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As I stared blankly at the patterns on the ceiling, ignoring reality, I suddenly felt a squeezing pain in my hand.
Thanks to the patience bestowed upon me by the divine, I didn't scream, but the thought that he had likely anticipated that and adjusted his strength accordingly made me feel utterly disgusted.
Yevgenia, her mouth visibly drooping, spoke in a crooked tone.
“Do it one more time, and I swear I’ll actually scream this time.”
“…….”
“Go ahead, try pretending you didn't hear me again. As you know, my reputation is already rock bottom; there's nowhere left for it to fall.”
This time, I intended to overact as if my hand had actually been broken.
Whether he properly understood my warning or not, the formal escort posture he had been maintaining slowly relaxed.
I naturally stepped away from his side and tried to find a familiar face.
‘Hmm, that Young Lady and I once tore each other's dresses back at the Academy, that Young Noble was someone I rejected quite harshly, and that Young Lady over there is someone whose hair I once grabbed at a banquet…….’
It was bleak.
What kind of life had I lived?
To think there wasn't a single person in this vast ballroom who wasn't my enemy.
The fact that 99.9% of the reasons were because of Raymond made my head ache terribly.
How much better would it have been if I had lived a life slightly less driven by a love-crazed madness?
‘If I had, I wouldn't have had to risk my life trying to change fate.’
In the end, after looking around, the only place to escape to was the powder room.
Creak—
“Whew. Luckily, no one's here.”
It is quite a blow to one's mental fortitude to see young ladies scream and flee in terror the moment they see my face upon opening the door.
To think I could be a more terrifying existence to some than a wolf or a bear.
If my future dream were to be a disaster, I would be delighted, but for someone dreaming of peace, there was nothing sadder than this.
‘It's too late to restore my ruined image. It would be much faster to go to a region where no one knows my past and start a new life.’
To do that, the priority was to sever my relationship with Raymond.
……Though it weighed on my mind that my father was not cooperative with me at all.
‘With the expression of the gentleman escorting the lady looking so rotten, I'll never get the reaction Father wants.’
Attending every banquet together was something usually seen between lovers or married couples.
In the case of an arranged marriage, it was common to maintain a proper distance by escorting a sister of a family friend or relative in between.
In other words, from Father's perspective, there was no card left to play for attending banquets to flaunt the relationship between Raymond and me.
However, since Raymond and I were in a rather peculiar situation, it wouldn't be of much help.
Moreover, considering the reason why he wanted to use that card, it was even less helpful.
‘Father thinks too much. That's a good point for a Prime Minister, but as a father, he's the worst.’
Of course, since he couldn't have imagined that his daughter would go of her own accord to have her name erased, it was understandable that his thoughts would jump elsewhere.
Because I was raised to be so willful, I lived doing whatever I pleased, but despite how I seem, I was the only Imperial Princess of the Empire.
I was an existence that would inevitably create synergy regardless of which family I was paired with.
‘And in the midst of that, I've become engaged to another ducal house, so it wouldn't be strange if the Imperial Family tried to keep me in check.’
However, for that to happen, one prerequisite was necessary.
Yevgenia had to be a decent enough Young Lady for the Imperial Family to covet.
“I'm already disqualified from that point……. Father sees me through far too rosy glasses.”
It's a wonderful thing that it means Father loves me that much, but in the current situation, there was no greater hindrance.
Because of that love, I spent the worst of times every single day, from dressing up to the conclusion of the banquets.
If only Father were the only one making my life miserable, I would find a way to avoid it.
But a more serious problem than Father was—
“Why the hell is this bastard Raymond going along with this?”
The reality that Raymond didn't seem inclined to let go easily.
‘Why on earth? In the original story, he didn't just dislike Yevgenia; he loathed her. In my memories, it was no different from the original. So why has his attitude suddenly changed?’
Even in the original story, the engagement between Raymond and Yevgenia wasn't decided easily.
At first, I thought it was because it was difficult to resolve with the power of Raymond, a second son, and Stella, a Baron's daughter, as there would be various conflicting interests.
Thus, I thought that if Yevgenia stepped in, it could be changed very easily, but…….
‘Father's reaction is one thing, but Raymond's willingness to go along with it is also strange.’
Perhaps the Raymond of the original story had the same thought?
A way to keep the money and power of the Martyr family while also protecting his love.
Marriage with Yevgenia, and romance with Stella…….
The thought that he was hiding such an absurd plan inside that damn black head made my blood boil.
On the other hand, I felt that the past ‘Yevgenia,’ who gave reality to such a plan, was quite impressive in a way.
‘Just how much of a pushover do you have to be to be treated like that? Isn't this a level that would go down in history?’
Let's assume, based on Yevgenia's pushover-like nature, that Raymond intends not to give up on the engagement with me.
If so, I could somewhat guess why Raymond was playing along with this farce.
Seeing that I, having learned of the miserable future, did not bully Stella unlike in the original, he must be trying to draw the absurd blueprint he envisioned into reality.
In the original, he must have cut her off completely because Yevgenia went too far and even tried to take Stella's life.
Furthermore, since the hardship known as ‘Yevgenia’ was gone, there was no reason for the love between Raymond and Stella to burn more fiercely.
‘And the result of that is attending banquets for three consecutive days, huh.’
His love for Stella—ugh!—would never cool, but I was worried about Stella's heart.
“Since she's the female lead, she might naively believe him, but…….”
The sentence I saw in the previous dream was the problem.
End of Part 1.
If so, Part 2, Part 3, or frankly, even Part 10 could exist.
In Stella's long, long life, it was hard to believe that the male lead of a mere Part 1 would maintain that position until the end.
Especially if that male lead was someone like Raymond!
“……This won't do. I have to hold onto Raymond tightly and not let him go!”
If he were dumped by Stella, Raymond would surely become even more clingy than he is now.
It's a truly sorry thing to say, but at least until the engagement is canceled, the only way was for Stella to keep him held fast.
When on earth will Father stop suspecting the Imperial Family and give me back my freedom?
“I don't think I can last even a month, really…….”
I can't tell you how hard it was to resist the urge to rip his hand off my arm today.
If I acted out openly, the rational person inside me shuddered, and if I tried to push him away by force, the difference in strength between me and Raymond was too great.
To resolve this situation, I had to make Father shift his suspicion about my missing name from the Imperial Family to Raymond's behavior as quickly as possible.
To do that.
“Stella Aer…….”
In the end, she was the key.
However, among all the people in this world, she was also the person Yevgenia should avoid the most.
‘If I even make eye contact with Stella, rumors will spread that I bullied her, and then the possibility of following the same path as the original story increases.’
Therefore, I had no choice but to hope that Stella would approach me first.
Though that wouldn't happen unless she had gone mad.
Just as I was sighing at the complicated situation, the door to the powder room opened.
“Um, is anyone here by any chance?”
The person who cautiously peeked through the narrow gap of the door was.
“……Ah. Princess Martyr……!”
It was Stella Aer, the very person I had been longing for.
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