Chapter 27
“I object.”
Aveline’s eyes widened as she recognized who it was.
‘How did he know to come here?’
But soon she realized such a question was meaningless.
As long as she possessed Theron’s magic power, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to locate her.
“Ahem, excuse me, but who are you?”
The officiant, the first to regain composure among the surprised crowd, addressed the uninvited guest.
“Do you know him?”
Edward cautiously asked Aveline while waiting for Theron’s response.
He seemed ready to intervene immediately if Aveline said no.
“Could he be… your former lover?”
Edward hesitantly asked.
It seemed he was considering various possibilities, given that this was a political engagement.
“What? No!”
Aveline shook her head in horror.
But then,
“I’m hurt.”
Theron, who had been sitting quietly, stood up and slowly walked towards the couple.
Everyone was too stunned by the stranger’s sudden action to think of stopping him, watching with gaping mouths.
Edward took a protective stance, shielding Aveline, but Theron, who had already stopped in front of them, tilted his head to meet Aveline’s eyes.
Then, pretending to be hurt, he drooped the corners of his eyes.
“Have you forgotten our promise to never be apart?”
The atmosphere in the engagement hall instantly turned cold.
‘When did I make such a promise?’
While Aveline was mentally objecting, Theron spoke again with a sorrowful expression.
“Could it be… that you no longer need me?”
“Ack!”
The surrounding air became so heavy that someone could be heard choking on their breath.
Aveline was equally flustered.
‘This situation makes it look like I’ve abandoned a lover for a new fiancé!’
Edward, too, was looking back and forth between Aveline and Theron with confused eyes.
‘This is bad. At this rate, I’ll be branded as someone who cheated on their fiancé.’
And in front of Edward, her favorite character, no less!
“Violet! How dare you!”
Just then, someone stood up abruptly from behind.
“How dare you bring shame to our faces!”
The man shouting with an indignant face had the same purple hair and eyes as Violet.
Anyone could see he was Violet’s father.
“After all the effort I put into preparing this engagement…!”
In the novel, Violet’s family was a viscount family from a rural fief. Their fief’s resources were so abundant that their assets were no less than those of any noble in the capital.
However, unable to let go of his desire for power, Violet’s father had pushed for the engagement by offering a massive dowry to the young Viscount Edward.
Of course, Edward, true to his devoted nature, had accepted the engagement while refusing the dowry, and it seemed the engagement between the two families was proceeding smoothly, but…
‘Who could have known it would turn into such a mess!’
Although Aveline wasn’t the real Violet, one thing was certain: this wasn’t the situation she wanted to show her favorite character.
“Everyone, please calm down.”
Theron, the very cause of the commotion, leisurely looked around the crowd.
“It’s my fault for suddenly appearing here, so please don’t be too harsh.”
Then he dropped another bomb on the already chaotic engagement hall.
Theron turned to the flustered Aveline and gave her a sad, distant smile.
‘What is this? This feeling of being a real scumbag.’
Theron’s expression made Aveline feel guilty for something that wasn’t even her fault.
“I see…”
Just then, Edward’s sad voice was heard next to Aveline.
“If you two are already in love, I can’t interfere.”
“Ah, no, Edward!”
“Don’t worry about the land deal I promised your father. I will fulfill it without fail.”
“No, wait, listen to me…”
Brushing aside all of Aveline’s desperate attempts to explain, Edward delivered the final blow with a wistful smile befitting a supporting character.
“Your happiness comes first for me.”
“…”
Aveline almost covered her own mouth.
The scene of a man stepping aside for the woman he loves.
To think she would witness with her own eyes a scene that could be the model for all supporting characters.
And with such a vivid image of her favorite character!
“Huk.”
Moreover, she was the one who had hurt her favorite character’s feelings.
A tingling sense of guilt washed over her chest.
Although she hadn’t actually cheated on Edward, seeing her favorite character’s hurt expression made her feel as if she had really committed a sin.
“I’m sorry.”
Aveline said sincerely to Edward.
The fact that she had hurt her favorite character was too sad, but thinking that this was for his sake gave her courage.
