I Got My Engagement Annulled… Even Though We Were Never Engaged - Chapter 11

Was that about three years ago?

It was before my social debut, when I was fifteen.

In the Kingdom of Belcour, most noble young ladies make their social debut between the ages of fourteen and sixteen.

Since debuting as early as possible gives one an advantage in the marriage market, most debut at fourteen, or fifteen at the latest.

Once you make your social debut, you’re considered an adult in noble society.

Your dress designs change from children’s styles to adult ones, and you’re permitted to attend evening parties.

Even in the Cambrelive family, my older sister Beatrice made her social debut at fourteen.

Father said that my sister, who already had refined and mature features, had completely shed any childishness by fourteen and carried herself with poise as a debutante.

With my sister as a precedent, my family expected me to enter society at fourteen too but I wanted to delay my social debut as much as possible. Even at fifteen, I was still living at our estate mansion, wearing dresses cut for a child.

My strongly orange-tinted blonde hair was casually tied back with a ribbon, and I wore non-prescription glasses. I spent my days practicing magic and reading books, all the while feeling exasperated at the thought that next year, I would have to make my social debut whether I liked it or not.

It was on one such day.

Although I had remained at the estate, during the social season the rest of my family, including my sister, had moved to our townhouse in the royal capital.

While I was relaxing at the estate with the servants, Mariotte—who like my sister, had debuted at fourteen and was two years older than me came to visit.

When I was ten, Mariotte had said I had “witch-like eyes,” which had depressed me for a while, but after five years, relationships between children can be easily mended.

Though my faint childhood crush on him had been brutally shattered that day, he was still my childhood friend.

I had assumed Mariotte had also gone to the capital for the social season, so I was surprised when he suddenly showed up.

Sitting at the base of a maple tree on the hill reading a book, I looked up at his approach and tilted my head.

“What’s wrong? Father and everyone else have all gone to the capital, you know?”

I was aware that engagement talks had surfaced between Mariotte and my sister.

Our families got along well, our estates were adjacent, Mariotte was a second son, and Father had said that if we were considering a son-in-law for our house, there was no better candidate than Mariotte.

Even that incident when I was ten was just between children, and Mariotte was naturally cheerful and kind. His magical skill was above average, and he was smart. If he were to marry into our family, the Cambrelive earldom would be secure.

I was still wearing my glasses, but it certainly wasn’t out of spite toward Mariotte.

I had been hurt when he commented on my eyes, but as time passed, I had started to think to myself that, well, he had a point.

I had never seen anyone else with eyes as dark green as mine.

Since there are people in the world who dislike things that are different from the norm, I thought it better to obscure them with glasses if they made others uncomfortable.

“Adeline, I need to talk to you.”

Sitting down beside me, Mariotte spoke.

Seeing his serious demeanor, I slipped a bookmark into my partially read book and turned my whole body to face him.

“What? Is it about my sister? She’s certainly popular, but she isn’t the type to fool around, so you don’t need to worry.”

“That’s not it.”

Even though I had tried to preemptively reassure him, Mariotte made a slightly displeased face.

“It has nothing to do with Beatrice.”

If it wasn’t about my sister, then what was it about?

Not to boast, but Mariotte and I didn’t particularly share the same interests.

Unlike my unsociable self, Mariotte was the sociable type. He preferred going out over staying home, so our conversations naturally revolved around the outside world.

On the other hand, when I opened my mouth, it was always about magic or books. I was aware that I was a boring girl.

“Hey, Adeline. Will you get engaged to me?”

In a casual tone, as if he were commenting on the nice weather, Mariotte said it.

“……Huh?”

My eyes went wide, and first, I doubted my own ears. Maybe something was stuck in them. I was hearing strange words.

Then, looking at Mariotte’s slightly stiff expression, I understood—ah, so it wasn’t an auditory hallucination.

“Hey, what are you saying?”

Engagement talks were happening between Mariotte and my sister. Not me. I wasn’t the heir to the Cambrelive earldom, and I had no intention of succeeding ahead of my sister.

Mariotte was expected by Father to become our family’s son-in-law and the next earl, so getting engaged to me was completely missing the mark.

……First of all, Mariotte likes my sister, doesn’t he?

We had all spent time together since we were children. Even I could pick up on subtle emotional shifts.

Sometime last year or the year before around the time not long after my sister and Mariotte had made their social debuts, I had noticed the way Mariotte looked at my sister had changed.

Unlike me, a child escaping into the world of books, both my sister and Mariotte had become adults. That’s what I thought.

“I’ve thought about it a lot. I think it’s best if I marry you. I believe that’s the wisest course.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

Was my own will even a factor in this?

What productivity was there in the second son of an earldom with no other titles marrying the second daughter?

Wouldn’t it be foolish to throw away the position of next earl that was practically promised to him?

Even before that, he had a woman he loved my sister and the surroundings already had an atmosphere approving of their marriage. I couldn’t comprehend why he would say marrying her younger sister was the “wisest course.”

Mariotte continued with a serious face.

“I need to take responsibility.”

“Responsibility for what?”

“Responsibility toward you.”

Had I done something with Mariotte that required him to take responsibility for me?

As my confusion grew, Mariotte reached out and snatched my glasses away.

“Ah! Give those back!”

“There’s no prescription in them, so you can see fine without them, right?”

“That’s not the point!”

I had been obscuring my eye color with glasses since I was ten. By now, they were a part of my body, and I felt unsettled without them.

“You were hurt because of my careless remark back then, weren’t you? That’s why you’ve been wearing glasses all this time, right? That’s why I want to take responsibility for you.”

“And that responsibility is an engagement? Marriage? Who said I wanted that?”

Snatching my glasses back from Mariotte’s hand, I put them on again. Because his fingerprints were clearly smudged on them, my vision was blurry.

“Or what? Are you saying that if you don’t take responsibility, I’ll end up alone for life? Is that it? You pity me, so you’ll marry me out of charity?”

I knew I was being ungracious. But I felt inexplicably angry.

“And also, are you saying I’m holding a grudge about that day all this time, and that’s why I wear glasses? It’s been five years? Just how conceited are you? These glasses aren’t because of you, Mariotte!”

It was true that had been the start. But I wasn’t so delicate that I would wear glasses for five years for that reason alone.

“I won’t marry out of responsibility. The last thing I want is to live bound by something so heavy.”

Moreover, the man in question had my sister in his heart. Did he really think I would be happy to be married out of responsibility under those circumstances? I would just be miserable.

“If you absolutely must take responsibility, then marry my sister and make her happy. I like seeing my sister’s happy face.”

Glaring sharply at Mariotte, I repeated myself.

“Or are you saying that I’m such a pathetic woman that I can’t find any other marriage partner unless I marry out of responsibility?”

Mariotte fell silent for a while, then muttered in a small voice, “I’m sorry.”

I didn’t want an apology, but if he understood, then that was fine. I returned my gaze to my partially read book.

—My sister and Mariotte got engaged three months later.