Chapter 19…………………………………….
It wasn’t enough to make my conscience sting. It was the kind of thing I could just listen to with one ear, let it pass, and reply lightly.
“As you know, Sir Lervian, it was quite a serious accident. Yet His Highness never even sent a single letter after returning. I must say, that was rather cold of him.”
It was a casually thrown joke.
As we stepped into the eastern building where the Crown Prince resided, Lervian suddenly stopped walking and turned to look at me.
At that single remark, he looked slightly fed up.
Though there was a hint of truth in it, it was still a light joke. Any ordinary noble would have simply said a few comforting words and let the matter pass.
“Sir Lervian?”
Not understanding why he was looking at me like that, I cautiously called his name. He slightly lifted his monocle.
“It’s quite improper of me to say this right after your recovery, but…”
“Go ahead.”
“His Highness meant what he said, Lady.”
What on earth does that mean?
That was the thought that immediately came to mind at Sir Lervian’s words, but I couldn’t say it out loud.
I took a short breath in, and the warm air pierced deep into my lungs.
“Personally, I do find His Highness’s intentions regrettable… but it seems you are taking his words too lightly, Lady, so I felt the need to say it once more.”
It was still something I couldn’t possibly understand.
“If you go into the back garden, His Highness will be there. Well then.”
I stared blankly at Sir Lervian’s back as he gave a brief bow and left the building again.
“What was that supposed to mean?”
What am I supposed to do if he just says something only he understands and leaves?
And why on earth didn’t the duke’s household mention anything about this?
Pressing the crease forming between my brows with my finger, I walked into the back garden.
Though they called it a garden, “a small forest” would have been a more fitting description for the place. I had only just started admiring it when—
“Miss?”
It was a voice as sweet as honey.
The source of the voice was Perfone, who—just like when he was younger—was personally tending the garden.
“…Your Highness?”
The man standing among the bushes looked so beautiful that one could mistake him for an elf rather than a human.
Even though Sir Lervian must have told him in advance that I was coming, he still seemed slightly surprised.
“Has Sir Lervian already left?”
Perfone strode toward me.
I almost took a step back without realizing it.
I had thought nothing had changed, but that wasn’t true.
“Lady?”
At his puzzled voice, my lips moved slightly.
“Your Highness, your height…”
Your height… you’ve grown so much.
The words nearly slipped out. When I was nineteen, Perfone had been seventeen.
He had been a boy about the same height as me—maybe even a little shorter.
“Why aren’t you saying anything, Lady?”
Just like before, Perfone smiled sweetly, like honey.
His eyes—yellower than freesias or dandelions—curved into crescent shapes.
I had always thought he was beautiful since childhood, but I had never imagined he would grow into such a handsome young man so quickly.
Golden hair like the sun, and golden eyes like honey—proof of the imperial bloodline—were directed straight at me.
The seventeen-year-old Perfone who once met my gaze directly had become the twenty-two-year-old Perfone I now had to look up at.
“It’s nothing.”
“That’s disappointing. Let’s sit down first.”
Though he seemed to find it strange, he didn’t press further. With a faint smile, he led me to the tea table in the middle of the garden.
“I didn’t expect you to send a letter first, Lady.”
“Well, when one’s fiancé is so heartless that he doesn’t even show his face after returning, what choice do I have?”
“Haha.”
I hadn’t said it to make him laugh.
Yet he burst out laughing lightly, as if amused.
It didn’t matter to me since we had no real relationship—but if April had been the one sitting here, she probably would have been hurt.
I wasn’t sure if that expression fit, but… she was a delicate girl.
“You heard that I returned, didn’t you?”
“Yes. And I also heard that the vice-head of the Alchemy Department—who was expected to improve—has instead become extremely sensitive.”
Just how harsh had I been with others for the Crown Prince himself to say something like that?
“Why didn’t you come?”
I asked more directly while looking at his golden hair swaying gently in the breeze.
“I thought you might at least send a letter.”
The corners of his mouth, which had been holding a gentle smile, faltered slightly.
Perfone rubbed the back of his neck and hesitated for a moment, looking somewhat troubled by the situation.
He let out a light sigh and asked in the same gentle tone.
“It seems you haven’t told the Duke yet.”
