The Broken Engagement

Vina Lilifal was bewildered.

How in the world had things ended up like this?

Summoned without warning to the grand hall of Creatio Magic Academy, she now stood surrounded by countless students. Accusations rained down upon her from every direction, and in her shaken state she desperately tried to trace the origin of this absurd situation.

But no matter how hard she thought about it, nothing came to mind.

She simply couldn’t understand why she was standing here now.

As far as she knew, she had done nothing that would warrant this kind of public condemnation.

As though sensing her confusion, the man at the center of it all sneered.

“Still don’t understand? What a pathetic woman.”

Vina knew him well.

Golden hair swayed softly like a cat’s fur as he strode forward with leisurely confidence. His name was Arnight Rafaris.

The Second Prince of the Kingdom of Rafaris.

And Vina’s fiancé.

“Lord Arnight, I truly don’t understand. What exactly are you trying to accomplish here?” she asked calmly. “You drag me before an audience and humiliate me in public. What do you gain from that?”

“Gain?” he scoffed. “That sounds exactly like something you’d say. You’re the type who’ll trample over anyone if it benefits you. A disgrace to the nobility.”

“…Are you insulting me?” Vina’s eyes narrowed. “Even if you are royalty, that remark is unacceptable. I demand you retract it.”

“But it’s true.” Arnight snorted. “Isn’t that right, Mina? This woman tormented you for her own selfish gain.”

At his prompting, a young girl stepped out from behind him.

Mina Yukishiro.

A black-haired, black-eyed girl.

She wasn’t stunningly beautiful, but there was an undeniable charm about her—something that seemed to shine from within.

“Yes, Lord Arnight,” Mina said softly. “She… no, the girls acting under her orders subjected me to terrible harassment.”

Vina blinked.

The accusation was so sudden that she could only tilt her head in confusion.

Naturally, she had no recollection of such a thing.

Nor did she have any reason to target Mina.

If anything, Vina held her in high regard.

Despite being born a commoner, Mina had entered Creatio Magic Academy as a scholarship student. During their entrance mock battle, she had fought Vina to a standstill. Even after more than a year, she still maintained the academy’s second-highest grades.

Vina respected her accomplishments.

There was no reason she would ever harass her.

“Isn’t there some mistake?”

“No,” Mina replied. “There isn’t.”

Several unfamiliar girls emerged from behind her.

Vina looked at them.

“…Who are you?”

That was a genuine question.

She had never seen any of them before.

She couldn’t even tell whether they were her classmates, upperclassmen, or underclassmen.

The moment she said so, the girls exploded.

“Don’t play dumb!”

“We were acting on your orders!”

“You’re seriously going to abandon us now?!”

“How horrible! You’re trying to save yourself!”

Vina merely shrugged.

She didn’t know them.

How else was she supposed to respond?

“Well?” Arnight demanded. “Do you still deny it?”

“There is nothing to deny.”

Before she could say more, a young man standing beside Arnight stepped forward.

“If you’re truly a member of House Lilifal, then at least accept your fate with dignity. Continuing to struggle only brings shame upon our family.”

The speaker was Glen Lilifal.

Vina’s younger brother.

With the distinctive black hair and crimson eyes of the Lilifal bloodline, he was a tall and handsome young man.

“You were trying to get rid of the girl getting close to the prince. Isn’t that obvious?”

Ah.

So that was it.

At last, Vina understood the story they had constructed.

According to them, she had targeted Mina because Mina was close to her fiancé, Prince Arnight.

How ridiculous.

What possible benefit would that bring?

Tarnishing her family’s name.

Embarrassing her parents and siblings.

Risking everything she had built.

And yet her own brother genuinely believed she was foolish enough to do something so reckless.

Not just him.

Her fiancé believed it too.

And so did the countless students gathered here.

Somehow, that hurt more than she expected.

“…I haven’t done anything.”

Her quiet denial earned only a contemptuous snort.

“How shameless. We know you’re responsible. We already have testimony.”

Testimony.

Vina nearly laughed.

Was her fiancé truly this stupid?

Convicting someone based solely on accusations without evidence was the behavior of a fool who had abandoned reason altogether.

She hadn’t realized his judgment was quite this poor.

There had never been love between them.

Their engagement had always been a political arrangement.

Arnight intended to use her.

Vina intended to use his position.

Neither had ever viewed the other as a romantic partner.

That was simply how noble society worked.

Love marriages were little more than fairy tales.

And yet Arnight had thrown aside a mutually beneficial relationship to create this absurd spectacle.

What an idiot.

Unfortunately, escaping the situation would be difficult.

Anything she said now would devolve into a pointless argument.

And when arguments became battles of public opinion, the majority was always declared correct.

To overturn that, she would need proof that she hadn’t done something.

A negative.

An impossible thing to prove.

How should I deal with this?

Then she corrected herself.

Perhaps there’s no point anymore.

Once a prince publicly annulled an engagement and declared her guilty before the entire academy, her downfall was inevitable.

Vina let out a quiet sigh.

She had devoted herself to her family her entire life.

Yet even if she were innocent, House Lilifal would almost certainly cast her aside.

They had to preserve appearances.

“What proof do you have that I did it?”

“The testimonies,” Arnight declared confidently. “Those are undeniable facts.”

Testimony without evidence.

Did he truly believe that would hold up forever?

Surely the lie would eventually unravel.

Vina was honestly amazed.

Still…

Who had orchestrated all this?

