Chapter 8: Fiancé (1)
Dressed in her Knight Department uniform, Irene stood at the first-year girls' dormitory stop.
"Is it already Friday?"
Her life had always been uneventful, but these days, each day felt unbearably long.
It was all because of her fiancé, Theo.
Rumble, rumble─
The distant sound of the approaching carriage could be heard.
Though the carriage was not yet visible to the naked eye, she couldn't help but reflexively glance in its direction.
"Why am I like this?"
Until now, her daily life had been more straightforward than anyone else's. People around her often asked, with serious expressions, "What on earth do you find enjoyable about your life?"
She had declined countless invitations from her peers to go on group dates.
She had turned down her classmates, seniors, students from other departments, and even an ambitious confession from an assistant professor.
Her engagement announcement had been short, without even a single photo.
She hadn't mentioned her fiancé's existence to anyone at the academy, but not long ago, one of her peers had confidently confessed, promising to become a greater person than Waldeurk.
Of course, such a thing was impossible.
The Waldeurks were a prestigious family. Breaking off the engagement unilaterally would lead to unfortunate consequences.
Regrettably, she couldn't accept those feelings. Not that she even intended to.
Thus, she kept her distance from those around her.
While other students enjoyed the youthful romance of gathering to eat sweets, joining clubs to flirt with handsome seniors, or going on blind dates with other departments, Irene had spent all her time training at the academy since her enrollment, except for the hours she spent sleeping.
Dormitory, classroom, dining hall, training ground. She never went anywhere but these four places.
There was only one reason for living such a simple life: to join the Imperial Royal Knights.
The top graduate of the Knight Department would be granted the opportunity to join the prestigious unit without any conditions.
That would give her a chance to break off the engagement arranged by her family three years ago.
'Waldeurk...'
Her fiancé Theo's family, the Waldeurks, held power and influence throughout the entire continent, not just in the empire.
Her own family, the Aslans, was indeed a renowned family of knights, but their reputation was limited within the empire. Compared to the grand Waldeurks, they were insignificant.
In other words, she couldn't break off the engagement through conventional means.
Despite this, her fiancé, Theo, was truly a good-for-nothing. The epitome of a failure.
From what she had learned, his grades were at the bottom of the class, and he would likely be expelled soon.
Then again... if she could establish a solid foothold within the Royal Knights, perhaps she could annul the engagement.
Fortunately, hope existed. Her barren life had offered her compensation.
Last semester, she ranked first in her class.
She didn't get complacent. Rather, during the two-month-long break, she chose not to return home and remained in the dormitory, practicing with her sword.
Two weeks into the new semester, most of her peers were still exchanging stories of their colorful vacation experiences.
However, she had no such rose-tinted memories. All she had were memories of wielding a wooden sword alone in the training hall, trying to forget the person deeply entrenched in her heart.
The loneliness was suffocating. She wanted to scream and cling to anyone who would listen.
But she hid her feelings from everyone, and she kept on swinging her sword.
As a result, now everyone—professors, instructors, classmates, and seniors—knew her as the cold-blooded one, impervious to pain.
One professor even wiped away tears as they said, "I've never seen a student as hardworking as you in all my years of teaching."
...She was not like that at all. It was all because of him, Theo.
"...Why was I so naive?"
The first time she saw him at their engagement ceremony three years ago, she fell for him at first sight.
It was then that she understood what it meant for someone to radiate light.
His ruby-like sparkling eyes seemed to hold the universe within. Simply standing still, he turned her—a once-flippant person—into a lovestruck fool.
Back then, he was already deemed unsuitable to be a hero in many aspects, but she didn't care.
She was happy. She believed she could change him.
When she thought about coloring him with her hue, she let out a pointless giggle.
In her heart, he was her shining knight and prince.
However, as she grew older and saw his repulsive true self, the veil of infatuation lifted, and she faced the truth she had tried so hard to ignore.
It was too difficult to change him. No, it was impossible.
The first time she faced the truth, she locked herself in her room and cried for a week, forgoing meals.
He was the worst kind of scoundrel, so immersed in pretense and deceit that redemption was impossible.
She ripped apart the hero in her heart.
But her feelings for him never vanished. He still shone faintly in the depths of her heart.
