If You Cheat, Just Don’t Tell Me - Chapter 15

—Since when did I become someone who gets this angry on other people’s behalf?

Freya was probably absent from school because she was busy making appearances at various places regarding the debt. I thought that was the job of the family head or the negotiator, not Freya’s responsibility, but maybe they had no other choice. Perhaps they were negotiating for investments in Freya by using her talents as collateral.

Well, even if they did that, it would just mean the debt would shift from the Fidel family to someone else.

The amount of debt was far beyond anything I could handle alone. I wanted to help Freya, but when it came to money, I was powerless.

I considered consulting my family, but I quickly dismissed the idea. It wasn’t about liking or disliking them.

Freya had trusted me enough to share the Spirits family’s shame, believing I wouldn’t tell anyone. Even if it was my own family, telling them would betray Freya’s trust, and besides, it wasn’t a problem that could be solved just by talking about it.

If we were already married and related by marriage, it might be different, but Freya and I were still just engaged. If it came to dealing with the Spirits family’s debt, my family would probably choose to break off the engagement instead. We weren’t particularly fixated on noble bloodlines. At least, I’d never heard such talk in my family.

Besides, my family didn’t have that kind of money. Both my parents were commoners who had risen in status, we were feudal nobles without generational wealth or granted territories.

My family simply didn’t have the power to do anything about the Spirits family’s debt.

The frustration of wanting to do something for Freya but being unable to do anything kept building inside me. It would be best if the Spirits family could handle it on their own, but from the look of things, that seemed unlikely.

…Why did it have to come to this? Whatever happened to me didn’t matter, but it wasn’t right for misfortune to fall on Freya.

Well, financially speaking, it might be better for her to marry Lucius instead of me. As long as he didn’t fail in managing his family’s business, she’d be guaranteed a wealthy life.

…But that would be a marriage that ignored Freya’s feelings. I didn’t know how our engagement started, but at least now, she was facing me sincerely.

I remembered Freya’s face.

The face she made when she said she didn’t want to marry anyone else.

A face struggling desperately against frustration, sadness, and overwhelming helplessness.

Freya hadn’t done anything wrong, so why did she have to make that face? It wasn’t right.

If someone said it was a noble daughter’s duty to marry for her family’s sake, then that was that. The Fidel family wasn’t doing anything particularly evil either. It was only natural to expect something in return for a loan, and having noble blood in the family made a difference in influence.

…Even so, I couldn’t accept my own feelings about the situation Freya was facing.

—Since when did I become someone who gets this angry on other people’s behalf?

I hadn’t heard the exact deadline for repaying the debt, but it was probably drawing closer day by day.

Ever since the day Lucius first summoned Freya, he had been calling for her frequently, whether I was around or not.

For her part, Freya clearly disliked being summoned by Lucius, but given the circumstances, she couldn’t refuse outright. She would walk over to him with an apologetic look directed at me.

Every time I saw her retreating back, it felt like a rope was tightening around my heart. I knew Freya’s situation. I knew she wasn’t answering Lucius’s summons because she wanted to.

Even so, seeing her chasing after another man right in front of me—jokes aside—wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

“Hey. What’s your deal lately? You’re getting way too familiar with my fiancée.”

Once, I couldn’t hold back and confronted Lucius. Of course, I made sure not to let on that I knew the circumstances.

My voice came out lower than I expected. I was that agitated.

“Nothing much, just some family matters. Recently, there have been a few dealings between Miss Freya’s family and mine. This is part of that.”

Even as I pressed him, Lucius brushed it off with a cool expression. That smug face only irritated me more.

Though he offered some excuse, his attitude was clearly provocative. That condescending gaze I’d experienced so many times, looking down on a failure from on high.

I unconsciously clenched my fist.

Immediately, Freya, who was nearby, called my name.

“Dicca!”

“…I’m not gonna do anything.”

I knew well enough that punching this guy out of anger wouldn’t accomplish anything good. I was just channeling my boiling rage into my fist to keep from losing my head.

“Must be tough for Miss Freya to have a dropout from the Regis family as her fiancé, huh?”

“…That’s not true.”

Freya replied tersely, choosing her words carefully. Whether she didn’t deny it strongly to avoid provoking Lucius, or for some other reason.

Then, with another apologetic look at me, she whispered, “…I’m sorry,” and left to talk with Lucius. And there I was, unable to do anything about it.

“You should know your place. You won’t be her fiancé for much longer anyway.”

As he left, Lucius whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

All I could do was glare at him.

The classmates around us watched from a distance.

The fact that I couldn’t do anything for Freya hurt more than any failure at home, more than not living up to others’ expectations, more than anything I’d ever felt before.

I wanted to do something. But I didn’t know what.

I didn’t want to give up. So, what should I do?

That anxiety kept spinning round and round in my head as I remained alone in the classroom.