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Chapter : 05
This time, we’ll switch to the male protagonist.
“Are you really saying Kaella did something unforgivable to me?”
Carl asked Hyperion back in disbelief.
“That she betrayed me and ignored our sacred betrothal vow… ha!”
“Oh my, how pitiful.”
“Truly. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the Marquis so flustered.”
Who betrayed who, exactly?
If I do it, it’s romance.
If someone else does it, it’s adultery.
Whether that was acting or sincerity, it was either Oscar-worthy or he had no conscience.
At this rate I was going to end up the sole villain here.
“Betrayal? Sir Carl Bate.”
I drew a steady breath and opened my lips.
“Our engagement was broken a long time ago.”
His gaze froze, as if he never imagined I would say it first.
I was planning to endure it just until after Father’s birthday…
“And you know the reason better than anyone.”
I was already at my limit.
The louder the whispers around us grew, the stranger Leon’s eyes became—
the calmer I felt.
“Reason? What are you implying?”
“Surely… you don’t want me to reveal it here, do you? Your dirty secret?”
I stared straight at Carl’s contorted face.
“If you want me to, I absolutely can.”
Shall I tell everyone that you’re the one who cheated?
With the saintess you were sworn to serve?
Really?
“……”
Carl bit his lip hard, clearly understanding what I meant.
“Keeping the Marquis’s secret is the last courtesy I can offer.”
My voice dropped into a cold sneer.
All I needed was to imply whose fault the broken engagement truly was.
Whatever absurd rumors spread afterward—none of it was my problem.
Still leaves a bitter taste.
Once, we had dreamed of a future together.
“I must also thank His Highness the Crown Prince for comforting my broken heart.”
I bowed to Leon with the calmest expression I could manage.
“Think nothing of it.”
Leaning in, Leon smiled.
“It was entertaining.”
Entertaining? This was entertaining?
His gracefully curved eyes made me speechless.
“Your Highness! Where are you going!”
The Marquis of Basstan grabbed Leon, who was rising as if things were settled.
“The dinner hasn’t even begun. Leaving without greeting the guests is a breach of etiquette.”
“Etiquette?”
Hyperion dismissed him like he’d heard gibberish.
“Have you already lost your mind, Marquis?”
“Your Highness, please!”
He didn’t spare even a glance for his sputtering teacher.
A beast no one could tame.
Of course—he inherited Aether, the place where pure light resides.
“Seeing off the Sun of the Empire.”
As Leon walked down the red carpet, everyone bowed.
I quietly slipped away, praying desperately.
Please just walk past. Please.
But—
“!”
A firm hand abruptly cupped my chin, sending my heart plummeting.
At the end of my forcibly lifted gaze, I met Leon’s blood-red eyes.
“Much more interesting than I thought.”
Up close he looked unreal, and I scrambled to put distance between us.
“Seeing off Ignis’s light.”
For the sake of my heart’s survival, this proximity was hazardous.
“Why are you avoiding me?”
Hyperion’s long, straight eyes suddenly twisted.
“We still have plenty to discuss.”
Discuss what—?
“Your Highness.”
Just then, Carl stepped between us, my mind gone ice-white.
“You may be destined to become the Sun of Ignis and possess all things, but this is not right.”
“Are you…”
Leon’s mask-like smile vanished clean off his lips.
“…blocking me?”
“Forgive me, Your Highness.”
Even Carl faltered under that cold, chilling voice.
“But at least here, I speak as a man—”
“Who was it that lost something?”
Leon’s eyes slid over Carl, emotionless.
Only the sneer of a ruler remained.
“Pathetic.”
“……!”
I saw the strength drain from Carl’s hand.
“If you understand, step aside.”
Things were spiraling into the worst-case scenario.
If Hyperion snapped, Carl’s head rolling here would not be surprising.
“I’ll apologize on the Marquis’s behalf, Your Highness.”
I tugged lightly on Carl’s sleeve.
“The lady still has energy to worry about her ex-fiancé, I see.”
His indifferent gaze landed briefly on my hand gripping Carl’s collar.
“I know I troubled Your Highness that night.”
“……”
“So please, forgive me.”
I bowed my head, determined to draw the line here.
Leon may be my favorite character, but I had zero intention of getting tangled with him.
This was real life, and life is war.
But—
“No.”
His firm voice pierced the air.
“Because I need you.”
I didn’t know why, but—
“Come to the place we first met.”
—he had been waiting for me.
“Ella, we need to talk.”
Carl cut me off as I headed down the corridor.
The fact that he left things there instead of staying to do cleanup spoke volumes.
“Do we still have anything to discuss?”
“Since when? Since when did you start avoiding me and give your heart to that madman?”
His grip tightened painfully around my wrist.
“I knew it.”
He let out a hollow laugh.
“I should’ve realized when you walked out of that restaurant without blinking.”
“……”
“You practically accepted the breakup like you’d been waiting for it. Didn’t even ask who she was.”
Pathetic. I could only stare at him, my face twisting.
“You were always like that from the start. Acting like you had nothing to lose and nothing you wanted from me.”
“……”
“If you told me I fell in love with her because of you—would you believe it? She lights up like a child with every word I say. Nothing like you.”
“…Excuse me?”
This man—unbelievable.
I was already reeling from being marked by Hyperion.
What was he going to demand?
Vivisection? A live anatomy session?
I had no mental capacity left for Carl’s nonsense, yet he was shoveling filth with his mouth.
“Come on, be honest. What does that lunatic have that I don’t?”
He sneered, teeth clenched.
Such a handsome face, wasted on this garbage.
“You said it yourself.”
I swallowed a laugh.
“It was a political marriage.”
“……”
“Does it sting to lose a fiancée you never loved? Ah—”
I nodded as if I understood.
“Or is it because he’s the Crown Prince?”
“Kaella!”
His eyes wavered.
Carl had been the only son of a prestigious house until it collapsed, and he was practically sold into adoption by a lowly barony.
Overnight, he’d fallen from the pinnacle to the gutter.
That’s why he obsessed over being acknowledged.
Why he feared abandonment.
Why he felt a sick inferiority toward Leon.
No matter how hard he tried, he could never beat someone forged by divine glory.
“It’s too late.”
His eyes flickered red-hot.
“I don’t pick up trash I’ve already thrown away.”
“Watch your mouth, Kaella.”
“Useless, aren’t you?”
“……!”
I said my piece, cleanly, and turned.
“Kaella Veritas. Stop right there!”
His voice trembled behind me, but I didn’t need to care.
Now then—
Hyperion Sol Lucius.
Time to deal with the most dangerous one.
