The Teacher of Budding Villains Suffers Today, Too - Chapter 85

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 85
“Miss, a letter has arrived from the Imperial Palace.”
A maid handed the letter carefully to Katie, who had just returned from the ball. Worn out by her own irritability, Katie snatched it with a sharp intake of breath.
The envelope bore the Crown Prince’s seal among the Imperial insignia—and it was remarkably thick. Under normal circumstances, it would have been no more than a page or two. She wondered what could possibly fill so much paper.
Though a letter opener lay within reach, Katie tore the envelope to shreds with her bare hands.
She unfolded the pages and began to read. With each word, her expression hardened.
Then she shrieked. The entire letter flew from her hands, scattering across the table.
“This is insane! All of it—insane!”
Katie screamed like a woman possessed. She seized the table’s edge and overturned it. Objects cascaded to the floor, shattering as they fell.
“How dare he—how dare he remove me as his fiancée!”
A broken engagement with the Crown Prince.
Katie could not accept it. She hurled whatever lay within reach and continued to shriek.
“Katie, what on earth is happening?”
Duke Tayson, drawn by the commotion, seized her by the shoulders.
“Father! The Crown Prince says he’s breaking our engagement!”
“What…? Say that again!”
Duke Tayson’s eyes widened. He snatched the scattered letter from the floor and scanned it rapidly. The light in his gaze grew sharp and dangerous.
“He announces a broken engagement—with just a single letter?”
Duke Tayson’s pride was shattered. How much effort had he poured into making his only daughter the Crown Prince’s fiancée?
When he had finally secured her betrothal after vanquishing countless rivals, he had thought no greater joy existed in the world.
Of course, he had brandished his new title as the father of the Crown Prince’s fiancée with pride, leveraging it at every turn. He had believed himself wholly justified in doing so.
But what had come of it? A broken engagement, delivered in writing. And a letter filled with accusations of his daughter’s faults.
“I will not stand for this. Katie, do not despair. Your father will restore your position—”
“What are you talking about? He’s already sent a letter announcing the broken engagement!”
“The news hasn’t yet reached the public. There is still time to act.”
Duke Tayson gripped both of Katie’s hands firmly. His words were no mere comfort. He genuinely intended to seize control of the situation.
He rose at once. He would go to the Empress. They had sailed in the same boat, after all.
On the journey to the Empress Palace, Duke Tayson’s mind churned with anxiety. Did the Empress already know? What if rumors had already spread among the nobility?
Outside the Empress Palace, he moved cautiously. He had heard that the Empress’s health had not been good of late. He fretted that she might refuse his audience.
Duke Tayson quietly announced his presence to the lady-in-waiting and clasped his hands before him.
“She bids you enter.”
Fortunately, the Empress had granted him access. Duke Tayson advanced with measured steps.
The Empress’s expression was troubled. Her health had been poor of late, causing her no small amount of concern. Moreover, she was with child, which only heightened her vigilance toward her well-being.
She strove to see only what was good and hear only what was pleasant. Duke Tayson could hardly be unaware of this.
‘I must deliver a bombshell.’
Katie’s broken engagement was no pleasant news to carry. The very fact that he had to relay such a thing to the Empress weighed heavily on him. She might suffer considerable distress.
Yet his concern for his daughter’s future—and his own—outweighed his hesitation. Thus, Duke Tayson approached her with a face carefully arranged into brightness.
“Your Majesty, I have come because there is something I must lay before you.”
“What matter is so urgent that you come despite knowing my condition?”
The Empress replied with irritation. Duke Tayson felt cold sweat forming.
“It is… a delicate matter.”
His words trailed away. The Empress’s brow furrowed. But he had to speak, so he gathered himself and began again.
“His Highness the Crown Prince has sent word to my daughter Katie Tayson of… a broken engagement.”
“…What?”
The Empress narrowed her eyes as if she had not heard him correctly.
“Katie and His Highness the Crown Prince—the broken engagement—”
Duke Tayson’s words trailed away again. In truth, there was little more to say, and little need to say it.
“Is this true?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Without a word to me, without consulting His Majesty the Emperor—he does such a thing? This is intolerable!”
The Empress had cultivated Katie as a strategic asset. Publicly, she and Katie were known to be on intimate terms. Any broken engagement between them would deal her no small blow.
She was already burdened by worries over the succession. Now the whisper of her son’s—and her own—waning influence reached even here. The Empress clenched her fists.
“I must see His Majesty the Emperor.”
The Empress rose slowly. Her face was shadowed with undisguised displeasure.
She proceeded to the Emperor Palace without hesitation. If rumors had not yet spread about the broken engagement, perhaps the damage could still be contained.
At least, that was what she believed.
“Your Majesty the Emperor.”
The Empress approached him with a sweet smile. The Emperor, knowing that such a smile appeared whenever she wanted something, immediately grew wary of what she might ask.
“What is the matter?”
“I have just heard the most distressing news, Your Majesty.”
“What did you hear?”
“The Crown Prince… he notified Katie Tayson of the broken engagement with just a few letters. Can you imagine?”
“Is that so?”
The Emperor’s response was lukewarm.
“So that ill-mannered child has finally been cast aside.”
The Empress didn’t know something that the Emperor did—he despised Katie, who wandered through the Imperial Palace as though she owned the place.
* * *
Rachel was walking through the Garden. Lucas naturally took his place beside her.
“There’s something I failed to tell you beforehand.”
After maintaining silence for some time, Lucas spoke slowly.
“I intend to break my engagement with Katie soon.”
“A broken… engagement?”
A broken engagement.
“Yes. I’ve sent a formal letter, and it will be announced shortly.”
A broken engagement involving the Crown Prince carried weight far beyond an ordinary one. Rachel stared at Lucas with bewilderment. Yet he appeared to have already made up his mind.
“I will break my engagement with Katie, and I intend to take you as my fiancée.”
“What?!”
Lucas accepted Rachel’s wide-eyed stare calmly. He seemed to have given this situation considerable thought.
“Lucas. I don’t believe the position of Crown Prince’s fiancée is a station I should aspire to. Besides, I…”
Rachel chose her words with care. It took her a long moment to select the next phrase. But Lucas waited for her to finish with patience.
“…I… I don’t…”
Having spoken this far, Rachel retraced her thoughts. What was it she truly wanted to say?
There was no need to deliberate further. Rachel had come to know Lucas over no short span of time. And she had judged exactly what manner of person he was.
Someone she wished to be with. Someone she wanted to remain beside.
Her heart was already decided. Yet Rachel could not speak so carelessly.
The young lady of a fallen minor house and the Crown Prince.
For a Crown Prince whose every gesture had to move according to political calculation, choosing a fiancée was perhaps the most crucial decision of all. She could not presumptuously claim such a position for the sake of her own affection. Not for his sake.
“…The more I care for you, the more I must distance myself from that position.”
She poured her entire heart into the sigh that escaped her. Rachel squeezed her eyes shut. The tears were coming.
“Rachel.”
Lucas’s gentle voice enfolded her ears. Rachel opened her eyes slowly and met his gaze. Then he drew her into his arms, tenderly.
“I love you.”
At Lucas’s words, Rachel felt her breath catch.
“I care for you deeply.”
What had been so painful? Tears spilled down Rachel’s cheeks. She felt his shoulder grow damp with her tears.
As she, flustered, tried to pull away from him, he held her all the closer.
As though he would hold her like this forever.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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