I Am More Sincere About Breaking Off the Engagement Than Anyone

Ilion looked at the report that had just arrived.

It was the personal information of a man named Bert who had recently planted a bomb in the mine.

There was nothing unusual. He was just an ordinary drifter with no connections, living day by day doing whatever work came his way.

He wasn’t the type of person to plan an attack, nor did he have any reason to do so.

“Miss seemed quite disappointed earlier…”

Sebastian brought up the incident from dinner time to Ilion.

Ilion put down the report and rubbed his eyes. He looked a bit tired.

“It’s not bad to be cautious when you don’t know what might happen and where.”

Bert’s whereabouts were still vague.

If he was targeting Ilion rather than Ravenne, it was even more reason not to accompany her. She seemed like the type to get easily involved in incidents anyway.

But the disappointed, pouting face lingered in his mind a bit. Not only was she forcibly sold to the Duke’s family, but now even the little freedom she had was taken away.

Although it was said jokingly, she was now truly no different from a bird trapped in a cage.

Ilion, who was about to let it go, spoke to Sebastian.

“For the time being, grant her whatever she wishes. Except for going outside.”

Whether that would improve her mood or not, he wasn’t sure.

***

Even after all that, Ilion still didn’t know me.

Give up? If I were the type to give up, I would have done so long ago and just been counting down the days to my death.

On the morning of the academic festival, without anyone telling me to, I got up from bed faster than anyone else and waited for Lily.

“Oh, Miss. You’re up early.”

Lily, who had just come in to wake me up, greeted me.

“Good morning, Lily.”

“I thought you’d sleep in. What made you get up so early?”

Lily seemed to be in a good mood, perhaps because her effort to wake me up was reduced.

“Has the Duke left?”

“Yes. He said he had somewhere to go and left a bit earlier.”

“Is that so? That’s good. Then, can you help me prepare?”

“Prepare for what?”

Lily already seemed uneasy at my request. Judging by her sensitive reaction to the word ‘prepare’.

“Of course, to prepare for the academic festival.”

“Miss, I’m asking just in case… You know you’re still under a ban on going out, right?”

“Of course I know. He said not to step a foot outside the house, didn’t he?”

I nodded, recalling Ilion’s words.

“But he didn’t say anything about not using teleportation, did he?”

“Pardon?”

Lily, unable to comprehend my perfect logic, asked back with a dumbfounded expression.

“Anyway, we shouldn’t catch the Duke’s eye, so please make it as modest as possible. Ah, I should ask for some magic to be cast as well.”

“Miss, can’t you just stay home today, please?”

Lily’s face was dripping with desperation as she said this. But this was something I couldn’t yield on either.

I had to go to the academic festival no matter what.

Ignoring her worried advice, I threw off the blanket and got out of bed. Then, humming a tune, I took out the necklace I had tucked away deep in the drawer.

The necklace, which had been buried in the drawer for a long time, was sparkling as if it had been waiting for its time to be used.

“As expected, mages have great foresight. This is why I keep a mage around.”

Lily, now seemingly resigned, sat down and started brushing my hair.

“Miss, if I get fired, please make sure to tell the Duke that I tried to stop you.”

“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”

“It would be even better if you could ensure a generous severance pay.”

Oh Lily, you’re always so full of worries.

“Welcome, Sir Michael.”

Michael, who had rushed here at my call, looked at me in the room with a puzzled expression.

“This is…”

“My room, yes.”

I finished the sentence for him, as he couldn’t seem to continue.

“Did you call me for some urgent matter?”

Michael asked, glancing at the artifact in my hand.

It was the item he had given me when we went to the Imperial Palace last time, telling me to call him if I needed anything.

“Yes. It’s urgent. Very much so.”

I nodded seriously and said,

“I need to go to the academic festival.”

“You called me for that?”

His expression seemed to say, ‘You used the artifact I gave you for emergencies just for this?’

“Of course. What could be more important than this right now?”

“Can’t you go with the Duke?”

“Our schedules don’t match, unfortunately.”

“Surely there are other carriages available.”

His expression seemed to say, ‘Surely you’re not saying there’s only one carriage in this huge ducal residence?’

There was also a hint of indignation, as if to say, ‘Is it okay to summon and dismiss a mage working at the Imperial Palace like this?’

