Chapter 𝟞

“Did you lose sleep again, my lady? Your skin is looking rough.”

My personal maid, Remi, sounded worried as she applied cream to my face.

I’d recently been training my stamina and strength on a daily basis, and my muscles were constantly complaining about it.

Someone had once told me, “There’s a point where you get so tired that you can’t even sleep.”

Right now, I was at that point.

Remi furrowed her brow. “Getting so little sleep will harm your skin. Look how coarse that feels!”

“It’ll get better once my body adapts to the training. Don’t worry about it.”

I’d relied on Remi a lot since entering this body. Thanks to her advice, I’d been able to keep up appearances as Kyla—at least, on the outside. As for my mannerisms, she would sometimes say, “This isn’t like you, Lady Kyla!” and each time, I would comb through Kyla’s memories and recalibrate my demeanor.

“My lady, I was wondering...” Remi said as she patted down my face and massaged it. “Are you really planning to call off your engagement to Lord Ritaus?” Her eyes gleamed with curiosity.

My declaration that I was ending things with Ritaus had spread quickly among the servants, but none of them had dared to openly ask about it. Remi was the first to be so bold.

“Yes. And I’m not just planning it. I’ve already done it.”

Remi seemed mystified. “But why? Lord Ritaus is a handsome gentleman with a great personality. He seems very nice.”

I honestly agreed. Ritaus was all of these things: good-looking, gentlemanly, and well-rounded in character. But he had just one problem—one fatal flaw.

“He even held a fundraising party for the impoverished who live in the capital!” Remi exclaimed. “I think he would be a great match for you.”

A great match for me? I felt goosebumps form all over my body.

“You can’t judge a book by its cover, Remi.”

“What’s he like on the inside, then?”

Remi’s eyes were glittering, but I couldn’t tell her the truth. She wouldn’t believe me anyway. She couldn’t possibly imagine the kind of man he was.

To be honest, Ritaus wasn’t really a bad person. Remi was right in the way she’d described him—he was the perfect archetype of a gentleman.

His weakness was Astair. He lacked the ability and desire to stop Astair from doing evil things.

“I’m sorry, Franz. I can’t stand against Astair... or against the House of Lisrich.”

In the comic, Ritaus was unable to help Franz when he was kidnapped by Astair. Ritaus simply admitted his helplessness without doing anything about it. This was the hidden side of the amazing knight who supposedly sought justice above all.

What was more, when Astair ravaged Franz, Ritaus got upset and also did something terrible to Franz. He seemed to lose his mind at the thought that Franz, whom he’d been treating with great care, was sullied by someone else.

Of course, all of this deviant behavior aligned with the genre tropes demanded by a tragic gay novel with multiple aggressive love interests.

Even when Astair murdered Kyla as she showed up to save Franz, Ritaus just cried and said, “I failed to protect your precious sister—not even her body. I’m so sorry. I’m so useless.”

Kyla’s death was extraordinarily excessive. Not only did Astair tear her body apart, but he apparently fed the pieces to some vicious dogs he kept. The comic did not describe the scene of Kyla Vesta’s death or the subsequent feeding, however, Astair’s lines were enough to inspire horror.

“I think I was left with seven pieces or so. I starved the creatures for a week, and they ate like ravenous hyenas. My pets don’t often get to feast like that.”

At that moment in the comic, Astair’s smile was beautiful and chillingly evil. The author had put so much effort into drawing him.

Even though the comic was in black and white, the scenes were dazzling. And among all that spectacle, Ritaus did nothing but stand helplessly by, worrying, while Franz wailed in his sorrow.

He never did end up being of any use in Franz’s escape. Ritaus was simply Astair’s loyal dog.

Just as I was telling myself that I didn’t have to worry about Ritaus anymore, someone knocked on the door. Remi opened it, and I saw the serious face of Alto, the steward.

“My lady, Lord Ritaus has come to see you.”

Speak of the devil. He showed up so quickly.

