Don't You Have a Fiancé?

Astin was a man of nothing but bluster.

That was Azeline's firm assessment.

Azeline, who had been waiting in the reception room until a moment ago, heard whispers coming from the hallway.

What she heard was laughably preposterous.

-You saw it yourself? The young master defeated thirty knights?

-I'm telling you! If you don't believe me, ask the people involved yourself. You're getting along with Garten, aren't you? Go ask him.

-You... Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden?

A ridiculous rumor that Astin had won consecutive victories against no fewer than thirty knights.

'What a joke.'

Azeline snorted behind her fan.

He knew that Azeline admired knights.

So it was obvious that he had planted those shills in the hallway.

Astin had always been a man who did nothing but boast about himself.

He was a meddlesome troublemaker who had made an art of using lies to drag down other people's reputations.

Now he had shamelessly mobilized his underlings to put on such a farce.

He resorted to fabrications and lies without hesitation to conceal his incompetence.

There was no way she could fail to see through Astin's shallow nature.

And even now.

"Oh. Your mask is thicker than your makeup."

He spoke of things he barely knew as though they were facts.

"You truly are... a hopeless liar."

He was the same man as ever.

"It was always like this. You'd inflate yourself with absurd boasting and invent nonexistent scandals to drag others down. Does that fill your paltry pride?"

When she got genuinely angry like this, Astin would immediately back down. Wasn't that what always happened?

He would wag his tail, promising to give her everything she wanted.

Azeline assumed he would do the same this time.

"I've endured everything until now, but this time you've crossed the line. I can no longer overlook your insult to my honor! Apologize formally and beg forgiveness!"

"Enough."

Valdemar, who had remained silent, raised a hand.

His imposing presence made Azeline shrink back.

"Raising your voices any further will disgrace both families."

Azeline clenched her teeth and glared at Astin.

Under ordinary circumstances, this was when he should have tucked his tail between his legs and clung to her.

But Astin was listlessly digging his finger into his ear.

"Lady Azeline. You are my son's fiancée. Cardenos could take issue with the mere fact that you held a private conversation with another man."

An engagement was not merely a private matter of romantic entanglement between two people. It was a pact that embodied the prestige of both families.

If a young lady had secretly held a private conversation with another man...

If the affair Astin had described was truly real, Azeline would have to pay the price.

Scrape-!

The chair legs dragged across the carpet with a harsh scraping sound.

Azeline's bloodshot eyes flashed menacingly.

"It seems we can no longer have a conversation. I will take my leave for today."

Azeline bowed stiffly to Valdemar.

As she turned to leave, she stopped in front of the two men.

"But I have something to say as well. The insult I suffered here today will not remain a matter between just the two of you. You will have to worry about the price of humiliating Rosenthal's eldest daughter—and the friction it may cause between the Cardenos and Rosenthal families."

"So be it."

Even as the eldest daughter, she could not threaten a family head. They were simply not on equal footing.

Nevertheless, Azeline showed no sign of regret. If anything, she looked relieved.

Her father, the head of House Rosenthal, valued his daughter more than he valued the family.

"Hmph—!"

Azeline left the reception room coldly.

Bang-!

The sound of her heels echoing through the marble hallway beyond the door gradually faded.

The reception room felt as though a storm had just swept through it.

Valdemar was the first to turn to his son and face him directly.

His eyes, like those of a bird of prey, held a complex mixture of emotions.

"Astin."

"Yes."

"What you just said—is it true?"

If what he had just revealed was merely rash nonsense born of a temper, Astin would have to suffer tremendous humiliation in high society.

As Azeline had warned, House Rosenthal would not sit still.

Whether it was true or not, the matter had already become a chaotic mess entangling the family's fate and honor.

Despite Valdemar's interrogation, Astin calmly sipped his tea.

"There's no need to tire ourselves out finding out."

Tap-

He lightly set the cooled teacup down on the table.

Astin murmured in a low voice.

"That man will come looking for me of his own accord before long."

"That man?"

"Julian, whom Azeline holds so dear. She'll come here hand in hand with him, getting along famously."

Valdemar's brow furrowed.

Azeline, who had been calling it slander only moments ago, was going to bring that man here.

"You mean you're going to have Julian perjure himself and testify that it was baseless?"

"No. He'll admit everything."

"...Admit it?"

Tap- Tap-

Astin tapped the table with his index finger.

"Azeline will come running to Julian. She'll tell him they've been found out and ask what they should do."

