The Reason I Got Engaged to My Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 26
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 26
“How about I tell my subordinates in Semaphelaz? To keep an eye on Louis.”
“…Why are your subordinates in Semaphelaz?”
Why would those elites be in a place where only the lowest ranks usually go?
At my question, Ransel tilted his head.
“Well, they want to have fun under the excuse of field work?”
…The Empire’s guardian, the Westport Line. Is this really okay?
I didn’t say anything more and just nodded.
Still, this should be enough.
***
That night, I had a dream I rarely have.
It was when Piacce Lux was at the height of its fame in the capital.
A man opened the door and entered.
“You’re the one, right?”
The man’s tone, with a slight upturn at the end, was hypocritically kind.
He was someone who habitually looked down on others arrogantly.
“Mary Blin.”
That was my first meeting with Ransel.
Perfect silver hair without a speck of dust and brilliantly shining blue eyes.
I was overwhelmed by his gaze that sparkled like the Merhen Ocean, and I couldn’t breathe.
How much must God love someone to give them such looks?
He’s really handsome. I muttered without realizing it, but only for a moment.
“I thought I was going to go crazy listening to my sister whining for me to make a reservation here.”
“…”
“You need to compensate me for the three days and nights of suffering I endured because of you.”
I think I could understand for the first time what it meant to feel my mood turn sour.
‘Is he really sane?’
It was common for young ladies to consider making reservations themselves a matter of wounded pride, so their fiancés or male family members would make reservations on their behalf.
The basic business principle of Piacce Lux when such people came was to treat all customers equally.
“We don’t have any reservations available right now. Come back in five months.”
Ransel, who had paused at my firm voice, soon just lifted the corners of his mouth.
Since he left without saying much, I just concluded he was a difficult customer.
Though it turned out he was a man who didn’t stop at just being difficult.
‘That guy’s here again.’
After that, Ransel visited the boutique once a day, sometimes up to three times.
That’s when I realized he wasn’t just difficult, but completely insane.
But…
They say even enemies become dear if you see them every day. Maybe Ransel was aiming for that.
The days of seeing him daily reached a week, then reached a month…
The scene in my dream suddenly changed, but the location was still the boutique.
“The customer who came every day wasn’t here yesterday. Didn’t you miss me?”
It was a time when, as he said one day, we had become the kind of relationship where it felt empty not to see each other.
I answered curtly, pretending otherwise.
“Miss you? What for?”
“That’s a sulky voice.”
“I’m not sulking. Don’t laugh.”
“I’m naturally prone to smiling.”
I suddenly put down the documents I was looking at and looked up at Ransel.
When talking with me, he was mostly sitting, so I didn’t often realize the difference in our builds.
Maybe that was his own form of consideration, and I thought that perhaps speaking more lightly than his usual personality might also mean not to feel burdened by the difference in our social status.
I buried my head deeply to hide my flushed face.
***
The Cerulean Room.
A special place for distinguished guests invited by Segwede Lady.
The next day, I was attending lunch with Sophia and staying in that beautiful room.
‘How much does all that cost?’
The gold thread wallpaper that filled the walls was amazing every time I looked at it.
Of course, the glances from the young ladies stealing looks at me from various spots around the table were also fresh every time I felt them.
And…
‘I didn’t know that side would attend too.’
Especially Seria was glaring at me fiercely.
Including Seria, who seemed intent on stabbing someone to death with her gaze, most of the unmarried young ladies present didn’t view me favorably.
But none of them could attack openly.
Because…
“…You look very pleased. The meal must suit your taste?”
Countess Segwed, Aljesha, who sat at the head table, asked Sophia in a displeased voice.
This atmosphere had started from when we were guided to the Cerulean Room.
“You’re here, Sophia. Fortunately, you look better than I thought. With the prince’s situation and now the kingdom’s borders collapsing, putting them in a difficult situation, I was so worried.”
At the attack that poured out as soon as we sat down, Sophia immediately opened her mouth with a “Huh?”
“I’ve now lived longer in the Empire, yet you still bring up the kingdom – how typical of you. And that matter was resolved with the kingdom’s army winning and even securing reparations, as I informed you by letter. Could it be you’re already having memory problems? I don’t think we’re quite at that age yet.”
Aljesha’s expression quickly hardened after being hit in an instant.
Sophia smiled sweetly as if to show off and pointed to me.
“This is Miss Mary. She’ll soon become the young lady of Arviente. Even if you have no interest in fashion, Aljesha, I trust you know who our Miss Mary is.”
It was a clever explanation that avoided using words like ‘prospective’ or ‘fiancée.’ It seemed she wanted me to be treated as something like a ‘young duchess.’
So it was only natural that the young ladies couldn’t bring themselves to attack me while being mindful of Sophia’s reactions.
‘Segwede Lady seems so focused on Lady Sophia that I’m not even on her radar.’
Fortunately, no one from the Clediuz Duchy was visible either.
I enjoyed the luncheon with a relaxed expression.
Having a lady who ranked among the top three most precious in the entire Empire on my side was the best.
***
The luncheon had only been proceeding for a short while.
Seria retreated to the boudoir to rest, using poor condition as an excuse.
‘To think I’d encounter Mary Blin all the way here.’
A bitter taste came from her lower lip that she bit down on hard.
Chartinez was a naval family that, while not quite matching Arviente, had reason to take pride.
So Seria had been watching Ransel since childhood.
Back then, the boy greeted others with what seemed like innate upper-class dignity and courtesy.
Yet the characteristic arrogance contained in his gaze couldn’t be hidden.
Some say that being born noble isn’t enough, that one must live as such to be complete.
But Seria’s thoughts were different.
Natural-born nobles existed.
Just as a jewel rolling in mud and getting dirty doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a jewel.
He was a jewel. A brilliantly shining sapphire that made one yearn intensely from the first moment of seeing it.
And yet.
‘Ha, that girl who doesn’t even know her place…’
A ridiculous girl who couldn’t even distinguish the authenticity of jewels had come to possess the sapphire.
She thought it was still fine.
She was now the Crown Prince’s fiancée, after all. No matter how brilliantly the sapphire shone, could it outshine the sun?
But her empty heart strangely wouldn’t be filled.
She got angry every time she saw Mary. The sight of someone unqualified having so much through mere luck was detestable.
So she ended up committing a childish act.
“What did you think you were good at to step forward and end up like this…!”
It was an impulsive act committed despite knowing she’d be caught.
A year ago, when the marquis house became responsible for Westport’s communications, Seria helped with the work, claiming she could do better than her pathetic brother Louis.
Checking Ransel’s letter was impulsive. Hiding it by pretending to drop it was also impulsive. Even continuing to hide it after receiving warnings from the Naval Base and reluctantly sending it later was impulsive.
The result was simple. Chartinez lost the honor of being a naval family.
No matter how many years Marquis Chartinez had spent at the Naval Base, it was useless before Arviente’s heir.
“Seria Chartinez.”
The sapphire she had once kept deep in her heart plunged a dagger into her heart.
“Before I forget a gentleman’s manners and interfere in ladies’ affairs one by one.”
“…”
“Stop your sordid antics.”
As the recollection continued and her complexion grew pale.
“Miss.”
The voice of her maid, Linda, pulled her back to reality.
Linda whispered while showing something tightly wrapped in a white handkerchief.
“I brought it.”
Inside were three fresh flowers.
Blue Gloria flowers.
The very flowers that Aljesha felt headaches from just looking at.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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