ICSF 05

CHAPTER 05

“Lovey! I don’t know what that woman told you, but it’s all lies! You know very well that you’re the one I love, don’t you?”

So, couldn’t she just let this one thing slide? From Pedro’s perspective, it was practically the same as bowing his head and begging her to spare him.

He thought that Seiana, who had always craved his love, would naturally struggle with this and ultimately take his side. But—

“Pedro Sachsen. Are you really going to stoop this low?”

“Lovey…”

“Fine. If you’re really that wronged, then all right. Shall we settle this once and for all and determine exactly who’s telling the truth?”

“Call a mage.”

Seiana coldly ordered one of the servants who had been watching from the side. At that, Pedro’s face turned even paler.

How could she be this cruel to him?

Pedro called her name almost like a scream.

“Seiana!”

“If you’re so confident, then go ahead. If the mage comes and determines that you’re not the father, I’ll simply give you the property I promised to give you as my dowry after we married. What are you willing to put up? Your life?”

“……”

“This house belongs to me. Your position in the knights was given to you by my family. And that sword at your waist? I gave you that, too, didn’t I? Even the Sachsen estate isn’t yours. You don’t have a damn thing to your name, so what gave you the confidence to pull something like this?”

“Seiana, how can you—how can you do this to me…!”

“……”

“You can’t treat me like this!”

“Why? Is there some reason I can’t?”

“……Huh? Guh!”

Seiana lifted her foot and stepped on Pedro’s thigh as he knelt before her. The sharp heel of her shoe dug deep into his thigh, and Pedro writhed in pain, but Seiana’s escort knights held him down so firmly that he couldn’t move an inch.

Looks like that’s going to bruise.

Seeing his face twisted with pain, Seiana felt some of the anger inside her ease. She smiled.

“Does it feel like a betrayal now that I’m treating you this way, when I used to be so blindly devoted to you?”

“……”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. You’re the one who betrayed me. I suppose you thought that because I kept forgiving you, you could get away with anything. But that was your mistake.”

“Men! Men are supposed to look elsewhere sometimes! After they get married, they all keep mistresses in one way or another!”

“That might be true for an ordinary noble marriage. But you’re not in one, are you? You’re just a man who sold his body to our family for our wealth. What business do you have keeping a mistress?”

Seiana twisted her lips into a mocking smile as Pedro fell speechless.

“You ruined the most valuable thing you had. Your worthless body—something no one else would ever want. I was planning to pay the highest price for it and take it for myself. But you went around using it here and there until you damaged it, didn’t you? Why would I have any reason to take something like that?”

Only then did Pedro realize how serious the situation was.

He finally understood that he couldn’t talk his way out of this with the smooth words he had always used before.

His mind went blank.

If the existence of his illegitimate child became officially established, then putting his reputation aside, everything he had been enjoying would undoubtedly disappear like a bubble.

Pedro had never been able to live particularly comfortably. It was only after meeting Seiana that his life had truly blossomed.

He had come to live in the capital and had even become a knight serving the Imperial Palace, even if he was only a low-ranking one.

And she expected him to lose all of that and go back to his old life?

‘I can’t let that happen.’

It was true that the Sachsen and Estarotte families had made a considerable profit by doing business together, but there was no way his family had actually saved that money.

Pedro himself would have spent every penny on luxury if he had gotten his hands on such wealth.

Even if he went back, his younger brother had already become the heir. If Seiana abandoned him, Pedro had nowhere left to go.

“Lovey, please……”

Only now did Pedro sob and regret his actions.

He regretted how arrogantly he had behaved all this time, believing he could take Seiana’s feelings for granted.

But it was already too late.

Perhaps the servant had already arranged for a mage to wait nearby, because he soon returned with one.

“The paternity test has confirmed a match.”

It was like a death sentence had been handed down.

As Pedro struggled desperately, one of the escort knights pressed him firmly to the ground.

But he couldn’t let things end like this.

“Liar! That’s a lie!”

“That’s what the mage says.”

When Seiana turned toward the mage, he looked offended.

Such examinations were performed with a mage’s personal name and reputation on the line. Denying the result was practically an insult to the mage himself.

The mage glared at Pedro indignantly.

“I’ll write you a certificate verifying the results, complete with my signature. If you intend to take this to court, I’ll also serve as a witness.”

“Oh my, thank you.”

“No!”

Although Pedro’s insult had been unintentional, he had thoroughly gotten on the mage’s bad side. In effect, he had dug his own grave.

After sending the mage away with a hefty purse as payment for his services, Seiana clapped twice to draw everyone’s attention.

“Well, now that everything has been settled, I suppose we should clean up.”

“……What?”

“I’m telling you to get out of my house. Everyone, throw out all the trash in here.”

Seiana casually flicked her fingers, and the servants began carrying Pedro’s belongings out of the room.

Some of the items were quite expensive, but the servants handled them with anything but care.

Perhaps things would have been different if Pedro had been a good master.

And it wasn’t just Pedro’s belongings that the servants carried outside.

Since the Sachsen family also used Seiana’s townhouse whenever they came to the capital, quite a few of their possessions were there as well.