She already had a pretty good idea.

Her gaze drifted toward Mina.

“Hii!”

Mina recoiled with a frightened squeak.

Vina winced.

How awful.

She had merely looked at her.

Was she really that terrifying?

The thought left a bitter smile on her lips.

Then—

Pain exploded across her cheek.

“—!”

For a moment she didn’t understand what had happened.

Then realization struck.

She’d been hit.

Not merely slapped.

Struck with enough force to send her flying.

Arnight had punched her.

“…”

Her mind simply stopped.

She had never imagined he would resort to violence.

First she was falsely accused.

Then publicly humiliated.

And now this.

Still sprawled on the floor, Vina touched her burning cheek.

It throbbed relentlessly.

“…”

Even Mina.

Even Glen.

Even the spectators.

Everyone stared in shock.

Apparently they hadn’t expected that either.

It hurt.

It hurt so much.

No man had ever struck her before.

Not her father.

Not her brothers.

Not even Glen.

“Never show your face before me again.”

His words barely registered.

Holding her aching cheek, Vina sat frozen.

Why?

Why was this happening?

What had she done?

Nothing.

She had done absolutely nothing.

But even if she said so, the man standing before her would never listen.

As she sat there in stunned silence, Arnight drew the sword at his waist.

Ah.

I see.

He intends to pass judgment here and now.

No one moved to stop him.

In fact, some watched with anticipation.

As though they wanted to see it happen.

So this is where I die.

The thought came with surprising calm.

“You fool,” the prince declared. “Pay for your crimes.”

And then—

A voice cut through the hall.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

A young girl’s voice.

Soft, yet filled with unmistakable strength.

Vina knew that voice.

Everyone here did.

“Yua. Don’t interfere.”

“…Interfere?”

Anger seeped into every word.

“I’m asking a question, Brother.”

The crowd parted.

A petite girl with long silver hair stepped forward as though crossing an empty field.

Yua Rafaris.

Arnight’s younger sister.

Third in line to the throne.

A princess of the kingdom.

What now?

Vina laughed bitterly to herself.

Has she come to insult me too?

But the words that followed shattered her expectations.

“Can you not hear me, Brother?” Yua asked coldly. “What are you doing to Lady Vina?”

Vina blinked.

What?

Yua was Arnight’s sister.

Yet she stepped protectively in front of Vina and glared directly at him.

The situation was changing so rapidly that Vina couldn’t keep up.

“Yua. I’ll say it again. Stay out of this.”

“Stay out of it?” Yua’s voice trembled with fury. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Vina had never heard her sound like this.

The Yua she knew was cheerful, gentle, and somewhat shy.

Seeing her consumed by such rage was almost unbelievable.

Could it be… for my sake?

No.

That couldn’t be right.

Surely she was simply outraged by a man striking a woman.

That had to be it.

“Yua,” Arnight said, exasperated. “You’ve been deceived by that ugly woman. Open your eyes already.”

“Say one more word.”

The temperature in the hall seemed to plummet.

“I won’t be responsible for what happens next.”

An unnatural pressure burst from Yua.

Magic power.

White and turbulent.

Complex and distorted.

The air itself warped beneath it.

Her mana was spiraling out of control.

This was bad.

If Yua lost control—

“Lady Yua, stop!”

Vina cried out instinctively.

But Arnight spoke over her.

“It’s the truth. Why are you defending her so desperately?”

Laughter rose from the crowd.

Idiots.

All of them.

Did they not understand what would happen if Yua’s magic exploded?

She had to stop this.

Immediately.

Without thinking, Vina threw her arms around Yua’s slender waist.

“Please stop! Any further and—”

The familiar tone escaped before she could stop herself.

A moment later, panic hit.

Ah. Right.

She was royalty.

Even now, she couldn’t afford to offend her further.

“Forgive me, I—”

Before she could finish, Yua’s knees gave out.

She collapsed onto the floor.

“F-funyaa…”

A tiny, adorable sound escaped her lips.

“Lady Vina touched me…”

Her face turned bright red as she squirmed in embarrassment.

Ah.

I see.

So she disliked being touched.

At least, that was how Vina interpreted it.

More importantly, Yua’s rampaging mana had vanished.

“Yua,” Arnight said coldly. “Do you really intend to oppose your own brother? Surely you’re not foolish enough to ignore what that means.”

Normally, such words would carry weight.

After all, Arnight was currently considered the strongest candidate for the throne.

Yet Yua merely scoffed.

“You truly are hopeless, Brother.”

The contempt in her voice was unmistakable.

“You still don’t realize how incompetent you are. Do you actually believe you surpassed Brother Yuu through your own abilities?”

Brother Yuu.

First Prince Hubert Rafaris.

The greatest obstacle in Arnight’s path to the throne.

Although Hubert had withdrawn from the succession struggle, it was only because Arnight’s schemes had destroyed much of his support among both nobles and commoners.

“What exactly are you implying?”

“If you can’t figure it out yourself, there’s no point explaining it.”

Yua reached out and grabbed Vina’s hand.

“When Brother Yuu makes his next move, you’ll understand soon enough.”

Then she began walking toward the exit.

“Lady Vina. Let’s go.”

“W-wait—”

Behind them, Arnight and the others shouted for them to stop.

Yua ignored every word.

Or rather, she dragged Vina away by force.

As they left the hall together, a single thought lingered in Vina’s mind.

What happens now?

Burdened by that uncertainty, the two girls disappeared from the crowd.