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"Kadin, why are you suddenly getting angry..."
"The reason you wanted to break off our engagement was just because of this guy? You were playing around with this commoner?"
At his urging, Ayla wore a flustered expression before finally opening her mouth.
"Playing around? I don't know what you're talking about. I was just trying to treat Felix's injury because he got hurt helping me."
Ayla's words briefly paused the anger-filled thoughts in his head.
'Was it just a simple... misunderstanding?'
Looking at her face, which seemed to have no idea what was going on, reason slowly returned.
Come to think of it, it was strange.
She, who was once of noble status, wouldn't suddenly be interested in a insignificant commoner like him.
'Right, there's no way Ayla would be interested in another man besides me.'
It was when Kadin was thinking that and barely calming himself down.
"But..."
Ayla's words made his heart drop once again.
"Didn't we decide to break off our engagement? I thought the families were almost done talking about it."
Ayla looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"It's not your business who I meet now, is it?"
Kadin's eyes wavered.
"..."
Ayla's words were certainly not wrong.
Whatever she did was no longer his concern.
Even knowing that, Kadin couldn't remain calm.
'It's strangely upsetting.'
He doesn't love Ayla.
But the fact that he might lose her to someone else paralyzed his reason.
It was as if the commoner Felix had stolen something that was his.
"No, I have the right to interfere."
He strode forward and grabbed Ayla's wrist.
Ayla's face contorted as strong force was applied to her wrist.
Nevertheless, Kadin didn't let go of her wrist.
"I clearly told you to stay by my side. I never ordered you to get away from me like this."
A weak commoner.
Someone who couldn't beat him in terms of strength or status.
He didn't bother to say his true feelings.
But he thought Ayla would understand through his warning gaze.
At least she wasn't that clueless of a woman.
It was right then.
"Please let go of her hand."
Felix, who had been watching the conversation between the two, forcibly separated Kadin from Ayla.
Then he hid Ayla behind him.
Kadin's face twisted.
"What power..."
He felt displeasure looking at him.
He felt twisted inside at the sight of him protecting Ayla as if she were his.
At the same time, his cheeks flushed at the fact that he had been pushed back by a commoner in terms of strength.
"Can't you see that she doesn't like it?"
"She doesn't like it?"
At Felix's words, Kadin was finally able to see Ayla's face properly.
She was looking at him with tearful eyes, caressing her sore wrist.
Kadin's heart sank at the sight of Ayla looking so weak.
It was as if he had become a shameless bastard.
Moreover, her gaze towards him was so unfamiliar and cold.
She, who had always looked at him with loving eyes, was glaring at him with a deeply hurt face.
He hardened his expression as if embarrassed.
"Really... you hate me?"
Kadin unconsciously reached out his hand as if to caress her cheek.
But he couldn't reach Ayla.
This was because Ayla avoided Kadin's touch and hid behind Felix.
Kadin could only stare at the scene with a blank expression.
"..."
Ayla was just as embarrassed by the situation.
'Why is this guy suddenly acting like this again? I thought he would give up if I explained it clearly, but why is he being so persistent?'
Kadin often played around with other girls in front of Ayla as if to show off.
Whenever Ayla said something about it, he would always get angry like this.
"Are you doubting me now? It's really annoying."
"If you're so dissatisfied, why don't you meet someone else?"
An annoying woman.
That was the word Kadin often spat out at her.
'But why is he like this?'
Just because she was with another man, as if she had been greatly betrayed by a loved one.
She could only laugh at Kadin's shocked expression as he looked at her.
But Ayla tried her best to continue acting while thinking about sad things.
"I told you clearly last time, Kadin. We can't be together anymore. Unless you become a commoner."
Of course, even if he became a commoner, she had no intention of being with Kadin.
'But well, there's no way that guy would give up his status.'
Perhaps he understood the meaning of her words to some extent.
Kadin, who had been frozen, seemed to come to his senses and turned around, staggering.
The issue of status was something he couldn't do anything about right now.
"I'll talk to you later."
"No, there's nothing more to talk about."
Ayla refused firmly, but Kadin didn't even answer.
Unlike when he had confidently barged in earlier, he left the infirmary with a slight shock.
Ayla, who had chased Kadin away, let out a long sigh.
'Haa. I'm so tired of dealing with him... No, should I say it's a good thing? I don't have to explain the reason to Felix in detail.'
Ayla felt the need to quickly get rid of Kadin.
Rosia, along with Freya and Kadin, were obstacles to her academy life in many ways.
To stop them, she needed Felix's help, who was sufficient in both force and status.
Felix spoke to Ayla with a worried expression.
"Are you okay?"
Fortunately, the acting from earlier seemed to have worked.
Felix at this time was basically righteous, so he easily felt sympathy for the weak.
As she expected, Felix looked at Ayla with worried eyes.
"I was surprised, but I'm okay."
Ayla first gave Felix a friendly smile.
"Thank you for helping me, Felix."
"What are you, anyway?"
"I told you, I'm Ayla."
"Why did you make such a strange request to me earlier?"
Blue eyes narrowed behind his glasses.
"What does it mean to have a contract relationship?"
Ayla scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"You saw it just now, how much my ex-fiancé is bothering me."
Felix hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"I know you think I'm weird, but I was desperate enough to do that."
Felix agreed with Ayla's words with a serious face.
"He was being seriously pathetic..."
Ayla hurriedly covered her mouth, which was about to burst into laughter.
Right now, it was a priority to let Felix know about her pitiful situation and ask for help.
She put on a pitiful expression and opened her mouth again.
"As you know, Kadin was my fiancé. But when it was revealed that I wasn't a Princess Consort of the Blanche Family, he told me to be his mistress."
"..."
"When I refused, he started chasing me like that. I... I don't want to be his mistress."
Felix's face immediately became serious.
He, too, was aiming to become a knight, so he couldn't just ignore a woman in danger.
Ayla continued.
"Even if I ask other nobles, they won't listen anyway. Most of them are on Kadin's side."
"...I can't be of much help to you either. Because I'm a commoner and I can't use Mana."
Ayla felt a pang of conscience.
In fact, she had approached him knowing how helpful Felix would be.
'In the future, you won't be a commoner and you'll be able to use Mana.'
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