Chapter 110: The Spiral of Distortion
Knowing that, Enzhe squeezed out even more crocodile tears and twisted the knife in Melaine’s heart.
“If you had been more… to Brother Reeves’ liking, maybe the engagement wouldn’t have been broken…”
The chair clattered to the floor as Melaine, unable to bear it any longer, stormed out of the classroom. She never came back.
The news of Melaine’s broken engagement, the absurd story that Reeves had suddenly called it off, was confirmed.
Unlike when the engagement had been announced, the Acrea family officially protested to the Lopetrefers about Enzhe’s behavior. But all the Lopetrefers offered was a sincere apology.
They claimed there was no malice intended, based on everyone’s testimony, so the Acrea family couldn’t gain any leverage. Moreover, public opinion turned against them, criticizing them for being shameless enough to be angry after unilaterally breaking off the engagement.
The next day, fortunately, Acrea appeared at the academy, his face as emotionless as ever. He remained silent about the engagement, but no one blamed him, as it wasn’t his fault.
But unlike Acrea, who seemed fine, Melaine, who had suffered the worst humiliation of her life, wasn’t.
She didn’t come to the academy for an entire week.
Sue went to her mansion, worried, but she wasn’t allowed in.
Enzhe clicked her tongue, saying it was pathetic for a noble to act like that. She was completely oblivious to the fact that she was the one who had set off the bomb.
On a weekend night, a week after the chaotic incident, Sue, curled up in bed, finally calmed down and reviewed the situation.
First of all, this hadn’t happened in the novel. But reality had already diverged from the novel in many ways.
She vaguely understood the flow of events.
Normally, around this time, Melaine and Sue would have started obsessively bullying Halo. Not just picking fights with her, but truly obsessing over her.
Enzhe had probably revealed Melaine’s engagement because she was bored. In the novel, Enzhe hadn’t had the time to care about Melaine’s engagement, as her own fiancé was already interested in another girl.
It was the same with Melaine. She would have taken out her frustration on Halo after the engagement was broken.
But Halo, the target of their stress relief, was currently enjoying her academy life, completely invisible.
As a result, the butterfly effect of Halo’s absence from their lives had manifested in unexpected ways. And looking at the results, Melaine Vava was bearing the brunt of the karma, almost pitifully so.
One day, she was visiting Jean’s workshop. She had told Jean, who had asked her how she was doing, about the incident between Melaine and Reeves.
“Hahahahahahaha!”
Jean burst out laughing, as if he was watching a comedy, despite hearing about a tragedy. He wiped away his tears and caught his breath.
“There’s always something going on in the capital. Reeves Acrea, who can’t even get married at his age, is picky about his tastes?”
Why had Reeves broken off the engagement in the first place?
As Jean had said, he was almost thirty and still unmarried. As the head of a family, he should have had a fiancée arranged for him since childhood, but Reeves had apparently never had one.
Melaine’s sister, Yuna, was in a similar situation, but she had been engaged when she was younger. Her fiancé had passed away, so she hadn’t been looking for a partner for a long time.
“Sue, are you engaged?”
Jean asked, still chuckling.
“I… Well, I guess I’ll get engaged if my father finds someone for me.”
Sue was also a woman who would become the head of a family. But she, like Reeves, didn’t have a fiancé. That was thanks to Eren’s declaration that he wouldn’t let her marry a provincial noble.
Jean pondered her somewhat humble answer, then asked again,
“Then will you run away with that person?”
“With the person I marry?”
“Yes.”
It was an unexpectedly sharp question. Sue sipped her lukewarm lemon tea. She gave another humble answer,
“I don’t think that’s possible. He wouldn’t marry me because he loves me. I’m sorry to my future husband, but I’ll have to run away on my own.”
Jean smirked meaningfully.
“Why are you so sure?”
“Sure about what?”
“You’re sure your husband won’t love you.”
