Don’t Trample on Innocent Love

‘Is she going to pretend she doesn’t know me?’

That fact annoyed him to the point that Robern decided to follow Ophelia. Her steps, unaware of his pursuit, gradually slowed down. She sent the man off in a carriage. Robern stood behind Ophelia, taking a deep sigh.

The wind blew, and Ophelia turned around.

“Ah…”

Robern confidently approached her despite her startled hesitation.

“Hello, Miss Ophelia Denev.”

“…Did you follow me because you have something to say?”

“It’s just a coincidence that we ran into each other. Ironically, our paths crossed by chance.”

Coincidence. Ophelia silently pondered over the word, devoid of any laughter.

Gently, Robern touched Ophelia’s cheek.

Her muscles tensed, her eyes looked up with discomfort, and her feet seemed eager to escape.

He pressed his thumb lightly against her trembling lips as if trying to silence the stammering words that wanted to escape her lips. As his thumb brushed across the center of her lips, her ears turned crimson.

“Don’t fake your smile anywhere. It looks forced.”

After genuinely offering his advice, Robern walked past Ophelia. He couldn’t see her again after that, but it didn’t matter. He had no feelings for Ophelia, and therefore, whether she stood out or not was of no concern to him.

However, it felt like a waste of time to constantly be surrounded by people who only talked about Ophelia, no matter where he went.

It was nauseating how the image of her smiling in front of other men overlapped in his mind every time her name was mentioned.

“Why are you so sensitive these days?”

Charles spoke as he opened the terrace door, somehow knowing that Robern was there. Robern rolled his eyes, dripping with sarcasm, and looked at him. As the door closed, the noise subsided.

“People talk a lot about how you are worked up over Ophelia Denev.”

“Is that so?”

“They say you like Ms. Denev. Can you believe that? Those who don’t know how much you dislike her are writing novels about it.”

“Interesting.”

Resting his arm on the railing, Charles let out a small yawn. He, too, found this situation tedious. Massaging his stiff shoulders from dancing all day, Charles sent Robern a suspicious glance.

“But I find it strange too. Because you’ve been on edge ever since I heard about Miss Denev. It’s not like you have feelings for her… Ah, Is it because she stopped following you around that you turned out like this? Are you throwing a tantrum like a kid?”

Before he could finish his sentence, Robern burst into laughter. His bright and wide laughter didn’t match the current situation.

With a sense of calm, Robern spoke again, recalling Ophelia’s flushed ears.

“Ophelia won’t let me go.”

“Hey, how can you be so sure? Human hearts are like reeds in the wind, and a woman’s heart is even more complex. See Miss Bennet, who confessed to me and how she is now my sister-in-law.”

If her feelings were truly over and she had ended that grand love, she wouldn’t have reacted that way when they met. Perhaps, as Charles said, it was due to the incident at the villa that she suddenly considered the marriage offer. Robern reluctantly admitted that he had gone too far.

He regarded Ophelia’s marriage talks as nothing more than a tantrum.

“Well, how about we make a bet?”

Charles’s eyes sparkled at the mention of a bet.

“What kind of bet?”

“Whether Ophelia Denev will change her mind about me.”

“You cunning bastard… Fine. What are we betting?”

“Whatever you want.”

“And what’s the deadline?”

Robern’s lips, picturing Ophelia, drew a smooth curve.

“Three days should be enough.”

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