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Chapter 6
The Heroine of a Regret Novel, Yet Not Sad at All!
Rosia was here. Taking Ayla’s side would be wrong.
Even while thinking that, Gerat felt a faint sense of unease.
Kedrick felt the same.
As if trying to justify himself, he spoke first.
“It’s fine, Brother. This is for both Rosia and Ayla. Everyone has to accept the reality that Rosia has returned.”
“You’re right.”
Gerat nodded with a complicated expression.
As they walked in silence, they soon arrived in front of the study.
Gerat stepped forward and knocked.
“Come in.”
At the permission from inside, they opened the door and entered.
Kalios was sitting behind his desk, staring down at a stack of documents with a troubled expression.
After observing the atmosphere for a moment, Gerat spoke.
“How is Mother?”
“She collapsed. She told me not to come see her for a while. It seems she’s very angry with me.”
Kalios’s face darkened as he answered.
“But it couldn’t be helped. As long as Ayla remains, Rosia can never become a complete member of House Blanche.”
“Ayla was deeply involved in the family’s affairs.”
“And many of the servants followed her as well. Though there were always complaints about how strict she was…”
Ayla had managed the household for many years.
As a result, the influence she held within the family was far from insignificant.
The three men fell silent as they were reminded of that fact.
The first to break the silence was Kedrick.
“By the way… did Ayla really leave?”
Just then, through the window, they could see a carriage slowly departing from the estate.
Kalios nodded with a sigh.
“Yes. She said her farewells and left a little while ago. She took the dormitory application form with her.”
Hearing that, Gerat let out a faint sigh.
The image of Ayla’s sorrowful expression kept resurfacing in his mind.
“Someday Ayla will understand our feelings. Once Rosia establishes her position as the young lady of House Blanche, Ayla will come back.”
“Exactly. She won’t last long anyway. In her current situation, where else could she possibly live comfortably if not with the ducal family?”
Kedrick frowned.
“Besides, we all know how Kadin will react once he hears the news. He’ll probably try to break off the engagement with Ayla.”
He had never liked Ayla’s fiancé in the first place.
Still, he worried that Ayla might turn to him for support during a difficult time, only to be hurt again.
Noticing that his second son still seemed unable to completely let go of Ayla, Kalios cut in coldly.
“Even if that happens, it is Ayla’s burden to bear now. She is no longer a blood member of this family.”
Gerat and Kedrick flinched and looked at their father.
Sometimes, despite having lived together as a family for over a decade, their father could be frighteningly cold.
Even if she wasn’t related by blood, Ayla had spent many years as part of their family.
Had their father already cast aside every remaining attachment to her?
“So stop concerning yourselves with Ayla and focus on helping Rosia adapt to this family.”
“…Understood.”
“Yes, Father.”
The two brothers obediently lowered their heads and quietly left the study.
Ayla arrived at the Academy after only a day’s journey.
Perhaps because her application carried Duke Blanche’s personal signature, her dormitory assignment was processed immediately.
The moment she entered her room, her eyes widened.
The room she had been assigned was far larger and better than she had imagined.
“Wow. It’s almost as nice as my old room. As expected of Riod Academy. Since nobles attend here, everything is top quality.”
The Royal Riod Academy was famous for being attended primarily by royalty and nobles, as well as for its exorbitant tuition fees.
Perhaps because of that, the dormitory buildings were as large and magnificent as many mansions, and every piece of furniture inside was of the highest quality.
The Blanche family had assumed Ayla wouldn’t be able to live comfortably after leaving the ducal house.
They were completely wrong.
The corners of her lips practically reached her ears.
“Compared to my previous life, when I worked multiple jobs as a reenactment actress, this is luxury beyond my dreams.”
Back then, she had lived in a cramped semi-basement studio apartment.
Ayla immediately threw herself onto the soft bed.
As she lay buried in the blankets and closed her eyes, she felt as though she had entered heaven.
“As long as I graduate from the Academy, success is practically guaranteed. And since I know the story’s plot, there are endless ways for me to make money.”
Ayla’s goal was complete independence from the Blanche Ducal House.
Attending the Academy was an essential step toward building that foundation.
Keeping her eyes closed, she organized her thoughts.
“The first thing I need to do.”
First, she had to break off her engagement with Kadin.
The reason was simple.
“Because before long, he’ll send me a notice of engagement cancellation. Then he’ll want to get engaged to Rosia instead.”
For that reason, Ayla decided to strike first.
Before he could demand the breakup, she would publicly request the annulment herself in front of the Academy students.
“The semester starts in a week.”
Kadin belonged to the Department of Swordsmanship and stayed in the dormitories because of training.
Which meant he should already be at the Academy.
According to the original story, this was around the time he would coincidentally meet Rosia, who had come to take the transfer entrance examination.
“That’s probably when Kadin started planning to break off our engagement and become engaged to Rosia instead.”
Thinking that far, Ayla let out a small laugh.
“In the original story, I only went to see Kadin after hearing rumors that he might break off our engagement.”
Rule Number Two for heroines in regret novels:
The heroine begs for love from a man who doesn’t love her.
Back then, knowing nothing, she had desperately clung to Kadin.
She thought he was the only person she had left.
And Kadin had repaid that devotion with cruel humiliation.
When she closed her eyes, every detail of the original story resurfaced vividly in her mind.
“Ayla, what brings you here?”
Black hair as dark as the night sky.
Red eyes blazing like molten lava.
And a well-trained, powerful physique befitting a student of the Department of Swordsmanship.
Kadin was still an extraordinarily attractive man.
Anyone in the world who saw him would inevitably fall in love.
Just as Ayla once had.
“Kadin, are you planning to break off our engagement? Because I’ve become a commoner now?”
“I still love you.”
Hearing his answer, Ayla released a sigh of relief.
She had thought she had lost everything.
But she was wrong.
She still had Kadin.
“That’s right. Kadin is all I have left now.”
Her family had abandoned her, but Kadin had remained by her side.
Then she heard words she could scarcely believe.
“But as the heir to a marquisate, I can’t marry a commoner. I’ve decided to become engaged to Rosia instead. You were once a noble yourself, so I’m sure you’ll understand.”
At Kadin’s words, Ayla’s ears rang.
She lowered her eyes.
Her chest tightened so painfully that she could barely speak.
What… did I just hear?
Looking at her, Kadin reached out his hand.
He toyed with the necklace hanging around her neck and smiled.
“By the way, you’re still wearing the necklace I gave you.”
His face was breathtakingly beautiful.
But now, to Ayla, it looked only horrifying.
“Ayla, when I become Marquis, how about becoming my mistress? For a commoner like you, that doesn’t seem like a bad option.”
The friends listening nearby burst into laughter.
“Pfft—hahaha! Look at that shocked expression.”
“I guess she really thought Kadin would keep the engagement.”
“How shameless.”
Their laughter stabbed into Ayla’s heart.
Angered, she shoved Kadin away.
Kadin merely curled one corner of his lips upward.
He would have been better off never saying he loved her at all.
If he had simply said he no longer needed her because she had become a commoner, she might have accepted it.
Instead, Ayla’s heart shattered into countless pieces.
