Prologue
“Hey, Siella.”
“Yeah.”
I didn’t even have time to look at Tirielle, who timidly entered my office. My damned fiancé would be here soon.
I busily flipped through the documents I was reviewing.
Standing at the door, Tirielle nervously fidgeted, tapping her forefingers together.
“I have something to tell you…”
“I’m listening.”
I furrowed my brow slightly, signaling her to hurry up. When she still didn’t respond, I reluctantly looked up at her.
“What is it?”
“Well…”
Tirielle wasn’t looking at me. She stared at the floor, her lips moving without sound, as if it was hard to say. Her face was red for some reason I couldn’t fathom.
I returned my attention to the documents. I had gathered a list of my fiancé’s faults to break off our engagement.
Unfortunately, there was nothing concrete enough to use against him so far. The remaining ones seemed similar—another failure.
Damn it. I reached for the following document.
“I have a lover.”
My hand froze. What?
I felt a chill run through my body as if all the blood had drained. If I looked in a mirror, I’d surely be pale as a sheet.
I stared at Tirielle, not even noticing the document slipping from my hand onto the desk.
The female lead, indeed, was remarkable. Tirielle was typically the epitome of innocence, reminiscent of a lily. With her cheeks flushed and hands clasped to her face, she seemed to radiate a halo of light.
In stark contrast, I felt an overwhelming sense of despair.
The female lead falling in love meant the original story was beginning.
Soon, the male lead would appear, intent on destroying the family of my petty fiancé.
My family and I would be caught in the crossfire and meet our end on the scaffold.
“We’re doomed.”
Despairing, I slumped onto the desk like a soaked sponge.
If I’d known it would come to this, I should’ve grabbed a few jewels and fled.
I had thought that becoming friends with the female lead would help me break off my engagement. What was I thinking, trying to endure for some fleeting glory, only to end up dead?
I suddenly felt a presence as I lay there, chuckling madly with the documents pressed to my forehead.
Lifting my head slightly, I saw Tirielle standing there, looking uncertain.
A hint of guilt was on her face as if she felt sorry for bringing up such a topic when she knew my relationship with my fiancé wasn’t good.
Only then did I realize my mistake.
I was me, and Tirielle was Tirielle. She hadn’t fallen in love to deliberately get me killed. The least I could do was congratulate her, not slump in despair.
Despite my throbbing head, I forced myself to sit up straight. Sure, I could wallow in misery after sending Tirielle off.
I smoothed out my crumpled expression and struggled to lift the corners of my mouth into a smile. After all, we were friends; she could persuade the male lead to spare me.
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
Finally, Tirielle smiled brightly and blinked. Then, avoiding my gaze, she looked down at the floor.
She tapped her forefingers together again as if there was more she wanted to say.
Tirielle was always like that. Even when she had something to say, she hesitated and took her time, speaking only when people grew frustrated.
So I didn’t find it particularly strange.
Usually, I would have invited her for tea to chat about who her partner was and when their relationship began. But with the guillotine looming over my head, I couldn’t afford that luxury.
Still, I couldn’t just send her away after congratulating her. So, out of courtesy, I asked.
“Which noble family is he from?”
“Well…”
“Could it be… His Highness, the Crown Prince?”
The male lead who would capture the female lead’s heart and take my life was none other than the Crown Prince.
It wasn’t the time for Tirielle and the Crown Prince to meet in the story, but I couldn’t imagine anyone else dating Tirielle.
However, instead of nodding shyly, Tirielle looked at me wide-eyed.
“His Highness, the Crown Prince?”
Confused silence filled the office.
Tirielle looked puzzled. Her eyes questioned why I would bring up the Crown Prince.
Her reaction left me equally puzzled.
What? In the original story, Tirielle’s first love was definitely the Crown Prince.
“Then who is it?”
“Well…”
Avoiding my gaze, Tirielle bit her lower lip.
Suddenly, an absurd hypothesis crossed my mind.
