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Chapter 7
The Responsibility for the Broken Engagement
“Your Majesty, please calm yourself. I’m sure the child has his reasons. Don’t you, Ian?”
Empress Ariadna gently covered Rodrigo’s hand and spoke soothingly.
Even so, Ian continued to remain silent.
That little…!
At the very least, he could pretend to feel remorse. Despite kneeling before the throne, his expression looked utterly unconcerned, which only sent Rodrigo’s blood pressure climbing higher.
Finally losing patience and deciding he ought to grab his son by the collar, Rodrigo abruptly rose from his seat—
“Father, Mother. This is actually a very simple problem.”
The Ian who had been silent like a mute finally opened his mouth.
“What? Simple?! Does a declaration of war look simple to you? And from the Kingdom of Kutan, no less! Not just any country!”
“Yes, and precisely because it’s Kutan, it’s simpler. As you know, although their military strength rivals our Garcia Empire’s, a kingdom is still only a kingdom.”
Ian smiled brightly as he continued.
“Kutan’s situation differs from our allied nations on the continent. Since it’s isolated on an island, it has less interaction with others, and as the Garcia Empire’s alliance network continues growing, they must have begun feeling threatened after suffering several defeats against us.”
Indeed, more and more continental kingdoms formed alliances with Garcia every year.
Times had changed. Many rulers—like Rodrigo himself—preferred avoiding unnecessary wars whenever possible.
After all, peace was best.
An increasing number of nations wanted stable rule within the Empire’s protection while paying only reasonable costs in exchange.
Naturally, this left Kutan—the massive island kingdom far from the continent—deeply uneasy.
That anxiety was proven by their frantic mining of iron ore, development of new weapons, and expansion of military power. They had even attempted continental invasions several times already.
But the one who truly grew anxious was Rodrigo.
Unlike the previous emperors who conquered the continent through iron-fisted warfare—
Dozens of emperors lost their heads because of war.
—he had no intention whatsoever of adding his own head to that list.
If war could be avoided, he wanted to avoid it at all costs.
That was why Rodrigo had first extended his hand toward Kutan.
But the proud kingdom refused. Even if they formed an alliance, they did not wish to become a subordinate state under treaty.
And so Rodrigo proposed the only arrangement that would place them on equal footing:
A marriage alliance.
Well—
his idiot son had completely ruined it.
“So what exactly is this ‘simple solution’ you’re talking about?”
“Marriage.”
Ian shrugged.
“…Are you mocking your father right now?!”
“Calm yourself, Your Majesty. Ian, aren’t you already married?”
The empress hurriedly stopped the furious Rodrigo and questioned Ian herself.
“Yes, I am married. But—”
Ian answered casually.
“Erika isn’t.”
A long silence followed.
Moments later, finally understanding his son’s meaning, Rodrigo grabbed the back of his own neck and roared.
“You little bastard! I already permitted your reckless marriage because you promised to take responsibility! And now your solution is to sell off your younger sister?! A girl who’s already engaged, no less!”
Rodrigo leapt to his feet while drawing the golden-sheathed sword at his waist.
“Do not stop me, wife. Either he dies today or I do!”
“H-hear his reasons first, dear! It won’t be too late to kill him afterward! Ian, you’d better have a very good explanation!”
The empress quickly stepped in front of her son protectively.
She was just as horrified as Rodrigo, but unlike him, she still retained some rationality.
“You both already know. Erika and Leo’s engagement isn’t normal. So wouldn’t it be better for them to separate cleanly and live more efficient lives?”
Ian swiftly answered while subtly hiding behind the empress.
At that, Rodrigo exploded with an entirely new level of fury.
“You’re suggesting breaking off the engagement?!”
“Then were you planning to keep watching your daughter create endless scandals just to provoke a fiancé who won’t even pay attention to her?”
“With your sister’s reputation as it is now, even Kutan may refuse her!”
Though both father and brother deeply cared for the troublesome princess, their conversation carried a strangely detached tone.
“She may be my daughter, but even if we sent her there, that child’s personality would never let her stay quiet! They’d send her back immediately—and then it’s war!”
“Regardless, engagements involving the imperial family can only be broken with Father’s permission. No matter how wildly Erika runs around like an untamed horse, she still can’t disobey her father’s command.”
Spreading his arms dramatically, Ian skillfully flattered the “heaven-like” father before him while continuing his persuasion.
And perhaps because of that strange persuasion, Rodrigo’s furious movements finally slowed.
“Hah…! Anyone reading imperial newspapers can see Erika’s scandals. Your sister’s reputation is already on the verge of sinking underground. If I break off the engagement now, it’ll only look like I’m acknowledging her affairs!”
“Father, isn’t this exactly when public opinion should be guided?”
