Escape marriage with the enemy general - Chapter 0
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- Escape marriage with the enemy general
- Chapter 0 - The princess dies immediately after the engagement is abandoned
“Arvina, I am breaking off our engagement and marrying your younger sister.”
“…Huh?”
I had been summoned by my fiancé to the castle gardens while I was working late into the night on some political matters. I was completely exhausted, and when I heard those words, I couldn’t believe my ears.
“W-what do you mean?”
I am a 19-year-old princess of the Trinian Kingdom. My 34-year-old fiancé was a duke who had been knighted by the Trinian King. I was of a higher social standing. He was younger than me and a man, but what did he mean by breaking off our engagement?
“Your reputation is terrible! As a member of royalty, you rarely show your face to the people, and you have been playing around with men.”
“Huh?”
“Take today for example. You’re meeting with your fiancé, but you have terrible dark circles under your eyes. You’re sleep-deprived, aren’t you? Did you go out with some young man last night?”
“…I am sleep-deprived because I worked all night last night. I have explained the rumors about me many times before.”
“But even so, how did such bad rumors spread so far?”
I had asked him, even though he was older, to speak casually to me, but I didn’t remember giving him permission to be so rude.
“As your fiancé, I invited you out many times, but you always turned me down, saying you were busy. Our marriage has been postponed many times.”
“That’s because I have work…!”
“Even though you’re a princess, it’s impossible for you to be entrusted with such important work. Could those rumors be true? Are you the only one among the princes and princesses who isn’t a child of the queen, but an illegitimate child?”
“…………!!!!”
I was the legitimate child of the king and queen, and the reason our marriage had been postponed was because the king kept saying, “It would be inconvenient if she were to leave now when she’s so busy.”
“I have spoken to your parents and the king.”
“…!”
“I have already proposed to and received a reply from my new fiancée. She is the third princess, Wilhelmina. She is only 17 years old, but she is virtuous, refined, beautiful, and strong. She is a wonderful woman.”
She was beautiful, yes, but she was the most stubborn of the siblings. However, she would always stand up for herself and wouldn’t accept an arranged marriage quietly…
My mind was in a fog. I was getting a terrible headache. It was because of my lack of sleep.
No, I have to take a short nap. I still have a lot of work to do. I still have to fix the budget for supporting the north after the tornado, create an additional budget for the infrastructure repairs, check and approve the prison expansion plans, and…
“…I understand. If the king has decided, I have no objections. Thank you for your time. Excuse me.”
I had reached my limit and turned my back on my ex-fiancé.
“…That ‘lustful witch.’ I was completely fooled.”
A loud insult stabbed my back, and I bit my lip in secret.
Our engagement had been decided by the king and queen, so there was no love in our relationship. But even so, we were going to be husband and wife in the future, so I had tried my best to build a good relationship.
I headed into the castle. My waiting ladies followed behind me. I glanced down at my chest as I walked, and it felt like shackles. How much longer would it keep ruining my life?
At that moment, I ran into my brother, my father, and the ministers who were coming out of the conference room. My brother handed me a stack of papers.
“Arvina, make a clean copy of this memo. Before the negotiations resume this afternoon.”
“What?! But there are secretaries…”
“It’s their fault for being useless!”
“Did you fire them again?”
Did that mean I wouldn’t have time for a nap? My head was spinning.
“What’s with that face? Why do you think peace negotiations are so difficult right now? If you had just helped me to win the heart of Benedict’s prudish crown prince with that body of yours, this would all be over!”
“…I did have a fiancé, you know (but I just broke up with him).”
“You’re saying that now, after spreading all those terrible rumors? Why don’t we just use that huge body of yours for the good of the country?”
“…Excuse me.”
I turned around, still holding the stack of papers.
My physical characteristics were insulted, ridiculed, and used to spread terrible sexual rumors on a daily basis. I couldn’t fight back, and I worked like a horse. That was my everyday life.
(Oh man, I have to finish this and prioritize it for the afternoon meeting. Then… I have to check everything, and that will take a while, so I’ll do the ones I can approve right away… in order of deadline…)
I forced myself to ignore the throbbing pain in my head as I climbed the stairs.
I normally used my own healing magic to get rid of the pain, but I was so overworked and sleep-deprived that my magical energy was completely depleted.
I stumbled upstairs, thinking to myself that it would be nice if I had someone to help me with my chores and…
“Ah!”
My foot caught on the hem of my dress.
My body was weak from lack of sleep, and I lost my balance as soon as my foot slipped. Before the ladies could catch me, my body floated up from the stairs and fell with a thud.
“Eek!”
My ladies screamed.
The world was upside down. I was falling headfirst.
(I’m going to break my neck and die!)
As a kaleidoscope of thoughts flashed through my mind, my body was firmly caught by something.
(…?)
Something akin to strong arms was holding me.
“Are you all right?”
Accompanying a deep voice that resonated in the depths of my body, a strange man peered at my face.
My mind went blank, from having been touched by a man.
“―――――Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
I couldn’t help but scream. It was after that.
That I realized he had saved me.
“Ah, no, um, I apologize. I didn’t mean it that way, no, really.”
He seems to be about ten years older than me.
And tall, from looking up at him. Perhaps he’s taller than anyone I know. Dressed like a high-ranking military officer.
Without minding, or rather, without indicating any change in emotion on his face, he gently lowered me to the ground.
“Were you frightened by this facial scar?”
“N-no! That’s not it. It is just that, men…”
“Men?”
“Um, it’s nothing. You saved me, and yet I’m being rude.”
I noticed later that he had a big scar on his face, as well as his expressionless, cold appearance being a little frightening, but very well-defined.
The big man himself was that frightening to me.
(He saved me, but then I screamed!? What’s wrong with me…!)
“I fail to grasp the problem, but it is good that you are unharmed, Princess Arvina.”
“Huh…”
“May I introduce myself? I am Elias Clayde Homerus, rear admiral of the Benedict Kingdom Navy. I am here on behalf of our crown prince, to participate in peace negotiations.”
Without changing his complexion or expression, he gave his name.
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