When My Enemies Began to Regret

“…”

“Lord can destroy my family and hang their heads on the castle gate. I know Lord Aloken can make it possible, so why would I dare lie?”

Fanora was confident with what she knew so far, so she risked her life without hesitation. Then Aloken, who was listening quietly to her words, smiled.

“It’s my first time seeing someone at such a young age risking their parents’ lives.”

“So, is Lord going to do it?”

“I’m thinking about it.”

“If Duke Jalier gets better with this way, please be my fiancé. Then, next time, I will tell Lord how to completely get rid of the Duke’s illness.”

He nodded slightly at this.

“By the way, how many people in the central region know the current status of Duke Jalier?”

“I never told anyone.”

Aloken nodded to the following words. Judging from the look on his face, it seemed that he didn’t believe every word Fanora had said.

She looked into his eyes for a moment. Aloken was only the best candidate to become her fake fiancé.  So even if she failed to get him, it wasn’t fatal to her.

“Good.”

“!”

“I’m planning to hold a ball at the Sangtepul villa soon, so I will send you an invitation. There I will inform you of the outcome of the deal.”

Fortunately, the response from Aloken was positive. Fanora was relieved that her first move had started right, and at the same time, she realized one thing. 

It was obvious from the way Aloken would try what she said when he didn’t even fully trust her. Fortunately, the timing was good.

“But the problem is that once I hold hands with Lady Celsius, you have to stay engaged with me for several years.”

The topic of the conversations was simple after that. It was because she already knew what would happen in the 6 six years. If she got engaged with him, it was worth it for her to share the information she had on her hand.

“If that’s the case, I already thought about it in advance… I will help Lord at the beginning of each year, and if you like it, I will extend the contract by one year. However, the maximum period is until my 18th birthday.”

“Your plan is more detailed than I thought. It makes me even more puzzled.”

“…”

“I’m curious why you chose someone from the Duke’s family just to break up your marriage talk… But about the engagement, we will discuss it later when we meet in Sangtepul.”

Soon Aloken Jalier bent his amber eyes and smiled like a fox. Fanora, who was standing in front of him, closed her mouth.

Why did she want to be engaged to a Duke’s family? There was only one reason. Fanora chose him to enter the social world with his power backing her.

One of the targets of her revenge had a very high position, so it would be impossible for her, the daughter of Count, to approach that target. She had to become powerful enough in the future so that she would be invited to parties being held by family like Duke Guelder.  But how could she say the reason she want to join hands with his family because she wanted to murder someone? 

Aloken was the eldest son of a Duke who had received higher education than her. He was someone who couldn’t be taken lightly just because Fanora had the superiority of her mental age alone.

Fanora was aware that she wasn’t smart. Thanks to this, she had to be cautious about her own behavior.

“Lady Celsius?”

But then, Aloken called her name, as she had been thinking about something else. When she came to her senses, she was already holding out his right hand.

“Please don’t betray my expectations.”

She thoughtlessly held his hand and gave him a forced smile. Their hands that held each other were as cold as ice. The same with any political marriage, it was the beginning of their deal. 

After that, it would be good for each of them to separate and return to the splendid reception. 

“Wait a minute,” he called and stopped Fanora, who turned first and started walking. 

“How am I going to explain the reason why I am suddenly proposing to that old man and the family I will be engaged to?”

What he was saying was predictable.

“It’s a good moment to use ‘love at first sight’ reason.”

“It’s so typical.” Aloken seemed disappointed with her answer.

* * *

A few minutes later, upon returning to the garden, she could see the nobles gathered in twos and threes to share refreshments.

Now, as soon as her parents, who had been talking with the bride and groom’s family, returned, it was time for them to return. She felt satisfied and snooped around to see if there was a drink worth a toast.

Fanora found fruit juice prepared for the children to drink. When she was just about to drink the juice in her hand.

“Fanora!”

It surprised her. When someone called her name in a loud voice, she felt uncomfortable. Moreover, she had not yet been able to properly control the holy relic in her body, so she accidentally smashed the glass in her grasp.

“Ugh.”

She quickly threw the glass she had in my hand to the floor. Then the glass hit the floor and looked like it was broken accidentally. She hurriedly looked for the servant to clean up the glass, but unfortunately, that person approached her sooner than she thought.  

“Excuse me, I accidentally dropped my gla—”

“Fanora, where have you been that I only can see you now! I’ve been looking for you for a while, but I can’t even see you at your family’s table.”

If she knew this would happen, she should just break his neck, not the glass.

