Chapter 5 Part 7

Moreover, it was complete nonsense to say that Hyle, the young lord of House Feros who directly managed affairs and educated numerous priests as a direct line of the Grand Temple, couldn’t meet the Cardinal.

It was clearly too stupid to even say as a joke.

But… it seemed that stupid notion had become reality as Abel swallowed up the Grand Temple with his power.

“Rosi, as I said before, you can’t do without me. Only I can fill what you lack.”

“You, what have you been doing?”

Originally, since the Grand Temple was in a cooperative relationship with the Imperial family, House Feros couldn’t really defy the Imperial family’s words without proper reason.

Of course, since Feros’ people also formed the core of the Grand Temple as high priests, even the Imperial family couldn’t control them arbitrarily.

While they were maintaining this perfectly balanced distribution of power, when Abel and I got engaged, the balance of power tilted dramatically due to that influence.

Abel didn’t miss this opportunity to increase his “personal” power.

So that even if the power balance was restored later, he alone wouldn’t suffer much damage.

So this was why Abel had been frequently visiting the Grand Temple lately. To make the Cardinal his ally.

Now I felt like the scattered puzzle pieces were fitting together properly.

“What do you mean by ‘doing’? I’m just doing what I should as the Crown Prince.”

Abel tilted his head with a gentle smile, wearing an innocent face as if he didn’t understand what the problem was.

Having read the entire original story, I knew better than anyone that Abel’s desire for power was extraordinary.

Actually, he couldn’t help it, because Abel had no particularly impressive talents besides his brilliant mind and abundant holy power.

Because of this, the Emperor was reluctant to pass on the Crown Prince position to Abel despite him being his son, citing lack of ability.

However, due to the nobles’ opposition and the lack of other suitable talents, the Emperor “inevitably” gave Abel the Crown Prince position.

The reason Abel was so obsessed with power and his position was, in a way, because of the ruthlessly cold Emperor.

Though he was already acknowledged by everyone as suitable timber for Emperor, separately from that, he had a strong desire to be acknowledged by his father, the Emperor.

“You might have somehow sweet-talked the Cardinal and the Grand Temple, but I won’t go along with your wishes. I have no intention of playing along with your political games.”

“…Rosi, it makes me a bit sad when you say that.”

Abel’s eyes narrowed painfully upon hearing my sharp response.

An ambiguous expression that neither smiled nor cried flickered hazily like a heat haze.

“Was it you who intercepted the engagement cancellation documents I submitted to the Grand Temple?”

“Yes, I did it.”

I knew that Abel was far from honest.

He protected himself by swallowing and swallowing words disadvantageous to him, never spitting them out.

But…

“Are you answering like that because you know I know you’re the culprit?”

“I would have answered the same even if I didn’t know you knew it was me.”

Abel was being surprisingly honest now.

More precisely, he had been showing his true self without reserve since the moment he confessed to me.

As if he had decided to let down all his guards only in front of me.

“You… do you really like me?”

“Yes.”

Hah, I just can’t get used to this no matter how many times I hear it.

He’s not a machine, yet he answers everything I ask so readily, it’s completely different from before.

This kind of blind devotion to the point of giving his life should be directed at Tia, why at me of all people…

…Well, since it’s come to this, let’s skip the roundabout talk and get straight to the point.

If I keep looking at those strange purple eyes, I feel like I might get lost in other thoughts without realizing it.

“If you really like me, break off our engagement.”

While it was true that Abel coming to like me was unexpected and startling since it wasn’t part of the plan, unfortunately, I had no leisure to play along.

Anyway, Abel could quickly find a suitable marriage partner even without me.

For example, Hertiana, or Hertiana, or someone like Hertiana…

So Abel could get together with Tia, his true destiny, after letting me go, and I could get engaged to Hyle and receive treatment for my heart comfortably without having to mind anyone’s eyes.

Then everyone would have a happy en-!

“I refuse. I want to see you for a long time.”

So much for that happy ending? He shouldn’t be making such teasing statements like “I refuse” here!

“No, wait. I think you’re misunderstanding something… I’m not saying to never see each other again, just to break off the engagement?”

“If I let you go, won’t you go to Hyle Feros?”

Abel’s eyes as he asked this question were already colored with all sorts of misunderstandings and certainty about my relationship with Hyle.

Though I didn’t know exactly what he was imagining, it didn’t seem to be anything good.

“What does it matter to you who I go to or where I live? We’ll be strangers once we break off the engagement anyway.”

“That’s what I don’t like. Rosi, I have no intention of watching you be with another man who isn’t me. Especially if it’s Hyle Feros.”

Honestly, I thought I wouldn’t lose to anyone when it came to being selfish, but I didn’t know there was such a formidable opponent right in front of me.

A guy with thoughts like that abandoned me twice and went to meet another woman!?

But I couldn’t get angry at Abel by bringing up my past life story that only I knew.

Therefore, I had to be satisfied with just firmly pressing my lips together and silently glaring at Abel.

“Rosi, you’ve been strange lately. You used to hate House Feros, didn’t you? I’ve always worked to make our engagement achieve optimal efficiency. And as you wished, House Laté is now above House Feros.”

Yes, this was also the biggest reason why I tried to break off my engagement with Abel first thing after regressing.

Back then, as I was faithfully following the original story as ‘Villainess Rosiel’, my hostility toward House Feros was at its peak.

So I got engaged to Abel for villainous reasons like… wanting to see their anger after crushing House Feros with power.

But now I’ve decided not to be a villainess, and since I’ve made a contract with Hyle, I have no reason to torment House Feros anymore.

“That’s true. But now I have no feelings toward them whatsoever. So there’s no reason to maintain our engagement anymore.”

Just as I thought this conversation might never end at this rate, I sprang up from my seat.

“Ugh…”

“Rosiel, what’s wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing…”

Somehow my head hurt and my body staggered involuntarily.

Hmm… hasn’t the rose fragrance been a bit too strong since earlier?

This flower scent, while definitely pleasant, seems to be making me dizzy from continued exposure… somehow I feel like it might be dangerous to stay here longer.

Let’s get out of here quickly.

“Rosi, wait…!”

“Abel, let me make this clear – stop getting in my way. This is the last time I’m asking nicely. I’ll send the engagement cancellation documents again.”

After speaking firmly, I immediately turned around and left the garden.

After quickly escaping, almost like running away, and lifting my head, I felt fresh air completely different from before along with an open blue sky.

“It feels like I was momentarily enchanted by something…”

Though I had only left the garden, I felt refreshingly clear to a puzzling degree.

While looking back toward the rose garden, wondering about my strangely refreshed condition, I suddenly felt that the tracking spell I had placed on Tia had become so faint it was about to disappear.

“Talk about timing…”

Though my magic power hadn’t fully recovered yet, I couldn’t let the only spell that could track Tia’s location break like this.

Exhaling a tired breath, I quietly cast a teleportation spell to where Tia was.