Chapter 77

Chapter 77 – Unknown Emotion (2)

Translator: Atlas / Editor: Regan

But now Raphael loved someone. From his perspective, it was suicide to put his heart in someone’s else’s hands. His pride forbade such carelessness in the name of something like love, especially when he had so many things to hide. Raphael would rather slit his own throat than let his shameful history be exposed.

Better to just let her go.

Raphael remembered the ring from the Guild of Secrets that Annette had hidden. It wasn’t clear why she was patronizing them, but Raphael’s primal instincts had a clue.

There was intense worry in his sharp eyes.

Looking at him, Harold shrugged inside. Anyone could see that he was in love, though it was a dangerous sort of love. Remembering the elegant, intelligent face of Annette, he couldn’t believe one of the few really good girls in the world had fallen into the clutches of a man like Raphael. Of course she would suffer in their relationship.

So Harold decided to help the poor girl.

”Tsk. Love and jealousy are like a needle in your pocket,” he said, a smile at his lips as he slyly goaded Raphael. “You can’t hide it, no matter how hard you try. So if you’re not sure…well, then, I’m afraid, in my opinion…”

“What?”

Harold paused, stroking his beard as he shrewdly allowed Raphael’s annoyance to build. Raphael’s eyes sharpened, frowning, and Harold waited right until his anger was about to explode to speak.

“It’s obvious. You can’t have a feeling like love and not know. So you don’t love her.”

“What?!”

Furious, Raphael objected at once, but then he couldn’t think of anything to say. In the first place, why was he even upset about this? He was not a man that bothered with emotional games or romances. He shouldn’t have been bothered at all. But strangely enough, Harold’s words were unpleasant.

And he wasn’t done. After another sip of his drink, he puffed on a cigarette for a moment.

“It shouldn’t matter, if there is no love. That’s how marriage within the nobility works. I know a dozen couples who are only going through the motions of their marriage. There’s no reason you can’t do the same. Play with women you like, and when you get bored with them, go back home. Isn’t that more convenient?”

Smiling, he exhaled a puff of smoke.

“Oh, but that does mean your wife will do the same,” he added, with his hand tapping his forehead as if he had just remembered. “Why should she waste the flower of her youth on a husband who doesn’t love her. But you don’t need to worry about it, if you keep treating her like this, you’ll drive her into the arms of another man yourself. Then she’ll only come back when she’s tired of him. She’ll be someone else’s problem.”

Raphael cursed inside.

Just imagining another man holding the beautiful body that only he knew, hearing her gasp, made his blood boil. If that happened, he’d dismember the bastard, burn the body, and remember to stomp on the ashes.

Even worse, he could picture the faces of three men right off the top of his head who would have wanted to sleep with her.

He wanted to kill every one of them.

The savagery that filled him on the battlefield hummed into his blood. He gritted his teeth, automatically bristling like a male beast defending his mate. He didn’t understand these feelings, or why this was happening. His heart was boiling. He felt like he was losing his mind.

Raphael gulped down the alcohol in his glass, then tossed back the last of it. Rising abruptly from the couch, he grabbed his coat. Somehow he had the idea that while he wasn’t home, another man could be visiting Annette.

Despite being drunk, Raphael was more lucid than before.

“I’m leaving, old man.”

“Oh, wait, I almost forgot to tell you…” Harold began. “Let’s see…what was it? These things happen when you get older, give me a moment, I’ll remember…”

Harold made himself comfortable on the couch. Raphael didn’t like Harold’s insinuations, but when the old man spoke this way, he couldn’t ignore it. It would surely be important information.

He waited for Harold to speak. Harold had an odd smile as he looked at him, and offered some advice as if he were being generous.

“You’ll have some guests soon, so make sure you clean up your house. Didn’t you know? If you offer your guests hospitality, you might just please your wife.”

“What?”