She hoped Edward would find happiness with someone else rather than ending up with Violet, who would only hurt him.
‘Don’t look at me with such hurt eyes. No, look at me more. No, don’t look.’
Having her favorite character’s sad face right in front of her made her heart waver, but she tried hard to hide her expression.
“Well then.”
As Edward and Aveline were exchanging glances, Theron squeezed between them and clapped his hands.
“I think it’s time to wrap this up. Everyone, please see yourselves out.”
Throwing out a somewhat impolite farewell, Theron took Aveline’s hand and led her away.
At the same time, as soon as she closed her eyes and opened them again, a completely different place unfolded.
It was an open grassy field, so different that it was hard to believe they had just been in an engagement hall.
At the same time, instead of the stuffy dress, she was back in the white pajamas she had been wearing before falling asleep.
The hair flowing down past her shoulders was pink, not purple.
“Did you do this, Duke?”
Aveline asked in pure amazement, having confirmed her return to normal.
However, what came from Theron, who had been standing with his back turned, was an entirely unexpected question.
“So that’s your taste?”
“Pardon?”
What nonsense is this now?
As Aveline hesitated to answer, trying to figure out Theron’s intentions, he turned his head towards her.
His handsome brow was furrowed as if something displeased him.
“I didn’t expect you to dream of getting engaged to a Crown Prince you’ve only known for a day.”
Suddenly, Aveline had become someone who fell in love at first sight with the Crown Prince and dreamed of getting engaged to him.
“It’s understandable that you’d misunderstand, but Edward and His Highness the Crown Prince are completely different people.”
“They looked exactly the same to me. Ah, seeing him quiet was a bit new though.”
Our Edward is a bit taciturn, true.
But the somewhat talkative Crown Prince could never, ever be the same person as Edward.
“That’s precisely why they are completely different people. And Edward originally looked like that. It just so happens that His Highness the Crown Prince’s appearance overlaps a bit.”
Despite Aveline’s passionate defense, Theron still looked like he didn’t understand.
“Edward is not the Crown Prince, but originally a character in a novel and the supporting male lead I’ve always liked… Do I need to explain everything in detail?”
Aveline, who had inadvertently revealed her favorite character, quickly gathered her wits.
“So in conclusion, you’re saying that such an appearance was your ideal type.”
“What?”
Can a favorite character and an ideal type be on the same level?
Weren’t favorites and ideal types usually different domains?
Moreover, if we’re talking about appearances as an ideal type, rather than the Crown Prince…
‘What am I thinking right now?’
Aveline, who had been unknowingly staring at Theron’s face, shook her head vigorously.
“An ideal type…”
Theron, who hadn’t noticed Aveline’s behavior, was lost in thought, gently stroking his chin with his long fingers.
“Is that so important?”
Aveline, unable to bear watching the serious Theron any longer, asked.
“It’s not a pleasant thought that the lady who possesses my magic power might marry the Crown Prince.”
“Marriage?”
Why did your thoughts jump that far?
Aveline was taken aback by Theron’s unexpected response.
“If His Highness the Crown Prince heard this, he’d laugh… no, he’d be angry. The Crown Prince and I have absolutely no connection, and we only met for the first time yesterday.”
At Aveline’s words, Theron tilted his head and smiled strangely.
“You might need to look at yourself more objectively.”
“What do you mean?”
“Currently, His Highness the Crown Prince is unmarried and of marriageable age. He doesn’t even have a fiancée.”
“So?”
“If such a Crown Prince were to marry someone, what kind of lady do you think he would choose?”
“Well, I suppose someone who pleases His Highness. Someone pretty or kind, something like that?”
After all, in most of the novels Aveline had read, the majority of Crown Princes took such heroines as their wives.
“Haha.”
But finding something amusing, Theron let out a soft laugh.
“That could be the case, but he’s more likely to seek a match with a lady from a strong family that can support or further solidify his power. For example…”
Theron trailed off, fixing his gaze on Aveline’s face.
“A lady from a family belonging to the imperial faction, who would never betray him.”