I’d sent my intentions via express dispatch, and frankly, I had expected a message back the day after he’d received them. I would have liked nothing better for us to part ways naturally like that. But some time had passed since my declaration, and Ritaus hadn’t yet responded to me.

Also, I’d stolen all the letters Ritaus had written to Franz—and the replies Franz had tried to send to Ritaus, of course. Not only that, I’d had the steward stop all messenger birds and cut off all communication between Franz and Ritaus, including magical express missives. Apparently, that had been the last straw because Ritaus was now standing at my doorstep without any warning.

“Fine. I’ll greet him when I’m finished getting ready,” I said. “Alto, my parents are both out of the mansion, correct?”

“Yes. The marquess has already gone to the Guardians, and the marchioness had an appointment at the salon.”

“Good. So I’m the only one here for Ritaus to meet?”

Luckily enough, Franz had gone camping in a forest to the east with six knights. His real intent was to observe the migratory birds, so he would be there for a while.

“The weather seems fine today,” I murmured.

I had a good feeling about this. I would finally get to speak to Ritaus face-to-face and kick him to the curb.

I chose my best dress and decked myself out to the teeth. Once ready, I went to see Ritaus in the drawing room.

He bowed and kissed my hand politely. The feel of his lips on my skin made me want to ball my hands into fists.

“Nice to see you again, Lord Ritaus. Have a seat. I’ll pour you some tea.”

I smiled as brilliantly as I could, and with a flourish, I poured from the teapot Remi had brought. The red, translucent tea was beautiful.

“Try some. It’s a mix that contains dried raspberries, and the aroma is amazing. The chef ventured out to pick a bunch of them, and you wouldn’t imagine my surprise when I heard that he saw snakes on his outing! Come to think of it, my mother hates snakes and shudders at the mere sight of raspberries. Ha ha!”

I chattered on, saying whatever came to mind. He would hardly speak at all when he was with me. Though I didn’t like talking by myself, I hated silence even more. He probably thought I was a young woman with nothing but hot air in my skull.

“You want to call off our engagement?” he asked suddenly, breaking the silence and getting straight to the point.

This wasn’t like him.

Ah. So you’re jumping right into it, then?

That meant I could drop the talkative act.

“I don’t just want it. We are no longer engaged, Lord Ritaus.”

His sharp eyes studied me carefully. I had never realized he could look so cold—after all, he always looked at Franz so affectionately. The way he’d smiled at me had always been a mask, and I knew his heart had never been in it.

“A marriage is a matter to be discussed between families. It’s not something you can decide on your own. Thankfully, my father hasn’t seen your message, so I will pretend that you never sent it. Let things stand at that.”

He tried to get up and leave without even touching the tea, and this show of complete disdain brought back my real personality, which I’d been repressing for so long.

I was no good at playing Kyla Vesta.

“In that case, let me send another message—express—to Count Izar. And this time, it will bear the seal of the House of Vesta.”

“Without the consent of Marquess Vesta?” He seemed convinced that my father would be against breaking our engagement.

“In fact, my father already gave his consent. He said he would leave the matter entirely in my hands.”

The latter sentence was a lie. He’d said he would respect my decision, but he hadn’t told me that he would entrust me with the whole process. I’d simply sent the message without consulting him.

“Not only is this uncalled for, but I am at a loss for what to say in the face of your rudeness,” Ritaus said.

I gripped the folds of my dress, repressing the annoyance that bubbled up inside me.

“I know that I’m being rude, but your behavior leaves me with many questions. Isn’t it customary to first ask me why I want to break things off?”

Our engagement had been one of convenience, but we had still been a couple.

Surprisingly, he didn’t seem to know what to say to this. He looked dazed and flabbergasted.

I knew the truth—he wasn’t at all curious about my reasons for wanting to end our relationship. All he wanted was to maintain the status quo, which would let him work toward building a closer relationship with Franz.

“What is... the reason?” he finally asked.

Well, you certainly took your time, didn’t you?