I Was Happy to Be Dumped by My Fiancé, But Something Seems Off - Episode 3

Upon arriving at the ducal residence, Bertina was informed by the butler who had been awaiting her return that her father wished to see her. No doubt he wanted to know why the Crown Prince had summoned her today.

Bringing Argent along, Bertina headed toward her father’s study. The butler entered first, and she followed behind. The man standing by the window was none other than Bertina’s father, Duke Klaus Annaloro. With golden hair like Bertina’s and deep purple eyes, the beauty that had made him enormously popular in high society in his youth showed no signs of fading with age. Bertina could somewhat understand why her mother was so infatuated with him.

Upon seeing Bertina, her father dismissed the butler and Argent. Once they were alone, he immediately got to the point.

“What did His Highness the Crown Prince want to talk about?”

Having no intention of bringing up the matter of the broken engagement herself, Bertina gave a convenient excuse.

“It was a lecture about how I should learn from my cousin Clarissa.”

“Hah, His Highness must have it rough having a charmless woman like you as his fiancée.”

Who made me his fiancée in the first place?! She suppressed the urge to shout this with a deep breath.

“In that case, why don’t you, Father, suggest to His Highness that the engagement be dissolved? Instead of a charmless woman like me, why not make Clarissa—whom you and His Highness praise so lavishly—the Crown Princess?”

“That’s exactly why I say you lack charm. If only you’d learn from Clarissa and become a little more modest.”

Bertina wanted to tell her disappointed father that she was the one who was truly disappointed.

With that, the conversation ended, and Bertina, effectively dismissed, returned to her room with Argent, who had been waiting outside for her. On the way, she ran into her brother Bianco, who immediately started with his sarcastic remarks, but she simply yawned and walked right past him.

Bianco was shouting something from behind, but she couldn’t care less. Why should she have to listen to someone whose words only exhausted her?

Even when she reached her room, an angry Bianco followed her, and when she voiced her thoughts aloud, he was left speechless and stood there in a daze.

“Bertina, it’s useless to engage with him. Come on, let’s go inside.”

“Yes.”

“W-wait, Bertina! I’m not finished talking!”

Placing her hand on the doorknob, she turned toward Bianco with an annoyed expression.

“I’ve been wondering this for a while now, but why is it that even though you only ever mock me or say nasty things, you persistently try to keep me around every time we meet?”

“It’s because you have no idea how much I suffer having a foolish sister like you that you can say such things!”

“Is that so? Then why don’t you go tell Father? Tell him, ‘Since Bertina is disliked by His Highness the Crown Prince, let’s discard her quickly and adopt Clarissa instead.'”

“Wha—?!”

Bianco raised his voice, and Bertina frowned at him, glaring as if to say she hadn’t said anything wrong. For some reason, he looked hurt.

“You’ve been saying it forever, like a broken record—’If only Clarissa were my real sister’… Whether it’s you, Father, or Mother, if you all dislike me so much, why not just send me off to a convent and adopt Clarissa instead?”

“Do you even understand what you’re saying? B-besides, the reason Brother and Father are so strict with you is entirely because you’re so incompetent! Compared to you, Clarissa is—”

Having no obligation to listen to him brag about Clarissa to the end, Bertina and Argent entered her room. Argent even locked the door. From outside, Bianco pounded on the door, shouting, “Open up!” and “Open this door, Bertina!” Given time, he would give up and return to his room, so ignoring him was the best course of action.

Moving to the adjacent room, Bertina sat down on the simple bed.

Originally one of Bertina’s dressing rooms, it had become Argent’s room when she took him in. Though it only contained a bed, it was where she took refuge every time annoying people came around.

“I’m the one who should complain! I hate having someone like that as my brother!”

“Don’t you tell them that?”

“I did, once. Father and Mother hit me.”

“Aww, that’s too bad. But hey, I didn’t know that.”

“That was before I found you.”

She was six, she thought. As she rummaged through her memories, the noise outside quieted down. He must have given up and gone back to his room.

“I remember now! It was at the tea party hosted by the Grand Duchess. I was talking with your friend and his little sister when you barged in. I was so fed up with your arrival that I brought up Clarissa, and you started with your usual ‘If only Clarissa were my sister,’ so I retorted.”

“‘I wish I had an older brother like the young master of the Platinum Count, someone kind and caring then every day would be enjoyable.'” Perhaps because he never expected a comeback, Bianco was taken aback, and when he understood what she meant, his face turned bright red, and he ended up crying. He glared not only at Bertina but at his friend as well, then ran off to their mother. Bertina apologized on the spot to the young master and lady of the Platinum Count, and when she returned home, both her father and mother slapped her after hearing Bianco’s side of the story. Bianco, who was in the same room, laughed at Bertina with an ugly, smug smile.

From then on, her parents’ and brother’s attitudes grew even worse, but Bertina had completely given up on them. She began showing only the bare minimum of emotion, always looking for an opportunity to run away from home.

It was the same with Riet. She had no intention of reaching out to him, and she blamed Bertina for everything; for not being able to find someone she loved and for having to marry someone she didn’t like. As for Riet, having found Argent first and their first meeting leaving much to be desired, her expectations had been in the negative from the start.

She rested her head on Argent’s shoulder as he sat beside her.

“I wonder when the news of the broken engagement will come.”

“At the earliest, tomorrow, don’t you think? It seems the King and Queen already know.”

“I’ll just have to brace myself for a harsh scolding.”

“Before that happens, let’s run away. I won’t let you be unhappy, Bertina.”

“Thank you. But you know, this is also my way of settling things. I want the fact that Father has officially disowned me.”

“Can’t I do something about it?”

“No. I’ll rely on you when things become truly unbearable.”

“Alright.”