Chapter 6 : Aftermath

Instead of being angry at Selene for her sudden action, Theron was more bewildered.
He roughly ran a hand through his wet hair, squinted, and asked, “Did I, by any chance, make a mistake?”
“You’re blabbering about being in love with me, but you don’t remember a single thing correctly.”
What on earth is she talking about…
“I’ve never worn pearl earrings, and at the party where you first saw me, I was in a shady corner the whole time, not under some chandelier. Rose scent… romantic, I suppose, but I despise perfume, so I don’t wear any.”
“…”
“I don’t care which woman you’re confusing me with, but if you wanted to deceive me, you should have remembered more accurately.”
Theron’s mind was a mess.
So… I confused her with another woman?
Thinking that, he should have been angry, but this was a bit strange.
Contrary to her claim, the only thing he had mentioned incorrectly was the pearl earrings worn by the banker’s daughter.

“I can’t forget the first time I saw you, Miss Selene. The deep green silk dress, the black cocktail gloves, and the pearl earrings on your ears…”

Yes, he had made a mistake last time due to the damn hangover.
But apart from that, he vividly remembered that her surroundings were particularly bright at the party where he first saw her, and that a strong scent of rose perfume emanated from her.
Slowly getting up from the fountain, Theron stepped out, took off his wet jacket, and threw it aside carelessly.
His white shirt would cling to his body, revealing his figure, but that was not his immediate concern.
“I admit I made some mistakes, but I’m sure there are some misunderstandings on your part, Miss Selene…”
“And Velora, I heard stories about you while studying there.”
…In Velora?
Theron’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.
“What kind of stories…?”
“That you’ve spent the night with countless women. And that you never take responsibility. They said there’s a truckload of women who cry whenever your name is mentioned.”
“That’s…!”
This too was mixed with strange exaggerations.
First, he doesn’t sleep with just anyone.
He has only ever slept with women who, like him, just wanted to enjoy a night and pretend to be strangers the next day.
So, there was never anything to take responsibility for from the beginning.
The other party didn’t want responsibility either.
But he couldn’t exactly explain, ‘I just enjoyed a casual one-night stand with the other person’s consent from the beginning,’ so Theron was at his wit’s end.
“If not that, were you thinking of seducing me for the ducal family’s fortune?”
Not stopping there, Selene’s continued questioning made Theron’s parting lips close.
Rather than being flustered because she hit a nerve, it was difficult to adapt to Selene’s changed, almost different, personality.
“Listen carefully, Theron Cox. It doesn’t matter if you approached me because of my family’s name, or to engrave my name on your proud trophy. Because after today, we will never meet again.”
“…”
“I hate men like you the most. Two-faced hypocrites who are controlled by their lower body but pretend not to be, evil cancers that eat away at society. Narcissists who think they’re the best in the world.”
Two-faced hypocrite, society’s cancer, narcissist…
At this point, Theron lost the will to retort and became tattered.
“If you don’t want to hear how much more of a scoundrel you are in this spot, it would be best for you to leave now.”
Selene kindly picked up the jacket Theron had taken off and handed it to him.
“The main gate is that way.”

Theron didn’t remember much about how he got home that day.
He seemed to have heard a lot of car horns and curses on the way back, but it wasn’t important.
Because ‘two-faced hypocrite,’ ‘society’s cancer,’ and ‘narcissist’ were still ringing in his ears in turn.
He had been sitting blankly without washing his wet body, and it was around 12 a.m. when he came to his senses.
Theron, who had been sitting on the sofa like a corpse, slowly got up.
Only then did he notice the pile of unopened letters on the side table.
While casually checking who had sent the letters, he found a postcard written in Lysander’s name.

[Praying for my poor friend.]

Theron, who was frowning, suddenly remembered what Lysander had chattered about Selene.
The meaning of the nickname ‘The Forbidden Fruit.’
Sure enough, the content of the postcard was about that.

[You know that the Forbidden Fruit, unlike its pretty appearance, can kill you if you eat it, right? Miss Ashcombe was a notorious tongue-lasher where she studied abroad. Especially to men. I hope you don’t take the forbidden fruit lightly.]

