Chapter 10

“Hello. Lady Jenna. Today is like sunshine.” 

Adrian’s handsome face appeared in front of her, his lips twisted but his eyes not smiling at all. 

“Yes! Sunshine. You seem to prefer shade over sunshine… but sunshine is nice too.”

Sharp words slipped out. Adrian ignored Jenna’s thorny retort and shrugged his shoulders, taking a seat next to her. 

“So, the noble lady has decided to save a poor, precarious royal member?” 

Since when had Adrian become so cynical?

The Adrian Jenna knew was nothing but warmth.

She wanted to have a longer conversation, but the priest arrived, and Jenna and Adrian suppressed their uneasy words, receiving the escort of the attendant to stand facing each other at the altar where the priest stood. 

Suddenly, her eyes were drawn to Adrian’s tall stature and broad shoulders. Even Jenna, who considered herself quite plump, was overshadowed by his large frame. She felt the guests on Adrian’s side might not be able to see her. 

As the priest mumbled prayers with holy water, Adrian glared at Jenna with a very sour expression. Of course, Jenna also held her head high and returned the stare. 

She hadn’t done anything wrong. She was just offering support as a backing for a longtime friend, that’s all. 

Her lips protruded slightly. 

The priest sprinkled holy water on them and raised his hands to his forehead, then declared. 

“Now, with their faith, they promise to marry and create a holy family, and with this kiss, their eternal union and…” 

What? Kiss? My ears aren’t blocked, right? 

The word “kiss” from the priest’s mouth tickled Jenna’s ears. 

Oh… It’s okay. Just a light peck, really. 

Actually, she and Adrian used to do that as a greeting when they were young. 

It’s nothing. Hmm… It’s okay. Ha-ha. 

Still, wasn’t it an engagement ceremony? Even if there was no love between them, she thought there was friendship and courtesy. So she expected a decent kiss. 

But the damned Adrian Henrique didn’t even place his lips on Jenna’s small pink lips. In the blink of an eye, his face brushed past hers? It was a worthless kiss that didn’t even allow her to feel any sensation. 

No! This isn’t a kiss. Even a baby wouldn’t be kissed like this. 

This wasn’t a kiss; it was an insult! 

The kiss was so brief that dissatisfied coughing was heard from the front row of guests. Even if it was a strategic engagement, the guest service was lacking. Jenna’s eyes widened in disbelief as she glared at Adrian, whose lips formed a ‘What? So what?’ shape. 

She couldn’t tell how the priest ended the ceremony. Ignoring the kiss they just shared, they moved to the ceremony table where the guests were seated. Shortly after, Adrian, bored, went to find Graham. 

Flap, flap. 

Lady Curzette, noticing Adrian’s absence, approached Jenna while fanning herself with a large feathered fan that seemed more suited to courtesans. Her gaze sparkled with malice. 

“Lady… Jenna, I enjoyed the show. The public engagement kiss, I mean. Ho-ho-ho, now Lady Jenna, you must know who Adrian likes?”

Imagining tearing apart her smug face, Jenna barely held back, but further insults followed. 

“Adrian… is truly incorrigible. No matter how forced the engagement, to act so reserved over a mere ceremonial kiss. Is he trying to maintain purity for his lover? Anyway, Lady Jenna, you are not at fault at all, so I don’t know how I should apologize.”

Lady Ione Curzette immediately walked over to Adrian and whispered to him. 

There was an unwritten etiquette where a lady of dignity should not approach a man first unless he spoke to her or moved in with her as a dance partner, so Ione’s actions shocked Jenna. 

And before the evening was over, Adrian and Lady Curzette left the banquet together. 

Even if it was a strategic marriage, Jenna was heartbroken to be left alone when the groom disappeared with his lover before the engagement ceremony was even over. It was humiliating. The guests’ whispers and her father’s worried, warm gaze only added to the sense of disgrace. 

* * * 

After holding back for several days, Jenna contacted Adrian first. She sent a letter she wrote herself to the Autumn Palace through a messenger. The content was essentially a request to meet briefly to discuss how to quietly annul the engagement.

Jenna expected Adrian to send someone with a reply, but to her embarrassment, he came to see her personally that afternoon. Adrian seemed anxious, pacing in the first-floor reception room without even sitting at the table. 

Adrian Henrique feeling uneasy was hard to believe, so she shook her head in disbelief. 

“Hello, Adrian. Or rather, I should greet you, His Highness.” 

Jenna slightly bowed as she greeted him. 

“Lady Jenna, rise. We aren’t in a relationship that requires such formal greetings.” 

Adrian Henrique blushed. 

