The moderately warm, sticky cappuccino splattered all over Pedro’s face.
“Ugh—ah!”
Apparently finding it difficult even to open his eyes after being drenched in coffee, Pedro furiously rubbed them with his sleeve.
“How much do you think this hair cost?! Are you insane? Ishael! Have you caught some kind of plague or something?!”
Dark coffee dripped down Pedro’s cheeks as he still failed to grasp what was happening.
“It’s simple. I’m sick of you, and I’m not giving you any more money.”
“W-what?”
“You got dumped.”
You were a car.
You were dumped.
“Enjoy those delicious, cheap bakery buns all by yourself.”
I’m going to spend my own money on an expensive steak.
“And pay back the money you borrowed from me.”
I’m also going to file a compensation claim for all the money you squeezed out of me, so look forward to it.
“You! Your parents have told you countless times to marry me! Don’t do something you’ll regret!”
Of course, there was one problem I needed to worry about right now.
I was planning to cut ties with the family that had been leeching off me all this time and leave home immediately.
Which meant I would have to survive entirely on my own from now on.
I was completely broke.
“Oh, speaking of regret…”
I turned around and saw him wearing an arrogant expression, as if he were thinking, It’s not too late. Come back and beg me.
Seeing that face made it impossible for me to hold back any longer.
I grabbed a campagne loaf almost as big as my face and hurled it through the air like a throwing star.
Whoosh!
The hard, rough loaf traced a perfect arc before landing squarely against his cheek.
Thwack!
“Ugh—ah!”
Nice slap shot.
“I figured I’d regret it if I didn’t slap you after throwing coffee at you. Anyway, goodbye for real!”
Now that I had dumped my ex-boyfriend, it was time to say goodbye to my family too.
I couldn’t afford to buy a house immediately, but leaving home was definitely possible.
Because I was an administrator working at the Imperial Palace!
Employees of the Imperial Palace were entitled to use the palace residences free of charge.
Sure, the residence leaked a little when it rained, but at least my family wouldn’t be able to come barging in whenever they pleased.
The residence is a little old, but it’s not a bad place to live.
So I happily entered the Imperial Palace residence, intending to submit my application immediately—
[Reconstruction in 3 Days]
I must have read it wrong.
I rubbed my eyes as I stared at the sign in front of the residence.
[Reconstruction in 3 Days]
– Reconstruction of this building
has received the final approval
of His Majesty the Emperor.
Yep. I was screwed.
Come to think of it, I remembered that the residence had been completely renovated and transformed before my regression.
But why did it have to happen right now of all times?
Then I noticed some tiny writing beside the sign.
[Limited to administrators currently working at the Imperial Palace: free accommodation is available until August 6, three days from now, provided a personal history and application form are submitted.]
I could stay at the residence for exactly three days.
And somehow, I had to find somewhere to live before then!
It was fine.
I had already died once and come back to life. Surely I could find a tiny place to lay my head.
My enthusiasm disappeared the moment I entered my workplace, the Imperial Palace Knights’ Administration Bureau.
Just yesterday, foolish me had handed over my entire salary to my family.
Which meant there was absolutely no way I could afford a house.
As I sighed heavily, Henry, completely oblivious to my misery, kept talking beside me.
“Oh, right! Fiona’s getting married this time. Did you get her wedding invitation?”
I see.
I wasn’t particularly interested.
“Not yet.”
“You’ll get one soon! But I don’t think she’s even moved out yet. Where are they going to live?”
That question brought a flash of realization.
Come to think of it, didn’t Fiona say she’d gotten her own place?
Even in my second life, Fiona had successfully obtained a home.
More precisely, she had won the Newlywed Special Supply lottery and moved into Newlywed Town.
Newlywed Town!
It was a program that provided newly married couples with expensive townhouses at incredibly affordable prices.
It was extremely close to the Imperial Palace,
the buildings were clean and sophisticated because they were newly constructed,
and they even provided all the furniture for rent!
Unfortunately, due to a marketing failure at the time, hardly anyone knew about the program.
In other words, simply applying meant you were practically guaranteed to get accepted.
If I were a newlywed, I could apply right away. And once I was married, cutting ties with my family would be easier too…
Ridiculous.
I had literally just broken up with my boyfriend.
How was I supposed to get married within three days?
“Oh. Come to think of it, Fiona gave me a flyer for some special supply thing. She told me to try applying too.”
“Really…?”
I hurriedly snatched the paper from Henry.
[Newlywed Town — First Housing Sale Now Open!
Affordable townhouses near a carriage station for newlywed couples!
– Limited to couples married for less than one year
(However, marriage registration must be completed by August 6.)]
August 6.
Was it a coincidence?
It was the exact same day I had to leave the residence.
I probably won’t be getting married, but I’ll keep this for now.
I was carefully studying the flyer when I slipped it into my pocket.
Henry tapped me on the shoulder.
“Ishael? We have to go inspect the swords now.”