-Julian, please don't do this. Our love has to end here. My fiancé is a Cardenos. If they find out about us, they won't let it go.

-I can't. How could I hand you over to a coward hiding behind his family's power?

-What are you going to do?

-By the name of the Moon Goddess, I'll challenge the Cardenos heir to a duel. Once Astin learns I'm a fallen noble, he'll accept. He's a man made entirely of bluster. He'll beat me to a pulp in front of you to win your heart.

"Julian will challenge me to a duel. He'll demand that I put breaking off my engagement to Azeline on the line."

Under imperial law and sacred chivalry alike, the loser of an honorable duel had to submit to the victor's demands.

That meant if Astin lost, there would no longer be any grounds to keep Azeline bound by their engagement.

There would be little risk of repercussions, either.

Minstrel ballads, salon gossip, opera and theater, romance novels.

Forbidden love that could not come to pass under the current system was all the rage.

And what if, in the midst of all that, a knight from a fallen noble house actually defeated the heir of a prestigious family in a duel and won her love?

It would be a romance of the century, enough to set not only high society but the capital itself abuzz.

Such a romance would become their reputation, and that reputation would flow into the prestige of their families.

'Fucking romance fantasy.'

A ridiculous romance could turn a family's engagement into a mere scrap of paper.

No wonder this world was a romance fantasy.

"What an absurd supposition. That won't happen."

When Valdemar clicked his tongue, Astin shrugged.

"Let's see how it turns out."

***

A secluded classroom in the old building of the Imperial Academy.

Beneath sunlight slipping through the gaps in the windows, Azeline was held in a man's arms with a pale, stricken face.

"It was in front of the head of House Cardenos. That braggart said those things in front of the head!"

Azeline told him about the humiliation she had suffered in the reception room the previous day.

Her voice trembled with uncharacteristic emotion.

After hearing the whole story, Julian's face hardened.

Soon, a look of resolve filled his eyes.

"Astin. That wastrel young master has finally crossed the line."

"What should we do now? If Cardenos makes an issue of this, I'll have to tell Father..."

"There's nowhere left to retreat. If we just let him trample us, things will go exactly as Astin wants."

Julian gently wrapped an arm around Azeline's shoulders.

"I'll challenge that bastard to a duel myself."

"Julian, no. He may be Astin, but he's a Cardenos. If the family retaliates..."

"Don't worry, Azeline. I have a plan."

A confident smile spread across Julian's lips.

"It will be a sacred duel fought in the name of honorable chivalry."

Julian then explained his plan, invoking imperial law and the code of chivalry.

After hearing him out, Azeline stopped crying and nodded.

"I trust you, Julian."

BANG—!

Just as the tender atmosphere was ripening, the closed door flew open with a thunderous noise.

It had definitely been locked, hadn't it?

The two of them quickly broke apart.

"Aaaah! Please hide me!"

The silver-haired girl who came rushing in was Lucia, a current student.

She crawled beneath the vacant teacher's lectern, panting heavily.

So Lucia had been the one who forced open the locked door.

That explained it. Despite her delicate build, her physical strength surpassed even that of the head instructor.

Azeline snapped irritably.

"What kind of spectacle is this, barging in all of a sudden? Is someone chasing you?"

"Yes! They really are chasing me! Not just one—three of them!"

Azeline let out an incredulous, hollow laugh.

"The Crown Prince, the head of the Empire's foremost merchant guild, and the Northern Grand Duke's second son?"

"I told you!"

"Those heavyweights like you so much that they're chasing after you, and you're running away? You're certainly blessed beyond reason."

"That's why it's even more burdensome! I want to have a normal school life, but they won't leave me alone!"

Lucia whined while clutching her head.

Azeline secretly admitted as much herself.

From what Azeline had seen of her up close all this time, Lucia really did lead an exhausting life.

Peek-

Lucia poked her head out and glanced outside.

After confirming that no one was coming, she soothed her pounding heart.

"Whew.... What a relief. But Azeline, is it all right for you to be alone here with Lord Julian? Don't you have a fiancé?"

The question struck directly at the heart of the matter.

Azeline raised her chin without so much as a change in expression.

"Don't misunderstand. Senior Julian and I are merely schoolmates."

"That's right. She asked me to teach her swordsmanship."

"Oh, is that so...?"

Lucia nodded a couple of times.

A faintly sour expression lingered on her face.