C1
Chapter 1: I am destined to break off my engagement (1)
“I apologize for letting you down all these years. I will never betray you again. Ariana, my fiancée, and I ask you to forgive me for my past mistakes.”
“What? What do you mean….?”
What happened?
Wasn’t this supposed to be the part where I get my engagement broken off and get expelled from the Academy?
Alex was going to live happily ever after with the original heroine, and I was going to live out the rest of my days in the shelter of my own backyard.
But what the hell is this….
“Excuse me, Mr. Alexandros!”
It wasn’t me who broke the silence.
It was the voice of Miss Sierra, the young lady who was sitting right next to Alex.
“What are you talking about, you’ve clearly told me that you’re going to break up with her sooner or later!”
“Yes, I did say that….”
“But what you’re saying now, it sounds like you’re going to get back together with her!”
To be sure, it’s a strange thing.
About two years into the academy, all of a sudden, Alex, my fiancé, left me alone and started making out with Miss Sierra.
I thought it was going to be a normal ending to the game, but I don’t know why he’s acting like this, like a palm flip on the brink of my doom.
“A reunion, that’s ridiculous.”
At Ms. Sierra’s accusation, Alex shook his head.
…Come to think of it, just because he apologized didn’t mean he wasn’t going to break up with me.
Before I entered the Academy, I was pretty close to him, more like friends.
Break up, but in a milder way than in the original game.
“Well, I see, I must have misunderstood….”
“Because Ariana and I, we were never apart, not even for a moment.”
“What, what?!”
Alex suddenly lunged towards me, grabbing my arm as I watched the situation in bewilderment.
It was a completely unexpected move, and I couldn’t help but be pulled into his arms.
“Ariana has been my fiancée since the moment I met her, and I can’t have a bitch like you sneaking in between us.”
“A bitch like me….?”
“Oh, Mr. Alexandros, would you mind leaving me out of this?”
As if he thought I was going to run away, Alex pulled me into a tight hug and fixed his gaze on Ms. Sierra.
Then, as if mesmerized by something, he pointed at her and said a string of words I didn’t recognize.
“Your four years of squandering the treasury have left the kingdom’s coffers strained, and your actions in diplomatic posts have brought ruin to the country.”
“Mr. Alexandros, what are you talking about?”
“I cannot associate with a hypocrite whose head is a field of flowers, so as of today, you will disappear from my sight….”
Before he could finish speaking, he fell unconscious with a loud crashing sound.
“Alex!”
I don’t know what happened, I have no idea.
* * *
My name is Ariana Anastasia, and I apologize for the delay in introducing myself.
I am the only daughter of the Duke of Anastasia’s family, and I have one younger brother who is not related to me by blood.
The twist is that I am the fiancée of Prince Alexandros, so I have known Alex since a very young age.
And, as originally planned, I was scheduled to hear the announcement of the break-up of the engagement from him today.
Because, you see, I’m the villainous heroine of a female-oriented game called Academy Light Romance.
“…….”
Except that the person who was supposed to break up with me today is currently lying in a hospital bed.
“A mild stroke caused by information overload.”
The royal priest who treated Alex gave his diagnosis.
His busy parents couldn’t be brought to the Academy, so I, his closest relative in form, am at his bedside.
“Information overload?”
“Yes. It’s not common, but it happens to wizards from time to time.”
“How does it happen?”
“It’s when your brain gets too much information to process in a short amount of time, so it shuts off all of your other senses in order to use all of your brain’s capabilities to process that information. Wizards get it a lot from reading grimoires, which usually contain compressed information.”
“Ah….”
After hearing the story, it makes sense.
Alex is a person who feels like hard work and sincerity have made him a human being.
He’s probably been reading a grimoire until just before heading to the ball tonight, and then the bounce came back a beat late.
“How long does it take to wake up?”
“It depends on how much information overload you’ve had, but it shouldn’t take more than an hour.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“It’s great that you handled it so well.”
I can still see the dizzying moment when Alex collapsed beside me, replaying in my head as if for the first time.
‘Everybody calm down, he’s still got a pulse, don’t force him up, just lay him upright to keep the blood flowing to his head!’
Dale, please get a priest who can treat him quickly! Elise, roll up your apron and make a pillow for Alex’s neck, and I’ll loosen his tie so he can breathe easier….’
At this point, I almost fainted in a fit of panic, but I managed to keep my wits about me and make sure Alex was okay.
I never thought I’d have to use my first aid training from my reservist training.
“I just did what I had to do because I was the closest to him when he collapsed.”
“When a person faints, there are few people who can handle it as well as you.”
“Then Prince Alex…must have gotten lucky.”
Fainting next to a young lady who had received CPR training in her previous life can only be described as luck.
It’s already been more than ten years since I remembered this, so my mind has completely turned into that of a duke’s daughter, but the knowledge from my past life has often helped me like this.
“Uh, uh…,”
“Ah.”
While I was talking to the priest, Alex began to stir as if he were about to wake up.
“I think he’s starting to wake up now.”
“That’s good, I’m so glad…Priest?”
“I’m going to leave you two alone, and no one else will be coming around here for probably an hour or two.”
“I, I’m supposed to deal with Alex…Priest?!”
I exclaimed, not knowing what to do, but the royal priest only smiled and walked out of the bedroom.
As soon as the bedroom door closed, Alex’s eyes shot up and down.
“This is….”
Waking up, Alex’s eyes darted around his room before finally meeting my gaze.
“Hey, are you awake, Prince Alexandros?”
Alex just stared into my eyes, wordlessly, and remained still, not saying a word.
“…….”
“…….”
…This is awkward.
We’d been on the fence for almost two years already. It’s been a long time since we’ve been alone in the same room.
No wonder we had nothing to talk about.
Why did the priest leave me alone with this person….?
“He said it was a mild stroke caused by information overload.”
“Information overload…I guess….”
“Since you seem to have come to your senses, I will go back. The year-end prom is all sorted out, so you can just rest well today.”
“Who did the organizing, Ariana, did you do it?”
“Why would I do that?”
I don’t know how you expect one young lady to organize that big stage.
“You must have been embarrassed too, I don’t think you could have kept your cool in that situation….”
“How was I supposed to clear that stage all by myself? Of course I told the staff, I was forced to do so by the fact that Prince Alexandros had fallen.”
“…….”
“Since you fell, I was in the highest position, and it would have been chaos if I hadn’t ordered it, and Prince Aemon isn’t here today either.”
“That’s right….That was the way you said it, Arianna….”
“What?”
Still not quite sober, Alex started mumbling something strange to himself.
“It was so simple when you think about it….I wonder why I didn’t notice it at first….”
“Well, it sounds like you’re still not fully recovered, so I’d suggest you go to bed early tonight.”
“We need to get things back on track….Sierra first….”
“I’ll turn off the lights, good night.”
I got a little scared of Alex, who kept talking to himself as if he was possessed by something, so I turned off the light and hurried out of the room, telling him to get some sleep.
I don’t know what happened, but I hope he doesn’t have any after effects.