I Ended My Engagement With The Woman Who Despised Me

༺ 𓆩  Chapter 22 — Rianna  𓆪 ༻

「Translator — Creator」

᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃

In life, there come times when we're forced to make choices with no clear answers, leaving only retrospective narratives.

In the flow of choices that would leave regrets no matter what was chosen,

And in those moments—

Rianna was the one who always pointed the protagonist toward the best possible path.

A guiding star.

'That's why I want to draw her to my side if possible.'

While her information-related abilities were tempting,

What made this an incredibly attractive option was the possibility of taking away the guidepost that showed the protagonist which way to go.

So, unable to miss this opportunity, I approached Rianna.

"The youngest son of House Carsaril… Sir Damian, was it? A pleasure to meet you."

She greeted me calmly, as if she had known all along that I would come.

At those words, I realized my arrival here had been somewhat predetermined and glanced sideways.

‘She set this up.’

She had planted the idea in Loraine’s mind, ensuring that we would end up here.

Most likely—

She had researched Loraine’s taste in snacks and subtly influenced vendors to position themselves along a route leading to the flower field.

And then, she had fed Loraine the idea that this place was a must-visit tourist attraction.

[ “I heard there are flowers that move when you shake your body. It’s one of the most famous places in the city, so I’m sure you’ll love it!” ]

I let out a bitter laugh as I recalled Loraine's earlier words.

Now I understood why her explanation had seemed so awkward.

Realizing I had been perfectly led here, I silently looked at Rianna, who spoke to me while feigning a friendly smile.

"Hoho. I hear you accomplished quite a spectacular feat last night? To be honest, I was very surprised. I never dreamed that you, still only a low-rank Sword Expert, could achieve such a thing."

"... Is that so?"

"Mhm. Of course, Lady Lorraine played a significant role, but from what I’ve gathered, your contributions were equally impressive. Ah—don’t get me wrong! I simply mean that you both did an excellent job."

How much does she know?

Her speed in gathering information was even faster than I had anticipated.

Raising my internal evaluation of her, I remained silent as she gently brushed her fingers over the swaying flowers and continued speaking.

"With this, the trust between the Order and the Dark Mages will crumble. They’ll be too busy cleaning up the mess to move freely for a while — meaning House Carsaril stands to gain quite a bit politically."

The Order, Dark mages, and a contract.

She knew everything.

Not just the surface details—

But the core truths of the entire incident.

This wasn’t just quick information gathering—

It was thorough, precise, and far too complete for someone who shouldn’t have been directly involved.

I found myself studying her face, curiosity growing with each passing moment.

Then—

"Your staring makes me a bit shy. I'm rather timid, so this kind of attention is burdensome."

Such words carried no conviction when delivered with an unwavering, dignified expression.

As I was thinking more and more that it would be good to bring her to our side,

Loraine beside me hardened her expression and spoke to Rianna.

"Who are you? How do you know all this? Are you perhaps the culprit? Or maybe the mastermind?"

From Loraine's perspective, it was a reasonable suspicion.

In my case, I was taking it calmly because I knew Rianna's role from the original story.

But for Loraine, it was natural to be suspicious when some woman suddenly appeared knowing everything about the situation.

'Moreover, she knows things that only key figures could possibly know.'

Her suspicion could only grow stronger.

To Loraine's words, Rianna chuckled and waved her hand.

"Oh, nothing like that. I’m on no one’s side. I merely buy and sell information — just a humble merchant, nothing more."

Despite the explanation,

Since it was virtually impossible for even an information merchant to know this much, Loraine spoke with an expression of continued disbelief.

"A mere information merchant knows that much? It would be more convincing if you said you were from the imperial secret intelligence division."

"Fufu, an interesting theory. But no, I assure you, I am not."

"Then what are you? How do you know all these things?"

"While it's difficult to reveal as it's confidential... to gain your trust, I'll say it's because I have many hidden eyes and ears everywhere."

"Eyes? Ears?"

It was literal.

Rianna possessed a unique ability—

She had scattered enchanted objects throughout the world, acting as her remote surveillance network.

A formidable advantage in information gathering.

Of course—

There were drawbacks to her power, but even with its limitations, it was still one of the most powerful intelligence abilities in existence.

'If I mention this, it would only raise suspicion.'

As I pretended not to know,

Loraine, seemingly finding such an explanation far from sufficient, continued trying to verbally tear into Rianna.

Rianna, seemingly deciding she had entertained Loraine’s interrogation enough, sighed theatrically and waved a hand.

"Alright, alright. Let’s not be so aggressive, shall we? If you keep pressing me like this, I might accidentally reveal something about the romance novels hidden in your room, Lady Loraine."