Theron tore the postcard mercilessly and threw it in the trash.
If he was going to tell him, he should have told him sooner.
For this postcard to arrive today, as if to taunt him after he had tasted that spicy tongue.
Still, unlike before, he didn’t feel lethargic or self-deprecating.
Rather, the more he recalled the woman spewing venom with a contemptuous expression, the more a gentle heat seemed to boil in his chest.
As his tattered heart was mended, a bit of stubbornness began to grow.
‘So that’s her true self.’
Then wouldn’t this be the real beginning?
Theron had no intention of giving up.
No, he had no intention of giving up at all.
He didn’t know if this stubbornness was because of her fortune or the red lips that still shimmered in his eyes, but either way, he had to see what he started to the end.
Theron threw off the unpleasantly clinging shirt.
The muscles that settled with the movement were twitching fiercely.

A hot summer.
In the past, Selene had heard about Theron Cox when she was busy preparing for a piano competition just before her university graduation.
“Selene! Selene! I just saw that man! Theron Cox!”
Selene ignored her classmate’s fuss and continued to play the piano.
Her finger joints were already aching from the forced practice, and she was irritable from the heat, so news of some insignificant man was no different from annoying noise.
“I went downtown and happened to see him near the bank, you know?”
Ting, ting, ting, despite her classmate’s excited voice, Selene’s response continued to be the sound of the piano.
“He’s really handsome! I mean, it’s no wonder rumors are spreading among the international students, even though he only visits Velora a few times a year to attend social parties!”
“…”
“But maybe he lives up to his face, because they say his relationships with women are no joke? They say there are so many women who cry whenever Theron Cox’s name is mentioned!”
Selene was still not very interested.
No matter how handsome Theron Cox was, how great a businessman he was, or how many women he had slept with.
After all, men were mostly the same on the inside, just with different shells.
The horny ones, the ones who pretend not to be horny, the ones who think they’re the best, the ones who treat women as their personal property, and so on…
Of course, if there was a type that Selene particularly disliked among them, it was the ones who were light with their lower body.
Because summarizing the cases above resulted in that kind of trash.
So, whether his name was Theron Cox or Cocks, he was ultimately outside her interests.
Whether he was a piece of trash who went around seducing women or not.

“My name is Theron Cox.”
For the same reason, when Selene first heard the man’s introduction, she didn’t immediately recall that it was the name the women at her study abroad location had endlessly chattered about.
It was only when he mentioned the Kingdom of Velora that she vaguely remembered that his name was the same as the man the girls in her department had been talking about.
Before frowning, Selene decided to confirm if this man was the same one the women had chirped about like sparrows.
As much as she disliked men, placing an unrelated person in the ‘hate’ category right away, not just the ‘dislike’ category, simply because his name was the same, was out of her moral code.
Of course, there was the option of treating him as if he didn’t exist at all, but frankly, the reason she gave the Theron Cox who appeared before her a chance was because he had a pretty decent face that gave her artistic inspiration.
His looks were to the extent that they could pass even Selene’s strict aesthetic standards, which was rare.

“…and the pearl earrings on your ears.”
But the man who claimed to have fallen for her at first sight kept making mistakes, as if he was confusing her with another woman every time he spoke.
From around that time, Selene began to feel that the time she had wasted on him was a shame.
“That day, you yourself, Miss Selene, were engraved in my eyes. Not just your face, but your entire appearance standing under the chandelier, and the rich scent of roses…”
Selene quickly came to a conclusion.
The man in front of her was the ‘Theron Cox’ the female students at her study abroad location had chattered about whenever they had a chance, and the reason he had approached her was to play with his light lower body.
Or maybe it was because of the ducal family’s fortune.
Either way, he had no influence on her, and she quickly returned to her usual quiet daily life.
Of course, perhaps because of his handsome face, she would think of him very occasionally afterwards.
Especially the silhouette of his body, clearly revealed when he fell into the fountain.
He had a pretty decent face and body, enough to make her think that she wasn’t wrong at all for giving him a few chances after being captivated by his looks.
But that was it.
Today, something far more important than any man had finally arrived, and Selene completely erased Theron Cox from her mind.
Knock, knock.
At the sound of the knock on the door, Selene, who had been playing the keyboard, stopped and lifted her head.