102. Betrothal Broken

“……”

“Princess.”

“……”

“Princess? It is time we departed.”

Clarisse, her face still burning scarlet, remained rigid. Yet, her violet eyes followed Isaac, desperately seeking to meet his gaze.

“Princess?”

“Ah, yes.”

Only after Isaac called her thrice did Princess Clarisse respond.

Nodding her head, Clarisse retreated a step, almost as if fleeing.

“Does that suffice now? That was my attempt at a little… charm. Did it feel somewhat different?”

The earnest expression that had been directed at her moments ago vanished, replaced by the familiar mask of Isaac, the guard.

A flicker of regret passed through her, but Princess Clarisse could not deny it.

“Yes… it is different, isn’t it.”

Claris nodded, letting out a hollow breath.

“So, this is how you charmed Lianna too?”

“Aren’t you leaving? You said you would.”

“No, it’s just… I think I understand how you got married.”

“…….”

“Ahem! Oh, well, I understand now. I’ll be going.”

So saying, Claris slowly turned. As she departed for the ballroom, she glanced back at Isaac one last time.

“Thank you for the encouragement.”

Smiling, she headed towards Prince Raphael.

* * *

In the center of the ballroom.

Prince Raphael, accepting congratulations from numerous nobles, kept searching for Claris with his eyes.

Usually, on days like this, the two of them should be together.

Thanks to this, the nobles were either watching the Prince warily or awkwardly inventing reasons for Claris’s absence.

And finally.

Claris came into his sight.

She must have been in the garden; she was walking towards Raphael from near the entrance.

“Ah, Princess Claris.”

Raphael welcomed her, making space beside him, but the Claris who approached didn’t speak with her usual gentle and cheerful voice.

“Just a moment—.”

The sharpness of a blade.

“Let’s speak privately.”

Watching Claris retreat towards the back of the ballroom after saying those words, Prince Raphael also excused himself with brief greetings to the other nobles and left his place.

Claris had said the back of the ballroom, but because she was looking for a deserted place, she had no choice but to go all the way to the back of the garden.

‘It’s the same moon I was just looking at.’

Why does it feel so different now?

Claris muttered this, looking at Raphael, who had followed her.

As if some important matter was before him, the Prince straightened his attire, then.

Took a step towards the Princess.

“Princess Clarisse, are you finding enjoyment in the festivities?”

Prince Raphael, with a disarming tone, attempted to lighten the weighty atmosphere. Clarisse, however, offered no immediate reply.

“Did Del not attend the soiree this evening?”

“…She isn’t of a station to be invited.”

He faltered for but a moment, yet Raphael answered with composure. He couldn’t decipher her intent, but the question was undoubtedly unwelcome from his perspective.

“It is, of course, because Del is of common birth, but more to the point, this is a celebration to solidify your betrothal to me. I could not, therefore, call upon her presence.”

“So, you are now reconciled to this marriage with me?”

“Regarding that, I wished to speak with you.”

Moving purposefully, Raphael gently took Clarisse’s hand, and confessed,

“If I cannot avoid this union with you, then I shall embrace it.”

“……”

Slowly, Clarisse lifted her gaze to Raphael.

The subtle smile playing on his lips suggested he believed this to be a rather affecting scene.

“Upon our first meeting, I judged you to be merely a political figure, dispatched by your kingdom for the sake of alliance.”

“And now?”

“No, not now. In but a few short days, you have changed my heart.”

His perception of Princess Clarisse had shifted long ago.

His initial impression had been of a calculating, political ice queen, prepared to exploit him for the sake of fortifying the Albion Kingdom.

Yet, having met and spent time with her, Princess Clarisse was an entirely different person.

She was like the warmth of the sun, the only one who empathized with his position, sharing his predicament, yet bound by the imperative of her royal blood.

In some ways, she understood him even more profoundly than Del, he believed.

Raphael had come to even hold such thoughts.

“Let us marry. Let us love, for the sake of fulfilling our royal duties.”

“And Del?”

At her question, Raphael’s expression immediately darkened. His fist clenched, and he confessed honestly,

“It seems Del will have to be taken as a concubine.”

“……”

“I know how audacious this sounds. But it was Del who proposed it to me. She offered a realistic compromise.”

“Compromise.”

Observing Clarisse repeat the word as if savoring it, Raphael nodded.

“Indeed. Therefore, we must–”

Different.

Clearly different from the tales of Isaac and Lianna that she’d heard from the Grand Master yesterday.

Who was nobler? Whose love was more sublime?

Claris was still too inexperienced, a mere novice who had only just begun to understand love, to judge such things.

But there was definitely something she desired, something she longed for even more.

“Raphael.”

At the radiant smile gracing the Princess’s lips as she called his name, Raphael froze for a moment.

*‘I’ve seen her smile countless times, but–’*

It felt as though he was seeing the genuine article for the very first time. With a relieved yet audacious smile, Claris declared,

“Let us break off the engagement.”

“…Pardon?”

A completely unexpected pronouncement.

Before he could even muster a reply, Claris began to pour out her words.

“You fled before I even arrived, and during our first meeting, you openly disregarded me.”

“…”

“You openly favored a woman with whom you were infatuated, and you were even seen leaving the palace to meet her while I was here.”

“Uh…”

“Furthermore, you eloped with said woman in the city, right before my very eyes–”

“…”

“And finally, you publicly declared your intention to take a concubine even before our marriage.”

“P-Princess?”