At that moment, Ian thought:
After all, his closest friend Leo was someone who had already decided never to love because of his father.
Unlike Erika, Leopold didn’t intentionally create flashy scandals, so rumors about him remained nothing more than whispers.
But one thing was certain—
Leopold Otero was a man who would do absolutely anything if it meant breaking off his engagement to Princess Erika.
Wasn’t that why he had postponed marriage for so long?
It was a relationship destined for unhappiness.
For both his friend and his sister, Ian believed a broken engagement might genuinely be the best solution.
Though I’ll probably need to avoid Erika for a while afterward.
Ian approached Rodrigo and whispered quietly.
It was the final decisive blow.
“Of course, we should ask Leo first… but I doubt he’ll refuse to shoulder responsibility for the broken engagement. We must prevent an unnecessary war.”
Rodrigo’s golden eyes flashed sharply.
“Ah, they said the carriage repairs will be finished tomorrow.”
Raul, Leopold’s aide, completed his final report.
The scratching sound of the quill moving endlessly across documents suddenly stopped.
At the abrupt silence, Raul raised his head.
His eyes met Leopold’s emotionless gaze staring directly at him while still holding the pen.
“It was supposed to be finished today.”
Under that chilling stare, Raul shrank his shoulders slightly as he answered.
“Well… the replacement carriage seat hasn’t arrived yet. And apparently it was wetter than expected, so drying it wasn’t possible. They’d already removed everything…”
Mumbling awkwardly, Raul scratched the side of his head.
A week earlier, while inspecting Leopold’s carriage as usual, Raul’s eyes had nearly popped out of his head.
The inside of the carriage—which should have been perfectly dry—was soaked, even down to the seats.
No matter how terrible the storm had been, the duke’s surveillance carriage was never opened from the outside. Moisture should have been impossible.
Moreover, every part of the carriage interior had been crafted from luxurious materials imported from distant foreign nations.
Even the seats themselves were masterpieces painstakingly embroidered by artisans over several weeks.
What on earth had happened inside it?
No matter how many times Raul asked, his master cleanly ignored the question.
Even the coachman seemed to have been silenced.
Leopold had only coldly ordered him to repair it within a week because he needed the carriage again for inspections.
Raul cautiously glanced at the duke while nervously rolling his eyes.
The red sunset shining through the window had gradually expanded until it completely swallowed the duke whole.
Bathed in that crimson glow, Leopold stared at Raul sharply, silently demanding a better answer.
If demons from hell truly existed, they would probably look exactly like that.
Perhaps it was because of Leopold’s obsession with deadlines—or perhaps because of tonight’s imperial banquet.
Either way, the duke was clearly in a foul mood.
Raul swallowed hard.
“B-but I’ll make sure everything’s fixed before midnight tonight!”
“You should’ve done that from the beginning.”
Only then did Leopold lower his head again and resume writing.
The quill feather fluttered softly.
But only briefly.
After tapping his fingers against the desk several times, Leopold spoke again.
“Raul.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Have you ever heard of the Hernandez family?”
“The Hernandez family… you mean the fallen baron family?”
Leopold silently nodded.
After thinking for a moment, Raul answered.
“If it’s that family… several years ago the baron and his wife were killed by victims after being accused as accomplices in the railway investment fraud case. Their daughter’s fiancé was a suspect too, but he disappeared overseas, so the baron family ended up burdened with all the victims’ debts.”
Raul shook his head sympathetically.
Placing his quill into an intricately carved mahogany pen stand, Leopold asked again—
“Do we have any connection with them?”
“Connection…?”
“Debt relations or something similar.”
Leopold thought of the silver-haired woman who had occupied his thoughts for days now.
She felt strangely familiar.
Her name, her appearance—something about her constantly scraped against his nerves.
At first, he thought she was merely a useful card for screwing over that bastard Hugo.
Instead, he was the one who ended up disturbed.
She kept appearing unexpectedly and disrupting the peaceful routine of his life.
Yet no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t figure out the source of that unpleasant déjà vu.
Her face definitely looked familiar.
Unable to solve the mystery, Leopold had ultimately decided to abandon the matter altogether.
After all, she was someone incapable of affecting him in any meaningful way.
Wasting energy on pointless things was unacceptable to a man who valued efficiency and victory above all else.
So he had decided to forget her.
And he had believed he truly succeeded.
But that confidence had been arrogant self-delusion.
The moment Raul mentioned the carriage, the image of the woman’s clear face resurfaced once again.
And so Leopold had no choice but to ask even the talkative Raul.
He wanted to escape this irritating feeling as quickly as possible.
“Ah! There is something! Do you remember the debt repayment document I showed you about a month ago?”
After tilting his head repeatedly in thought, Raul suddenly clapped his hands and exclaimed.
