Chapter 6
“Originally, I used the entire floor by myself, but since there didn’t seem to be a suitable place for Lilith to stay, I hastily had renovations done to divide the space. Do you like it?”
“……?”
“I tried to put as much care into it as possible, but if it’s not to your liking, we can switch with my room.”
After finishing his brief explanation, he added that the view was actually better from Lilith’s side.
She felt a bit confused.
She had vaguely thought it was odd that the walls and furniture smelled so new.
‘No, but still…….’
Edrion was the captain of the Guardian Knights, the imperial direct knight order.
He was also the only younger brother of Empress Aitana, the head of the Akshard family, and a powerful figure in politics with immense authority.
Why would someone like him go out of his way to inconvenience himself for her comfort?
What made her so special…….
As if reading Lilith’s thoughts, Edrion carefully grasped her hand.
“I’m your fiancé, after all. As the man responsible for your entire life, I didn’t want to leave fragile Lilith in some cramped guest room.”
“Fiancé?”
“Yes, fiancé.”
“But we’ve already broken off the engagement.”
Lilith recalled her childhood.
After realizing she had been possessed into the novel, she had devoted all her time and effort solely to breaking off her engagement with Edrion.
‘And for good reason, since in the original story, Lilith…….’
She married Edrion according to her family’s wishes, but was framed by those who harbored grudges against her husband, accused of withering the World Tree, and ultimately torn limb from limb.
In truth, she was a pitiable woman whose daily life consisted entirely of embroidery in her boudoir.
It was only after the real culprit was caught later that they realized it was a false accusation, but what could they do for someone already dead?
At best, they might add a line to her gravestone saying, ‘She wasn’t actually the criminal.’
‘If I marry him like in the original, my limbs won’t be safe. I have to break it off, no matter what.’
Back then, young Lilith’s goal was singular.
The problem was that their engagement was a kind of contract made before either of them was even born.
It was impossible to break a pact between families just because of a child’s tantrum.
So Lilith turned what would be the most fatal weakness for a noble young lady into her weapon.
‘Miss, are you feeling unwell again today?’
‘Yes, I think it might be a bit difficult to attend the tea party.’
Lilith pretended to be ill, lounging comfortably in bed all day.
Instead of adorning and displaying herself like other noble young ladies, she holed up in her bedroom and never showed so much as a strand of hair outside the mansion.
After several years of this, as intended, the Akshard family began to suspect Lilith’s health.
Edrion was the only heir to Duke and Duchess Akshard.
Therefore, if Lilith’s body couldn’t produce an heir, it was clear the Akshard line would end.
The wait was much longer than expected.
Nevertheless, in the end, it happened just as Lilith had planned.
‘I’m sorry it came to this, Lilith…….’
‘It’s alright, Your Grace. Actually, I’m glad? Cough, the truth is, it’s been weighing on my mind all along. I felt like my sickly self was holding back the Akshard heir, cough cough!’
In the year she turned twelve, the Akshard ducal family requested to break the engagement.
Afterward, through the proper procedures, Lilith finally signed the dissolution papers in front of both family heads.
Thinking she was free at last, her body trembled with intense joy and liberation, but with so many eyes watching, she forced herself to hold it in.
After signing, she handed the document to Duke Akshard.
Upon seeing it, the duke turned his head away, as if he couldn’t bear to meet her gaze, and instead handed over a substantial sum as compensation.
‘That was quite a nice payout.’
Having achieved her goal, Lilith left her family without looking back, using convalescence as an excuse.
Snapping out of her brief reverie, Lilith looked up at Edrion.
“I didn’t know. That day, my father went to you and demanded to break the engagement.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“I heard about it later and chased after Father. But he was already on his way to the court with the signed document from you.”
“…….”
“I argued with Father. I protested that his son wasn’t some breeding stallion.”
Edrion smiled bitterly.
With a low sigh, he continued.
“Father told me to think about what’s best for the family and entrusted the dissolution papers to me.”
“You didn’t submit them to the court?”
“It seems Father wanted me to sort out my feelings and submit them myself…….”
Lilith had a feeling she knew what he would say next.
Not long after, the Akshard family fell due to the tyranny of Emperor Rajer.
Duke and Duchess Akshard were summarily executed, Aitana—who had been Crown Prince Kairos’s fiancée—was reduced to slave status, and Edrion became a fugitive.
He wouldn’t have had the luxury to even think about the dissolution papers, let alone submit them.
Having thought this far, Lilith stared blankly, her mouth agape.
‘No way, seriously.’
She never imagined the engagement dissolution hadn’t been finalized because the papers weren’t submitted.
Normally, the side requesting the break would take the documents straight to the court.
‘Who knew those papers would just be floating in limbo…….’
What on earth had happened?
There were so many points to nitpick that she was speechless.
Whether aware of her thoughts or not, Edrion continued with a calm gaze.
“I wanted to meet you and talk, but the emperor’s pursuit was too tight back then; I couldn’t risk approaching you.”
“Of course, that makes sense.”
Lilith nodded without realizing it.
If by some chance the tyrant Rajer had found out Edrion contacted her, her peaceful academy life would have ended that day.
“But I had to meet you. I wanted to return the right to decide our relationship to you.”
“…….”
“So I took the risk just once and went to the academy.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
This was news to her.
As Lilith pondered deeply, a chill ran down her spine.
It was during the winter when she was fourteen, preparing for early graduation.
‘Milady, a letter has arrived.’
‘What’s it about?’
‘It says they want to meet you. They have something to deliver in person, so please come to the academy garden at midnight tonight.’
‘In person? Is that really necessary? They could just leave it at the door.’
‘It must be something important. There are students coming and going in the hallway, after all. Theft happens sometimes.’
‘How important could it be……. Who sent it?’
Jenia shook her head, saying there was no sender’s name on the letter.
Seeing this, Lilith’s expression turned dubious.
‘It seems awfully suspicious. Maybe it’s a trap from someone with a deep grudge against me…….’
‘It does seem suspicious, but it also looks fun—why not accept?’
‘You must have a deep grudge against me too.’
Lilith ignored Jenia’s suggestion.
But that day, Jenia’s behavior was unusually off.
She, who always followed orders without question, asked again that time.
Staring meaningfully out the darkened window…….
‘Are you sure you don’t want to go?’
‘Yes, I’m sure.’
‘You won’t regret it?’
‘I’m starting to regret bringing you to the academy.’
Could it be?
Meeting Lilith’s gaze, Edrion smiled awkwardly.
“Since it was a document that could serve as evidence of my contact with you, I couldn’t entrust it to anyone else. If it reached Rajer’s ears, you could be in danger.”
“…….”
“So I waited for you in the garden until dawn broke.”
“There was a massive blizzard that night…….”
“Thanks to that, the snow covered my tracks, so it was fortunate.”
Edrion had risked his life to come see her while being hunted by the emperor.
Yet she had treated it like spam mail, and Edrion had waited all night in the swirling blizzard for his fiancée who never came.
The fault was clearly on her side.
‘I think I’m totally screwed……?’
