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PSA: From now onwards, Irene Loren D"Austriche will be changed to Aileen Lauren D"Autriche
P/s: Suggestions to improve this translation will be highly appreciated and I do not guarantee the accuracy of my translation
Translated by: EmpressEdited by: absoluten.o.body
CHAPTER 31 Novel Raw:Manga:Manga Raw:
Not even one fragment of the gla.s.s fell down; the shards were suspended midair.
Two shadows slipped through in between those fragments and came down to the a.s.sembly hall.
The first one was a monster whose jet black wings were spread wide. However, the figure who stood behind the King while wearing a military uniform decorated with golden strap was as refined as the Knight"s role model.
In front of him was the owner of a beauty that wouldn"t be forgotten once he was seen.
It was the devilish King whose deep crimson eyes were sparkling.
At the sound of his fingers snapping, the fragments of the gla.s.s moved all at once to restore the ceiling to its normal form. The sound of Cedric"s hoa.r.s.e voice reverberated in the a.s.sembly hall that had fallen completely silent.
「Br, other……Why are you here?……」(Cedric)
「――Is it under your order that the troops were sent to the forest？」(Claude)
The surrounding people who were frozen in place since the Demon King"s entrance started to become noisy.
Especially, the n.o.blemen on the platform; they had an obvious response. The Ministers including Prime Minister Rudolph were exchanging looks with each other; and then, they were sending out some sort of instructions.
「If you"re a Crown Prince, don"t do such thoughtless conduct. Are you giving me an excuse to destroy the country?」(Claude)
Cedric"s face paled.
However, perhaps Claude didn"t feel like rebuking him any more than that, so he directly fixed his gaze on Aileen.
「I kept you waiting. Sorry」(Claude)
「……No. You didn"t make me wait that long」(Aileen)
「That dress, it suits you」(Claude)
Her cheeks immediately reddened due to his surprise attack of gently smiling at her. As if trying to gloss over the heat on her cheeks, she tried to wink at him, but she wasn"t able to respond well. When he saw her action, Cedric who was still clutching on Aileen"s hem was gazing at her in wonderment.
「……Aileen……Don"t tell me, you……」 (Cedric)
「Have you finished putting on your signature?」(Claude)
「N, not yet」(Aileen)
「It"s better if you get it done immediately. So officially, you"re not Cedric"s fiancee anymore. I don"t have the preference of escorting other people"s――let alone my half-brother"s fiancee」(Claude)
Those words were sweetly whispered to her as if he was whispering intimacies; she standoffishly turned her face away from him a little to hide her embarra.s.sment.
「I, I know. Wait for a little while」(Aileen)
「Wait……Wait, Aileen. You, truly, haven"t abducted Lilia?」(Cedric)
Aileen looked at Cedric underneath her feet.
His uneasy appearance overlapped with the one in her memories。――The truth is, everyone thinks that Brother is way more excellent that I do. They were laughing behind my back. (Smol Cedric). That side profile of his looked lonely.
Don"t lose, even you can do it. Because I"m your ally after all. (Smol Aileen)―― She wished she could properly convey it to him like that.
「……Isaac」(Aileen)
When she called out his name, Isaac was grumbling a little from a distance and made a slightly unpleasant face. But perhaps he immediately resigned to himself, so he then approached the location where Aileen and Claude stood.
「During this kind of time, the best plan is to go soft on him. Since you can probably use this as the trump card」(Isaac)
「That"s alright. My trump card is all of you, after all」(Aileen)
「You……Lombard Earl House"s」(Cedric)
Isaac roughly delivered the bundle of papers on top of Aileen"s hand, took a glance at Cedric and turned his heel away. Aileen submitted the stack of papers that she had received to Cedric whose eyes were chasing Isaac"s figure.
「These are the threatening letters that had been delivered to Lilisama. We collected what had been thrown away at the dump site」
「――So, so what?」
「This is the problematic threatening letters containing my name. This is the stationery that was made by Lombard"s Company. The most top has been glued, so you can flip it one by one. There are 20 sheets of papers for one set. And as a part of the design, the design will be stamped out as it is, and the area around that stamp will be soaked in a perfume to give off a scent」
As she said that, Aileen spread open the crumpled threatening letter and showed it to Cedric.
At the lower right corner, a rose design was hollowed out. And then, around that area, there was a discoloration due to the stain left by the perfume. That was included in the design.
「Everything on this design was manually done, including gluing them together while they were in an overlapping condition down to the work of soaking them with perfume. So, when you stack them up together――you can perfectly pile them up to make the same set. Even the design and the location of the stain left by the perfume. But, if there"s a different set, you can"t pile them up even if they have the same design」
There"s a perfect overlap when it had the same design and there"s that couldn"t even overlap with each other even when it had the same design. Aileen properly showed them to Cedric and finally showed the written invitation to the evening party she received from Cedric.
「Under the circ.u.mstances of inviting me to this evening party, Lilisama had kindly sent me a letter」
She opened up that letter to show it to him. And then, she overlapped it with one of the threatening letters to show it to him.
What"s important was neither the handwriting nor the content of the letter. Both of that stationery exactly overlapped with each other.
Cedric"s eyes widened.
「I"m going to keep Lilisama"s letter as it is。――However, I"m going to give you these threatening letters, Cedric-sama. Do as you please with it」(Aileen)
「……Wh, what does this mean?」
「Think about that yourself. Because I am no longer your fiancee after all」
Cedric stared at Aileen as if she had slapped one side of his face.
Aileen silently smiled back at him.
「Cedric-sama。――I did love you dearly」(Aileen)
「Please be happy with Lilisama. Good bye」(Aileen)
When she backed off, Cedric"s hand fell on the floor just like that.
Aileen turned around and headed towards the platform. No one could stop the inevitable.
There were two sheets of doc.u.ments that had been properly prepared on the platform. The first sheet was the doc.u.ment for business transfer. After cursorily checking the clauses, Aileen quickly signed it.
And then, the other sheet was the doc.u.ment of the engagement annulment; there were not many clauses that she needed to check.
（With this, everything will be over）
She wrote her own name across Cedric"s name and placed back the quill pen to where it originally was.
――With this, Aileen Lauren D"Autriche is free.
Those who watched her attentively were the great aristocrats at the side of the platform; she gracefully bowed to them.
Aileen put her hand on the handrail of the stairs when she came down; Claude held out his hand from below.
「Aileen Lauren D"Autriche; Daughter of the Duke. May I have the honor of dancing the very first dance with you who are finally free」
To request the very first dance with a lady was a strategy for a pre-established love harmony.
And yet, like the time of her first social debut, she felt innocently shy.
She slightly nodded and overlapped her hand with his. Cedric"s figure was no longer can be seen as he was concealed by Claude"s figure.
That"s why she didn"t even realize…
「……I will not be fooled」
That the letters were crushed by Cedric"s hand.
「I"ll make you realize. The one who made a mistake is you……！」
Not even his dark murmurs and his distorted laugh.
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