No way.
“Our family’s idiot?”
“No!”
Tirielle waved her hands frantically in denial.
Her vehement reaction was relieving. I was worried that by befriending her, the innocent and tragic female lead might get entangled with our family’s fool.
Regardless, this was the beginning of a story I didn’t know. I needed to find out how things had gotten to this point.
Feeling the guillotine looming a bit farther away, I calmly probed Tirielle.
“Then, Lord Izakiel?”
Tirielle shook her head.
“Count Jeff?”
Another shake.
“Count Eupena?”
Again, a shake.
I had named almost every handsome young noble who might be associated with the female lead, but her repeated denials were starting to irritate me. This wasn’t a game of twenty questions.
I rubbed my throbbing forehead.
“Who is it?”
“Well… you know him well.”
“Of course.”
There wasn’t a noble in the Empire I didn’t know.
“And… you don’t get along with him.”
Tirielle glanced at the documents strewn on the desk.
I interpreted her glance as feeling guilty for having a lover while I was struggling with my fiancé.
So, to ease her guilt, I gathered the documents and put them out of her sight.
Knowing that the Crown Prince wasn’t Tirielle’s lover, finding out who had stolen her heart became more important than uncovering my fiancé’s faults.
“It would be faster to find someone I get along with. So, who is it?”
Even after a long pause, Tirielle didn’t speak. Growing impatient, I pressured her again, and she nervously fidgeted, avoiding my gaze.
“You won’t get mad, right?”
“Why would I get mad?”
“Promise me. Promise you won’t get mad…”
It was an utterly incomprehensible request. Why would I get mad about who Tirielle was dating?
But I reluctantly agreed, seeing that she wouldn’t speak unless I promised.
“I promise I won’t get mad. It’s your life. So, who is it?”
Tirielle bit her nails. She chewed her lips, avoided my eyes, twisted her hair, and tapped the floor nervously. Finally, she murmured in a voice barely audible.
“…Lord Essite.”
Question marks filled my mind. Who?
My ears must be malfunctioning. I stared at Tirielle, who was avoiding my gaze and asked again.
“Who?”
Tirielle’s face turned crimson. After much hesitation, she mouthed the name silently.
‘Essite.’
Have I gone mad?
I pinched the back of my hand with my nails. It hurt, so it wasn’t a dream. But it didn’t feel real. I just stared blankly at Tirielle.
Seeing my bewildered expression, Tirielle looked like she might cry. She seemed ready to burst into tears, looking at me with a guilty expression.
“Sorry, but since you don’t get along with him…”
Muttering excuses, Tirielle continued. But nothing she said registered in my mind.
No matter how awful he was, Duval Essite was my fiancé.
So, what was going on?
Whether I listened or not, Tirielle kept talking.
She said Lord Essite liked her, too. Since neither of us wanted this engagement, wouldn’t it be better to let each other go?
I never knew Tirielle could talk so much. Love made people do incredible things.
As Tirielle glanced at me with a cold gaze and finished her explanation, she uttered a ridiculous line.
“Sorry, Siella, but we’re still friends, right…?”
Is she out of her mind?
When I didn’t respond, Tirielle started to tear up.
At that moment, someone walked up and opened the door.
It was my fiancé, Duval Essite.
Seeing me, he frowned but then froze upon noticing Tirielle.
“Lord Essite!”
Tirielle rushed to embrace him.
Surprised, he comforted her and then looked at me coldly. It was the look of a man glaring at the person who had made his kind and innocent lover cry.
I was too dumbfounded to speak, so he sighed coldly and twisted his lips.
“This isn’t why I came, but since we’re here, let’s end this. I’ll compensate you handsomely.”
“You will…?”
Peeking out from his embrace, Tirielle chimed in.
I alternated my gaze between my trashy fiancé and the female lead, now revealed to be trash herself.
Where did it all go wrong? The original story was ultimately off the rails.
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