How to Escape from My Possessive Fiancé - Chapter 54

“That’s why I’m worried.”

Sophia finally let out a sigh and spoke. Then the man asked, sounding frustrated.

“Why do you have to do something like this? You said last time the princess was bothering you. Is this part of that? Should I help you?”

Sophia laughed.

“What was it you said before? That you’d teach her a lesson?”

“My feelings haven’t really changed since then.”

His face looked serious, as if he really meant to do it. Sophia sighed in disbelief.

“And how would you teach her a lesson?”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t like hearing cruel things?”

The man shamelessly responded. Sophia hit his shoulder.

“I told you it’s treason. And I can’t do anything to her yet. The princess said she’d give me what I want.”

“So you’re doing something this reckless for that? What is it that you want so badly?”

His clear eyes were filled with genuine concern. Facing such pure emotions made Sophia feel a bit embarrassed.

“Was I that hopeless?”

Trying to change the subject, Sophia avoided the question. But the man quietly called her name.

“Sophia.”

“Alright, I’ll tell you. What I want is to meet Solid.”

“Huh? Who’s that?”

The man looked blank, as if he’d never heard any of the rumors. Sophia’s shoulders dropped as she answered.

“My best friend. But not long ago, she lost her child because of me.”

Her voice was filled with disappointment and resignation. Only after saying it did Sophia realize that she had partly given up on making things right with Solid. Maybe it was already too late. Maybe, just like someone had said, their relationship had already become something that couldn’t be fixed.

The man didn’t say anything. He just watched as Sophia, her hair tousled by the wind, quietly played with her gloves. Seeing how down she looked, he felt like the strength was leaving his body too.

“Can you tell me more about what happened?”

Sophia hesitated, then nodded and started a short story. From when she took the poison, the strange feelings she had when she first met the duke, to all the weird things that happened while she stayed at the count’s house.

How she smelled something foul no one else could notice, how she had strange dreams every night and wandered around the mansion like a ghost she told him everything.

“What hurts the most is all of this happened because I didn’t trust him. I should’ve just believed the duke. He told me enough about the medicine, and about the poison I took. I was the one who didn’t trust him. That foolish doubt ended up hurting Solid.”

Sophia spoke sadly. She wondered if she had said too much, but somehow, being with this man made her feel at ease. It felt like they had known each other for a long time, and sharing things with him didn’t seem so hard.

Maybe it was his gaze. His clear green eyes were gentle and warm, like he would always stay by her side no matter what she said.

“It’s not your fault.”

The man frowned as he spoke. But Sophia just gave a small smile, like she had already expected him to say that.

“It’s fine. I really should go now. I think I’m more than two hours late.”

She nodded once toward the man, then turned and started walking away. Her steps showed no hesitation completely different from the worried way the man had acted the whole time.

The man stood there, feeling bitter at how little influence he seemed to have on her.

‘I’m tired of this.’

He thought. Even though he knew he should follow the path set by fate, sometimes it was just too exhausting. Especially when he had to see this new Sophia, who treated him like a stranger. It felt like he had lost everything. Why did she forget everything? And why was he the only one who remembered? He had no answer.

Just then, he heard light footsteps again. When he looked up, Sophia, who had walked away, was coming back. He stared blankly as she approached and held out her hand.

“Thank you for today.”

It was the first time she had ever reached out to him first. The man opened and closed his fist before finally taking her hand. His large hand wrapped around hers. He felt the warmth and the soft touch.

The man smiled.

“I’ll help you again next time. You’ll come at the same time tomorrow, right?”

Sophia’s face lit up.

“Really? Wait, didn’t you say I was hopeless?”

“I’ll make you not hopeless.”

He shook her hand playfully. A rare, teasing smile appeared on his face. Sophia pouted, but then laughed again. It was a different kind of warmth than when she was with the duke.

—

From that day on, she met with the man almost every day for two hours. It was as if he had all the free time in the world he never missed a day at the hunting practice field.

And strangely, no one else ever showed up when he was there.

‘Are you secretly someone really important or something?’

Sophia had asked him once. Every time he came, the field would be completely empty. And he always looked like he had nothing else to do. But when she asked, he only gave a faint smile, like he found her imagination amusing.

‘Well, never mind then.’

She had shrugged it off. He was suspicious in many ways, but one thing was certain, he was a great teacher. With him, Sophia’s riding skills improved a lot. Now she could ride fast and circle the forest on her own. Just two days ago, she even let go of the reins for the first time. Though as soon as she picked up a bow, she got scared and grabbed the reins again.

In the end, she didn’t complete the task the man gave her just trying to shoot an arrow once. When she came back looking defeated, the man smiled and said,

‘Don’t look so down in front of me. Seeing you sad really hurts me. And you don’t need to worry. No matter what you do, I won’t be disappointed I’ll just teach you again.’

Sometimes, the man would say things like that sweet enough to melt her bones then act like he didn’t do anything and move on like usual.

‘Could he really have fallen for me?’

Sophia knew she was acting like someone with a crush, but because of how he treated her, she couldn’t help thinking that way at least once a day.

‘Am I… using him?’

She wondered blankly. Sometimes it really felt like she was just pretending not to notice, using him to get better at hunting. But it was hard to tell him honestly, “I’m sorry, but I can’t accept your feelings,” because even if his words were sweet, his actions were always calm and clean.

If she really thought about it, his affection felt a lot like Felix’s.

Like a loving brother, someone who supported her no matter what she said or did.

‘But why? Why is he like this to me?’

He had been kind from the very first moment. Sophia often found herself wondering why, coming up with random theories.

‘Maybe I look just like his dead little sister.’

It seemed like a believable theory. Sometimes the way he looked at her didn’t feel like he was seeing her—but something beyond her, something she didn’t have, something he missed.

But she couldn’t just ask, “Do you have a dead sister?” That would be awkward. Honestly, the man only looked kind when he talked to her. When he was alone and lost in thought, his side profile looked cold and even a bit scary.

When his white eyelashes hung under the shadows of the dark forest, he didn’t seem like a person more like a statue left in front of a temple.

‘Kiel, what are you thinking about?’

When she asked that, the man would come back to reality, smile awkwardly, and say,

‘Nothing at all.’

Then Sophia would think, ‘Ah, he must be remembering his dead sister,’ and nod as if she understood.

—

Then, one day, something unexpected happened.

While riding through the forest, Sophia discovered a strange place. At first glance, it looked like a cliff, but there was a narrow piece of land hidden below.

Recently, Sophia had become playful and lively again while shooting arrows on horseback. So as soon as she saw the spot, she thought, ‘I should prank him.’

The plan was simple: pretend to fall and die.

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