I Was Happy to Be Dumped by My Fiancé, But Something Seems Off - Episode 26

Tonight, Bertina and Argent decided to stay at the inn and spend the next day exploring the town. As Bertina sat by the window gazing at the night sky, she felt the warmth of a mug pressed against her cheek.

“Here, I asked the innkeeper to make this for you.”

“Thank you.”

She accepted the hot milk with shaved chocolate and honey from Argent and took a sip. Just as she was marveling at how perfectly sweet it was, Argent pulled up a chair beside her and sat down. He held a mug of hot café au lait, and placing a plate of chocolates on his lap, he offered one to Bertina.

“Have some, Bertina. Unlike the hot milk, these aren’t too sweet.”

“Oh, I’ll take one.”

She popped the chocolate into her mouth and took a sip of the hot milk. The chocolate’s flavor intensified, making her want to drink more of the milk.

When she had drunk about half, she sensed a wry smile from beside her.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“It’s delicious.

Hey, Argent, once we’ve dealt with the matter of your aunt’s enchantment, what do you think will happen to the Annaloro and Moldio families?”

“Hmm…”

The Duke and Duchess of Annaloro were essentially victims of the enchantment. Because the spell had been cast on them for so long, attempting to break it would carry an extremely high risk of leaving them mentally incapacitated, so the decision was to leave their conditioning untouched. As for his brother… well, he was probably influenced by their parents and likely just acting on his own nature, so Argent decided not to dwell on it. It might seem cold-hearted, but whatever happened to his brother wasn’t his concern.

The real problem was the Moldio family. According to Inanna, news of Agnes’s enchantment had finally reached the Queen who had consistently opposed both the King’s deprogramming and Bertina being sent to a convent as well as the Crown Prince. At first, they were stunned and disbelieving, but the Queen and Riet had long felt uneasy about how the King had completely changed his stance only when it came to Bertina. When they pointed out his own odd behavior, the King came to believe Inanna’s story. It was decided that both families would be summoned for a meeting with the royal family present, to be held at the palace on a date set by the King—five days from now. During those five days, the Grand Cathedral would gather information on the Duke and Duchess of Moldio. Inanna’s orders were for the royal family to stand down.

The Grand Cathedral had experts who could gather intelligence without anyone noticing. Although the royal family had their own intelligence specialists, they owed the Cathedral a favor and couldn’t argue when told to keep out. In return, the Cathedral agreed to share all the information they collected.

“Since your aunt used enchantment to manipulate the King for her own benefit, she won’t escape the severest punishment.”

“The death penalty, then? Speaking of which, what methods of execution do humans use?”

“Generally, hanging. For high-ranking nobles or royalty, they’re given a poisoned chalice. What about demons?”

“Demons love to flaunt their power, so they give criminals one chance: if they can defeat a demon stronger than themselves, they’re freed. If they lose, they die.”

“How tasteless.”

“Well, we are demons.”

Forcing a criminal to fight a demon of overwhelming strength and then gathering an audience to watch them die only made it more depraved.

“What about the Crown Prince?”

“His Highness?”

“Yes. The annulment was a lie concocted by the Crown Prince and Clarissa because they both wanted to separate you and me. The engagement was never officially broken. You’re still his fiancée. Once this is over, the next issue will be the two of you.”

“It won’t be.”

Her firm reply made his unusual purple-and-gold eyes widen.

“I never considered that.”

“I have no intention of becoming the Crown Princess.”

No matter how much he claimed to love her, Bertina couldn’t picture herself happily standing beside Riet. No matter how kindly he treated her or how much he loved her, she knew she would always compare herself to Clarissa. Why could he do things for Clarissa that he couldn’t do for her?

“But that Crown Prince doesn’t seem like the type to give up easily.”

“If I set a condition that he must keep you by my side, he’ll definitely give up. Clarissa might be out of the question now, but I’m sure there are other noble daughters who could become Crown Princess.”

After finishing the rest of her hot milk, Bertina said it was time for bed and headed to her room.

“I wonder…”

Doubting whether the Crown Prince would really give up as Bertina said, Argent went to his own room and lay down on the bed.