“I just can’t imagine it any other way.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
Jean stopped asking, his lips pressed together. He didn’t seem to like her answer. Sue sipped her lemon tea, oblivious. Jean, who had been staring at the ceiling, said quietly,
“Anyway, that young lady will come back with her head held high. Her pride might be wounded, but that’s how nobles are.”
“…I guess so?”
One thing was for sure, the flow of events was different from the novel.
Sue, who just had to survive until the curse was broken, didn’t need to worry about Melaine.
She would be lying if she said she wasn’t worried, but as Jean had said, Melaine was a proud girl, so she would surely return to the academy soon, her head held high. She wanted to believe that.
***
The very next day, as Jean had predicted, Melaine made a grand appearance at the academy. Sue, hearing that Melaine had returned, went to the Blue Shark classroom as soon as her first class ended.
“Lady Melaine, are you okay?”
“Oh, Sue, you look well.”
Surprisingly, Melaine greeted her with an even brighter smile than usual.
Her humiliated, devastated face was gone, the bandage on her neck was also gone, and her impeccable appearance and radiant smile were the Melaine Vava they knew.
Sue was relieved, but instead of feeling reassured, she felt a strange sense of dissonance, as if something didn’t fit.
“Hehe, you were worried, weren’t you? I’m sorry, I’ve been acting disgracefully lately.”
Even her killer eyes had softened. This was the usual Melaine, but it had been so long that Sue felt a strange awkwardness.
Melaine was literally smiling all day. She acted as if the whole ‘engagement with Reeves’ incident had never happened.
She didn’t blame Enzhe, even when she was right in front of her. She even apologized for not greeting her for so long.
No one dared to mention her engagement, seeing her act as if nothing had happened.
Enzhe, perhaps pleased by her response, or perhaps no longer interested, didn’t taunt or scold Melaine during their conversation.
One of Melaine’s followers, who had been itching to say something, finally worked up the courage to ask,
“Lady Melaine, about the engagement… Are you okay?”
Sue, baffled by the question, glared at the girl. But Melaine didn’t seem to mind and replied confidently,
“Of course. That wasn’t the only way to help my sister.”
Sue blinked, her eyes wide with surprise. She hadn’t expected Melaine to let go of her lingering feelings so completely, even though she had thought she would.
She had thought Melaine would let go, but… how?
She had seen Melaine’s face, her lips bitten until they bled. She was even more confused.
‘…Is Melaine Vava just… “Melaine Vava”?’
Sue, unable to find a reasonable explanation, could only acknowledge Melaine’s fierce determination.
But she would soon regret her naive judgment.
***
The young ladies invited to Melaine’s tea party were gathered around the gazebo in the Vava marquis family garden. Sue, dressed in a navy blue dress, was sitting next to Melaine. It was an unspoken privilege she received as a member of an allied family.
But Sue was half-confused as to why she was there.
She hadn’t even thought this tea party would be held as scheduled. It was supposed to be a celebration of Melaine’s engagement.
What were the guests supposed to say to the hostess of a party celebrating a broken engagement? She couldn’t come up with an answer, even after thinking about it all night.
Over twenty people had been invited, but only eight had actually attended. And most of them were Melaine’s followers.
The young ladies who weren’t close to Melaine didn’t have the courage to endure this tea party. Sue completely understood them.
There was an unexpected face among the attendees. The fairy-like girl sitting at the very end, looking around the Skia mansion, was none other than Azette Delondariwood. She was wearing a light blue dress with short sleeves, and she looked even more lovely today.
But as far as Sue knew, Azette had never even spoken to Melaine before. She didn’t know how Azette had received the invitation, but she seemed to have the boldness to attend a tea party that had lost its purpose.
“I’m sorry, did you wait long?”
The hostess of the tea party finally appeared at the gazebo, dressed in a flowy pink dress. She was wearing a lily headband, amethyst drop earrings, and a silver necklace with an unfamiliar emblem.
Melaine was still Melaine. Every piece of jewelry she wore suited her perfectly, as befitting the epitome of radiance.
“You look beautiful today, Lady Melaine!”
Her followers, excited to see Melaine all dressed up, squealed.