“A princess of a nation has been so thoroughly humiliated. The kingdom has long since secured ample justification to demand a dissolution of the engagement.”

Especially since Heirad had diligently gathered it all.

Yet, the reason they hadn’t used it was because the political marriage between them offered so many benefits.

“Before fulfilling your royal obligations, you must first take responsibility for your actions, Prince Raphael.”

Truly.

Was this really the same woman he had spent nearly a week with?

Raphael was speechless, utterly dumbfounded, but this side of her suited her far better.

And so, he simply accepted it in silence.

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? I thought you were a political figure coming for the sake of an alliance.”

Clarice, grinning, nodded and praised Raphael.

“You saw exactly right.”

Seeing the bright smile on Clarice’s face, Raphael asked urgently.

“B-but why are you doing this all of a sudden? If you were going to break off the engagement like this, you should have done so from the start.”

“Well, yes, I suppose. I didn’t know I would either.”

Suddenly, Clarice recalled the words she had uttered in the carriage to Brentarion.

– I don’t know love, so I won’t be saddened.

– If I had, like Isaac back then. Someone I was ready to surrender everything to.

– Surely, it would have been difficult.

‘Even her self-awareness is perfectly, cleanly spot on.’

Clarice internally complimented herself for nothing and tried to steer the heavy atmosphere away.

“Frankly, I still believe that proceeding with the marriage would be far more beneficial in many ways, I think.”

“In that case–”

“But!”

Clarice, with her hand on her chest, rattled off words quickly, as if both confident and apologetic.

“My working in the Albion Kingdom will be helpful enough, I can assure you. I will exert my abilities to the fullest and somehow deliver value that exceeds a political marriage.”

“Besides, that person will be at my side too. Work efficiency will increase even more, you see? It will be so amusing. I absolutely must keep them close while I work!”

“……”

Looking at Raphael’s dumbfounded expression, Clarice chuckled.

Then, suddenly, a thought occurred to her.

“Ah, that’s right, you mentioned this during our first meeting. Do you know what love is?”

[Do you know what love is?]

[If you do, you will understand why I am doing this.]

“Now I know, Prince Raphael.”

Clarice gestured as if saying farewell, and turned her body without the slightest hesitation.

“So this time, you understand me.”

Watching Clarice leave, Raphael felt a heaviness in his heart.

He had loved two women, and he thought he had accepted a realistic compromise in order to take both of them.

But in the end, that was just him closing his eyes because he wanted to be comfortable.

It was only with Dell’s consideration that he conceded, unable to resist.

“Hah.”

Prince Raphael watched Clarice’s retreating back, then slowly squatted down on the spot.

‘Judging by this pain, I must have been rejected.’

The Prince covered his face with both hands, desperately hiding his tears.

Tomorrow, I shall go and see Dell’s face.

After kneeling before her and apologizing.

I must clearly take responsibility for this incident.

* * *

“Sniff.”

The capital must be steeped in the charming atmosphere of autumn by now.

But here I am, atop the consistently disgustingly cold northern wall.

“Sniff.”

Silberna Caldias was on duty again today.

A spear resting on her shoulder, her hair was now a bit longer than before, something she was planning to cut soon.

“Miss! Miss! Look at this!”

“Hm?”

Anna, a maid and soldier, came climbing onto the wall.

“Where were you going instead of working?”

Silberna grumbled as she asked, but Anna just held out a newspaper, shouting.

“Princess Clarice’s betrothal has been called off! Apparently, the Prince of Brentarion already had a lover in his heart?”

“Huh? Really?”

“Really! The Royal Family is completely enraged because of it. Look, it says Princess Adeline even tried to start a war!”

“Hmm…?”

They wouldn’t actually start a war at this time. It’s probably just intimidation, or maybe a pre-arranged response with Brentarion.

“But the benevolent Princess Clarice made a kind decision and the matter ended with Brentarion Kingdom paying reparations–”

*Tear!*

“Eh…?”

“Hm?”

The newspaper, except for the part Anna was holding, was torn and floated into the sky.

The wind, a biting, almost unbearable blade, forced them to huddle, seeking refuge against the bulwark.

“…!”

Her eyes, reflecting the space beyond the wall, widened in sudden alarm.

Something stirred within the stark white fog, a maelstrom gathering force, and it was relentlessly closing in on the barrier.

“Enemy assault!”

Silberna’s cry was immediately followed by the clangor of the alarm bells, announcing the attack.

‘The Transcended ones?!’

They had held back for quite some time.

Five months, it felt like.

‘Taking their sweet time, aren’t they?’

Silberna grinned, settling into a fighting stance. The violent gale threatened to lift her off her feet; she jammed her fingers into the chinks between the bulwark’s stones.

The fierce squall, conjured no doubt by the enemy’s sorcery, threatened to rip even people from their moorings.

But the warriors of the North responded with practiced grace.

The Malidian bulwark was ever ready, anticipating the arrival of the Transcended.

‘They won’t find it easy to breach.’

Silberna thought, a confident smirk playing on her lips, just as…

“Huh…?”

What reflected in her eyes then, was a sight that could only draw a breath of awe.

The very vanguard of the army advancing on the bulwark.

He led them, commanding them as if a great general, striding forward.

In his hand, he held a weapon – whether spear, sword, or perhaps a staff, it was difficult to discern.

But even more striking than the weapon.

“Red…?”

From the color of his hair to the very depths of his eyes.

Truly, he was steeped in crimson.

Almost… like a Helmont.