NOVEL NEXT Chapter 26
I couldn’t hide my shock at Shione’s words.
No, I was amazed not just because she suddenly said something like that in a good atmosphere.
The fact that the mention of breaking off the engagement came from Shione Shianella, not Evan Feiosha, felt like I had just been hit in the head.
How on earth was she going to have the face to suggest it first?
She didn’t even write him a letter like Evan Feiosha would.
And she hadn’t consistently replied to his letters either.
Yet, she was rejecting a kind-hearted fiancé who regularly wrote to her?
Shione’s incomprehensible actions were making my head spin.
The same was true for Diolia; she was also staring at Shione with a dazed expression.
“Um… it seems that Princess Shione has requested a breakup with Lord Evan…”
From that bewildered voice, I could instantly tell how shocking the situation was for Diolia.
Shione’s unexpected declaration of breaking off the engagement.
It probably felt like getting hit in the back of the head by an ogre wielding a club.
Diolia threw a glance at me.
“I’m not mishearing or misreading this, am I?”
I quietly nodded in response to her words.
“It truly seems like she requested to break off the engagement.”
“…Why would Princess Shione do that?”
“She did mention to me before that she might break off the engagement when we were together, but… I didn’t expect it would turn out like this…”
“Huh—”
When Shione was with me, she had been complaining that she would break off the engagement.
I should have held her back at that time.
It’s all my fault.
Just because her appearance changed from a bear to a human doesn’t guarantee that her insides would change as well.
It seems the training with mugwort and garlic wasn’t enough after all.
I watched Evan’s reaction to Shione’s words.
“Is the important matter that you wanted to discuss in the garden this story?”
Oh, what a crazy guy.
It seems he had set the groundwork for this from the reception room.
Shione’s obsession with breaking off the engagement began to feel terrifying.
Soon, Shione nodded back at the cold gaze of Evan Feiosha, who remained calm.
“Yes, that is correct, Lord.”
“…I see.”
Before long, Evan’s shoulders began to shake.
I thought he might slap Shione.
But seeing him struggling to hold back a laugh after her declaration of breaking off the engagement, it seemed he wasn’t normal either.
“Lord?”
Shione called to Evan, who was laughing.
Evan steadied his breath and looked at her with a deep, calm gaze.
“I had already perceived during our conversation in the reception room that you wanted to break off the engagement, my lady.”
“…….”
“But even so, the first person who should mention breaking off the engagement should be me, not you, right?”
After Evan’s words, it finally seemed like Shione was hit with the realization, and she tightly shut her mouth and nodded.
After all, it would only make sense for the words of breaking off the engagement to come from Evan.
While Evan had been trying to get closer to Shione, she had been holed up in her room, forgetting and denying her relationship with him.
Amid this, Evan looked around at the flowers nearby and spoke.
“…Princess Shione, you were knowledgeable about flowers, weren’t you?”
“Knowledgeable, you say… that’s quite the compliment.”
“In that case, could you tell me which flower and its meaning would represent you?”
“A flower that represents me?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
As Evan asked with a smile, Shione appeared flustered.
Suddenly shifting from discussing breaking off the engagement to talking about flowers left her in a bit of a daze.
However, eventually, she cautiously opened her mouth and shared her thoughts with Evan.
“I think perhaps I’m most like the balsam flower.”
“Balsam, you say?”
“Yes, the season for balsams to bloom is just around the corner.”
“Hmm… can you tell me the meaning of the balsam flower as well?”
“Of course.”
After a brief pause, Shione continued.
“The balsam flower has both positive and negative meanings.”
“Then please tell me the positive meaning first.”
“The positive meaning is… a childlike heart.”
“A childlike heart…”
Evan muttered the flower’s meaning while silently looking at Shione.
“What’s the negative meaning then?”
“That would be—”
As Shione began to speak the negative meaning, I instinctively felt that whatever came out of her mouth would not be pleasant.
“Don’t touch me… that’s what it means.”
What in the world? That crazy guy really…
Unable to read the atmosphere, wasn’t satisfied with the baby giraffe flower, and started spouting about flowers again?
Still, saying “don’t touch me” to the fiancé of the Feiosha Marquis family was something else entirely.
The bluntness of those words resonated sharply in my ears.
Diolia, perhaps feeling a headache from Shione’s antics, pressed her temples, and Evan merely smiled faintly yet remained composed, staring steadily at Shione.
After a little while, the flower meaning commotion subsided, and Evan continued the conversation.
“Actually, if there had been no reply in this letter, I was planning to send a breakup notice in the next letter.”
I noticed Shione’s expression darken slightly at his words.
Of course, it was clear she wasn’t sad about it.
That guy probably thought she would just ignore a breakup notice, as usual, and lock herself in her room.
Reading Shione’s expression, which had fallen into extreme antinomy about the idea of marriage, was no longer difficult for me.
“I awakened my divine power… So I wanted to cut ties with you and start anew. I even got my mother’s permission.”
