Aiger leisurely held his teacup and silently observed Raylin, who had failed to conceal her emotions completely.

How many times had they met now?

‘Raylin Greuga. My fiancée.’

Once, she used to tremble in fear at the sight of him, her face turning pale, unable even to make eye contact. Recently, she barely spared him a glance.

And today, for some reason, she suddenly called him to one of the capital’s well-known cafés and even attempted a conversation.

He has no idea what changed her mind, but maybe he could humor her for now.

The crown prince had already intended to break off their engagement several years ago.

It was evident that the emperor’s vile schemes would eventually consume Raylin, despite her being blameless.

It wasn’t out of goodwill or personal interest in her.

It was simply because if something happened to Raylin because of him, it would inevitably lead to a rift with the Greuga family, which had maintained strict neutrality. And that would be troublesome in many ways.

However, Duke Greuga had listened to his unfiltered words in their entirety and simply shook his head.

“Do not insult Greuga’s faith and loyalty.”

His response was so firm and resolute that it was almost absurd. Then he added,

“And, Your Highness, Greuga has the strength to protect our daughter.”

With that, the duke had smiled with an easygoing demeanor.

The Raylin before him now bore a striking resemblance to her father.

Having been attacked on the way here, his twisted stomach had begun to settle somewhat.

As he followed her gaze, he was the first to break the silence.

“Isn’t that Duke Lucart over there?”

“Yes. And the woman with him is Lady Sillion.”

“Hmm.”

‘Whether to try persuading Aiger or rule out that possibility entirely—either way, I needed time to think.’

Raylin readily held her tongue and turned her attention to the two figures who had captured everyone’s interest in the café.

The moment they entered, the entire café had fallen into an eerie silence.

Some openly observed them like Raylin, while others stole glances. A few made a deliberate effort to avoid looking in their direction.

One thing was sure—everyone in this place was fixated on them.

And there was no way that Theron Lucart, one of the five strongest individuals in the empire, wouldn’t notice much attention.

He had exercised as much patience as possible while waiting for his tea to be served, but even as the steaming cup was placed before him, he did not touch it. Instead, he finally spoke.

“Haah. What is it this time, Lady Sillion?”

Theron let out an audible sigh and furrowed his brows.

The obligation to meet at least once a month as her fiancé had already been fulfilled last week when he accepted her invitation.

And yet, today, she had insisted—no, practically coerced him into meeting her, going as far as to issue veiled threats…

Sitting across from this woman felt like a waste of his time, and having to listen to whatever nonsense she was about to spout made it all the worse.

He would rather spend time with the head of some aristocratic family, an old snake with decades of cunning behind them, than deal with her.

Meanwhile, Catherine met his gaze head-on, not bothering to hide her disdain for him, while Theron maintained his usual air of indifference and irritation.

She could understand it. That was how Theron was supposed to be.

The original male lead had grown weary and repulsed by the villainess’s obsessive pursuit of love.

But just because she understood it didn’t mean she would tolerate his rude—no, outright disgusting—manners toward her.

After all, no matter what she did—whether she apologized for her past mistakes or begged forgiveness—this man would never be hers.

As long as she got through this conversation, there would be no reason for her to see his annoying face up close again.

Recalling the saying, “Strike while the iron is hot,” Catherine ignored the tea before her and got straight to the point.

“Please annul our engagement.”

A brief silence followed.

More precisely, Catherine had finished saying everything she needed to, while Theron, at a loss for words, couldn’t respond.

‘Who knew how much time had passed?’

“What… did you just say?”

“Please annul our engagement, Your Grace.”

Even as a visible crack formed in Theron’s usually impassive expression, Catherine didn’t so much as blink and simply repeated herself.

The previous Catherine—no, the real Catherine—would have been flustered at the first sign of his displeasure, anxiously trying to read his mood.

But the current Catherine couldn’t care less whether he frowned or not.

In fact, it would be better if he got angry.

That way, the engagement would be easier to break.