I worked in Team One of the Knights’ Administration Bureau, managing swords and defensive magical tools.
I yawned indifferently and asked,
“Who’s inspecting the knights’ swords today? Hopefully someone easygoing.”
Henry looked at the inspection sheet and tilted his head in confusion.
“Huh? The knight-side inspector is Sir Dylan.”
“Oh?”
I didn’t have the time to care who Dylan was.
I casually stood up.
“I don’t know why such a high-ranking knight is organizing a warehouse, but you must be happy.”
“Why would I be happy?”
“You’re asking why? Seriously?”
“Yeah. I’m asking because it’s a question.”
He excitedly patted my shoulder.
“Sir Dylan? Isn’t he the man every woman likes? He’s practically an idol among men too!”
“Is he?”
I had never really thought that much about Sir Dylan.
Sir Dylan was a commoner by birth and an elite knight in the Emperor’s personal knight order.
Of course, an ordinary commoner couldn’t simply join the Emperor’s personal knights.
But Sir Dylan was different.
Once a year, the Emperor personally held a swordsmanship tournament, and the winner was granted the honor of joining the knight order regardless of social status.
Sir Dylan had won that very tournament and was assigned to the Emperor’s personal knights, becoming a knight of great renown.
Naturally, being a knight, he was well over 190 centimeters tall, broad-shouldered, and had a body built from layers of well-defined muscle.
Of course, if that were all there was to him, he wouldn’t have become this famous.
There was one real reason Sir Dylan was so famous throughout the Imperial Palace.
“He’s insanely handsome. That black hair, as dark as if it had sliced through the night, and those ominous yet perfect red eyes!”
…Right.
His face.
Sir Dylan had a cold appearance and almost always wore an expressionless face, but his looks were simply flawless.
Ellie, who claimed to have seen him smile exactly once, had said, “It was winter, but I swear it felt like spring flowers had suddenly bloomed all around me.”
With looks like that, he should have been allowed to be lacking in at least one area.
Ah, wait. Is there actually anything he lacks?
Sir Dylan was one of the most famous people in the Imperial Palace.
Rumors about him were everywhere.
The perfect example of a taciturn man with only one expression.
An absolute stickler for the rules.
Apparently, he had no interest whatsoever in women.
Rumors had even spread that perhaps he secretly lived a wild life behind closed doors—or maybe he preferred men.
Despite all those rumors, there was one undeniable fact:
He was unquestionably talented!
Not only had he suppressed countless terrorist attacks throughout the Empire,
he even had legendary feats from wars against other nations, including stories of him defeating dark mages in battle.
It was a little strange that such an outstanding knight was doing nothing more than organizing a warehouse.
But…
“Well, maybe he just likes organizing warehouses.”
Did I really look like I had time to investigate some suspicious behavior?
I had to get rid of my parasitic family and somehow buy myself a house first.
The sword-maintenance session in the warehouse began with Sir Dylan, Henry, and me.
Henry and I were assigned a thousand épées, while Sir Dylan was inspecting a thousand rapiers right beside us.
True to his reputation as the ultimate stickler for rules, Sir Dylan methodically and meticulously arranged each rapier.
He really is ridiculously precise.
Not only was he incredibly fast at checking the blades, removing rust, and maintaining the swords, but he also realigned every finished sword with not even the slightest deviation.
Then Henry suddenly turned toward me and whispered,
“Ugh, seriously. I’m suddenly getting pissed off again. The more I think about it, the weirder that bastard Pedro is. Seriously, dump that deadbeat as soon as possible.”
I was about to tell him that I already had.
But…
“Ah, wait. Now that I think about it, why did you really take that Newlywed Town flyer? Are you planning to get married? To that deadbeat? Seriously, get a grip!”
I was about to deny it.
I’d already broken up with that deadbeat, and I’d only taken the flyer by coincidence.
But just as I opened my mouth—
From Sir Dylan’s section of the warehouse came the loud sound of a sword bending with a harsh creak.
It was so sudden and loud that both Henry and I turned to look.
Worried that something serious had happened, we hurried over to Sir Dylan.
“Sir, is there a problem?”
He strangely avoided my gaze and muttered,
“It was… a mistake.”
A mistake that suddenly happened after he had flawlessly inspected nine hundred rapiers?
I pointed it out flatly.
“Um, that sword is bent.”
“A misunderstanding…”
He grabbed the bent rapier in one hand and simply snapped it in half—
CRACK!
At the sound, his cold gaze swept over me.
He quietly stared at me, who had frozen like a rabbit in front of a tiger, then murmured,
“Marriage…”
Marriage?
Why all of a sudden?
“Yes?”
When I cheerfully asked again, he clenched and unclenched his fist.
What is that supposed to mean?
Was he really putting that much force into his fist?
But what did my marriage have to do with anything? Why? I really couldn’t figure out what was going through his mind.
“……Do not marry that man.”
