18

Elsia regretted agreeing to the engagement under the mistaken belief that spending more time together would naturally lead to feelings of love.

Love isn’t something that forms just because one tries to force it, so why did she think frequent meetings would make it happen? She blamed herself for her ignorance about emotions.

Now, just knowing her heart connected with Adrian made Elsia feel as if she could fly to the sky with happiness.

She finally realized that love isn’t proportional to the time spent together.

After learning Adrian’s feelings, Elsia could no longer maintain her engagement with Mars.

She had to end things with Mars. However, she needed a way to break the engagement without causing trouble for her family.

So, hoping for a small chance, Elsia quietly summoned the knight who shared her secret.

He was the only one she could trust, knowing her secret.

“Please investigate Mars for me.”

Since she wasn’t hiding it from her father this time, he didn’t refuse her request.

“Leave it to me.”

The knight checked the payment and nodded vigorously.

Elsia wondered if her suspicion that Mars was wearing a strange mask might be true.

If her intuition was correct, it could create an opportunity to break the engagement.

Secretly investigating to find flaws was cowardly and petty, but since it could change her future, Elsia decided to trust her instincts.

* * *

“It seems you’ve been avoiding me lately.”

Mars, whom Elsia hadn’t seen for a while, seemed to have already noticed her change.

“That can’t be.”

Elsia couldn’t look Mars straight in the eye.

Even as she smiled in front of him, she felt cowardly for searching for his weaknesses behind his back.

She wondered if she should just tell Mars directly that she wanted to end the engagement.

But practical concerns kept her from saying it aloud.

At moments like this, Elsia envied Richel. Richel’s family was the richest in the empire—the Lennox Duchy—and her father was the Emperor’s brother, so her rank among nobles was high.

With immense wealth and power, the penalty Portman would have to pay wouldn’t be much to Lennox.

But Portman wasn’t like that. Relationships between nobles mattered, and money was important.

Elsia’s close friendship with Richel was the result of Earl Portman’s efforts to connect with Duke Lennox.

Luckily, Richel and Elsia got along well, so they became best friends.

Elsia could meet Adrian thanks to Richel’s help.

Earl Portman trusted Richel’s words, so it was possible.

But Elsia had already received much help from Richel, so she couldn’t ask for help with Mars’s issue.

She had to solve the engagement problem herself.

While Elsia was lost in thought, Mars broke the silence.

“You won’t even look me in the eye, so I’m quite disappointed.”

Mars’s smile had vanished.

Elsia saw Mars’s cold gaze for the first time. She felt a chill and tried to meet his eyes.

Mars stood up and approached Elsia.

“We’re about to be married, so shouldn’t we get closer?”

Mars took Elsia’s chin in his hand.

Elsia was sitting, and Mars was standing, so there was distance between their faces, but his face slowly drew closer to hers.

‘I don’t want this…’

Elsia wanted to refuse Mars’s kiss.

But she couldn’t. They were engaged, so avoiding him would be rude.

Her body kept rejecting him, but she thought it was better to accept him for now.

‘Just endure it for now.’

She could break the engagement later.

Elsia squeezed her eyes shut and prepared for his kiss.

But she unconsciously blocked his lips with her hand.

Her mind tried to accept him, but her body moved on its own.

Flustered, Elsia quickly looked at Mars’s face. His expression grew more and more displeased.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Clearly upset, Mars didn’t give Elsia time to answer. He grabbed her hand and pressed his lips against hers.

“Mm… mmph!”

Shocked by the forceful kiss, Elsia tried to push Mars away.

But Mars was much stronger, and she couldn’t stop him.

His rough approach left her breathless.

‘He’s so upset by my refusal that he’s kissing me this harshly…’

Mars’s lack of consideration made Elsia’s skin crawl.

She disliked even holding his hand, but kissing him was even worse.

She’d rather kiss a viper and die as poison spread in her mouth.

Elsia struggled to push him away before his tongue could enter, trying to shout for him to let go, but only muffled sounds escaped.

It was so horrible that Elsia pushed Mars’s chest several times, but she lacked the strength.

Feeling unable to breathe, she struggled even harder, and the ornament on her sleeve accidentally scratched Mars’s face.

Blood began to trickle from the scratch on Mars’s face.

Only then did Mars push Elsia to the floor, check the stinging blood on his face, and frown.

Elsia, unable to wipe her wet lips and sitting on the floor, hurriedly apologized to Mars.

She hadn’t meant to hurt him, so she felt sorry.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

Elsia bowed her head and apologized, watching Mars’s reaction.

“No! You hurt me on purpose. Do you dislike me that much? I can’t believe this.”

Mars scowled and got angry. She’d acted rudely first, so his anger was understandable.

But even after her apology, Mars didn’t seem to calm down, even though she hadn’t done it intentionally.

He kept grumbling and began preparing to leave for Welsley.

Elsia quickly took out her handkerchief to wipe Mars’s face.

But he brushed her hand aside, and the handkerchief fell to the floor.

Elsia bent down to pick up her handkerchief, and Mars started muttering to himself.

“I rescued a mentally ill patient…. Unbelievable, I’m speechless.”

Elsia couldn’t believe what she heard Mars mutter.

‘Mentally ill patient…? Is he talking about me?’

Of course, Mars knew she suffered from insomnia. That’s why, though engaged, he delayed marriage until she recovered.

But to call his fiancée mentally ill…?

Elsia was so shocked she couldn’t speak.

“I’m going to hold you accountable for this!”

Mars, still angry, left.

Elsia was so stunned she sat there until Mars disappeared from sight.

She’d made a mistake, but she didn’t deserve such rude words to her face.

“Who’s the one who should be angry right now…”

Elsia sat on the floor and tried to calm her explosive anger.

But so much had happened in a short time that she couldn’t calm down.

Marie, who was bringing tea, saw Elsia and was surprised, quickly setting the tray on the table and running to her.

“What happened? Mars left in a rage. Why are you sitting on the floor? Did Mars push you?”

Since Mars had pushed her off the chair, Elsia nodded.

“I accidentally scratched his face…. That’s why he got angry.”

“Accidentally scratched him? Did Mars do something you disliked?”

Marie frowned, sensing something was off between Mars and Elsia.

At Marie’s question, tears began to well in Elsia’s eyes, and Marie hugged her.

She spoke with excitement, clearly upset.

“You don’t have to say anything. I won’t let you marry someone like that. Tell the Earl! Tell him you can’t marry Lord Mars. The Earl loves you, so he’ll scold you at first, but he’ll take your side in the end. Don’t marry if you don’t want to. Okay?”

Elsia cried so much that Marie’s shoulder became soaked.

Marie had always prioritized the engagement with Mars, so Elsia never expected her to speak up for her first.

Marie silently accepted all of Elsia’s tears. Or rather, she accepted all of Elsia’s burdens.

After pouring everything out, Elsia finally felt relieved.

‘Why was I so afraid to say I wanted to break the engagement?’

Marie was right.

Her father loved her. So even if he opposed her at first, if she truly hated it, he’d accept it even at a loss.

At some point, the pressure to follow her father’s wishes, the financial burden between families, and the fear of conflict had weighed heavily on her.

In the end, Elsia gained courage from Marie’s words and decided to tell her father she couldn’t marry Mars.

She didn’t know much about Mars yet, but now that she knew he was so rude, she felt there was no reason to hesitate to say she wouldn’t marry him.