At Rianna's words, Loraine froze.

Just as I was about to say something, thinking how surprisingly girlish Loraine's tastes were,

Rianna came right up to my face and spoke while staring directly at me.

"Anyway, Young Master Damian, the important thing is you. Usually, when I observe something, I get a certain immediate feeling... but with you, I get nothing."

"Really?"

"Yes. Whether it's your way of acting, or you as a person... I just can't figure you out at all."

Somewhat curious about this, I asked for the reason.

Rianna spread her long, slender fingers and began explaining while folding them one by one.

"Let's say it's possible that House Carsaril's troublemaker experienced hardship in the North and reformed."

"But the problem is that you not only discovered warmth there but also suddenly blossomed with unexpected sword talent..."

"And as soon as you returned home, you started hunting dark mages and discovered key incidents, preventing House Carsaril's downfall."

I hadn't expected her to know about the sun spirit's existence too.

As I remained guarded, realizing she knew even more than I had anticipated,

Rianna snapped her fingers, met my eyes, and spoke with an expression full of interest.

"Just what are you, who suddenly started accomplishing all this?"

I deliberately avoided answering.

Whether truth or lie, the moment I said anything, her sharp senses would extract information from my words.

So I just stared at her silently, and she smiled slightly and said,

"I really love interesting things. That's why I've become interested in you."

Not a bad conclusion.

Having decided to draw Rianna in as an ally, if she approached me out of interest,

The possibility of making her an ally would increase.

Just as I was planning to gradually develop this relationship,

Suddenly Rianna kissed my cheek and whispered softly,

"See you next time?"

Then she winked and turned away without hesitation, departing.

As I felt the strange warmth on my cheek and rubbed it with my finger—

The people who had been watching the flowers nearby all stood up simultaneously and began following Rianna.

...these apparent tourists were actually all informants under Rianna's command.

Thinking this was quite interesting, I was about to return home when

I felt someone tugging at my clothes beside me.

Looking over to see what it was, I found Siren staring at me with her mouth open, appearing completely shocked.

"........."

Sensing the situation had become somewhat awkward, I deliberately looked away and repeatedly cleared my throat uncomfortably.

𓇘

Though things had been roughly wrapped up by reporting the assassination plans of the Dark Mages and the Order to the Patriarch,

It wasn't completely over, just roughly concluded, so we still needed to monitor the situation.

Therefore, I was getting some sunlight with Siren in the garden while planning to keep track of Lilia's condition.

"What are you two really doing... geez."

Though Loraine shook her head at us as if she couldn't understand,

Knowing how important warmth from others was, I ignored Loraine's complaints and sat there blankly, happy to bask in the sunlight.

'Though it's too early to relax completely, I suppose we can say we've put out the immediate fire.'

The only worry was that the failed dark mages might take desperate measures to cover up their mistakes. And while those desperate measures would greatly damage the dark mages' side,

They could also cause considerable damage to our side, so it seemed good to prepare for that.

Since preparation here meant becoming stronger,

I concluded it would be good to take on the missions Loraine recommended after the engagement annulment ceremony.

Just as I was about to resume training with this in mind, I felt something wiggling and moving in my arms.

Puzzled by the sensation like having a puppy tucked away, I took out what was inside.

"Myung."

I saw that the spirit I had kept in my arms had transformed into a small human form.

'Or should I say fairy?'

As I was speculating that selective transformation might be possible, considering how Fenrir had changed into human form,

The spirit wriggled onto my shoulder, grinned, and said,

"Hewwo!"

Could it now communicate, unlike before?

Curious, I greeted the spirit first.

It beamed, nodding its tiny head from side to side.

"Jooya."

Its pronunciation was slightly off—

Likely because it had only just taken on a humanoid form.

‘It’ll improve with time.’

As I gently ran a finger over its head, the spirit suddenly shimmered—

And then—

It transformed back into its fluff-ball state.

Settling comfortably in my hand, it gave a small wiggle.

'Seems it's more comfortable in that form.'

Well, either way—

It was still cute.

I idly tickled its tiny chin, enjoying its soft purring vibrations, when another thought crossed my mind.

‘How much stronger did it become?’

In the original story, spirits grew exponentially in power after each evolution.

But since I had never personally tested the extent of that growth, I had no clear frame of reference.

Deciding to test it later, I tickled the spirit's chin and looked up at the sky.

'I should start preparing for the engagement annulment ceremony soon.'

Once that was done, I would finally be free from this entanglement.

And with that, I would make sure the chapter with Elysia was fully closed —

For good.

END of CHAPTER

☩

If you liked the novel, do not forget to rate and review the novel on ⟿ NOVEL UPDATES.