“His Highness meant what he said, Lady.”
Those were the exact words Sir Lervian had said earlier.
The meaning wasn’t the same, yet it felt strangely similar.
Perhaps it was because I was in a position where I couldn’t openly react even if I didn’t understand what they were talking about.
“What do you mean?”
After eight years of living as a noble, pretending not to know something was a skill I could perform effortlessly.
“Pretending not to know won’t solve the problem, Lady.”
The teacup clinked softly.
“It would be less damaging to your pride if you said it yourself rather than hearing it from me.”
“…”
“That’s why I deliberately gave you time. Of course, it was also because it was a difficult period.”
“…”
“I do feel sorry about the accident.”
Every time the word “Lady” came from Perfone’s mouth, it felt awkward.
How awkward?
About as awkward as when Barak and Rian called me “Irina.”
When we were younger—no, even when Perfone was sixteen—he used to call me noona (older sister) and follow me around.
At some point he stopped using that title and even started calling me “Epi.”
The Perfone I met again after three years felt strangely unfamiliar.
I hoped he would say something that would reveal what exactly had been discussed between the two of them—something neither I nor the duke’s household knew.
But pretending ignorance had its limits.
As I calmly took a sip of tea while acting like I knew nothing, Perfone pressed his lips into a straight line before speaking again.
“Wouldn’t it be better if you were the one to suggest breaking off our engagement, Lady?”
It was a remark that came out so suddenly it felt as though he had read my thoughts.
Breaking off the engagement?
Even though I wasn’t really April, the words made my heart pound violently.
I clenched my hand tightly to hide my tension.
There was no way April would have brought up breaking off the engagement first.
She had fallen in love with Perfone at first sight.
So that meant Perfone must have brought it up first.
When I tried to force a smile, the corner of my mouth twitched.
“I still can’t understand the reason for breaking off the engagement.”
“I’ve explained the reason several times already.”
As expected—it was Perfone who brought it up first.
Was there someone in the imperial family who opposed it, aside from Rosian, the Emperor’s consort?
“I told you I have someone else in mind.”
What kind of nonsense is that?
Then again… three years is a long time. Just like I could feel the gap myself, it wouldn’t be strange for Perfone to have started a romance during that time.
If anything, it would even make sense for him to finish his first love and move on to a second or third.
“I’m simply at a loss because you refuse to believe me no matter how many times I say it.”
“…So you want to break off the engagement?”
“I said it for the sake of your reputation.”
Then who on earth is it?
When I used to be around Perfone in the past, I had never sensed anything like that.
It was strange to think that someone as soft-hearted as Perfone would have the courage to demand a broken engagement for the sake of love.
“It’s better for people to say that you requested the broken engagement than to say that you were the one rejected.”
Was he unbearably kind—or unbearably cold?
Even though he was willing to be caught up in gossip that the Crown Prince had been dumped, he still refused to marry me. To April, who loved him, those words must have been extremely cruel.
“So that’s why you never came to the duke’s residence.”
“If I visited for no reason and gave you false hope, that would be troublesome.”
So sharp.
Just who was the person who had changed Perfone like this?
The only noble women near him would be imperial maids and attendants.
Maybe April didn’t go to the villa for a vacation at all. Maybe she left because she wanted to escape from this absurd talk about breaking the engagement.
“Lady.”
His voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I raised my head.
“This will be the last time I wait.”
“….”
“You tell the Duke that we’re breaking off the engagement.”
I couldn’t think of any response and simply licked my dry lips.
“And this will be the last reply to the letter you sent.”
Even though he was unilaterally demanding a separation, Perfone didn’t feel like a bastard.
If Barak had said the same thing, I would have cursed him as the worst scum alive.
But hearing it like this only left me bewildered.
And the reason being another person…
Honestly, I almost wished he would just say the name of the person he liked.
But perhaps he didn’t say it because he thought that, given April’s personality, she wouldn’t leave that person alone.
If it were before, I might have congratulated him.
But now I was too stunned for words.
And besides…
I glanced sideways at him as he casually took a sip of tea.
From the faint sense of relief in his expression, it was easy to read that he wanted the engagement to be broken off as soon as possible.
“Lady, please answer me.”
