget about it and move on?”

Herietta asked with earnest eyes.

“Think of your old friendship with Edwin.”

“Old? Old friendship?”

Shawn asked with a shocked expression on his face.

“Listen. To be clear, I hate Redford, I’m sick of that bastard. He’s terrible. I hate him.”

He rolled his eyes. His voice was also getting louder and louder.

“Do you think I would have been sad because of him? Snap out of it. It felt like a sick tooth had fallen out. It was the first time in my life that I felt so refreshed. If I could, I wanted to scorch his chest with my own hands.”

Herrietta was astonished at his terrible words.

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