Chapter 3 (Part 8)

Reina’s expression hardened due to the pain in her heart, but she tried to act as if nothing was wrong and held on.

“Five years? Does that mean you got engaged as soon as you became an adult?”

“Yes.”

“This is real betrayal! How could you deceive us for five years? How could we not know?”

As Knox got agitated, Ferguson pushed his face away and asked.

“Hey. Did you neglect your fiancée for five years? Doesn’t she have any complaints about you?”

“I think that’s enough answering. I just gave you a break, but maybe it was too long. Shall we start training right away?”

The knights seemed eager to ask more questions, but Patrick cut them off. He didn’t want to answer any more difficult questions.

“No, sir!”

“My body still wants to rest!”

“I didn’t ask anything. It’s unfair!”

Hearing Patrick’s words, the knights suddenly lay down and assumed resting positions.

Tell us a bit more.

When Reina looked at Patrick with regretful eyes, their eyes met for a moment. Contrary to her expectation that he might answer something, he quickly turned his head away.

Yesterday, he had looked at her so kindly and told her to ask if she had any questions.

“….”

She continued to look at Patrick with resentful eyes, but his gaze didn’t return to her. Being repeatedly ignored made her feel rejected even with just his eyes.

He was so kind yesterday, but now…. He seemed like a completely different person, making him look unfamiliar.

* * *

As she was about to return to her room, she noticed the rocking chair in the garden.

Reina sat in it and gently pushed it with her legs. The chair started to creak as it rocked back and forth.

“….”

Staring blankly at the sky without a word, she saw that the weather was clear without a single cloud.

If it had rained heavily, she might have cried, but with the bright sunlight, it felt like any tears would dry up immediately.

She lowered her head and closed her eyes. Memories from the past started to flood her mind.

From the moment she accidentally saw the Commander at the hot springs, to the times of absurd worries, the nightmares that tormented her—all of it seemed meaningless now.

I didn’t even know he had a fiancée, and I was just assuming things on my own.

She felt embarrassed about her delusions, but the deeper wound in her heart was even more painful.

Reina looked at her hand, which had intertwined fingers with Patrick’s. It still felt like she could sense the touch from that time.

Why did you hold my hand? Was it just because of orders? Even so, how could you do that when you have a fiancée?

At that moment, a droplet of water fell on the back of her hand, which was resting on the chair.

Huh? Am I crying?

When she looked up, the garden in front of her appeared blurry. Soon, the tears that had gathered in her eyes began to fall on the back of her hand again.

It seemed to signal the start, as more tears continued to flow, wetting the back of her hand.

Reina covered her face with her palm. She tried to hold back the sobs, but her shoulders kept shaking.

I must have liked Commander Patrick….

Only after shedding a flood of tears did Reina realize her feelings. Richelle was right. She must have liked him, which was why she kept worrying about him.

She couldn’t pinpoint when it started.

Even if someone asked why she liked him, she couldn’t give a precise answer. She wasn’t sure if she was attracted to his persona, or did she like Patrick as a man.

The moment she first opened her eyes to romantic feelings, it was for Patrick, so it was clear he was her first love.

But realizing her feelings and being rejected at the same time….

She should have given up when the necklace warned her. If she had, her heart wouldn’t hurt this much.

The pain of unrequited love was more excruciating than she had imagined. Tears kept pouring out, and her heart felt like it was being hollowed out.

No, it’s okay. 

She tried to comfort herself, but her wounded heart showed no signs of healing.

After spending a considerable amount of time on the chair, Reina wiped away the dried tear stains with her hand and stood up.

Don’t get hurt. There’s nothing to be hurt about when it hasn’t even started.

She stretched deliberately to pretend she was fine. But her eyes were already swollen.

However, having cried her heart out, she felt a bit refreshed. As she calmed down and thought again, she realized there were some puzzling aspects about Patrick’s fiancée.

How could he have been engaged for five years, yet so few people knew about it?

It was also strange that they had never attended a single banquet together.

Recalling his past actions, he didn’t seem like a man with a fiancée at all. She had never heard of him going on dates during holidays, and he often trained alone even when others were resting.

He was so focused on his work that he had no time to meet his fiancée, so it was natural for her to complain.

What could it be?

Questions filled her mind, but she tried to push them away. What good would it do to think about another woman’s man?

