Richard had harboured feelings for Emily since their very first meeting. He was captivated by her charm the moment he saw her at a formal gathering, her presence like a beacon in a sea of aristocrats. Her kindness, a rare gem in their world of politics and power, completely overwhelmed his heart. From that moment on, he was head over heels for her.
If there was any incident that elevated his feelings for her, then it was that day. That day he heard the conversation between Emily and her friend when Richard visited the Cravenford family with his mother.
He was not supposed to hear what they were conversing about since the place the talk was going on, was a private room. However, by a stroke of luck, he lost his way and ended up hearing their chat.
"I tell you he is a drunkard and someone who frequently visits brothels. You have to think twice before accepting him as your fiancé." When Richard heard that, he frowned. There was no doubt that the woman was talking about him.
However, he didn't barge in to punish her, rather waited to hear Emily's response so he would be able to take necessary steps regarding this engagement.
Richard expected Emily to agree with her friend since they didn't know each other from close.
However, Richard never expected that she would say such a thing,
"I cannot deny this relationship because of his past...I can just hope that after we enter the academy, I will be able to change things."
At that time, Richard felt something burning inside his heart for Emily. He felt that she would try to change him so they could become a perfect couple. And Richard was also prepared to change his personality for the girl he had begun to love.
However, he misunderstood.
When Emily said, she would try to change things, she meant that she would try to change her tendency to blindly follow her father's orders. She intended to keep her distance from Richard so he ends up annulling their engagement.
This misunderstanding was something which was never cleared. And after entering Academy Emily began to show closeness to Ethan even though she promised(?) that she would try to change Richard and form a good relationship with him.
This broke Richard's heart and in jealousy that Ethan was receiving which Richard deserved, he began to find opportunities to bully Ethan.
In the end, when Richard realises that whatever he does he won't be able to make Emily look at him like the way she looks at Ethan, with a smiling face, Richard killed himself.
A tragic end.
However, things will change now. Richard wasn't the same person he was supposed to be.
However, even though he didn't love Emily he had to make an impression that he had feelings for her and the attitude he showed in the previous timeline was because of her.
As such, the drama begins.
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"Okay."
Hearing his response, Emily's eyes parted wide in shock. Although she suspected that he could not have feelings for her, unlike what Eleanor said, still this was a little too quick for him to agree.
However, now that she thinks about it,
"You never had the slightest of affection for this relationship, right? You can never love someone."
Richard's expression didn't change since he couldn't show anger towards her. But truth be told he was quite frustrated by her tone.
She wasn't blaming him but rather removing her guilt by asking this.
From Richard's perspective, she must have realised that Richard had feelings for her in their last life that's why he took his life. That's why she was speaking in that way.
Richard didn't say anything regarding what she asked and undone his upper button, "I will discuss this matter with my mother and will have her send a formal letter of annulment from our side."
"Huh?"Emily let out a sound that described her astonishment. Why would he take the initiative to cancel the engagement when she was the one who wanted to break this relationship?
Was he being...considerate of her so she doesn't get scolded by her father? No...it can't be, right?
'Wait...is he trying to preserve his reputation...?' Emily forced herself to think that Richard didn't want to become a laughingstock for getting rejected that's why he would cancel this engagement from his side.
Yes, this shall be the case! Richard can never be considerate of someone other than himself. Yes....he is still selfish...arrogant...
"Here is the ring you gave me." Her line of thought suddenly came to a pause when he removed a pendant from his neck and stood up.
The thing that dangled at the end of the thin chain was the same ring which they exchanged during the engagement.
The difference was, that Emily wore that ring on her finger since her mother told her to and Richard wore it as a pendant.
....but why has he kept the ring so securely? She thought he might have already thrown away the ring since it would have hindered him from hooking up with girls. However...he had the ring by his side all this time.
Richard stood before the dazed Emily before he leaned forward and took her frozen hand.
Emily subconsciously opened her hand as Richard placed the pendant on her palm and said, "I had decided to wear this ring the moment you actually accepted me as your lord...but I guess this ring was never meant to be worn by me."
Richard spoke those words while looking into her eyes. There was a certain emotion in his eyes which Emily recognised. She has seen those eyes on Richard in her previous timeline as well...however, she used to think that his eyes spoke arrogance.
However...now, she realized that those eyes contained nothing but sadness.
Not another word travelled between the two before Richard straightened his back and walked out of the room.
For a long time, Emily remained seated while holding that ring. The words he said were something she had a hard time accepting. It wasn't like she wanted to pretend that she didn't hear it, rather she wasn't sure what she should do now.
....there was no doubt about it. Richard liked her. In their last life, he died because of her.
With her eyes turning moist she covered her face, and uttered under her voice,
'What should I do?'
*******
[Ding!]
[Quest achieved!]
[Congratulations Host!]
As Richard made his way out of the mansion he saw the floating screen appearing in front of him.
He smirked at the notification. His strategy to make her feel guilty worked quite flawlessly. And now that she knows that he had feelings for her, his slightly changed attitude in the academy wouldn't rouse suspicion.
[Cravenford Emily's affection: -150-> -120]
His quest was to shift her affection in either direction and since his interest lay in increasing the affection Richard did whatever he deemed necessary.
'The pendant drama worked eh...' Originally Richard used to keep the ring inside a box to keep it safe, however, this new Richard didn't have such affection towards the accessory. And since he knew that she might have invited him to cancel the engagement, he purposely wore it around his neck to show how much he 'treasured' this relationship.
'Haah...now let's get some training done.'
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A/N:- I have only one review. Please review the story if you liked it so it can help the others.