I Broke Off My Engagement and Got a Job at the Academy

7 – 7. Divergence

With the touch that briefly touched and disappeared from my cheek, I could only stare at Ariel in a daze.

Ariel made a sound of amusement, stood up from her seat, and spoke while looking at me.

“What are you doing? Since you received a gift, let’s go out slowly now. Does the protagonist of the party have to stay in the room?”

Feeling a bit bewildered by those words, I stood up.

“Oh, yeah. Let’s go.”

Ariel looked at me and said, “And, be sure to carry that. You should let your fiancée know what you received, right? … You can brag about it.”

Only after hearing those words could I gather my wits and respond to her.

“Okay. In front of others, I’ll make sure to boast that it’s from you.”

Ariel abruptly turned her head and began walking towards the crowd.

“Hmph.”

I grabbed Ariel’s hand. Between her fingers lay our engagement ring.

Even though Ariel didn’t turn to look at me, I knew. It was evident from the crimson hue coloring her turned face.

…

Ariel couldn’t gather her thoughts. Originally, she never intended to do such a thing to Eden. Swearing never to engage in the petty act of retaliation, the idea of kissing his cheek in the name of revenge wasn’t part of her plan.

Yet, it happened. She was sure she never had such thoughts, but she inexplicably committed that insane act. Ariel couldn’t fathom what had possessed her to do such a thing.

“You crazy fool! What were you thinking!”

Uttering these words silently didn’t change anything. It was an undeniable reality that, in the past, she unconsciously kissed Eden’s cheek. Since it had come to that, she felt it might be better to carry on nonchalantly.

Ariel entertained others in the hall, contemplating her future marriage to Eden. His guests were, in essence, no different from hers.

Amid these musings, Ariel locked eyes with someone observing her from a distance.

“Who was that again? Oh, right… Seris Derrin.”

Count Derrin was highly regarded as the most influential subordinate to Duke Keynes.

Since the Empire’s fragmentation due to rebellion, the Derrin family had been loyal to Duke Keynes, exerting significant influence even over other houses under Keynes’s dominion.

Ariel considered greeting Seris, reflecting on it briefly but ultimately gave up.

In retrospect, merely being observed from a distance signified a lack of interest in mingling, so there was no use approaching for no reason.

“I remember her being the most talked-about potential match for Eden.”

Amid the absurd outcome of a marital alliance between Siellaine and Keynes, the situation had shifted. Before that, the odds of Count Derrin’s illegitimate daughter marrying Eden seemed higher than not marrying him.

“But I intervened in between.”

It was an inevitable event. After all, noble marriages were mostly influenced by political reasoning.

Surely, Seris Derrin also must have been aware of this. In fact, after their engagement, Ariel had never witnessed any harmony between her and Eden.

But it bothered her that she continued to be observed. Why exactly was this person persistently watching without any inclination to associate with her?

It might have been the displeasure of not marrying Keynes’s illegitimate son, but Ariel’s intuition hinted that it wasn’t the end of it.

Ariel turned to Eden and asked him.

“Idun, do you know Seris Derrin well?”

Hearing that question, Idun blinked his green eyes and replied with a perplexed voice.

“Oh, why?”

A perplexed voice. Ariel could easily surmise that there had been some emotional exchange between Seris and Idun. If they had a distant relationship, he wouldn’t react like this.

“It’s nothing much, but she kept looking at me. I wasn’t deliberately trying to get along with her, but since she’s going to be one of your important attendants, I thought I should know something.”

Upon hearing this, Idun furrowed his brow. Then, after a moment of contemplation, he began to speak.

“Well… it’s complicated.”

Idun swept his golden hair back and continued.

“Well, there might not be much difference from what you already know. Before you were engaged to me, she had the highest probability of marrying me. Whether it was because of that, or simply because she is the illegitimate daughter of a crucial family among the attendants, I don’t know, but we got along quite well since childhood.”

Ariel glanced at Idun after hearing this. Why was that? For some reason, she felt a slightly unpleasant sensation.

“Uh, your gaze seems a bit colder now. Is it okay if I keep talking?”

“Go on.”

Idun chuckled, cleared his throat, and opened his mouth again.

“Well… she was someone who belonged to the closest circle to me, so to speak, but somehow ended up engaged to you. Seris seemed a bit shocked, but still, knowing the logic of the noble society, she probably sorted out her feelings long ago… I guess.”

“Why are you trailing off?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Seeing Idun like that, Ariel suddenly felt a rising sense of irritation. She didn’t know why. However, that unidentifiable irritation continued to grow within her.

“Um-“

Ariel continued to gaze at Idun. Idun seemed to be uncomfortable due to the suddenly prickly atmosphere that had replaced the pleasant one from just a moment ago.

In the midst of this, Ariel suddenly spoke.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Between you and her, who do you like more?”

“What?”

Idun looked bewildered. Facing such a puzzled expression from Idun, Ariel said,

“Why, Seris, you’ve been close with that person since childhood. Who’s better?”

“…Does that even make sense to compare? You’re engaged. Seris, no matter how close you were, is ultimately someone else. No… why would you even make such a comparison?”

“So, who is it then? Just tell me.”

Eden closed and opened his eyes tightly. Then, wearing an expression of dissatisfaction on his face, he slowly opened his mouth.

“…You.”

“Why?”

When Ariel asked again, Eden replied with a dismissive tone.

“Why? What kind of ‘why’ is that? Just… you’re my fiancée, we’ve known each other for a long time… Can’t it just be because I like you more?”

Ariel looked at Eden after hearing that. And a strange feeling, similar to when she involuntarily kissed him on the cheek, filled her inner self again.

She covered her mouth with her hand and spoke.

“…Alright. Well, let’s go with that then.”

“What do you mean, let’s go with that… No, forget it.”

Ariel laughed lightly, putting her hand on Eden’s shoulder. Strangely elated by the tingling sensation that filled her inner self, she touched him. When her touch reached Eden’s neck, he exclaimed in surprise.

“What, what!?”

Ariel whispered with a smile.

“Hush, we should be quiet. Do you want to make a scene in front of everyone?”

“Really, me. I don’t know what to make of all this.”

Even though he grumbled, Eden’s expression wasn’t that bad.

And Ariel saw it. In that momentary glimpse, she saw the expression on Seris’ face from a distance, watching them both, lips pressed together.

…

Seris watched Ariel and Eden from a distance.

Of course, she knew this wasn’t right. The dynamics of the future social circle had been somewhat established, and with Kainus and Cielin deciding to join forces, she, a mere godling like Kainus, had to act accordingly to make a good impression on Ariel, the future Duchess of Cielin.

However, she didn’t want to. No, she couldn’t. From the depths of her soul, she couldn’t accept it.

Jealousy, if you could call it that. No, it wasn’t that. She had already accepted that Ariel Cielin would marry Eden. However, even if she accepted it, she couldn’t acknowledge it.

Seris’s emotions were not that light. It was something so heavy that even two years of Ariel and Eden being together couldn’t build up.

Therefore, she couldn’t entertain the thought of mingling with Ariel under the weight of those heavy emotions.

No… it might not be the case. Even though she was certain that her father would disapprove, she found herself unable to look away from the sight of Idun and Ariel joyfully conversing in the hall.

And, before she knew it, she was absentmindedly biting her lip.