Yet, it's strange how the heart works. Her feelings for him, which she thought would never fade, started waning after that incident seven months ago while awaiting admission to the academy.
"...Why does it still bother her so much?"
She thought the knight she had brutally slain in her heart had been reduced to nothing but ashes. She believed her once-flaming heart had burned out, leaving nothing but embers.
Still, she looked forward to every morning, wondering if she might see him during the day.
Whoosh—
The sound of the approaching carriage snapped her out of her reverie.
A gust of wind blew. She boarded the carriage, leaving her wind-tousled hair as it was.
'...I wish he weren't there.'
Despite her wishes, her eyes naturally drifted toward the back seat where he always sat.
...There he was. Theo, sitting in the same spot as always.
'He's reading a book again today. Where's he going? His bag seems particularly heavy today.'
It was quite a wonder.
Over the past three years, he must have attempted to change dozens of times, to firmly set his mind on something. Yet he never managed to maintain his resolve for more than three days.
Perhaps no one was less suited to the word "perseverance" than him.
But today marked the fifth day, setting a new record.
It seemed he was waking up early in the mornings now.
In fact, she hadn't seen him on the carriage even once last semester.
'Why is he suddenly doing this now? Seriously, why?'
[They will be departing now.]
Everyone at the stop had boarded.
Creak, creak—
The carriage began its journey.
Five people, including her, remained standing. The only empty seat was next to him.
But as he was infamous for his volatile temperament, no one dared sit beside him.
Of course, she didn't sit either. No, she didn't want to sit.
If she did, he would think she had forgiven him.
'...I've erased you from my life now.'
Still standing, she stared at him.
Before she knew it, watching him read had become a habit.
She turned her head and openly gazed at him.
Whether he was engrossed in his book or lost in thought, he hadn't given her a single glance since Monday.
But then,
"..."
Their eyes met as he lifted his head.
Eek!
She hastily turned away. It was a purely reflexive action.
'Ah, ah, ah... What do I do...?'
She was mortified. Her face flushed in an instant.
Shame made her heart pound wildly.
'He, heavy breathing...'
Had five minutes passed? She had calmed down a bit.
...By now, he must be reading his book again. She shifted only her eyes to look at him.
"!!"
He was still staring at her.
She was taken aback, as much as when she had seen a ghost as a child and cried her eyes out.
Even so... turning her head away quickly like before would be too conspicuous.
He might think she was consciously avoiding him.
So, she didn't turn away, instead meeting his gaze.
Just as when she first fell for him as a child, his ruby-like red eyes seemed to weigh heavily on her.
His dry, emotionless stare seemed to say, 'I've erased you, too.'
For some reason, she felt like she would burst into tears.
But she held back.
She couldn't do anything more shameful. She would rather die.
As she was fighting back her tears,
"...Sit down."
His clear voice reached her ears.
"…Huh?"
He was speaking to her. He was looking directly at her.
"This stop is in front of the Hero Department. I repeat, this stop is in front of the Hero Department. Please make sure to collect all your belongings before disembarking."
Trudging along, I shoved my major textbooks into my large bag and stepped off the carriage.
Today was the long-awaited Friday - the day I would set off to collect hidden pieces.
Speaking of which... Irene. She's rather terrifying.
I had intended to keep my distance, but she seemed to be contemplating ways to end me as she stood there, casting fleeting glances at me every day.
It was impossible to ignore her. I felt like I had to say something.
Unable to think of anything else, I invited her to take a seat. Fortunately, Irene sat down beside me.
However, as soon as she did, she shot me a piercing look and didn't say a word.
Her eyes seemed to contain a deep, icy anger.
I had heard that a predator could subdue its prey with just a glance. I truly felt the desperation of prey at that moment.
I couldn't bring myself to say anything either.
Sigh. Regardless of how much she dislikes me, there's no need to stare at me so intensely just because I tried to start a conversation.
What on earth did you do wrong, Theo? I don't even know, as it happened before I entered the academy.
"Phew..."
I took a deep breath to calm myself and checked my wristwatch.
As expected, the time was 8:40 AM. I should hurry.
Noctar would be waiting for me to help him with the problem he didn't understand.
Follow current nov𝒆ls on freew(𝒆)bnov𝒆l.(c)om