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For the sake of her family and parents, she gave up on love and agreed to an engagement with another ducal family.
However, no matter how hard she tried to love the young lord who was to be her fiancé, her lover remained constantly on her mind.
Following a certain incident, the princess realized that she could not possibly proceed with the engagement while harboring such feelings.
And then, as if their hearts were in sync, the commoner man came to the ducal residence himself.
‘Surely he knows that he could die. Despite that, there was simply something he had to protect. That thing was—love!’
The sentences flowed effortlessly, as if the god of journalists had descended upon him.
Perhaps Jason's talent lay not in stiff current affairs or economics, but in soft, emotional writing.
‘The only things I could actually get published as articles were pieces praising His Majesty the Emperor's grace and a short novel I submitted anonymously, so maybe this is my path...’
The anonymously written novel was so embarrassing to call an article that he had treated it as non-existent in his career.
He had also felt ashamed that a man had written such a thing.
However, his mental fortitude had been eroded every time an economic analysis piece—which he had spent days and nights squeezing out—was rejected.
Eventually, he had tried to circle back to stories about the Emperor's grace, but wasn't that essentially based on a half-scam?
In the midst of this, the love story of this princess, which he encountered like rain during a drought, lit a fire in Jason's heart.
While the savior-like lovers were deeply immersed in their own world for a long while...
The sound of galloping hooves, which had been heard from afar, had suddenly grown close enough to shake the ground.
He stole a glance at the crest drawn on the carriage, and it was...
‘...It's Duke Martir?!’
How could the timing be so perfect?
Each scene followed the next as smoothly as if it were a single episode.
Not wanting to miss a single moment of the Duke's appearance, he gripped his pen even tighter.
As a result, a round ink blot formed on his notebook, but Jason's concentration burned all the more intensely.
It meant he was pouring all his attention into the situation, oblivious to the fact that his notebook was being ruined.
As if rewarding Jason, the situation escalated further.
“Evgenia Rose Martyr!”
Despite the Duke's shout, which struck like thunder, the two lovers clung to each other and showed no intention of parting.
Instead, they responded boldly with even louder voices.
“Father! I'm sorry for deceiving you all this time! But I... I simply cannot give up on this love...!”
Her voice was fit for the Captain of the Imperial Palace Knights, but her attitude and lines were truly pitiful.
The man, who naturally hid the princess behind his back, shouted in opposition to the Duke.
“Your Grace! I sincerely... love Zhenya, my lover! I will not be so absurdly greedy as to ask you to give the princess to me. However, please... please make her happy...!”
With a one-two punch of emotional appeals, even the Duke was left speechless.
There were plenty of points to question, but there were too many eyes and ears here.
Avoiding the gaze of the Duke, who turned to look around, Jason—who had curled his body up and let out a loud "Kerrrr" sound while pretending to be a drunk—spotted them.
Those who had been drawn in by this loud love story.
While there were a few ordinary passersby, excluding a handful of them, everyone else was a familiar face.
‘That bastard is from the Daily Letter, and the one next to him is from the Imperial Times. What the hell, why is the Voice of Economics here?’
Perhaps because Duke Martir also held the position of Chancellor, there were indeed many reporters hiding in plain sight.
From newspapers that mainly wrote economic articles to yellow journalism that dragged in every possible rumor.
Those who had been drooling in hopes of getting even a crumb from the ducal family had crawled out upon smelling a scoop.
‘Damn, this isn't the time to worry about whether I'll be killed for publishing the article. I just have to publish it before these bastards...!’
He felt the urge to tear down the door of the editor-in-chief's house right now just to write and print this article.
In his haste, his pen wouldn't move properly, but fortunately, the Duke regained his composure and quickly settled the situation.
He put the now-quiet commoner man and the princess into the carriage, climbed in himself, and disappeared inside the main gate.
Jason followed the rear of the carriage as it vanished beyond the closed gates before snapping back to his senses with a gasp.
As he rushed away, Jason gripped the ink-stained notebook so hard it crumpled in his hand.
* * *
“Evgenia Rose Martyr.”
“Father...”
“Explain. Before my patience runs out.”
Evgenia's shoulders instinctively shrank at her father's chilling voice.
It hadn't been this bad even when a letter of her name was erased, or when she caused various incidents and accidents while chasing Raymond.
Facing her father's anger for the first time in her life, her fingertips trembled slightly.
If it weren't for the warmth of the hand holding hers, she surely would have made a slip of the tongue.
Carefully turning her head to exchange a brief look with Yulan, Evgenia let out a long breath to calm her fluttering heart.
“Father, actually, Yu... Yuri, and I have been seeing each other since we were at the Academy.”
“...Ha!”
“I know it's hard to believe. Because I made it that way...”
With her red eyelashes trembling, Evgenia leaned her head on Yulan's shoulder with a fragile gesture.
Their interlaced fingers seemed to demonstrate the firm trust between them.
“Didn't it seem strange? I started becoming more obsessed with Raymond starting from the Academy.”
“...”
“I met Yul exactly at that time. If it became known that I had given my heart to a commoner, my reputation would have plummeted to the point where I wouldn't even be able to get engaged, let alone marry. So...”
“So, you're saying you pretended to like Raymond just to hide that commoner?”
She answered by nodding her head.
If she excitedly recited the settings she had meticulously planned, the awkwardness would undoubtedly be revealed.
There was also a possibility that her father was waiting for that.
Therefore, appealing to emotion rather than logic would work better here.
“I... did many terrible things to Raymond. I only feel sorry for him.”
“...And Young Lady Aer?”
“If it were up to me, I'd want to kneel and apologize. To think someone could confess their love so confidently with just that meager title of Baron...”
Evgenia's voice trembled slightly.
She didn't even need to act for this part.
Whenever she thought of that love-crazed bastard Raymond, her voice naturally trembled with rage.
“Yuri and I are in a relationship where we can't even easily say we love each other, yet a mere Baron...!”
“Evgenia!”
“Exactly! What is so different between a Baron and a commoner?!”
Clinging to the title of 'Baron' was also part of the plan.
Isn't a Baron closer to a commoner than to a Duke?
This was even more true for Baron Aer's family, who had lived more poorly than the commoners of the capital.
With this, she maintained her 'Evgenia-ness' while also explaining the hysteria she had displayed even more violently after Stella appeared.
The story fit together so perfectly it felt like déjà vu, but nothing less than this would have fooled her father.
If she left even the smallest seed of doubt, her tail would be caught in an instant.
“Still, for the sake of your reputation, Father, I tried my best to love Raymond.”
“...”
“The engagement, the marriage—it was all for you, Father. If it were the Larsen Ducal Family, at least I wouldn't be a daughter to be ashamed of!”
Her eyelashes fluttered once, as if she were about to burst into tears.
‘Just imagining my acting failing and me getting engaged to Raymond makes me want to cry.’
Evgenia's moist, golden eyes looked directly at her father.
“I know. I've received an undeserved amount of love and lived an undeserved life. That's why I tried to live the life of an Imperial Princess. The divine respected my will as well.”
With a bitter end to her words, she touched the area near her clavicle bone.
It was exactly where Raymond's name had been engraved.
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