I Was Happy to Be Dumped by My Fiancé, But Something Seems Off - Episode 4

“Huh…?” she tilted her head in confusion. Three days had passed since her fiancé Riet had abruptly called off their engagement. She kept waiting for her father’s angry shouts to echo through the Annaloro household, but they never came. Her mother, brother, and father all continued with their usual sarcastic remarks but said nothing about the broken engagement. The only possible explanation was that her father hadn’t yet heard about the annulment.

After having Argent pour her another cup of tea, she mentioned this to him, and Argent also found it suspicious upon reflection.

“Why hasn’t His Highness told Father yet?”

“Maybe he lied about getting the King and Queen’s permission.”

“So, they might actually not know.”

But, Bertina continued.

“His Highness hates lies. Would someone like that really tell one?”

“It’s because Bertina is disliked. He probably doesn’t feel obligated to be proper toward someone he hates.”

“…True.”

She found his words convincing. She wanted her father to be informed about the broken engagement as soon as possible. Bertina and Argent were already prepared to leave the house. All they needed was her father’s declaration of disownment, and they could leave immediately.

After drinking her tea to calm her nerves, the head butler arrived with a letter from Riet.

Releasing her numerous doubts from her mind, she accepted the letter and letter opener, broke the seal, and read the letter. When Argent asked about the contents, she nearly slumped in exhaustion but showed him the text.

“A tea invitation?”

“What is that prince thinking? Inviting the person he just dumped to tea?”

The specified date was ten days later, undoubtedly the date of the regularly scheduled tea party.

“What will you do? Will you go?”

“Of course not.”

If she’d been ordered to break off the engagement, who would want to sit through a tea gathering that offered nothing but pain? In recent years, Clarissa had been made to attend, and she’d had to listen to how adorable Clarissa was and how un-cute Bertina was. She’d swallowed the words “Riet resembles Father and the others more than I do” right there on the spot, later venting extensively to Argent about it.

She returned the letter to its envelope and instructed Argent to bring her stationery and a pen to write a reply.

Taking the stationery and pen brought as instructed, Bertina wrote just one line and finished.

“What did you write?” Argent peeked at the stationery and laughed lightly.

“‘Haven’t you mistaken the recipient?’ Ha… haha, indeed.”

“Sending such a letter to the person you ordered to break off the engagement is insane.”

“Or perhaps the King and Queen genuinely don’t know.”

“So, it’s the Prince’s own decision?”

But even if Riet disliked Bertina, would he really break off the engagement without informing the King and Queen? Moreover, the Annaloro family was the highest-ranking among those supporting Riet. To control the family of the lady who was once the King’s fiancée, the Annaloro family’s power was essential. Simultaneously, the engagement with Bertina was meant to solidify his position further.

Ugh, she racked her brain, but remembering three days ago, irritation welled up. She placed the stationery in the envelope, sealed it with the ducal wax seal, and handed it to Argent.

“Deliver this to His Highness.”

“Yeees.”

With a drawn-out reply, Argent took the letter and left. Alone, Bertina looked up at the ceiling.

She had tried to make him like her, worked hard to become a cute girl like Clarissa by focusing on fashion, and seriously tackled even unpleasant and difficult tasks without running away, all to become the future queen. No matter how much she strived, neither Riet nor her family tried to see Bertina, only doting on Clarissa.

Being told constantly that as the future queen, she shouldn’t act spoiled, shouldn’t be lazy, should devote herself to the Crown Prince… and seeing them treat Clarissa like their own daughter. Bertina had very few places to turn for emotional support.

“Sigh…”

She was tired. Of her family and of Riet. The only one she could rely on was Argent.

Bertina remained in the same position until Argent returned.

———The next day. Another letter arrived from Riet.

“What in the world now?”

Irritated, she took the letter and letter opener from Argent and read the contents.

“Huh?”

“What does it say?”

Argent peeked at the letter from beside the frozen Bertina and burst out laughing.

“‘The recipient is not mistaken,’ it says? And the usual remarks.”

The letter was indeed addressed to Bertina, followed by the usual comments about her lack of cuteness and asking if she wouldn’t learn from Clarissa even after the broken engagement, with some additional elements. Slumping in defeat, Bertina crumpled the letter and threw it in the trash.

“Will you go?”

“I won’t. Aside from you, no one else knows about the tea invitation from His Highness, right?”

“Only Bertina was told about the letter.”

However, since the regular tea day was fixed each month, she could simply take Argent out shopping that day. If her family asked how it went, she could say it was the same as always. They’d just make their usual sarcastic remarks anyway. She could endure it. She was used to it.

Time flew by, and today was the tea day. Though it was unfortunately raining, she would still go out. She couldn’t leave everything to Argent, so she had a relatively friendly maid help her into a dress, put on a hat, took an umbrella, and headed to the entrance.

“Bertina.”

Bianco called her, but Bertina knew responding would be pointless and walked right past him, stepping outside and opening her umbrella. “I said wait!” Bianco chased after her, grabbed her shoulder, and forced her to turn around. When she looked at him with utter contempt, his face turned pale.

“Wh… wh-what’s with that look?”

“Brother, you claim to dislike me, yet you bother me every time you see me. It’s annoying.”

“Wh— I don’t particularly dislike.”

“I dislike you. Along with Father, Mother, and the Crown Prince, you all keep gushing like fools about how cute Clarissa is. So? Should I have praised Clarissa too? Do you hate me because I can’t find Clarissa cute?”

“That’s not what I— b-but it’s true that you lack cuteness.”

“Then leave your un-cute little sister alone. I’ll say it again: you’re annoying.”

“…”

After clearly and firmly rejecting him, he finally released her shoulder this time. She started walking, and he didn’t stop her. Glancing back at Bianco, she saw him looking down, emanating a sense of tragedy.

——…Could it be he thought I didn’t dislike him?

If so, he’s incredibly naive. She sighed and boarded the carriage Argent had arranged. Once he sat across from her, the carriage set off.

As she gloomily watched the passing scenery, Argent suggested, “Bertina, let’s go to the palace once.” Wide-eyed, she learned he was curious whether the Crown Prince actually intended to have tea with Bertina.

“I doubt it.”

“I think he might.”

“…Clarissa will definitely be there. If I foolishly go, he’ll probably say something like, ‘What, you actually came?'”

“Then let’s watch from a distance so that doesn’t happen. If Clarissa isn’t there, we can at least say hello. It’s fine to dislike each other, but we can’t let it become a fact that Bertina ignored the Crown Prince.”

“…You’re right.”

When she received the tea invitation, she’d been so furious about the broken engagement that she’d lost her ability to think calmly. To avoid giving the other side any advantage, Argent’s reasoning made sense.

Argent had already instructed the coachman to head to the palace. Relieved by her dependable servant’s thoroughness, she thought, “No wasted effort here.”

——Meanwhile, in the salon within the palace. Crown Prince Riet sat silently at a table laden with various sweets.