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Chapter 5
“An engagement ring? Now that I think about it, the design does look familiar.”
Of course it did.
It was the very ring that had been custom-made for their engagement ceremony.
Because Aiden had run away, it had never once left its case after the day it was purchased. Even so, Olivia had treasured it all this time.
The reason was simple.
They had not broken off their engagement… not yet.
She knew it was a pitiful excuse.
She knew she was foolishly clinging to a thread that the other person had already let go of.
But she had no regrets.
After enduring for so long, the ring had finally found where it belonged.
Now that it had been returned to its rightful owner, she truly had no lingering regrets.
Olivia smiled brightly.
“You’re really not normal either. …Actually, no. Maybe this works out better. I happened to have something I wanted to tell you anyway.”
As he spoke, Aiden grabbed the ring and pulled on it with all his strength.
“…What? Why won’t it come off? What’s going on?”
“It won’t come off for three days.”
The Captain of the Imperial Court Mages personally cast a spell on it.
At her whispered explanation, Aiden practically jumped.
“What kind of nonsense is that?!”
What do you mean, where?
Right here.
Thanks to Eugene’s help, Olivia had managed to obtain a ring that absolutely could not be removed for three days.
There had been only one reason for putting such magic on it.
“Three days.”
Olivia answered with a gentle smile.
How strange.
She really was happy to see Aiden.
She truly meant that…
And yet, for some reason, something inside her chest was boiling.
That feeling immediately showed on her face.
The smile vanished as though it had never existed.
With an expression full of grievance, Olivia enunciated each word carefully.
“The amount of time it took for you to run away… after we signed our engagement papers.”
At the very least, for that long, they had remained engaged by mutual agreement.
Aiden hadn’t worn the ring back then.
Wouldn’t it only be fair for him to wear it for those three days now?
Olivia sincerely believed so.
Perhaps her words had left him with complicated thoughts.
Aiden’s attitude changed in an instant.
He stopped thrashing about and simply looked at Olivia with calm, quiet eyes.
Softly, he said,
“…Let’s sit down. We should talk.”
He removed his uniform jacket and spread it carefully across the ground.
The gesture was surprisingly sincere.
So he acts as if he’s forgotten every rule of etiquette, yet he still remembers something like this.
The thought eased some of the hurt in Olivia’s heart.
Quietly, she sat on top of his jacket.
Facing each other in academy uniforms instead of formal engagement attire somehow felt strangely unfamiliar.
The rustling of leaves.
The chirping of birds weaving through branches not yet fully grown.
The earth, warmed by the spring sunlight, overflowed with life.
Even though neither of them spoke, the silence somehow felt noisy.
“…It’s been three years.”
“The first time we’ve met… since the day we separated.”
Breaking the quiet of the spring afternoon, Aiden finally began speaking about the empty past left between them.
Olivia remembered that day.
A perfectly ordinary day.
They had eaten together, gone for a walk together, and dreamed together about the life that would come after their engagement.
“Olive… I’m sorry, but no matter how much I think about it… this can’t work.”
“What do you mean?”
“…It’s a dissolution agreement.”
“I’ve already signed it. All you have to do is add your signature before submitting it.”
“Explain yourself.”
“We only got engaged three days ago!”
“Exactly.”
“That’s why we can still undo it.”
Leaving Olivia frozen in shock, Aiden quietly escorted her home.
The very next day…
He disappeared.
Naturally, both families were thrown into chaos.
Not only the Marquis Kishiar family, but even the Oblivion Ducal House was horrified by Aiden’s actions and immediately began searching for him.
They never found him.
On that very day, Aiden had applied for a long-term assignment with the knight order and departed for some unknown location.
“I never imagined he’d be this irresponsible! How could he do something so absurd?!”
“Break off the engagement.”
“I’ll find you a far better husband.”
“Someone far better than that fool—”
“No.”
“…What?”
“I’m not breaking off the engagement.”
“Not under any circumstances.”
“Olivia!”
The Marquis and Marchioness of Kishiar had tried everything they could to persuade Olivia.
Reasoning.
Begging.
Threats.
There wasn’t a single method they hadn’t attempted.
But Olivia never yielded.
If anything, every attempt only strengthened her resolve.
That was why the Marquis and Marchioness of Kishiar had come to despise Aiden.
The greater their trust in him had been, the greater the sense of betrayal they now felt.
“…You’re right.”
“I’ve had a lot I wanted to say too.”
“You first.”
