Yeoju took away my first love Chapter 4
Every time a memory surfaced, I felt the blood draining from my face.
"Alcohol is my enemy. Ugh. What am I going to do?"
My head throbbed from a hangover.
But more than that, the promise I made last night weighed heavily on my mind. No matter how much I wanted to take revenge on Tatiana, this was not the way.
'I need to apologize to the Emperor right away and tell him this is not right.'
How could I placate that fierce Emperor and make it as if nothing happened?
As I clutched my head in frustration, there was a knock on the door.
"Miss, it's Lily. May I come in?"
My personal maid, Lily, entered with a tray holding a refreshing glass of orange juice.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Ha... Don't even mention it."
I gulped down the juice. The sweet and sour juice seemed to ease my headache for a moment.
"You need to pull yourself together. Today is the day the Duke returns."
I had completely forgotten that today was the day my father was coming back, overwhelmed by Wilhelm's bombshell.
I needed to get up quickly and act as if nothing happened last night.
"Lily, could you ask the butler to contact the palace and tell them I have something urgent to say to His Majesty?"
First, I needed to wash up and get dressed to hide my hangover before my father arrived.
After a quick wash, I realized my father's arrival was imminent.
While changing clothes with the help of the maids, I noticed an odd sound coming from outside the door.
"Miss, you should come out and see this."
The butler, who rarely showed any emotion, knocked on the door with a flustered voice.
I left the room and headed towards the central hall.
"Goodness, what is this?"
There was an enormous pile of gifts visible from the top of the stairs leading to the central hall.
I hurried down the stairs to check the growing pile of gifts.
Each one bore the emblem of the royal family: a lion's profile, a rose, and a sword.
It was the head butler who had called my name yesterday.
I was stunned that the head butler, who always served by the Emperor's side, had come here in person.
"These are gifts sent by His Majesty. He hopes you will like them."
"Yes, and he also sent this letter."
It was a pink envelope, unlike the man known as the Iron-Blooded Monarch.
[I hope your heart does not change overnight.
The letter, which seemed to know my heart, left me speechless.
"He also said he will contact you soon. When he does, he hopes you will wear at least one of the gifts he sent."
After saying this, the head butler bowed politely and left.
"Miss, look at this. This is the Florian fabric that the Duchess of Gloucester swept up and couldn't get."
Lily, rummaging through one of the gifts, muttered.
Precious jewels, ornaments, and ancient books.
All the gifts seemed to be tailored to my taste.
"Did His Majesty choose all of these himself?"
"Miss, you must have really impressed him! Goodness... This is the perfume that only the royal family can get!"
Lily and the maids were excitedly unwrapping and organizing the gifts.
Looking at the list of gifts, it seemed as if the Emperor knew what I had been through all this time.
I didn't feel bad about it.
To be honest, I felt good.
I didn't realize I was so petty, but it might have been more thrilling because it was something Tatiana wanted.
At that moment, I heard my father's voice.
He was shocked by the mountain of gifts as soon as he arrived at the mansion. Seeing the royal seal on them, he shouted.
"Karina Piania! Follow me to the study immediately!"
I hadn't had good luck since yesterday.
Father drank a glass of cold water to calm down.
Then he sat across from me and demanded an explanation.
"What are all these gifts?"
"Father, there's something I need to tell you first. I decided to break off my engagement with Wilhelm."
"Really? You and that boy... What?"
As expected, Father was surprised and couldn't continue.
After all, this was the fourth time.
Fortunately, Father knew about the situation between me and Tatiana.
"Is it because of the Duchess again?"
"But, hasn't she already married?"
"Wilhelm said he wants to be the mistress of the Duchess of Gloucester."
"How dare he look at the House of Piania!"
As expected, Father, who had a short temper, was so angry that he broke the armrest of his chair.
Being called a mistress of the House of Piania was something I couldn't forgive.
I didn't choose Wilhelm because I was blind to Tatiana, but it seems I made a mistake.
"I will make sure to get a large compensation from the House of Hunt. I will strip them from head to toe, so don't worry."
