My Engagement Got Broken, But I Don’t Remember Getting Engaged in the First Place

Chapter 20: Elias Callum’s Incentive 

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Translated by lacusky.

“Is there even a point in me being here?”

Nora heaved a sigh now that Viola was gone after being taken away by Duke Enroth.
Perhaps she felt tired after being silent for so long.

He knew Viola was the culprit and he could ask the King and the Duke to punish her.
The reason she asked Nora to be there was simply for revenge.

“Of course there is.
If you don’t talk, she’d be reassured that you were poisoned.
And if she sees with her own eyes that you and I are close, she’ll be upset and angry.”

“That’s why… you did that?”

Nora was referring to how he ran his fingers along her cheeks and collarbone.
It worked against Viola but it took Nora by surprise.
Seeing her desperately trying not to speak in order to keep the lie was extremely cute.

“That’s right.”

Nora seemed convinced that it was just part of Elias’ plan.
But more than anything, what he really wanted was to stay with Nora all dolled up but he won’t say that.
It was a good thing that Nora couldn’t speak because he was able to touch her a lot more.
Of course, it was all part of their plan, but he couldn’t deny he was acting on his true feelings.

“Viola told me she fell in love with me but I beg to differ.
She just wanted me to submit to her after she failed to get what she wanted.
Plus, she was so fixated about not losing to the lower class.”

“If I was pretty and from the royal family, things would probably be different.”

“In the end, she was only looking at my title.
It’s possible that she might have true feelings for me.
But she altered the names in the documents and even dared to poison you.
there’s no way my feelings for her would have changed.
Besides, we’re probably not suitable for each other.”

“She was blessed with a lot of things but she took them for granted.”

“She didn’t protect the duke’s family and even got involved in a crime against His Majesty.
Their connection with the royal family will surely be severed and they would lose a lot.”

Elias had actually wanted to hold her hand but their status as “friends” held him back.

He didn’t have to get his hands dirty for Viola.
For Viola who was after Elias, the hardest thing wasn’t to be turned down by Elias but to be defeated by Nora whom she looked down on.
Hence he had to provoke her and flirt with Nora right before her very eyes.

Nora was just a “friend” so it was hard to show off flirting.
So he had to do it like that but it still worked against Viola.

Later, he would have to prove the crime of falsifying documents.
He was told that Nora’s case would also be included so it’s probably a serious offense as well.

It’s been a while since he promised to listen to Nora’s performance.
Nora was fine but Allan needed to disguise himself as expected.
He was worried about him exposing his identity.

“So… that person really meant to poison me.”

“Yes, but it’s good that we stopped it in time.”

He couldn’t have stopped it if she wasn’t about to drink it in front of him.
He was thankful that he was luckily there.

If Nora had been poisoned, he’d have taken revenge even if it was against Duke Enroth or anyone else.
He vowed to be more careful about Nora’s surroundings henceforth.

Since he had already talked to Duke Enroth, he could no longer take revenge directly against Viola.
But it didn’t matter as he was already satisfied.
If she was to be condemned by the King, it would be difficult for her to marry and not only will the royal family scorn her but also everyone else.

For Viola who had great confidence in her looks and status, nothing was worse than public humiliation.

Furthermore, both the King and the Duke promised that as an apology to Nora, they will erase and nullify the record of Nora and Allan’s engagement to restore her honor.

It was the Duke’s suggestion and since Nora was safe, it was better to hand it over to the Duke’s family.

“It was such a pretty bottle so I thought I’d show it… I guess I was lucky.”

“Show it?” That reminded him, Nora brought it to the table saying that the juice bottle was cute.
Only Elias and Allan were at the table.

“To us?”

“Yes.
No.
I mean, I told you about investing in the Kranz estate, right? Grapes were our specialty so I thought it’d be nice to market them as juice in a bottle.
I wanted to ask for your opinion.”

…What?

She just wanted to show Elias what she thought was cute?

“I’m sorry if I said anything to upset you.” Nora hurriedly apologized seeing disappointment all over Elias’ face.

As it turned out, Elias’ perception was far from reality.

In the first place, Nora’s smile was the greatest thing Elias could get by investing in the Kranz estate.
And if she was counting on him to help increase the sales, it was even better.

“It’s fine.
Let’s talk about the bottle design next time.”

“Regarding this dress and… the poison, too.
I’d like to thank you, Elias.”

Seeing Nora’s smile, Elias’ dejected face brightened up in an instant.