“Well, I think we are.” 

“In truth, Jenna, I…” 

Yes, what? You love Lady Curzette? You want to annul the engagement and marry her? Yes, that’s a good idea, Adrian. 

“Please, go ahead, Your Highness.” 

“I apologize for how our relationship has turned out, for how our good relationship has changed like this.” 

Oh, don’t mention it… It’s just a little hurt in my heart. 

Jenna nodded graciously. 

“Then let’s proceed with the annulment quietly. Currently, my father doesn’t come to Red Hall often.” 

Suddenly, Adrian tousled his thick blond hair slightly and laughed. 

“An annulment. Yes, that’s a good idea. Let’s do that.” 

If Adrian had stabbed her arm with a knife, it might have hurt less than those words. Her forcibly raised lips twitched. 

“Alright. Honestly, I should have known when Crown Prince Theodore sent the proposal that it wasn’t your will, but I was reckless. I’m really sorry that our long friendship has been shaken by this.” 

She should have stopped there! But she couldn’t hold back the words that followed. 

“But, Adrian, you too. If you liked Lady Curzette, you could have proposed to her. If you disliked me, you could have just told me you didn’t want this. You didn’t have to humiliate me like this.”

Faced with Jenna’s angry reprimand, he couldn’t meet her eyes and turned his gaze to the window as he answered. 

“I’m sorry. You’re right. Treating an old friend like this was perhaps… my own kind of rebellion. A childish rebellion… But, Jenna, I’m not sure if I can annul the engagement right now.” 

“Your Highness, it’s best for both of us to handle these kinds of things quickly. You know how rumors in society are. Lady Ione might be heartbroken despite not saying anything due to her pride.” 

She tried to send him to Ione Curzette with firm resolve, since it wasn’t Adrian’s fault that he didn’t like her. 

She intended to do it maturely! But Adrian’s answer was unexpected. 

“Ione Curzette? Why is her name coming up? She and I have no relationship. Ione is just a frivolous lady of society. What she likes to do is… never mind.” 

“…” 

“I can’t annul the engagement immediately because I’m leaving for White Bloom in a week. A week is too short to finalize the annulment, so I’m… sorry. Jenna, I’ll make sure to come back alive and then we’ll separate.” 

Her body staggered. 

Adrian going to White Bloom? Then what about me… 

Her mind went blank as if it had melted. 

“If I die there, there won’t be a need for an annulment, so wait, Jenna.” 

As soon as Adrian finished speaking, he took advantage of Jenna’s stunned state, kissed her trembling eyebrow, flashed his bright smile, and quickly walked out of the hall! 

Ahhhh!! What is this!! 

Her shocked mind settled briefly, and she recalled what Adrian had just said. 

Adrian is going to war. Adrian is going to the battlefield… 

Her chest felt tight, as if something was blocking it. 

* * * 

Joseph Henrique, the Emperor of Ingénes, is originally over 70 years old. However, due to the Lion Stone brought by Lady Evelyn 19 years ago, he hasn’t aged beyond his thirties. 

As the myth conveyed, the Lion Stone granted its owner eternal life and youth, and the people rejoiced, believing the Emperor was blessed by the gods and that Ingénes would become an eternal empire by seizing the Ruby Stone from Lucus. 

It would have been wonderful if it had ended as a beautiful fairy tale. But the Emperor’s eternal youth brought disaster. The disaster of jealousy and suspicion.

The Emperor feared that his absolute power might be transferred to his son. Before acquiring the Lion Stone, his son, who was the sole heir to the throne, was treated with utmost care. But now, with eternal life, the Emperor saw his son as the biggest obstacle to his immortality. 

The biggest problem was Lady Evelyn, who constantly whispered suggestions in the Emperor’s ear. 

“Your Majesty, you look so young, yet the Crown Prince appears older. Won’t people call the one who looks older the Emperor? It’s an irreverent thought, but isn’t it true?” 

She was the beautiful woman who found the Lion Stone for him and was brought to his bed immediately after the old and wrinkled Empress passed away. He wanted to make her Empress, but faced significant opposition. Joseph Henrique began to despise everyone who opposed elevating Lady Evelyn to Empress, including Morgan Herbon, his chancellor and advisor. 

Lady Evelyn whispered with her snake-like tongue into the Emperor’s ear. 

“Why not take back the White Bloom borderlands and steal the Ruby Stone from Lucus, Your Majesty? Send those who have enjoyed the Empire’s glory without service to the front lines. The enemy of our enemy might relieve our frustrations with their ignorant soldiers.” 

Lady Evelyn coquettishly pressed her bare chest to the Emperor’s lips.