IPWDP 24

Chapter 24

“If breaking off the engagement is possible, do you want to break it off?”

“If it’s possible, yes. I would like that.”

She wanted to let him go—even if it had to be like this. Watching Regios change right before her eyes was too painful. She didn’t want to make him suffer anymore. She wanted to set him free, even now.

Even if, afterward, she would have nowhere to go.

“You think you can live without seeing me?”

It wasn’t as if they saw each other often now. At most, once or twice a month. But their relationship couldn’t remain frozen like this forever. Sooner or later, things would change.

From betrothed to husband and wife.

Even if Regios didn’t want it—that was what would happen. Once they were formally married, she would live by his side for the rest of her life. When she thought of that future, her mind went blank. He would hate her forever.

“If it isn’t destiny, then we are nothing.”

Aside from the official bond of fate, there was nothing left between them. It wasn’t living without seeing each other—it would be living never able to see each other again. She would no longer have anyone in her corner.

No—she never had anyone.

The moment she became his destined partner, he stopped being on her side.

“If breaking it off were possible, what would you do? Get married to another man while still bearing my mark of destiny?”

“I don’t know.”

After her family died and she became his fate, the only path left for Ephelia was to become the Crown Princess. If that path disappeared… she had never allowed herself to consider such a possibility.

Ephelia laughed weakly. As the Crown Prince’s former fiancée and fated partner, there was no way she could marry another man. He knew that well—so why even ask?

No—if the engagement were broken, her ducal house might actually sell her off to some foreign noble. Since within the Empire, who would dare marry the Crown Prince’s former fiancée and the daughter of a duke?

“What? If it can’t be me, are you planning to switch to Hailen next?”

“What are you talking about? Hailen? Why do you keep dragging Hailen into our problems?”

He always became strangely sensitive whenever Hailen was mentioned. Ephelia’s words made his expression briefly shift into embarrassment—as if he had slipped up.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Clicking his tongue as though he regretted bringing it up, Regios turned away, as if trying to hide his face.

“Your Highness. Why…?”

Ephelia reached out and grabbed Regios’s arm. He shook her off easily.

“I said it’s nothing.”

Even though the push was weak, Ephelia stumbled. She stepped back to regain her balance, but her heel snapped with a loud crack.

“Kyaa!”

Already off balance, Ephelia pitched backward—and beside her was a cliff. Regios reached for her, but he was an instant too late. She fell.

“Ephelia!”

Thud—thud.

Her dress fluttered in the air. As she dropped, a miracle of sheer survival instinct made her seize a tree root jutting out from the cliffside.

Her hands trembled violently. She looked down without meaning to. The height was dizzying. When had they gone this far? She tried to find footing, but her shoe slipped, falling into the abyss.

Ephelia had never realized how terrifying it was when her feet could not reach the ground.

She turned her head upward. Regios was staring down at her, arm outstretched, face pale with shock.

“Re–Regios.”

At some point, she had stopped calling him by his name. Every time she used that familiar name, his face would harden. Terrified and panicked, she had spoken his name without thinking.

Ephelia forced her head up even as gravity tried to pull it down. Their eyes met.

It lasted less than a second—shorter than a blink. But in that fleeting hesitation, she saw everything. In his eyes, in that briefly halted hand, Ephelia saw the truth. It was enough to break her completely.

If she had the strength, she would have laughed. But all her strength was already in her fingers, clinging to the root. The depth of her despair drained even the will to live. Enough. They were both at their limit. It was time to let him go. She had grabbed the root to survive—now she held it only to say what needed to be said.

“Was I… that unbearable to you?”

“What are you talking about?”

She knew he didn’t believe in destiny. No—he hated it. But she didn’t know he hated her enough to want her gone from this world. He probably didn’t wish for her death; it had been just a moment of wavering. Before she was his fiancée, she was his fated partner—someone he wished did not exist.

“If I disappear… will Your Highness finally be happy?”

Was her existence what made him miserable? She had been happy just because he existed. If only he had not been the Crown Prince. She had always wished that. If he had nothing—no power, no status, no beauty—she would still have loved him.

From the first moment she saw him. The boy who teased her gently while she cried in the sunlight—where had he gone?

Even without destiny, she would have loved him. He had always been kind. No matter where he was born or who he became, she still would have loved him. Where had that gentle boy gone?

“Stop talking nonsense and take my hand.”

Ephelia stared at the hand reaching toward her. If she took it, she would live. But in that brief moment, her desire to live slipped away. If her existence was so unbearable—then perhaps it was better to stop.

His face was tense with desperation. How strange. He had never shown anger at her before—never let his emotions slip.

Some might call that love or consideration. But now she saw it clearly—it meant he had always hidden everything from her.

A fake smile, a hidden heart, a thoroughly calculated mask.

Ephelia finally realized: from the moment she became his fated partner, she had never once seen the real him.

Where had that gentle boy gone?

Her silk shoe finally slipped off her toes and tumbled down the cliff. It vanished without a sound.

“This one… you’ll like.”

He always accepted her gifts with a cold expression—as though displeased. Not because the gifts were lacking, but because she was the one giving them. Even knowing that, she had been happy while preparing each gift.

“If you come up, I’ll gladly accept anything. So grab my hand! Ephelia!”

Was it her imagination? He seemed anxious. Even so, she was relieved that the last thing she saw in this life would be his face. She had been happy to meet him, even if he had never loved her—even if he had hated her.

She was only sorry that her happiness had meant his unhappiness.

“Your Highness… no. Regios.”

How long had it been since she called that name? Like when they were children—before destiny chained them.

“You may not, but Regios… I… I truly—”

Ephelia stopped. No, she wouldn’t say it. He didn’t want her love. She had no right to speak those words. Instead, she prepared the words she had to say.

Regios’s face went white. He had caught on at last.

“What are you thinking, Ephelia?”

Was it just her imagination, or did his voice tremble? No—it was only what she wanted to believe. Foolishly clinging to the hope that he might care.

Ephelia smiled softly.

“No. No, Ephelia. Don’t do that.”

Regios leaned dangerously far over the cliff, reaching for her. His fingertips brushed the back of her hand. It was too risky—any more and he would fall with her.

“Please… be happy.”

“Ephelia!!”

In a world without me.

“Goodbye.”

Just before her grip on the root gave out, she released it of her own will. The last thing reflected in Ephelia’s eyes was his horrified face.