My Ruin to You - Chapter 186

He turned over a page. Roseline pretended to be indifferent, but inside, she was not.

Truthfully, Roseline knew this too. Thinking rationally, the carriage accident that took Schnitzel in her past life was most likely not Valen’s intention. Though he was a ruthless man who schemed all sorts of things to isolate her and even planned the plague, didn’t he show a strange mercy towards those he cherished?

He did keep Lina away from me, but he let her live, and he didn’t particularly harm Schnitzel either.

He knows Roseline’s limits well. I don’t know why someone who knows me so well would plan something as cruel as the plague, but perhaps it was his arrogance. The conceit that he could hide it forever, or the delusion that he could simply placate me even if he got caught.

Roseline is the same. She dared to predict how Valen would react if she brought that up, but she was completely wrong.

“But the things that will happen from now on, well. That depends on what you do.”

He continued signing indifferently, not granting Roseline a single glance. Feeling stifled, Roseline turned her head to look towards the sofa and let out a long sigh.

“Are you testing me, by any chance?”

“Speak so I can understand.”

“That’s how it is. Your Grace knew that Sir Schnitzel was in the Duchy. Yet yesterday, you only said things I couldn’t understand, and today, you seize me by the nape as if you’ve been waiting. Are you looking for my weaknesses?”

Only then did Valen’s gaze turn toward Roseline. From her disheveled hair to the bloodstains smeared on her cheek, to her ruined dress. His eyes, which slowly scanned her from head to toe, were overlaid with a red magical energy.

Crack.

His grip, failing to control its strength, finally snapped the quill pen in two. The ink pooled in the nib soaked the documents. A sharp silence fell over the sunlit office. Valen tossed the now-useless pen aside and leaned back in his chair. The fiery intensity in his eyes had subsided, but a hot yet cold residual heat bore into Roseline.

“I know what that person’s business is. Ah, perhaps I should have called and asked him.”

“…….”

“Or should I ask Lady Schnitzel?”

“…….”

“I bet you welcomed him warmly.”

She was infuriated by the sneer curling his lips and his sarcastic tone, but he wasn’t wrong. Yet, he wasn’t right either.

“You could have at least told me that the Knight was here.”

“Why should I.”

“Because the one who said you wanted to look good to me is you, Your Grace.”

“I dislike there being another man in your thoughts besides me. If I told you, you would be anxiously on edge, worrying and thinking only of him until Schnitzel leaves the Duchy. What good would conveying that news do for me?”

“…….”

“Thus, I gave you a reason to stay attached to the mansion. You are the one who ignored the summons and left. You shouldn’t blame me.”
Roseline furrowed her brow. Who would have thought such an intention lay behind that untimely summons.

Something was boiling furiously inside her, but she wasn’t sure exactly what the anger was directed at, and she lacked the confidence to explain it as clearly as that man could. The fact that she couldn’t let her magic run wild, as it was already unstable from all the tricks she’d performed outside, only infuriated Roseline more.

Perhaps it was for the best. This wasn’t a time for blind rage, but a moment that required compromise. Recalling things like Luan’s innocent expression and Schnitzel’s excited smile, Roseline forced herself to regain composure.

“Please send that person away.”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Your Grace.”

“You show up before me in that state after running around with another man—what exactly do you expect me to do?”

“…….”

“Well done, splendid. Should I even praise you?”

The gaze hovering over her small face was intense. As if the more he looked, the more astonished and angry he became, his barely suppressed magic slowly rippled. A red aura repeatedly flickered and vanished over his narrowed, beast-like pupils.

For a moment, it seemed he would crush the armrests of his chair with his fierce grip. Then, Valen pushed himself up from his seat. He turned his back to Roseline, looked out the window, and slowly regulated his breathing. At the end of the tense silence, he slowly turned around to face her.

“You seem to be under some misconception. Keeping you alive is not that difficult a task for me.”