Seeing Seiana completely cutting him off, Pedro grew desperate.

At the very least, if he had been given some time, he could have sold those things himself. But what was he supposed to do if everything was thrown out like garbage?

“You’re throwing me out now? At this hour? Where am I supposed to go with all this stuff?”

He could at least avoid spending the night outside by staying at the knights’ quarters, but he had nowhere to put all his belongings.

Pedro swallowed his pride and begged her, but Seiana remained unmoved.

“Why should I care?”

As she said this, she snatched the sword hanging from Pedro’s waist.

Pedro’s face flushed bright red as he shouted that it belonged to him, but Seiana merely scoffed.

“I bought this, didn’t I? Then it’s mine. How could it possibly be yours?”

“But you—!”

“I gave it to you as a gift, but why would I send you off with something that expensive? If you really want it, buy it from me.”

Seiana generously gave him that option, but Pedro didn’t have enough money to buy the sword.

His only personal income was his salary from the knights, and he had spent all of that on luxury and pleasure. He was completely broke.

Besides, he had assumed that once he married Seiana, enormous wealth would come with her, so saving his tiny salary had seemed pointless compared to the fortune waiting for him.

Of course, even if he had saved every single penny of that salary, he still wouldn’t have been able to afford the sword.

“So, shall we end this cleanly, or do you want to make it ugly and drag it out?”

“…What?”

“Decide whether you’ll sign willingly or take this all the way to court.”

With that, Seiana held out a document.

It was the engagement annulment agreement.

Pedro’s eyes trembled as he stared at it.

Is it really ending like this?

Without even giving me one chance to be forgiven?

Seiana looked at Pedro as he glared at her with nothing but resentment and scoffed.

“You still haven’t come to your senses, have you? Excuse me.”

“……Yes?”

“What are you going to do?”

“Me? What am I supposed to do…?”

“I think you could file a criminal complaint against him for seducing you under the pretense of marriage, or for fraud. What will you do? If you intend to do so, our side will help you. You’ll need money if you’re going to raise the child alone, won’t you?”

“Seiana!”

Pedro nearly fainted at the sight of his fiancée encouraging his mistress to sue him.

If only this were a dream. I want to wake up.

The mistress hesitated before finally nodding.

Only a few hours ago, Pedro had been the man she believed she had to protect—the man she loved.

But after being betrayed, the only thing she had left now was her child.

Seiana smiled at her decision and clapped her hands.

Once every last possession belonging to the Sachsen family had been thrown outside, Seiana threw out the biggest piece of trash of all.

“Seiana! Lovey! Please! Forgive me just once!”

Pedro fell to his knees and begged for forgiveness, but the firmly closed gates of the townhouse never opened.

After wandering around for a long time and pleading, he eventually called a merchant so he could at least sell his belongings as quickly as possible.

But there was no one to guard the things, either. Most of the valuables had already been taken by passersby, and because he had to sell everything in such a hurry, he ended up with almost nothing in his hands.

Perhaps because they had received word from Pedro, the Sachsen family came rushing to find me the next day.

Naturally, I refused to see them.

Maybe I would have met them if that Jwo-Paedro bastard had still been someone I found cute, but now I couldn’t even stand the sight of him. Meeting his family would only ruin my mood.

After making several more requests and realizing that I wouldn’t budge, they began raging about how I could possibly treat them this way.

As expected, they were truly Jwo-Paedro’s family.

“We will not let this go!”

In the end, the Sachsen side refused to sign the engagement annulment agreement.

Even though they were clearly the ones at fault for the broken engagement, their refusal made it seem as though they intended to sit tight and grovel until my anger subsided.

“Yeah. That won’t do.”

I immediately filed a lawsuit.

I also submitted a petition to the knights’ order where that bastard was serving.

Is it acceptable for a knight sworn to protect the Imperial Family to behave disgracefully by playing around with two women? Did you people know about this?

That was more or less what my petition said, and the moment it reached the Imperial Palace, it set everything ablaze.

Despite having treated me with such contempt, it seemed the Sachsen family had made very good use of the Estarotte name. Their superiors appeared to be absolutely furious.

“What on earth did this guy think he was relying on?”

Honestly, I was so disgusted with myself for ever falling for someone like him that I wanted to gouge out my own eyes.

What did I ever see in a guy like that…?

It was as if I had officially proven that my eyes were located on the soles of my feet.

Apparently, Pedro was dismissed immediately after my petition was submitted, because he came looking for me and raged furiously.

But there was nothing he could do after losing everything, especially when his own abilities were so pathetic.

Just like last time, he was subdued by the knights of my family and could do nothing but writhe helplessly on the ground like a worm while blaming me.

“How could you do this to me!”

“Is there any reason I can’t?”

Honestly, I wanted to kill him, but I kept him alive solely because I wanted to give him an even greater despair.

In the end, Pedro could do nothing but cry and leave.

Once they realized that my resolve would not waver, the Sachsen family seemed to conclude that they had no choice and tried to negotiate a peaceful settlement.

But there was no reason for me to agree anymore.