ICSM 04

Chapter 04

Here is the complete translation in simple, clear English, while keeping the original structure, meaning, names, and novel tone faithful to the Korean text.

Pedro looked at the calendar and thought.

His birthday was coming soon. What kind of gift would he receive this time?

‘Last year, I received a sword.’

It was a famous sword containing more than twenty percent meteorite iron. It was so expensive that even if he sold his hometown, the Sachsen territory, he could not afford it.

Such a masterpiece was expensive, but its owner’s qualifications also mattered. It was absolutely not something that the lord of a tiny territory at the edge of the Empire could buy.

Even though Seiana had obtained such a thing for him, her fiancé, Pedro did not particularly feel grateful.

Because she had recklessly interfered with his life and caused him to lose what should have been his.

When the territory he had always considered his was passed on to his younger brother, the sense of loss was impossible to describe.

It was all Seiana’s fault.

She should have simply married him quietly like an ordinary noble lady.

Instead, that woman, who was nothing special except for her family, had used her family’s power to crush him.

It had badly wounded his pride.

That was why he deliberately made no effort to hide his contempt for her.

When they were young, he cared less about the benefits he could get from her family and more about bullying Seiana, who had made him feel miserable.

Even when he mocked her and deliberately treated her badly, Seiana could never go against Pedro.

The more anxious she became around him, the happier Pedro felt.

It made him feel like a greater person whenever he could control Seiana, the beloved daughter of the Estarotte Count’s family that oppressed him.

“The reason I can’t inherit the territory is all because of you.”

“If you hadn’t been so greedy, my life wouldn’t have become twisted like this!”

Whenever he said such things, Seiana was overcome with guilt and tried to make it up to him in any way she could.

Because he had come to take that for granted, even the Estarotte Count’s family had started to look ridiculous to him.

As long as he had Seiana in the palm of his hand, there was nothing they could do.

If there was one thing in this world that would never change, Pedro thought it was Seiana’s feelings for him.

Seiana had pale silver-white hair with a faint sky-blue tint and deep blue eyes.

Her overall appearance had cold colors, giving her a cold impression.

But in front of Pedro, she was like cotton candy melting softly in the spring rain.

There had been times when he was tempted by her face, but her second older brother, Haillo, who was both Pedro’s superior and Seiana’s brother, was watching with sharp eyes.

So he could not lay a hand on her.

Instead, he reached out to another woman.

That was two years ago.

‘She’s too easy. It’s not fun.’

It was not just Seiana. Women were too easy.

If he said a few sweet words and treated them well, they immediately fell for him.

The fun was in winning them over.

Once they fell into his arms, they were no longer interesting.

‘I’ve been playing with her for too long. She was simply too innocent because I was her first.’

In the end, his mistress gave birth to his illegitimate child.

Pedro had not intended to even see the child, so he was flustered.

But he could not make a big mess before marrying Seiana.

“I’m not an adult yet, so I can’t marry you properly. Let’s get married in the year I become an adult. Just wait until then.”

He whispered those words and managed to buy himself some time.

But in truth, he had no intention whatsoever of marrying a commoner woman who had nothing.

He was not insane enough to throw away Seiana, who had everything.

Seiana, whom Pedro had beaten down and shaped with cruel words, was the perfect woman for him.

Wanting his affection was annoying, but when he thought about the wealth she would bring him, it was an annoyance he could tolerate.

Well, she was still a fruit he could not reach until next year.

He was also slowly getting tired of his current mistress and needed some new stimulation.

There was a woman who had recently become a maid, and he kept noticing her…

Unlike his previous mistress, this one was not so easy to handle, which made it even more enjoyable.

He expected it would be quite satisfying to make her fall for him.

Just as he was looking forward to it, he heard a commotion outside.

“What is it?”

How dare they make such a disturbance when he was in the mansion?

Pedro became extremely irritated.

He decided he would give whoever was responsible a piece of his mind.

But just as Pedro approached the door—

Bang!

The door suddenly flew open right in front of him.

If he had taken even one more step forward, he could have been seriously injured.

A chill ran down his back.

“Wha, what… Ruby?”

Standing in front of the open door was the legal owner of this house and Pedro’s fiancée, Seiana.

He could not believe that the woman who normally could not even make a loud sound around him because she was always desperate for his affection had opened the door so violently.

‘Am I dreaming?’

There was no way Seiana Lovely Estarotte would do something this rude.

But it was far too early in the morning to be a dream.

When Pedro realized this was reality, his face twisted.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“What do you mean? I just opened the door.”

Seiana had talked back to him.

Normally, she would not know what to do even if he merely frowned at her.

Pedro’s mood grew worse and worse.

Perhaps because he had treated her well lately, she had forgotten who held the upper hand.

“Huh? You just opened the door?”

