Chapter 1.2

As her preparations were ending, a servant’s voice came from outside the door.

“Miss, the Young Master has arrived!”

“Already?”

Brienne jumped up and hurried to the entrance. Her mother, Olivia Ford, already downstairs, looked up at the stairs in surprise.

“Brie…! You’ll fall. Come down slowly!”

“Mother, where’s Shylo? Where is he?”

Just then, someone appeared through the open door. It was Shylo in his academy uniform.

“Shylo!”

Brienne looked at Shylo with a proud face. Shylo, who had come closer to them, bowed his head.

“It’s been a while, Mother. And… Brienne.”

But what was wrong?

She had expected Shylo to cheer about finally escaping that dreadful academy, but his expression was not good. Brienne looked at him, puzzled.

“What’s with that face? Did something happen on the way here?”

Shylo’s eyes, cast slightly downward, wavered for a moment. Brienne, watching his suspicious reaction closely, soon discovered the reason.

‘…The Imperial Newspaper?’

In Shylo’s hand was a stiff newspaper. Strange. An inexplicable uneasiness swept over Brienne. The Shylo she knew had no interest in newspapers unless they were full of scandalous gossip.

“What’s with the newspaper? Since when did you read those?”

Trying to shake off her unease, Brienne laughed playfully. But Shylo didn’t look like he had the leisure to smile at his sister after so long.

“Brienne.”

After a pause, Shylo swept back his tousled golden hair. Then, unbelievable words came from his lips.

“…Kaiden is engaged.”

Engaged?

What does that even…?

Brienne doubted her ears for a moment. 

Was this a joke? Why would Shylo make such a joke? 

Brienne blinked several times, shaking her head awkwardly as if it made no sense.

“Shylo, what are you saying all of a sudden…?”

“See for yourself.”

Shylo held the newspaper up to her eyes. He tapped the headline on the front page with his index finger.

“Kaiden Bannon, that bastard, ended up getting engaged to Melosi Bailey, leaving you behind.”

‘…Melosi Bailey?’

Brienne’s heart dropped with a thud. As if possessed, she took the newspaper and read the letters until her eyes hurt. She read the same article, again and again. No matter how many times she read it, she just couldn’t believe it.

“What do you mean Kaiden is engaged? Brienne, no, right? You said he never mentioned anything like this to you.”

“…”

“Hm? Brienne…!”

Olivia, who had come up beside the frozen Brienne, shook her daughter’s shoulder. Staring at the last line of the article she had read over and over, Brienne finally managed to part her trembling lips.

“…Mother, please calm down. There must be some misunderstanding.”

Kaiden, who had always refused every marriage proposal, got engaged after three years of starting to try dating?

And with Melosi Bailey, of all people?

It was honestly too much to even laugh at.

With a shock like this, she should be laughing in disbelief, but everything felt so unreal, like a dream.

“A misunderstanding? Even after reading his own interview? That bastard has been playing with you all this time. How can you be like this even in a situation like this…!”

Shylo, face flushed with frustration, snatched the newspaper and crumpled it. It was already well known among the Rontiano nobles that Brienne Ford had a one-sided love for Kaiden Bannon. Because she had lived for nothing but that, the only men around her were her father and brother.

“Shylo, you calm down too, this is…”

As if to deny that obvious fact, Brienne bit her lips hard. But that didn’t make the article she had just seen any less true. What on earth was happening? Brienne could not simply accept this situation.

Wasn’t she just drinking tea with Kaiden in her room yesterday? For a grown noble lady to invite a man into her room was not just a matter of simple socializing. And Kaiden couldn’t possibly have been unaware of that.

She had thought he was just not ready yet…

If this really was true?

“No… It must be a misunderstanding. It has to be. There’s no way Kaiden would do this without telling me.”

She tried to breathe calmly, but her voice trembled. She had never imagined a scenario like this.

“Hah, if you really think so, go and confront him. Go and say something to him!”

Shylo raised his voice at Brienne’s reaction, which was so unlike his sister. But Brienne stood frozen like a stone, unmoving. Shylo, as if frustrated, grabbed Brienne’s arm tightly.

“Brienne, let’s go. I’ll go with you, so let’s go right now and…”

Tears fell from Brienne’s pale green eyes at that very moment.

Startled, Shylo quickly loosened his grip.

“Hey, you… Are you okay?”

But Brienne neither answered nor moved, only cried.

Her heart ached as much as the years she had loved Kaiden, so much so that she couldn’t even make a sound.

