The Story of a Modest Young Lady Who Formed a New Engagement the Day After Her Engagement Was Annulled - Chapter 22

After finding Annabella in the garden of the evening party venue, I retrieved her and forced her into the Raphrencia Marquisate’s carriage. I’d punched the man she was with to silence him. Seeing him turn pale upon realizing I was from the Hydrangia Marquisate was satisfying but Annabella’s betrayal was absolutely unforgivable.

Returning directly from the party to the mansion, I headed straight to my father’s bedroom where he was resting. Since I’d informed the steward earlier that I was coming to see Father, he should have been waiting for me.

Standing before my father’s door, I knocked firmly twice. A muffled voice came from within the room. Announcing my presence, I entered and found Father sitting deeply in his armchair, wrapped in his nightclothes, his gaze fixed intently on me. Upon seeing him, my pace unconsciously quickened. Standing before him, I was filled with regret for having chosen such a woman.

“Father! I request that my engagement to Annabella be nullified!!”

Why had I mistaken Annabella for a good woman? She was beautiful and skilled at flattering men, but looking back now, wasn’t it all just an act to extort dresses and jewels from me? Her ability to stir men’s desires was masterful, and I had been completely fooled.

“Why? This was an engagement you desired and entered into yourself. As head of the family, I merely granted your wish. Nullifying this engagement now would damage our family’s reputation. Miss Annabella is a suitable match for you. Endure it.”

Father fixed me with a stern gaze, his voice lower than usual. True, it was an engagement I had requested and he had granted, but I never expected to end up with such defective goods. I wanted to say I was the one deceived, and I wouldn’t be satisfied until I lodged a complaint against the Raphrencia Marquisate for shamelessly sending out such damaged merchandise.

“Enduring is unnecessary! Annabella was involved with another man! I saw it with my own eyes! If you need proof, I am both the witness and the victim!”

“However, when we made the contract with the Raphrencia Marquisate, it explicitly stated we would not interfere with Miss Annabella’s actions. You remember that, don’t you? Besides, you’ve already been intimate with Miss Annabella yourself, haven’t you? Did you think I wouldn’t know?”

Father raised one eyebrow and smiled, lifting the right corner of his mouth. It was true I had already been intimate with Annabella. While premarital relations are generally avoided among nobles, we had both consented, and I judged it acceptable since we were engaged. Though I had relations with Annabella, I also visited prostitutes occasionally, but plenty of men pay for women. I genuinely didn’t see what the problem was. Annabella was the one who betrayed me first.

“You deceived me, didn’t you, Father!”

A man being promiscuous and a woman being promiscuous carry different meanings. Why couldn’t Father understand my words?

“Deceived? We didn’t deceive you, Caius. The Marquis of Raphrencia and I agreed that Miss Annabella was a suitable match for you after consultation.”

“Eh…?”

What in the world did that mean? My engagement to Annabella was something I had begged Father for and was granted. There shouldn’t have been time to consult with the Raphrencia Marquisate; it was granted because they recognized my military achievements.

“Do you want to know the truth, Caius?”

Father, seated in his chair, crossed his legs and placed his hands on his knees, fixing me with an even sterner gaze. His all-seeing eyes irritated me, and I opened my mouth wide, gritting my teeth.

“So, you did deceive me!!”

“It wasn’t deception. You simply brought about your own ruin together with Miss Annabella. You were so elated that we acquiesced to your request for the engagement that you neglected to properly review the contract.”

Father then questioned whether someone like me could possibly serve as the head of a Marquis house.

“I have been educated as the heir to the Marquis house! With my military achievements in war, even the branch family members can’t complain! What exactly do you find unsatisfactory about me, Father!!”

“Unsatisfactory? I could list countless things.”

Nullifying the engagement with the Narcissus Count house, requesting Annabella as your fiancée without knowing her reputation, immediately raising your voice, constantly bringing up your military exploits. Father sighed, saying the list was endless. Apparently, since childhood, I had been viewed within the Hydrangia Marquisate as unsuitable to be the next head. My harsh treatment of Eleanora, to whom I was engaged since childhood, and my consistently cruel words towards her, were poorly regarded by Father, Mother, and my siblings.

Eleanora, claiming her own inadequacies, had asked to face me herself, and requested that the Hydrangia Marquisate hold off on admonishing me a little longer.

She had properly received education to become a Marchioness, advancing steadily without slacking. When I requested the annulment of my engagement with Eleanora, she judged that continuing the engagement was impossible and, without rebutting my words, accepted the end of our relationship.

“…That… That can’t be! Eleanora was a plain, unremarkable woman. There’s no way she was suitable for me.”

“True, she was modest and not flashy, but she possessed abundant magical power, conducted herself properly as a noblewoman, and lacked nothing in the capabilities required of a Marchioness. It was merely your judgment that was clouded.”

That’s why you were caught by an excessively promiscuous woman like Annabella, Father said, exhaling wearily.

“Then the Raphrencia Marquisate.”

“Judging that your disgrace was imminent, the Marquis of Raphrencia and I joined forces. You will be disinherited. Go wherever you wish. I hear Miss Annabella is being sent to a convent. Though I must apologize to the Narcissus Count house.”

Had Father been planning to oust me from the very beginning? Apparently, Father had bowed his head in apology to both the Raphrencia Marquisate and the Narcissus Count house. He had paid considerable compensation to the Narcissus house for the unilateral annulment.

He had asked Eleanora to keep the truth secret for a while, and she had agreed. This was likely because if I blamed Eleanora, I might discover Father’s collusion with the Raphrencia Marquisate. Father’s stern gaze remained unchanged. He recrossed his legs and let out a small, long sigh.

“When you requested the annulment of your engagement with Miss Eleanora, I had intended to install our second son as heir, but the Lotus Viscountcy beat us to it.”

Father gave a faint, weary laugh, called for the steward, and informed me that I was to be placed under house arrest for the time being.