Father, still angry, ground his teeth.
I also wanted to give him a good lesson, so I thought about whether there was any information I could use.
Then I remembered something.
"While we're at it, I would like to receive the copy system they have."
Father looked at me with interest at my specific request.
In fact, the House of Piania was already rich. We didn't need to take anything from the House of Hunt.
'But it hurts to see a cousin succeed.'
In the copy system, known as the abandoned sea, I found that the salt contained a lot of minerals.
Thanks to its special components, it could be used as a bath salt, and it could be infused with any desired fragrance.
In the original story, the bath salt, named after Tatiana's perfume, became a must-have for noblewomen, surpassing the popularity of perfume.
Furthermore, launching a perfume based on that fragrance enhanced her reputation.
Thanks to this, Wilhelm gained immense wealth in the end.
'Now that Tatiana hasn't chosen him, the development has been delayed, but it might happen someday.'
I planned to cut it off from the start.
And if I succeeded in the salt business from the sea I took from Wilhelm, it would probably make him very angry.
"You can do as you wish."
After a moment of thought, the Duke recalled the pile of gifts.
And the Emperor's recent suggestion to abandon neutrality and stand by his side.
"Then, he must have sent these gifts knowing about the engagement break. Even if he is the Emperor, sending a gift barrage to a girl who just broke off an engagement doesn't look good to the public."
Father clicked his tongue, not hiding his dissatisfaction.
He poured all sorts of criticisms, saying it was not the first time and that the Emperor would make women suffer like a sparrow.
Seeing his reaction, I couldn't bring myself to say that I had suggested dating first.
'Father hated it so much?'
It became harder to speak.
"Well, if you like the Emperor, I won't say anything."
"I don't know what your exes were like, but I know the Emperor better than anyone. He is not the type to have another woman while having a wife."
Due to the previous Emperor's promiscuous affairs, Aster had to spend nearly a decade eliminating his bloodline.
Even Father, who had experienced it all, shuddered at the thought of those harsh times.
"Anyway, don't worry too much about the future of the family. I may not be good at much, but I can handle a line."
Seeing Father's confident declaration, I felt a sense of pride.
"And I will definitely deal with that Wilhelm."
It seemed a bit extreme, but I decided to think about it later.
The news of my engagement break with Wilhelm and the rumors of the Emperor's courtship shook the island in no time.
[The 4th Engagement Break of the Piania Lady! Who will be her next partner?]
[Is the House of Piania the strongest candidate for the Emperor's political marriage?]
[The Rising Star, Wilhelm Hunt. Who is his destined woman?]
All the gossip magazines were talking about this ridiculous farce.
In the past, I might have been swayed by such gossip. But after it happened once, twice, and finally four times, I became indifferent.
However, I couldn't help but feel bad.
So, I decided to go shopping under the pretext of visiting the palace.
My father, who was strict about extravagance, even gave me a high-value check to cheer me up.
"Spending money is the best way to relieve stress."
"Miss, it's been so long since you've gone out like this."
Lily and I were slightly excited about the shopping we hadn't done in a long time.
I hadn't been on this street for the past two years. The reason was simple.
It was because of Tatiana and her followers who appeared wherever I went.
Recently, the Duke of Gloucester was always behind her, and it was quite painful to see.
'So, I always avoided it. I don't even know why I did it.'
Last time, Wilhelm's declaration snapped the thin thread of patience I had.
'What does it matter, they're all in the past now.'
Thinking about it, I didn't need to do that. I decided not to care about others' opinions anymore.
Since the moment I poured water on Wilhelm's head.
But, something always seemed to push my situation to the worst.
"It's been a while, Karin."
It was exactly like this. I stopped at the entrance of the boutique and saw a man calling my name.
A man with a sharp appearance, his long, wavy pink hair loosely tied.
A wizard with an otherworldly presence that seemed to defy the laws of this world.
And my second ex, with whom I had the shortest relationship.
"Isn't it too far to call each other by such names? Raymond."
Raymond gave a subtle smile in response to my answer.