The lock had been broken, as if the door had been kicked hard, and even the hinges were hanging loose.

Although the mansion belonged to Seiana, Pedro was the one who actually lived there.

He considered everything that belonged to her to be his own.

So he was furious to the top of his head.

Seiana noticed his gaze falling on the broken door.

She also glanced at it for a moment, but she did not seem to care.

“Hmm, I was a little rough. But so what? It’s my property. Whether I break the door or set the place on fire, that’s my choice, isn’t it?”

Her voice was calm, but strangely, her eyes were shining brightly.

Pedro realized that something was seriously wrong.

‘Could it be…! Is she angry because I didn’t reply to her message after she couldn’t come because she was sick?’

Pedro actually thought he was the one who should be receiving thanks.

Not only had she unilaterally broken their appointment that he had not even wanted to attend, but he had also not blamed her for it.

However, even though Pedro was eagerly living off Seiana’s wealth, he was still only her fiancé.

If they were already married and could not undo the marriage, it would be different.

But for now, he had no choice but to appease her.

“Haha. Ruby. You seem very angry.”

“Me? Do I look very angry? Why?”

Her sharp eyes seemed to be asking:

Do you have something to feel guilty about?

Pedro had tried to let things pass peacefully, but it seemed she was trying to force him to admit that he had done something wrong.

Be patient. Be patient…

Pedro repeated those words to himself.

He clenched his teeth, thinking that once they married next year, she would regret everything.

Just as he was about to open his mouth and apologize—

“Ah. Well, that’s not important. Anyway.”

“……”

“Happy birthday, Pedro. I brought something you might like as a birthday present.”

Pedro’s eyes sparkled.

A birthday present meant the fine horse from South Selvia that he had wanted so badly.

He felt all of his anger disappear at once.

He was so happy that even Seiana’s face, which he normally found unbearably tiresome, looked especially beautiful today.

“I was originally going to give it to you on your birthday, but I got it a little earlier than expected. It was very hard to wait.”

“Haha. That happens. I understand.”

It would become his anyway, so what difference did it make whether he received it on his birthday or a little earlier?

Earlier was even better.

Just thinking about the jealous faces of his fellow knights when they saw him riding the fine horse to work tomorrow made it hard for him to hold back his laughter.

“So, can I go downstairs now?”

“No. You don’t have to. I can just have them bring it here.”

“Hmm?”

Bring a horse into the mansion?

Pedro was confused by what she meant.

Then he saw someone slowly appear from behind Seiana.

His face turned pale.

The person who came out from behind her was none other than Pedro’s mistress.

And she was holding their child.

Pedro trembled.

‘Did she find out? When? How did that idiot figure it out?’

Pedro had been absolutely certain that Seiana would never find out.

He had never met his mistress at the mansion.

And whenever he spent time with her, instead of going around outside, he simply spent the entire day at her house, tangled up with her.

When the woman wanted to visit Pedro’s house, he had made excuses.

The territory was too far away, and since he stayed at the knights’ quarters, it was difficult for him to bring outsiders there.

Because of that, his mistress did not even know that Pedro lived in a townhouse.

Seiana almost never came to the capital, so he had believed the chance of them meeting was practically zero.

Then… how?

Pedro opened and closed his mouth before finally coming to his senses.

If he admitted it here, everything would be ruined.

“This is…”

“……”

“Who is this?”

At Pedro’s attempt to deny knowing her, Seiana, his mistress, the escorts Seiana had brought with her, and even the servants secretly watching the situation all wore expressions of complete disbelief.

Their faces seemed to say:

Is this man actually sane?

Pedro cursed them all in his mind.

Still, he desperately pretended not to know anything in an attempt to escape the situation.

But it was difficult to hide the trembling of the corners of his mouth.

“I don’t know her. So who is she? Who did you bring here, Ruby?”

At his ridiculous attempt to pretend ignorance, everyone’s expressions changed from disbelief to contempt.

The mistress looked deeply shocked by the betrayal, and tears filled her eyes.

Seiana snorted when she saw how everything was unfolding.

“You care so much about bloodlines, but I guess you’re not very interested in a child who carries your blood?”

“Th-that…!”

“Ah, is it because the bloodline is too low? The Sachsen family isn’t exactly an impressive family, after all.”

“What did you say? How dare you! …Agh!”

Pedro’s eyes turned bloodshot as he tried to rush at Seiana, but one of her escort knights grabbed him and twisted his arm.

It was a pathetic sight for someone who held the position of an Imperial Palace knight.

‘Stupid Seiana couldn’t have figured this out by herself. I don’t know how she found out, but that lowly woman must have whispered to Seiana after realizing that I would never marry her.’

Therefore, Pedro was certain that if he could just persuade Seiana properly, he could get out of this situation.