Chapter 28
“Ughhh…”
I’m finished. It’s over.
My soul had burned pure white and was already halfway out of my body.
“What are you so worried about?”
“How could I not worry? It’s Nanael we’re talking about. She already hated me, and now I’ve gone and poured oil on the fire…!”
While I was panicking and babbling nonsense, Alferen tilted his head sideways until our eyes met.
Not a single ripple disturbed those deep sapphire eyes.
“Delly. I’m right here—why are you worrying?”
“…Huh?”
“I won’t let the princess lay a finger on even one of your baby hairs.”
It was the kind of line any prospective groom would deliver with perfect confidence: I won’t let a single drop of rain touch you.
Alferen smiled that melting smile of his and calmed me down.
“…Really?”
I stared at him, dazed. He nodded and held out the ring.
“Yes. All you have to do is wear this. Your big brother will take care of everything else.”
* * *
I ended up accepting it after all.
I sat glaring at the blue velvet case on the table as though it had personally offended me.
Alferen had pressed the little box into my hand and said,
“If you wear it on the day of the court tournament, I’ll take that as your yes. And if you refuse…”
He let the sentence hang, but I knew exactly what came next.
The engagement I had finally broken after eight long years would crumble again before a month was out.
The court tournament was this weekend.
I had only days to decide, and my head felt ready to explode.
“You really do whatever you want, don’t you?”
I propped my chin on my hand and toyed with the ring.
Even someone who knew nothing about jewelry could tell it was outrageously expensive. It was beautiful—dangerously beautiful.
I held it up to the chandelier. The stone caught the light and scattered it in colors that shifted like liquid starlight, tempting me.
You’re the one who started wrecking the original story anyway~
It’s this pretty and you’re seriously not going to wear it?
“It really is pretty…”
It matched my taste so perfectly it already felt like it belonged to me.
But the prettier something is, the more trouble it usually brings.
And Summer will be here soon.
Even putting Nanael aside, I was terrified Summer would misunderstand.
If I turn down the fake relationship, though, all the effort I put into getting that engagement called off will go straight down the drain.
Break the engagement or play pretend lovers—that is the question.
I agonized for ages over a choice I couldn’t make lightly.
Ah, screw it. I’m kicking this problem to tomorrow-me!
For now, I threaded the ring onto my necklace and tucked it under my clothes, close to my heart.
I could decide later, depending on how things went.
Just then May came in with the luggage and blinked at me.
“My lady, what’s that?”
“Nothing important.”
I hurriedly shoved the velvet case into a drawer and pretended to be very busy.
I ignored the suspicious stare she kept sliding my way.
“Everything packed for the outing?”
“Of course! This time May has prepared everything perfectly—no forgotten items whatsoever!”
The maid who forgets at least one of my things every single trip declared this with utmost confidence.
I remembered the last gathering and gave her a stern warning.
“If you act clueless like last time, I’m taking Ray next time instead. You remember how I almost got destroyed by the princess because of you, right?”
“Mmm? To May it looked like the princess was the one who got thoroughly destroyed by my lady.”
“Whatever! This person we’re meeting today is someone we absolutely have to impress, so behave.”
“Yes, yes~ May will be completely invisible, like a ghost!”
May answered carelessly and dragged me toward the carriage.
* * *
The Magia Club was a small society founded only last year, a secret hideout for magical zoology and botany nerds obsessed with mysterious creatures and plants.
Unlike practical combat magic, it belonged to the realm of pure magical theory—meaning it made no money.
Most aristocrats who dabbled in magical flora and fauna did it as an expensive hobby.
But the Magia members were the real maniacs.
Last year they had discovered a fairy bloom—the legendary plant said to give birth to actual fairies—at auction and emptied even the club’s deposit to buy it.
Ever since, they had been drowning in debt.
They were now at the point where even next month’s rent for the clubroom was in jeopardy.
And that was when a whale appeared.
A true VIP had submitted a membership application.
Glaster, the club’s treasurer, pushed up his glasses and muttered anxiously.
“Leader… doesn’t this feel like some kind of mistake? Or is it finally a sign—a big shot is actually joining our Magia?”
His words were negative, but his flushed cheeks and trembling shoulders betrayed uncontainable joy.
Leader Sierra, however, shook her head skeptically.
“Have you forgotten, Glaster? More than half the people who apply around this time quit within a month.”
“That’s true, but… it’s Lady Peris. Rumor says even Genus moved personally to recruit her. For someone like that to voluntarily apply to our little club—does this mean we can finally escape this dump?”
Glaster was practically shivering with excitement.
In the few months he’d spent here, his face had become gaunt.
The hideout was filthy, the soundproofing nonexistent, and barely any sunlight reached inside. They were genuinely worried their precious fairy bloom would wither before it ever bloomed.
Sierra couldn’t bring herself to crush his hope and gave a bittersweet smile.
If you looked at it optimistically, he wasn’t wrong.
It was extraordinarily unusual for Lady Peris to choose their shabby, out-of-the-way club over Genus, the undisputed top club at Barnard.
Yes—too unusual, which is exactly why it felt unreal.
Sierra scanned the crumbling clubroom.
Even this place was rented; every month they had to cough up a painful sum.
They had started with nothing but passion for the discipline, but the club had only grown poorer.
The sudden appearance of someone like Lady Peris was both salvation and disaster.
“Maybe Lady Peris is genuinely interested in magical studies?”
“Glaster, House Peris is a swordsmanship family.”
“But magic and swordsmanship have excellent synergy! She could be trying to support the young duke.”
“Still, it’s better not to get our hopes up. The moment she sees this clubroom, she’ll probably turn right around and—”
Knock knock.
A light, cheerful knock sounded, followed by a small, clear voice.
* * *
May let out a small scream the moment we arrived at the Magia club building.
“My lady… I think they gave us the wrong address.”
“No, this is definitely it.”
I answered languidly and stepped inside.
May followed, eyes darting warily in every direction.
She wasn’t wrong—this place looked less like a gathering spot for noble young ladies and more like the kind of building where you could commit a murder and no one would notice.
The lighting was dim, the atmosphere perfectly creepy.
They’re supposed to be broke, and yep, it shows. Still, it’s a little less horror-movie than it was in the novel…
Most clubs had their rooms in the central district.
The old shopping quarter was loud and dangerous at night, so no one decent wanted to be here.
Yet Magia’s hideout was buried deep inside the quarter.
Of course May, who was used only to extravagant ducal mansions, looked ready to faint.
“Let’s see… fifth floor, right?”
“Oh… well, at least it’s the top floor, so maybe it’s nicer up there…?”
May’s voice grew smaller and smaller.
Her face darkened dramatically as she frantically scanned the stairwell.
A moment later, reality sank in; she dropped both bags with a thud.
“There is no way May has to climb all this, right…?”
“Yep. That’s why I told you to wear comfortable shoes.”
I proudly lifted one foot to show off my loafers.
May, who had chosen towering heels today, gave me the sunniest smile imaginable.
“Shall we just go home?”
The second she tried to spin around, I grabbed her.
“Where do you think you’re going? You’re not seriously planning to make me carry all this heavy luggage alone, are you, my loyal and adorable May?”
