Chapter: 06
âI originally used this entire floor by myself, but it seemed Lilith didn’t really have a suitable place to stay, so I had it renovated in a hurry and divided the space. Do you like it?â
ââŠ?â
âI did my best to make it comfortable. But if you don’t like it, we can switch rooms instead.â
After finishing his explanation, he added that the view from Lilith’s room was actually better than the one from his own.
She was thoroughly confused.
She had vaguely wondered why the walls and furniture all smelled brand new.
But still…
Edrion was the commander of the Imperial Guardian Knights, the elite order that served the imperial family directly.
He was also Empress Aitana’s only younger brother, the head of House Akshad, and one of the most influential political figures in the empire.
Why would someone like him willingly inconvenience himself just for her comfort?
It wasn’t as though she were anyone important…
As if he had read her thoughts, Edrion gently took her hand.
“Because I’m your fiancĂ©. As the man who’s supposed to take responsibility for the rest of your life, I couldn’t bear to have my frail Lilith staying in some cramped guest room.”
“My fiancĂ©?”
“Yes. Your fiancĂ©.”
“But… our engagement was already broken.”
Lilith recalled her childhood.
After realizing she had transmigrated into a novel, she had devoted every ounce of her time and effort to one goal:
Breaking off her engagement with Edrion.
Because in the original story…
Lilith had obeyed her family’s wishes and married Edrion.
Later, she was framed by people who held a grudge against her husband and falsely accused of causing the World Tree to wither.
As punishment, she was torn limb from limb.
The truth was that she had been nothing more than a pitiful noblewoman who spent her days quietly embroidering in her chambers.
Only after the real culprit was caught did everyone realize she had been innocent.
But what good was that to someone who was already dead?
At most, they probably added a single line to her gravestone:
She was not the true culprit.
If I marry according to the original story, my arms and legs are doomed. I absolutely have to break off this engagement.
At the time, young Lilith had only one objective.
The problem was that their engagement had been arranged before either of them had even been born.
It was a contract between their families.
A child’s tantrum wasn’t enough to break such a solemn agreement.
So Lilith turned what was considered the greatest weakness of a noble lady into her weapon.
“Is the young lady feeling unwell again today?”
“Yes. I don’t think I’ll be able to attend the tea party.”
Pretending to be sick, Lilith stayed in bed all day, happily rolling around under the covers.
Unlike other noble daughters, who devoted themselves to dressing beautifully and showing themselves off, she remained shut inside her bedroom and never so much as let a single strand of hair leave the estate.
After several years, just as she had intended, the Akshad family began to suspect that her health was genuinely poor.
Edrion was the only heir of the Duke and Duchess of Akshad.
If Lilith were physically incapable of bearing children, then the Akshad family line would inevitably come to an end.
The wait took much longer than she had expected.
Even so, things eventually unfolded exactly as she had hoped.
“I’m sorry, Lilith…”
“It’s alright, Your Grace. I’m actually relieved. Cough. To be honest, I’ve always felt guilty. It felt like someone as sickly as me was only holding Young Master Akshad back. Cough, cough.”
When she turned twelve, the Duke of Akshad formally requested that the engagement be annulled.
After all the proper legal procedures were completed, Lilith finally signed the annulment papers in front of the heads of both families.
She had trembled with overwhelming joy and relief at the thought of finally being free.
But with so many people watching, she forced herself to remain composed.
Once she finished signing, she handed the documents to the Duke of Akshad.
The duke couldn’t even bring himself to meet her eyes.
Turning his head away, he instead handed her a considerable amount of compensation.
That settlement had been pretty generous.
Having finally achieved her goal, Lilith left her family under the pretense of going away to recuperate, never once looking back.
Snapping out of her brief recollection, Lilith looked up at Edrion.
“I never knew. That day… your father personally came to see you and demanded that you break off our engagement.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“I found out afterward and chased after my father. But by then, he was already on his way to the court with the signed documents he’d received from you.”
“…”
“I argued with him. I told him his son wasn’t some breeding stallion whose only purpose was producing heirs.”
Edrion let out a bitter smile.
After a quiet sigh, he continued.
“My father told me to think about what was best for the family… and left the annulment papers in my care.”
“He didn’t submit them to the court?”
“I think he wanted me to accept everything first… and submit them myself when I was ready.”
Lilith already knew what came next.
Not long afterward, Emperor Razer’s tyranny brought House Akshad to ruin.
The Duke and Duchess of Akshad were summarily executed.
Aitana, Crown Prince Kairos’s fiancĂ©e, was reduced to slavery.
And Edrion became a fugitive.
Forget submitting the annulment papersâ
He probably hadn’t even had the luxury of remembering they existed.
Realizing this, Lilith stood there with her mouth hanging open.
No way…
She had never imagined their engagement hadn’t actually been dissolved simply because the paperwork had never been filed.
Normally, the party requesting the annulment would take the documents straight to the court.
I never thought those papers had just… been left in limbo…
What on earth had happened?
There were so many things wrong with the situation that she didn’t even know where to begin.
Unawareâor perhaps fully awareâof her thoughts, Edrion continued calmly.
“I wanted to meet you and explain everything. I wanted to return the right to decide our relationship to you.”
“…”
“But at the time, the Imperial Army was relentlessly hunting me. I couldn’t risk approaching you.”
“Of course not.”
Lilith nodded unconsciously.
If the tyrant Razer had discovered that Edrion had contacted her, her peaceful life at the academy would have ended that very day.
“But I still had to see you. So I could let you choose for yourself.”
“…”
“So I took the risk once. Just once. I went to the academy.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
Lilith had never heard of such a thing.
As she searched her memories, a chill suddenly ran down her spine.
It had happened during the winter when she was fourteen and preparing to graduate from the academy early.
“Young Lady, a letter has arrived.”
“What’s it about?”
“The sender says they wish to meet with you. They have something that absolutely must be handed to you in person, and they’re asking you to come to the academy gardens at midnight tonight.”
“In person? Why? They could just leave it at the door.”
“I imagine it’s something very important. There are always students coming and going through the halls, and things occasionally get stolen.”
“How important could it possibly be…? Who sent it?”
Zenia shook her head.
“There isn’t any sender’s name.”
Lilith frowned.
“This sounds incredibly suspicious. It could be a trap set by someone who holds a deep grudge against me…”
“That’s exactly why it sounds fun. You should go.”
“You really must have a grudge against me too.”
Lilith completely ignored Zenia’s suggestion.
But Zenia had acted strangely that day.
Normally she obeyed every order without question.
Yet that day alone, she asked again.
As she stared meaningfully into the darkness beyond the window…
“Are you sure you won’t go?”
“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”
“You won’t regret it?”
“I’m starting to regret bringing you to the academy.”
Don’t tell me…
Meeting Lilith’s gaze, Edrion smiled awkwardly.
“I couldn’t entrust those documents to anyone else. They were proof that I had contacted you. If they reached Razer’s ears, your life could have been in danger.”
“…”
“So I waited for you in the gardens until dawn.”
“It snowed so heavily that night…”
“Fortunately, the snowfall erased every trace that I’d ever been there.”
While being hunted by the Emperor, Edrion had risked his life just to see her.
Meanwhile, she had treated his letter like spam.
And Edrion had spent the entire night standing alone in a raging snowstorm, waiting for a fiancée who never came.
No matter how anyone looked at it…
She was completely at fault.
…I think I’m seriously screwed.