“Then…”
“My feelings for you have long been shed, and if you wish to break off the engagement, it will proceed.”
At Evan’s words, Shione’s expression started to brighten.
“But, my lady.”
Drawing one step closer to Shione, who seemed happier, Evan moved to close the distance between them, and Shione watched him warily.
“This concerns a marriage with no other family but the Feiosha Marquis family. An opportunity that won’t come again.”
Evan Feiosha wore a mask of unfeeling calmness on his face, reminiscent of his mother, Yulia Feiosha.
“Are you sure you won’t regret breaking the engagement?”
“…If I thought I would regret it, I wouldn’t have brought it up in the first place.”
“If that’s what you say, my lady… then the breakup will proceed.”
Shione sighed with apparent relief.
But soon, her expression had to harden once more.
“But even if the breakup happens… my lady, you and I might cross paths quite often in the future.”
“Excuse me?”
“The Academy that I will attend is the same one as Sion Shianella’s. I heard there’s news that we will be in the same class…”
As Sion Shianella’s name slipped from Evan’s lips, Shione’s expression turned ice cold.
“The academy I will attend is precisely that one. I heard we will be assigned to the same class…”
A new hue soaked into Evan’s expression of neutrality.
Anticipation. But it didn’t seem that it carried only positive emotions.
“It seems my connection with Shianella is not yet at an end.”
Evan extended his hand for a handshake.
“My lady, I hope for your cooperation moving forward.”
Shione merely grasped his hand with a dissatisfied expression.
*
After the conversation with Evan ended, we were assigned to separate guest rooms.
Shione, as if tired, immediately retreated to her room, and Diolia, perhaps shocked by the breakup, also entered her own room for a rest.
Naturally, I followed after Shione, who had sought refuge in her room.
I found her curled up under the blanket.
“…Are you really going to break off the engagement?”
“You heard everything, didn’t you?”
Shione nodded calmly.
Watching her yawn the way she did, it felt like my heart was crumbling at the absurdity of it all.
“But your fiancé is the Lord of the Feiosha Marquis family. Wouldn’t it be wise to reconsider…?”
“I already said all that about the balsam flower’s meaning in front of him.”
“But—”
“Moreover, Lord Evan himself indicated he wished for the breakup in the reception room, and even said he was going to send a breakup notice.”
“…….”
I shut my mouth tightly.
At this point, suggesting to backtrack on the breakup was pointless.
After all, what good would it do to remarry someone who had talked about the balsam flower’s meaning?
I could only watch her with a sigh.
“Is it okay if I sit on the chair?”
“Please, make yourself comfortable.”
“…Thank you.”
Thud.
As I sank into the chair, the fatigue accumulated from standing evaporated.
It was easy to have misjudged the atmosphere earlier while distracted by Shione’s antics in the garden.
But now, I felt relaxed, and the weariness hit me.
I scrutinized Shione from my seat.
She was discreetly observing me from her position lying on the bed.
It seemed she realized that this breakup was quite the matter, but it left me scratching my head as to why she had behaved like that.
In that line of thought, I asked her a question.
“…Does that mean you could also tell me what flower and its meaning would represent me?”
If we’re discussing things like baby giraffe flowers or balsams, I couldn’t help but wonder about what flower she thought of me as.
As I asked, Shione peeked her face out of the blanket and looked at me intently.
Unlike when she was speaking to Evan, she seemed to ponder deeply this time.
She slowly locked eyes with me and said.
“The ginseng flower and the plum blossom are a match. And…”
Then Shione dove back into her blanket completely.
“…Uh, a, a single poppy might be… okay too, I guess…”
I stared wide-eyed at Shione, who fell silent after saying that.
It seemed she had completely hidden herself in the blanket and didn’t notice my eyes on her.
With a small sigh, I murmured.
What was the point of just telling me the flower without the meaning?
“Could you also tell me the meaning?”
At my words, the blanket Shione was wrapped in twitched.
“…You can look it up yourself.”
“Me?”
“When you return to the Count’s House, I’ll let you borrow a book on flower meanings.”
“…Understood.”
After vaguely replying to her, our conversation came to a halt.
There was no point in further discussing the breakup, as it was clear that would only lead to frustrating responses.
There were no special topics left to discuss, so we had no choice.
How long had passed since then?
Shione peeked her face out of the blanket again and addressed me.
“Tomorrow, we’ll be visiting the Feiosha Marquis family, so keep that in mind.”
“…Tomorrow, you say?”
“Yes. Didn’t you ask me to convey what we couldn’t speak of before? I arranged for that to be discussed at the Feiosha Marquis.”
With those words, Shione broke into a smile.
“Are you excited?”
Looking at Shione, who seemed overly bright for someone who just had a breakup discussion, I finally let out a chuckle.
“…I’ll ask Diolia to provide guard duty ahead of time.”
I’m already worried about what kind of antics this balsam-like lady will get into tomorrow.