Right now, she had no power to end it on her own.

To the world, Catherine Sillion was known as the wayward youngest daughter of the Sillion family, the most beloved among her siblings.

But in reality, she was nothing more than a pitiful woman who had grown up enduring abuse.

Even among the servants of the marquisate, it was openly said that she devoured her mother at birth. What more explanation was needed?

The first step to escaping that dreadful house was breaking off her engagement with Theron.

That was why, the moment Catherine realized she possessed a character in a novel she had read, her top priority was abandoning the original male protagonist.

“D-Did you just hear that?”

“Did she just say… annulment? Huh? I didn’t mishear that, did I?”

“I-I heard it too. She said annulment…”

As the young countess widened her eyes to their limits at the shocking scene before her—

The two young ladies, who had seemed moments away from grabbing each other’s hair, were now shoulder to shoulder, exclaiming, “Oh my!” in unison.

The hushed whispers quickly filled the once deathly silent café before settling back into an eerie stillness.

‘An annulment? Good heavens! That Theron Lucart and Lady Catherine Sillion are breaking off their engagement?’

‘Who would have imagined such a thing?’

Well, perhaps every unmarried lady who had debuted in high society had imagined it at least once. But they would have shaken their heads if asked whether it was genuinely possible.

Their engagement was a monumental political arrangement.

It had been forged when the Duke of Lucart, a pillar of the Emperor’s faction, extended a hand to the rising Marquisate of Sillion, which had been gaining rapid influence among the noble faction.

Even the Emperor himself had been closely watching their union.

But it wasn’t just the grand political implications that had made the engagement seem unbreakable.

“Lady Sillion loves the Duke of Lucart, doesn’t she? But…”

“It’s a terribly obsessive love.”

Catherine’s infatuation was so notorious that there wasn’t a single citizen of the empire unaware of it.

Leaving aside the fact that she drove away any woman who so much as approached Theron, her passionate and relentless pursuit made it impossible for anyone to doubt her devotion.

In this very café, nearly every young lady had, at some point, suffered Catherine’s wrath—whether it was having their hair pulled or being doused in wine—simply for brushing past Theron.

And yet, the very Catherine who would have clung to him even if the sky fell was now requesting an annulment?

Seated at their tables, the onlookers exchanged glances with their companions, trying to determine whether this was a dream or reality.

Among them, only Raylin was having entirely different thoughts.

‘How utterly cliché.’

This scene had been overused to the point of exhaustion in every novel imaginable.

The villainess, either returning from a regression or possessing a new consciousness, always resolves to live a different life—rejecting the original story and reclaiming her own fate.

And in every single case, one particular event always followed:

A bold and decisive declaration of annulment to the male lead or, at the very least, the second male lead, who had previously mistreated or ignored her.

Sometimes, she would be the one receiving the annulment. But instead of breaking down and begging, she would act as if it were a blessing in disguise.

Re.Vil.Bre. was no exception.

Catherine, too, had just told Theron, in the most refined way possible, “Get lost.”

Just yesterday, she had been lurking in the shadows, scheming to ensnare him at all costs.

Naturally, Theron couldn’t believe her sudden declaration. Besides, their engagement was a contractual arrangement between noble houses—it wasn’t something she could simply dissolve on a whim.

And so he did not accept it.

The rest of the story was predictable. Any reader familiar with romance novels could already guess how things would unfold.

True to cliché, Re.Vil.Bre had ended with Catherine and Theron’s tumultuous romance and her eventual social success.

A classic yet satisfying happy ending.

It would have been nice if it had indeed ended there.

But instead, a tragic downfall caused by Catherine’s paranoia or an outright bad ending—

“…Was there ever any indication that the Sillions and the Lucarts would fall apart?”

Raylin’s gaze, which had been fixed on Catherine, shifted when Aiger’s voice cut through her thoughts.

“For someone as infatuated as Lady Sillion to speak of annulment, there must have been at least some pressure from her family.”