She wanted to confront him, as Shylo said, but with what right could she?

…What was someone like her, really?

Now, she couldn’t stop thinking of all the times Kaiden had drawn a desperate line. Every time she tried to get a little closer, Kaiden would always step back.

After all, hadn’t he said from the start that he had no intention of dating a friend?

He had never left any room for misunderstanding, and she had deluded herself. That’s why, unlike Shylo or her mother, she couldn’t easily blame him.

Brienne Ford was Kaiden Bannon’s long-time friend. Nothing more, nothing less.

“M-mother, I, just for a moment…”

Her vision blurred with tears.

The thought that her feelings might have been a burden rushed in, and Brienne covered her mouth, holding her breath.

“Oh my, Brienne!”

Startled, Olivia caught the staggering Brienne.

“Shylo…! Bring Marie, quickly!”

* * *

From the day she first met Kaiden until today, Brienne Ford’s world had consisted of only Kaiden Bannon.

Wherever Kaiden went, Brienne was always there. Whatever Kaiden liked, Brienne liked too. Brienne’s eyes always followed Kaiden, her steps always trailing after him.

Looking back, she knew she should have hidden her feelings, but she couldn’t. Brienne was never good at hiding her heart.

Beneath her artificial smile, she endured the empty formalities. In high society, where the more honest a person was, the more they were ridiculed, Brienne always felt like she was wearing clothes that didn’t fit. Many approached her because of her family, but Brienne always found their false interest uncomfortable.

Why did everyone want to deceive others? The world she read about in books wasn’t like this.

As a child, often sick and confined to her room, Brienne was unaccustomed to the aristocratic way of speaking and gradually chose to isolate herself. The only one who took care of her was always Kaiden. Besides her family, the only place Brienne could lean on was by his side.

After learning that her parents had also been childhood friends,

Naturally, she began to dream of a future with Kaiden. How wonderful would it be to marry Kaiden, just like her mother and father? The idea of a couple who had grown up together always made Brienne’s heart flutter.

Living like that, she thought maybe, before long, there would be marriage talks between the Bannon Dukedom and her family.

But.

Today, Brienne’s dream was finally shattered into pieces.

‘How… how could this happen?’

Brienne, who had her face buried in a bucket, wiped her mouth and lifted her head. Her golden hair, tinged red from the rush of blood to her face, clung messily to her cheeks.

Her emptied stomach burned as if it had been scorched.

If only emptying her heart could be as simple as this. She resented her persistent feelings, as stubborn as the hair stuck to her cheek.

Would this wretched one-sided love ever end?

Alongside the betrayal she felt from Kaiden’s lies, there was also guilt. Just how much of a burden had she been? How hard must it have been for him to bring it up…

Was that why he hadn’t said a word about his engagement all this time?

Right now, she couldn’t care less about Shylo’s welcome party or anything else; she just wanted to hole up somewhere and rest. She felt unbearably ashamed of herself for clinging to Kaiden for the past three years, completely unaware he’d been dating Melosi.

At that thought, Brienne’s cheeks grew damp. The tears she’d barely held back burst forth again. She shouldn’t cry anymore. If she did, she would truly become pathetic.

“Miss, are you all right…?”

Marie, who had been by her side, asked with a worried look. Brienne gave a faint smile and shook her head.

“…No, I still don’t feel well. What should I do about Shylo? I feel so sorry for him.”

She had been like this for two hours already; surely Shylo’s welcome party had begun long ago. Marie, looking upset, embraced Brienne.

“Please don’t say you’re sorry… The Master, Madam, and the Young Master, all of them are only worried about you, Miss. So don’t think about anything else and rest today. I’ll tell Madam for you.”

“…Is that really all right?”

Marie nodded at the weak question. Brienne looked as fragile as glass about to shatter.

“Of course. Everyone cares about you so much. Now, let’s go to your room.”

As she said this and held out her hand, Brienne staggered to her feet. Marie gently supported her as they climbed the stairs.

Every time the doors to the inner hall, where the banquet was in full swing, opened, the noisy voices of people spilled out.

Miss Ford, Young Master Bannon.

And… Miss Bailey.

‘Poor Miss…’

She hoped her Miss Ford wouldn’t be hurt by the things people were saying. Marie, her eyes already wet, lowered her gaze and sighed.

Brienne’s wretched one-sided love was coming to an end. Kaiden Bannon was the worst kind of bastard.