* * *

Knock, knock.

While lying on her bed with an ice pack on her swollen eyes, she heard a knock on the door. She lifted the ice pack and saw Olive entering the room.

“I found out who the Commander’s fiancée is.”

Oh, right. I asked her to find out.

She had momentarily forgotten about asking Olive to look into the fiancée because she was so focused on her emotional wounds.

What’s the point of knowing what she looks like?

She had asked Olive out of a small hope that maybe there was a compelling reason for inventing a non-existent fiancée. But now that she had confirmed the fiancée’s existence, Olive’s investigation seemed pointless.

“I don’t need it anymore….”

Reina stopped mid-sentence. Suddenly, she became curious about what kind of woman Patrick’s fiancée was.

She wanted to know how she had captured the heart of a commander who showed no interest in women. Reina sat up straight.

“Who is it?”

“She’s Lady Sandra of the Baron Berkshire family.”

“Oh, I see.”

Just hearing the name made her feel complicated. Her heart felt heavy.

“What kind of person is she?”

Baron Berkshire’s family…. She had never seen or known them.

“Actually, I don’t know much. She seems to spend most of her time in the mansion and rarely goes out. So, even after investigating, there’s hardly any information about her.”

“And you don’t know the reason?”

“Yes. But she doesn’t completely avoid going out; she visits the imperial palace about once every three months. It seems she meets Commander Marionus there, but recently, the frequency has decreased even more.”

The reason why the knights hadn’t seen Patrick’s fiancée was finally revealed. Since they met at the imperial palace, there was no chance for the knights to see them together.

However, upon reconsideration, it didn’t make sense. After all, they were part of the Royal Third Knights, so they frequented the palace often. There was no way other knights wouldn’t have seen them together in the palace.

The more she thought about it, the more it felt like a mystery.

Since the knights had seen her with Patrick recently, it seemed it would be a long time before she could see her face.

“If you’re curious about her face, why not visit the Baron Berkshire estate? Although she rarely goes out, she seems to have tea in the mansion garden.”

Olive, reading Reina’s thoughts, made an interesting suggestion.

“Really? Do you think I can go now? I’ll just take a quick look and come back.”

“Right now?”

Olive seemed momentarily taken aback by her hasty decision but then smiled.

“Sure. If you’re lucky, you might see her.”

Reina immediately told Olive to prepare the carriage and got in with her.

One might have asked why she was so interested in Patrick’s fiancée, but Olive didn’t ask anything. She probably thought Reina was just curious about something random, as usual.

“Oh, she’s taking a walk in the garden. How fortunate.”

Olive’s face lit up with a smile as she pointed. They saw her walking with elegant and graceful movements.

“That’s the Commander’s fiancée.”

Since she was far away, her face wasn’t clearly visible. But that was enough. It was clear at a glance that Lady Sandra had a completely different aura and physique compared to herself.

A delicate figure, a thin waist, yet large br*asts, hips, and b*ttocks….

Reina, trained with a sword, felt like a log in comparison to this second woman.

You shouldn’t judge people by their appearance, but she felt defeated the moment she saw her. Lady Sandra seemed incredibly attractive.

With her striking red hair, seductive eyes, and figure. And those large br*asts….

Even though she tried to shift her gaze to her face, her eyes kept drifting back to her chest.

They were so large that even her dress couldn’t hide the cleavage. No matter how much she tried to avoid looking, her eyes kept glancing there instinctively.

I’d like her too if I were him.

Even her smile was seductive, and her playful laughter seemed like it could melt men’s hearts. The more Reina looked, the more her confidence plummeted, and she unknowingly shrank her shoulders.

Everyone has different tastes, but since she was the complete opposite of herself, she felt deprived.

She didn’t know why Lady Sandra hadn’t shown herself until now, but aside from being Patrick’s fiancée, she didn’t want to know anything else.

Did I really need to come here and feel this sense of loss? No. Maybe it’s for the best.

Seeing Lady Sandra in person made Reina realize it was time to move on. Knowing Patrick’s taste would make it easier to sort out her feelings.

What’s the use of giving her heart to another woman’s man? The only one hurt was Reina, herself.

I’ll just go back to how things were.

Before she developed feelings for Patrick, she would just go back to that time. With that thought, Reina tried to pull herself together.