I Was Happy to Be Dumped by My Fiancé, But Something Seems Off - Episode 31

Once I said I’d do it, I committed with all my might.

I entered a separate room and tried on the high priestess robes that Inanna wears. It was a great relief that for important occasions, she wore the modest version rather than the revealing one. It would’ve been pathetic if the first hurdle was just the clothing.

Though Bertina herself is well-endowed, Inanna was even more so, leaving the chest area slightly loose. We stuffed it with padding to somehow recreate the shape. Lord Alistair taught me her way of walking, her casual gestures, and her manner of speaking, and I engraved each one into my mind.

By the time we finished, I was completely exhausted. As I sat in a chair after changing back into my regular clothes, Argent brought me a drink.

“You’ve worked hard, Bertina. Here, some hot milk.”

“Thank you.”

I took the mug and had a sip. Soothing my heart with the sweet hot milk, I took another drink.

“Do you think you’ll manage by the day of the event?”

“Yes. I’ll make sure I do.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Of course.”

After drinking more hot milk, Bertina suddenly let slip:

“It seems His Highness found out that I’ll be participating disguised as Lady Inanna.”

“Is that so?”

Right after practice ended, when my fatigue had reached its limit, Riet barged in. The priests apparently tried to stop him, but he is the crown prince. They couldn’t really prevent him. He seemed aware he was being rude, as he apologized to the priests.

After having the priests leave the room, leaving just Bertina and himself, Riet demanded she withdraw from participating.

‘I heard you’re standing in for the high priestess. Stop this immediately.’

‘No. I have the right to know too.’

‘You can find out afterwards through reports.’

‘I’m the one who decides. The prince who called off our engagement has no right to order me around.’

Actually, the engagement hadn’t been formally broken off.

‘Don’t you understand how dangerous this is?!’

‘I’m fully aware of the danger. Even so, I’ve decided to participate. I’ll have Argent by my side too. If anything happens, he’ll handle it.’

‘…’

When Argent’s name came up, he fell silent for some reason, and the anger in his wisteria-colored eyes intensified. Not to be outdone, Bertina glared back.

‘You went through all this trouble just to stop me. Well then, please leave.’

When she dismissed him coldly, he looked hurt this time, leaving her inwardly puzzled.

‘Duke and Duchess Moldio will never acknowledge the truth in Lady Inanna’s absence. They’ll only speak of fabricated stories as if they were real. Lady Inanna is necessary for the discussion.’

‘I… know that. But just because that attendant is there doesn’t guarantee you won’t be in danger.’

‘Even so.’

For a moment, she wondered—what if? What if she hadn’t been affected by the charm? Could she have lived normally with her family? Would her father, mother, and brother have loved Bertina instead of doting only on her cousin?

But no matter how much she thought about “what ifs,” the past wouldn’t return. It wasn’t all bad either. Because her family treated her coldly, Bertina met Argent. She doubted he would have picked her up if she’d been loved.

‘I’ll do what I want to do. Even if my identity is discovered and I get hurt, I take full responsibility.’

There were things she wouldn’t yield on, no matter what anyone said.

When she looked straight at Riet with her intense amethyst eyes filled with strong determination, he couldn’t say anything and lowered his gaze.

‘… You had those same eyes back then too.’

‘?’

‘When you saved me from drowning in the lake, you were looking at me with those purple eyes too.’

‘???’

Huh? She felt like tilting her head in confusion.

The story about Riet searching for the girl who saved him when he was drowning—well, that was known among the kingdom’s nobility. Only that she was probably a noble had been publicly disclosed.

Now Riet was saying Bertina had saved him.

But…

‘Um… Your Highness. I don’t recall ever saving you…’

Bertina had no memory whatsoever of saving a drowning Riet from a lake.

She was confused by the shock widening his wisteria eyes. In his mind, the one who saved him from drowning was Bertina. But Bertina herself had no memory of saving Riet. She was desperately searching through her memory drawers right now but couldn’t find it. Even if she had saved him, she wouldn’t have forgotten if she’d seen Riet.

‘Could it be a case of mistaken identity…?’

‘Th-that can’t be! It was definitely you, Bertina!’

When it came to a noble lady with gold hair tipped in blue and deep amethyst eyes, indeed, Bertina was the only one.

However.

‘Suppose I was the girl who saved you. Then why have you treated me like that until now?’

If he cherished his first love, he should have hated the politically arranged engagement. But from the start, only Riet, who showed no intention of reaching out, would know. Questioned, Riet averted his gaze uncomfortably and spoke with difficulty.

‘… It’ll sound like an excuse. I kept hearing bad rumors about you from the Spade Duke and Annaloro Duke, and that attendant was always by your side. I was jealous of that attendant, whom you trusted so completely.’

‘…’

During the current king’s time as crown prince, the Spade Duke—whose daughter had her engagement broken off back then—wouldn’t have been pleased with an engagement that solidified the crown prince’s position with the Annaloro Duke’s daughter. They deliberately fed the crown prince continuous bad rumors about Bertina to make him distrustful. Even Bertina’s father, Duke Annaloro, spoke ill of her to Riet, confirming the bad reputation. By that time, the relationship between father and daughter was already at its worst, and Bertina, who didn’t dote on her cousin Clarissa, was considered wicked.

‘Even so… there should have been many ways to investigate.’

There were methods to determine whether it was true or false. That he didn’t was due to Riet’s negligence.

‘I don’t need Your Highness’s concern now, and even if I were the girl who saved you, my feelings for you have already run dry. Once this matter is over, I’ll have you formally break off the engagement.’

‘If the engagement is broken, what will you do?’

‘Well…’

Even as a victim of the charm, the Annaloro family wouldn’t get off scot-free.

‘Being disowned from the ducal house, just as my father and the others planned, might not be so bad.’

‘Wh-what?! How will a duke’s daughter live alone in the outside world?!’

‘Don’t assume I’ll be alone. I’m taking Argent with me.’

I’ve entrusted him with items that can be sold for money. Selling those and living modestly should cover living expenses for a while. After that, I just need to go to the guild and find work I can do myself. His face twisted in disbelief, and when Argent’s name came up, it twisted for a different reason.

‘So you’re relying on your attendant after all.’

‘I won’t deny it. Well, if he refuses, I won’t force him.’

‘… Don’t you intend to become crown princess?’

‘On the contrary, given how things have turned out, you’ll probably have to look for another young lady.’

No matter what, there was no future where Bertina would become crown princess.

Riet said nothing more and left in silence. Though she somewhat understood why he was fixated on this mystery, she still had no memory of saving a drowning Riet from the lake.

Even though she thought asking Argent would just get a “no,” she brought it up anyway, and unexpectedly, he said he had an idea.

“You’re lying.”

“Now that you mention it, Bertina, I remember. I didn’t feel like I’d saved anyone, so I’d completely forgotten.”

He explained that when he was disguised as her twin, dressed as a girl, he had a memory of pulling a drowning person out of the water.

He had Bertina look around for any adults nearby, while he used magic to produce a large towel and wiped down the person he’d saved. Since there was no one around, instead of flying up to search from above, he had Bertina take over the wiping duty.