I Think My Fiancé Has Regressed

Chapter 4: I am destined to break off my engagement (4)

Kael Anastasia, age 16, my younger brother by one year but not by blood and the next head of House Anastasia.

“What the hell is going on?”

And now he’s sitting me down in the parlor, grilling me about what happened this morning.

“Uh, huh, what?”

“Why did you look at me like you’ve seen a ghost this morning? Did I do something wrong?”

“Oh, no. Kael didn’t do anything wrong….”

“Then what is it? Is this another one of your regular weird behaviors?”

“Hey, what do you mean, “weird behavior”….”

Frustrated that I couldn’t come up with a decent excuse for my brother, who was now questioning me, Kael asked me a question.

“Is this your fiancé by any chance?”

“…….”

“I knew it was going to happen again.”

“Again….”

If anyone could hear him, they’d think I act irrationally whenever it’s about Alex.

“What’s he saying again? Is he really going to abandon you for her?”

“Not really, quite the opposite.”

“What do you mean, the opposite?”

“He said he’s sorry for what he did and wanted me to forgive him.”

“…….”

Kael’s expression changed as he heard my words, a complexity that spoke volumes about his feelings.

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll probably do what Alex tells me to do.”

“Don’t you have a mind of your own? Why do you always do what he says?”

“I’ll just do what Alex says, because it’s the easiest thing to do.”

“Ha….”

Perhaps frustrated by my attitude, Kael opened his mouth cautiously.

“Since I entered the academy last year, I’ve been spending more time with your fiancé, Prince Alexander.”

“I suppose so. Kael is in Alex’s entourage.”

“So, I ended up getting involved a little too much with the woman who was next to the prince.”

Of course, Kael is a target for Academy Light Romance.

There were quite a few events where Miss Sierra and Kael crossed paths, so there must have been some contact.

“So?”

“Do you know what she usually talks about when she’s alone with me?”

“Uh…well?”

“It’s almost always about you, and mostly in a bad way.”

“…….”

“I’m having a hard time dealing with my sister’s bullying. You’re going to be ruined anyway, so I should take advantage of it. If I’m in trouble or have nowhere to turn, I can lean on her. She talks such nonsense.”

…This story, again, I kind of knew it was going to happen.

In the original story, much of Sierra and Kael’s interaction is a way for Sierra to comfort Kael after he’s been hurt by his step-sister Ariana.

In Miss Sierra’s situation, she’s just doing what she’s supposed to do in the original.

…Though I must admit, I think she’s a bit hasty in her foreshadowing of my doom.

“So, what did you say to her?”

“I told her to stop spouting bullshit she knows nothing about. If it weren’t for you, it would have taken me a lot longer to get used to Anastasia. She kept saying things that didn’t even make sense.”

No wonder Kael, in his own way, found the conversation with Miss Sierra disjointed.

When Kael was brought into the family after Alex and I were engaged, I purposely tried to be as nice to him as possible to avoid antagonizing him.

Truth be told, I was only doing it because I was afraid of being kicked out by Kael, after the breakup of my engagement.

“It’s not the first time I’ve seen her flirting with Prince Alexandros, and thought to myself, I’m done being his entourage.”

“Well, you shouldn’t! Kael is an aide-de-camp by Alex’s side, and when you graduate from the Academy you can take over as treasurer by Alex’s side….”

“I’ve heard it a few times already. I know, so of course I put up with it.”

“Well, that’s good to know.”

I appreciate Kael’s concern for me, but I don’t want it to affect his future.

If Kael were to die or abandon his entourage due to some event, the kingdom of Leavrov would collapse economically and be ruined in a matter of years.

It doesn’t make sense to me that Leavrov, the richest of the neighboring countries, would be doomed to economic ruin.

Perhaps it’s a combination of Kael’s accounting skills and the story writer’s hyperbole.

I was a programmer in a previous life, so I don’t know the details behind the scenes, but it never hurts to be cautious.

“Anyway, I don’t trust Prince Alexandros with a woman like that, and I don’t understand how he can change his attitude like the flip of a palm in a day after everything he’s done.”

“You’re certainly right, because for once, I have no idea why.”

“Do you know why he left you and cheated on you with another woman?”

“Well….”

Because Ms. Sierra is the main character in the original.

I don’t know how many times I’ve swallowed my words without saying them.

This time, while I was still trying to figure out what to say, the parlor door opened at just the right time and a servant of the household walked in.

“Ms. Ariana, you have a visitor.”

“It’s not even ten o’clock yet, so early?”

I thought I wasn’t scheduled to meet anyone in particular today, so what’s going on?

“Who is the visitor?”

“Prince Alexandros is here.”

“Aha, Alex… Now, wait. Alex?”

I was surprised that anyone would visit me on a morning like this, but I was even more surprised to hear the person’s name.

He hadn’t visited me once since I entered the academy….

