Fiancée No More: The Forsaken Lady, the Prince, and Their Make-Believe Love Volume 1 [Parts 1 to 5] by Mari Morikawa

Author:Mari Morikawa
Language: eng
Format: epub

“Lady Estelle, may I talk to you for a moment?” asked Claus after breakfast, just as Estelle was about to return to her room.

“Yes, Lord Claus?”

“Is everything all right?” he asked after a pause.

Estelle tilted her head. Seeing that she did not understand what he meant, Claus sighed.

“You were crying, were you not? Around four in the morning, I believe. I happened to wake up in the middle of the night and went to the terrace, where I heard a woman’s weeping.”

Estelle was silent for a moment, then asked, “What makes you think it was me?”

“I have confidence in my hearing. You shouldn’t be going outside at this time of the year. What if you catch a cold?”

“I could say the same thing to you, Lord Claus.”

He gave her a chilly stare instead of a reply.

“Are you that against the idea of marrying His Highness?”

I am, thought Estelle. Not that she could speak the truth to Arcrayne’s close aide.

Claus sighed as she went silent.

“The consort of the first prince is the second highest position a woman can achieve in this kingdom, after the queen.” He seemed to have taken Estelle’s silence as a yes.

“It would be too ambitious for me. Such a position is simply too high...”

“Oh, but it’s surely not. You come from an earl-ranked house. Most wives of princes have come from the same or higher ranked families.”

Claus wasn’t the expressive type. When he said things like that with such a blank look, it made Estelle feel like he was reproaching her.

“I was only hoping to marry into a family that would benefit Flozeth... I’ve received sufficient education for marrying a lord, but not a member of royalty. Frankly...all the additional studying I have to do is a heavy burden that makes me suffer.”

Though she spoke falteringly, Estelle glared at Claus. He only reacted by sighing.

“Does a woman’s happiness not lie in marrying a man who desires her? His Highness desires you. Enough to declare he’ll keep you by his side even should His Majesty the King be against it.”

Estelle wondered if what Claus was saying amounted to, “Is it not enough for you that someone wants you?” and, “It’s awfully impertinent for the likes of you to express discontent.”

“His Highness doesn’t desire me as a woman. He simply wants to use my power.”

Another pause. “I suppose so,” replied Claus. “But what’s wrong with that?”

“Beg your pardon?”

“His Highness values you for your power. Does that not create a much stronger connection between you and him than something as unreliable as love?”

Taken by surprise, Estelle stared into Claus’s very pale blue eyes. They were cold and felt like glass. No emotion appeared on his face, and she couldn’t read anything from his mana.

It felt like she was being tested.

“While some might see it as an honor, it’s nothing but a bother to me.”

Frustrated and upset, Estelle looked away from Claus. Nobody here understood how she felt—not he, not Arcrayne. Ever since she had Awoken to this power, it had been a source of stress.

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