Yejoo took away my first love Chapter 44
"Professor Foreman contacted you?"
While I was fully engaged in preparing for the boutique's opening, I received some welcome news.
The butler handed me an envelope.
I tore open the envelope with a paper knife and took out the letter.
The content of the letter wasn't very long.
It stated that my proposal had been accepted.
I smiled slightly at the butler's words.
If not for I, it would have been the gums, but with Professor Foreman as the representative, it became possible to establish the hospital. However, I hadn't given up on Robert yet.
"Seems like you're still attached to Mr. Robert."
"More precisely, I'm just too fond of the three of them back then."
I analyzed the research report that I had asked the attending physician to bring.
'Really a brilliant idea. Losing Dr. Gregory is a great loss to the medical community.'
The attending physician said this and then went on for hours about very difficult content.
I didn't understand most of it, but his desired conclusion was one: he seemed to want all his students to work together if possible.
"By the way, did you find out what happened between the three of them?"
After meeting Robert, I asked the butler to investigate what had happened between the three of them.
It's been a few weeks, so the guild should have sent the report by now.
"Yes, I received the report a while ago and organized the documents."
The butler handed me a neatly organized document.
There, I found an unexpected name.
"Tatiana was involved here too?"
"Yes. I asked for a more detailed investigation on that part, so here is another report."
The butler handed me the next report.
Professor Gregory and his students had a very good relationship.
The problem started when Professor Gregory began to fall ill.
"These three must have really loved their professor."
"He was known to be quite eccentric, but he treated his students well."
They started to use research funds to save their terminally ill teacher.
They gathered all the money they could and spent days in the lab trying to find a way to treat Gregory.
But the result, as we know, wasn't good.
"After Professor Gregory died, the academy seems to have conducted a thorough tax investigation that had been delayed."
"The three must have been in a tight spot."
"Yes, but surprisingly, they ended up with a light punishment."
"The chancellor must have covered for them."
Perhaps Alison asked for the case to be covered up in exchange for becoming Tatiana's attending physician.
Thanks to that, Eric was safely appointed as a professor.
"The reason why Mr. Robert quit couldn't be found. It might be due to Alison's betrayal, or perhaps he felt frustrated by his limitations."
"Hmm. You've done well. You can go now."
After dismissing the butler, I fell into thought.
In the original story, Professor Gregory must have died.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have chosen Robert, a genius professor, to establish the hospital.
'Something must have changed during that time because of Tatiana’s involvement.'
Moreover, the timing coincided with shortly after her marriage to Andrew.
It matched the period when she approached Nivea.
'When Nivea didn't join her, she must have tried to tarnish her shop's reputation.'
I tapped the paper with a pen, lost in thought.
Was her goal really to psychologically break Robert in a similar way?
'I guess I need to meet Alison as well.'
But she was Tatiana's attending physician.
Meeting her might cause various problems.
As I pondered other methods, an idea came to mind.
Tatiana sat with a picture-perfect smile on her face.
One wall was entirely made of glass, allowing warm sunlight to beautifully filter in, warming the interior.
It was a beautiful and warm scene, but Tatiana's heart was not.
She had come to the salon after a long time and was caught by a chatty group, listening to their stories for hours.
"Finally, the hunting festival will be held this year."
"Oh, I heard that too. The cowardly emperor is finally coming out of the castle."
Tatiana mocked them for their ignorance.
Aster, whom she had spoken to directly, was a commanding presence despite his gentle appearance.
"Will Her Highness the Grand Duchess attend the hunting festival this time?"
Suddenly being addressed, Tatiana snapped back to reality.
Recently, more women have been participating in the hunting festival.
With the use of rifles, hunting has become easier compared to the old days when bows were used.
Tatiana answered with her usual smile.
She didn't want to take unnecessary risks during such a dangerous time.
Especially since the original story's suppression was weakening, making her feel uneasy every day.
"You never know, you might want to attend. They say the prizes this time are incredible."
"I don't really have anything to be disappointed about."
Such prizes are something you'd be excited about.
Tatiana forced a smile to those who kept urging her to participate.
In the past, she would have ignored them, but now she had to pay attention to each one.
Suddenly, the two ladies stopped talking.
Tatiana tilted her head and turned around.
A woman who was always in the shadows was now walking into the light.
Her hair, darker than the night, swayed as she moved.
Her eyes, cold and piercing, different from Tatiana's soft blue, met hers head-on.
Tatiana and Karina avoided appearing in the same place, with one of them staying away.
Mostly, Karina avoided her, but Tatiana didn't know that.
The appearance of the two most talked-about women in the social circle made the room quiet.
Karina walked to Tatiana's table and stood in front of her, seemingly oblivious to the surroundings.
"It's been a while, Your Highness. How have you been?"
Karina greeted her, and Tatiana forced a smile in response.
"I was worried when you didn't contact me after that day. I thought something had happened."
"No, I've just been busy. I'm sorry for not contacting you first."
At this point, she wished Karina would leave, but she persistently inquired about her well-being.
Finally, another lady nearby offered her a seat.
"If you two have a lot to talk about, why don't you sit here and chat?"
"Oh, is that okay? I'm a stranger to both of you, so I didn't know if it was appropriate to sit with you."
While apologizing, Karina quickly took a seat.
She ordered tea and dessert and chatted cheerfully with the other ladies.
Tatiana bit her lip at the sight of the ladies who had just been gossiping about Karina now smiling and chatting with her.
"You still haven't fixed that habit."
Karina smiled and handed her a handkerchief.
Startled, Tatiana realized her lip was bleeding and blushed.
She shouldn't have shown her emotions so freely, but she had made a mistake without realizing it.
"We've known each other since we were young, so this is the least I can do."
Tatiana clenched her dress at her words.
It was clear that she was deliberately doing this. It was something she used to do to Karina.
The academy was Tatiana's world.
Everyone looked at her and gave everything for her.
She never faced criticism for anything she did.
It felt like she was a god in this world.
Every time she had no choice but to take away Karina's fiancés, Tatiana always apologized.
Each time, Karina forced a smile, suppressing her anger.
"You're really heartless."
"Actually, she might even like it."
"You're right. Marrying a man who loves another woman might be the worst."
People around her comforted Tatiana, saying such things.
Karina became increasingly isolated.
One time turned into two, and two into three, until she broke off her engagement with Andrew.
Finally, Karina collapsed.
"How could you do this to me?"
Her usually calm blue eyes distorted with resentment at that moment.
People began to criticize Karina as if it were a play.
For the first time, Tatiana felt afraid of a world that only cared about her.
It felt like she had been dragged into a play filled with madness.
And she felt like the perpetrator was herself, and the victim was Karina.
'I am the master of this world.'
Tatiana thought this and tried to ignore the injustice.
No, she even encouraged it.
Just like she was doing to Karina now.