“Well, you see. This needs to be kept a secret from the Duke.”

“…Then I’ll be taking my leave now.”

As soon as Ilion’s name came up, Michael turned away as if he didn’t want to hear any more.

“Oh my, where are you going, Sir Michael? You must grant my request.”

“If the Duke finds out, all hell will break loose. I don’t want to be caught in the crossfire later.”

It was a very firm rejection. It seemed he had suffered a lot from Ilion’s demands as well. But I couldn’t just let him go like this. I was desperate in my own way.

To persuade the stubborn man, I suggested in the softest voice possible.

“Sir Michael, think about it carefully.”

“Wh-what?”

Michael looked at my smile uneasily and asked.

“Would it be better for you to know where I am, or not to know? Either way, you’ll be the one looking for me, so choose.”

“What do you mean…”

Michael made a sad face as if to say, ‘What kind of absurd threat is this?’ Oh my, why such a gloomy expression?

I’m being so generous, giving you a choice like this. Hurry up and choose.

Seeing Michael’s sad face, Lily whispered softly from the side, as if she felt sorry for him.

“…Thank you for your hard work, Sir Michael.”

***

Ilion looked at the man sitting in front of him. It was Bertel, the leader of the cult he had recently thrown into prison.

Judging by his sunken eyes, he seemed to have been suffering quite a bit in prison these past few days.

“Leave us for a moment.”

“…But.”

Ilion looked at the soldier. After gauging the situation, the soldier bowed his head and went out the door. Silence descended in the small, one-room space.

“I have something I want to ask.”

Ilion broke the silence.

“I want to hear about when you caught the witch.”

“The witch, you say?”

Most of the people who lived in Selvas at that time had died in the fire, so the remaining information was minimal. The old man in front of him was pretty much the only clue left.

“If I tell you about that, will you let me out of here?”

Life’s hope seemed to still remain, as a spark of vitality appeared in his dying eyes.

“That depends on your answer.”

Ilion said words he didn’t mean. And the leader took the bait he had thrown.

“It was exactly 27 years ago. When that witch came to the village.”

Bertel slowly began his story, tracing back to memories from long ago.

“After that person settled in the territory, a strange plague started spreading in the village. People fell ill one by one, and with famine on top of that, the village became even harder to live in.”

The story wasn’t much different from what Ilion already knew. The leader continued his story, emphasizing how difficult it had been for him at the time.

“After working day and night, I finally discovered that the plants she was growing were the cause of the epidemic.”

“So you…”

“Yes. For the sake of the people in the territory, I decided to eliminate the witch. But the soldiers I had were no match for her at all. So I asked for help.”

“From whom?”

“From the previous Duke of Celestine.”

An unexpected name came out of Bertel’s mouth.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect the Duke to readily agree to help. Not only did he lend me his knights, but he even came to the territory himself.”

Saying this, Bertel subtly boasted about his close relationship with the previous Duke.

“He came in person?”

“Yes. I suppose the Duke also knew about my efforts for the people of the territory.”

It was a laughable story, but Ilion let the leader ramble on.

The rest didn’t have much content. It was just about how hard he had struggled to kill the witch, and how special his relationship with the previous Duke was.

And that based on their connection from that time, he shouldn’t be treated like this now.

Ilion cut off his words appropriately and asked.

“How did the witch die?”

“Of course, I pierced her heart with my sword.”

“You did?”

Ilion looked at Bertel with an expression of disbelief. After saying he couldn’t handle it alone and asking for help from the Celestine family, now he’s saying he killed her with his own sword?

“O-Of course.”

“Seeing you spout nonsense, it seems prison life suits you well.”

At Ilion’s words, Bertel gauged the situation and immediately admitted his mistake.

“W-Well, actually, the Duke killed her.”

“Did you see it yourself?”

“I didn’t see it directly, I only heard about it. At the time, the Duke told everyone not to approach. He only took the knights with him.”

So in the end, no one knows how she actually died.

Ilion, judging that there were no more worthwhile answers from him, asked his final question.

“Have you ever heard anything about the witch having a child?”

“A child? Well… I haven’t heard such a thing… Even if there was one, would it be alive? Being a witch’s child. They probably all died back then.”

Bertel looked at Ilion with a slight smile.

“Duke, I’ve told you everything I know. So please…”