“Shall I ask him to come in?”

“Oh, yes. Please do.”

“Sister….”

Kael gave me a pathetic look, but I couldn’t keep royalty waiting.

“Anyway, think carefully, you never know what’s in a man’s head. Maybe he’s pretending to give you hope, but inside he’s planning something else.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll be careful.”

With that last bit of advice, Kael was forced to retreat, and it wasn’t long before Alex walked in.

“…It’s been a while since I’ve seen you here.”

“Come in, Prince Alexandros.”

Sensing that this was going to be another awkward atmosphere, I silently swallowed dryly.

* * *

There was a time when every morning, I started my day by running away from my handmaiden.

“Miss, didn’t I tell you clearly that you must not be late for class today!”

“No! Why should I have to learn flower arranging and refreshment etiquette and how to talk like a duchess?”

“Of course you will, because you are the Duchess!!!”

As a child, I was immature.

After discovering that my rebirth was in a fantasy world where I could use magic, I spent my days reading and learning from spell books from the time I could stand on my own two legs.

I was a little uncomfortable with the change from male to female, but it was something I had been used to since childhood, so I got used to it surprisingly easily.

I had my own rationalization for avoiding the handmaid’s etiquette lessons.

“After they’ve made me into a proper, well-mannered young lady, they’re going to marry me off as the wife of another marquis or earl someday!”

I’m a man at heart, but the idea of being married off to the same man was repulsive to me.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to look at another man as the opposite sex.

Besides, the moment I went from ‘darling of the Ducal House of Anastasia’ to ‘some sort of marquise’, it would take a lot away from the life I wanted to live.

“Being called by my husband’s name, being invited to all sorts of events, having to fight like a bunch of wives talking to each other haha, not being allowed to use magic because it’s degrading if a woman goes out, that’s not the life I want!”

“Where on earth did you learn such things, young lady?”

“I’m Arianna Anastasia, and I want to be free to live as I please!”

“If you want to live as Ariana Anastasia, please, have some dignity to match!”

Even after ten years of living in this world, there was still so much I didn’t know about magic.

When it came to learning and researching more magic, the idea of an arranged marriage was nothing but a shackle.

With that thought always in the back of my mind, I met Alex for the first time.

One spring at the age of ten. It was the day Prince Alexandros was invited to join our family.

“When I talk to you, Ariana, I feel more like I’m talking to a brother than a lady.”

“Is that a compliment…?”

“Oh, I’m sorry if you felt uncomfortable. Whenever other ladies talked to me, they either couldn’t tell me even if they were dissatisfied because they were watching me, or they couldn’t hide their crush on me, which made the atmosphere awkward.”

“That’s understandable, Prince Alexandros’ good looks would make any woman swoon.”

“Lady Ariana doesn’t seem to have anything like that at all.”

“I…I don’t think looks are important.”

It wasn’t so much what he looked like as the fact that he was a man, and honestly, I didn’t really care what Prince Alexandros looked like at first.

“Anyway, we’re engaged as of today, so I’ll be seeing you often.”

“Is that really so…without asking me for my consent?”

“Uniting with the Anastasia family was a long-cherished wish of the royal family.”

“Hmm….”

I couldn’t just say no this time since they were the royal family, so the news that the engagement was finalized deepened my concern.

“If you don’t like it, do you want me to turn it down? I honestly didn’t expect you to react like this, and I’m a little embarrassed.”

“No, I don’t mean no.”

The consequences of not wanting to be a marquise or a countess are that I’m now a princess, and the many, many more restrictions that will come with that will undoubtedly suffocate me.

I could already feel my heart sinking at the prospect.

Until Alex, seeing my distress, made a few concessions.

“So, Young Lady Arianna, you said you like magic.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Are you worried that if you become my wife, you’ll have to give up magic?”

“There is…a little of that.”

“Well, you needn’t worry about that. I have no intention of forcing my wife’s talents to rot.”

“What?”

I didn’t understand at first, but then Alex kindly added an explanation.

“Even if you become my wife and become a princess or queen, I will not restrict you from learning and using magic.

In fact, if you need it, I’ll even make a room for my wife, a place where she can store her spellbooks and do her magical research.”

“If so…that might be a little bit okay….”

“Then I take it you’ve agreed, and I’ll take good care of you in the future, Ariana.”

“I’ll take care of you as well, Prince Alexandros.”

And with Alex’s eloquent words, Prince Alexandros and I became engaged.

It wasn’t long after that I realized that the Academy Light Romance, which I had helped develop in my previous life, was set in this world.

It didn’t stop there, when I learned that Alex was the main target of the game, and I was Arianna, the villainous noble lady whose destiny was sealed.

“I…Handmaiden.”

“What is it, my lady?”

“What manners do I need to learn to be Alex’s…princess?”

This heart I already had was already leaning heavily toward him.