As she turned her head, there stood a man with dark blonde hair and sharp eyes. The man whom Fanora will be engaged to in the future. It was Naverius.

“Na-Naverius! The garden here is so beautiful. There are many pretty things here and there, so I went to look around.”

“Did you watch the bugs again? It’s disgusting every time you do that. Hurry up and fix your habit.”

“Ah, yes…”

She felt shaken when she saw her soon-to-be-fiancé suddenly appear. She was only his soon-to-be-fiancée by name, but as soon as he saw her face, he said that her hobby was disgusting and told her that she should fix it quickly. Her rage that wanted to kill him erupted even at this moment, but she had to deal with her emotion right now for greater revenge.

“Anyway, I’m glad to see you! My friends couldn’t come here, so I was bored. Let’s have tea and talk together.”

“No, I’m full.”

“Ei, all you just need to do is sit down.”

And then, Fanora fell into reminiscence for a while as she watched Naverius grab her wrist and try to drag her away.

She fell into thought when a man named Naverius had this kind of attitude.

He didn’t mistreat her from the beginning. Rather, he was so kind and sweet that he even swore sweetly that he would love her with all his life at the beginning.

Fanora felt shy from his proposing, but Naverius didn’t give up and persuaded her. There were mainly the words Naverius used to seduce her.

Each of them was expressing love.

But one day, when Fanora eventually opened her heart to his kindness and accepted the engagement, and even actively talked about the marriage with him to her family, Naverius’s attitude began to change.

Gradually, he began to say,

He soon pointed out Fanora’s appearance, and if he didn’t like her behavior, he would scold her and try to fix it. He would gossip about his fiancée to his friends, even proudly said shameful and groundless words about having sex with her.

At that time, Fanora couldn’t raise any complaints about his rough attitude. That was how desperate Fanora was for the marriage, as she hoped to get out of her hellish house. Foolishly, she believed that she could escape from there if she got married.

“You’re not so sociable, so what will you do if I’m not here? Come on, let’s gor… to a better place.”

Fanora stood up, and Naverius turned around with a questioning look. Then, she spoke without hesitation to Naverius’s bewildered face.

“Naverius, I want to say something.”

“Right now? Why don’t you sit down?”

“I’ve been wanting to say that I don’t want to go with you.”

To hide the fact that she wanted to kill him, she used a friendly tone. Naverius seemed quite surprised. It was the first time she disagreed with him. 

“You don’t like it?”

Naverius widened his eyes.

“Did I make a mistake?”

Mistake. There were several mistakes in Naverius’s words that she wanted to point out. Fanora barely endured it while biting her lips.  

“Yes.”

“What did I do?”

“Right now, I don’t want to come with you, but you’re trying to drag me by force.”

“It’s because you’re my fian—”

“Why have I become Naverius’s fiancee? We’re not even engaged yet.”

Fanora tried to manage her expression and naturally pulled her hand out. However, Naverius slowly wrinkled his expression as if he couldn’t stand her rough attitude.

“Are you going to keep talking like that?”

“…”

“What’s wrong with you today? Even if we like each other, you still have to be polite.”

Fanora was startled by his remarks.

She had to endure it. It was a situation where she couldn’t move hastily until Aloken agreed with the contract. 

Fanora looked into the air for a while to soothe her anger, then muttered a little as the servant came to clean up the broken glass behind her.“What do you mean we like each other?”

“What…?”

Her cold tone was like a sharp knife. Naverius tried to argue against her unfamiliar attitude, but Fanora held her skirt first and said goodbye to him. “I think my mother is coming back. I will be on my way now. Enjoy the party.”

She quickly spoke and disappeared to avoid him. Left alone, Naverius showed an angry expression at first, then gradually made a strange expression. “What? Is she still thinking about my proposal…?”

That couldn’t have happened. Didn’t Fanora even write a letter saying she wanted to see him when she was sick? Since that shy woman even acted like that, Naverius was sure that Fanora was in love with him. So he regarded Fanora’s remarks as a grievance because she longed for her affection. Besides, it didn’t matter if she was really offended.

When the Celsius family found out that he was proposing to Fanora, they reacted very positively. Naverois was really lucky to strike the gold because he came from a family that was inferior to Fanora in terms of status and wealth. There would be no objection from elders in both families. Soon, their engagement will go smoothly.

Naverius no longer tried to win Fanora’s heart. Now, regardless of Fanora’s will, they would become a couple. On the contrary, now that they were in a situation where they couldn’t cancel the marriage, he even regretted it.