“No.”
“You should go first, Brother.”
“This is probably going to take a while.”
Aiden silently looked down at her.
After a short sigh, he slowly began speaking.
“I heard…”
“…that the dissolution papers were never submitted.”
It was completely unexpected.
Who told Aiden that?
Unless it had been official business, there was no way someone stationed far away on assignment would have been leisurely tracking whether their dissolution papers had been accepted.
Either someone had told him…
Or he had a reason he absolutely needed to know.
Olivia desperately hoped it was the former.
If it was the latter…
She was going to be very, very angry.
“…How did you find out?”
Aiden didn’t answer.
But Olivia understood exactly what that silence meant.
Please don’t.
Please let it not be that.
“…Don’t tell me…”
“…you were trying to get engaged to someone else?”
If that’s true… then you’re absolute trash.
Swallowing those words, Olivia clenched both fists tightly.
“At least tell me…”
“…that you only wanted to check whether I’d actually submitted the dissolution papers.”
“…Olive.”
“Just say that!”
“This is too humiliating…”
Olivia loved Aiden.
From a childhood so distant she could barely remember it…
Until this very day…
There had never been a single moment when she hadn’t loved him.
Her love had seeped into her quietly, like water soaking into the earth.
By the time she’d realized it…
Her heart had already been filled entirely with Aiden.
She had never intended to let him go.
But that didn’t mean she hadn’t been hurt.
She had loudly insisted that if anyone was going to end things, it would be her.
Yet beneath all that bravado lay nothing more than the wounds of her first heartbreak…
And a shattered sense of pride.
Seeing her upset, Aiden became visibly flustered.
“Olive.”
“I don’t care.”
“Olive, just listen to me.”
Listen… and then what?
Nothing he said now could erase the wounds she’d suffered.
Three days after happily dreaming about a future with the person she loved…
Her first love had ended with divorce papers—without her ever even learning why.
The feelings that had continued until now were no longer simply love.
They had become something much closer to love mixed with resentment.
She loved him.
And she hated him.
“Kill your fiancé?”
Of course not.
But she truly…
Honestly…
Hated him.
Sometimes enough to feel violent impulses.
Fortunately, Olivia had been raised as a proper noble lady of House Kishiar.
She had learned to suppress such impulses.
“Olive.”
Aiden lowered himself onto one knee in front of Olivia, who sat hugging her knees, bringing himself to eye level with her.
The posture made him look as though he were proposing.
That only made Olivia feel sadder.
“Don’t place so much meaning on marriage…”
“…or engagements.”
“Brother.”
“I’ve learned a few pieces of academy slang since coming here.”
“This is exactly what they call—”
“Complete bullsh—Mmgh!”
“Damn it.”
“The Knight Department really is full of idiots.”
“They’ve taught you all sorts of nonsense.”
Coming from the man who’s the worst influence of them all…
With her mouth covered by Aiden’s hand, Olivia glared at him before biting hard into his palm.
He jerked back in surprise, quickly pulling his hand away.
Then, almost defensively, he said,
“I… did think about getting engaged.”
“But it was something I had to do.”
“So because I never agreed to break off our engagement…”
“…your plans fell apart?”
“…”
“…Ha.”
“…Yeah.”
“If I had to summarize it… then yes.”
In other words…
While Olivia had been struggling day after day after entering the Knight Department…
Rolling, training, and suffering through every hardship imaginable…
Aiden had been preparing to start a brand-new life…
With another woman.
At this point, Olivia no longer even felt sad.
She simply couldn’t understand.
“…Why?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why was she acceptable…”
“…but I wasn’t?”
What did she have… that I lacked?
Now there was nothing left in Olivia’s heart except stubbornness and anger.
Flames seemed to ignite within her eyes.
“…Do you love her?”
“What?”
“Don’t say ridiculous things.”
“I don’t believe in love.”
“Then why?”
Relentlessly pressing him, Olivia refused to let the matter drop.
Aiden fell silent for a long moment, simply staring at her.
Just then, the clouds drifted away.
Warm spring sunlight poured down once more.
Sunbeams filtered through the leaves, scattering across Olivia’s hair.
Watching that, Aiden frowned slightly.
He raised a hand over her head, shielding her from the sunlight.
Then, for the first time in three years—
“…Because…”
“Because?”
“…You’re…”
“…my friend’s little sister.”
He finally explained why he had broken off their engagement.
Needless to say…
It was the most absurd excuse imaginable.
