“Did you really send a letter breaking off the engagement?”

“Yes, I did.”

Aslan, who had come for a private audience with the king to report on his duties, also mentioned his personal affairs. The surprised king gave him a look of disbelief.

“Why did you make such a decision on your own without saying anything to me? Isn’t that extremely rude to me, the one who arranged the marriage? Even though we’re close friends, you’ve crossed the line.”

When the king showed his disappointment, Aslan bowed his head respectfully.

“I sincerely apologize for that. However, I thought it would be cruel to keep Lady Mori tied down when I have no intention of marrying her, so I sent the letter to break off the engagement as soon as possible.”

On the surface, it was known that the king had intervened in Aslan’s proposal to Violet, but the reality was different. Aslan had asked the king to help him choose a suitable fiancée to serve as a shield.

The reason he had chosen Violet among many young ladies was because her heat cycle had not yet arrived.

Of course, there were several adult beastkin women whose heat cycles hadn’t started, but he had chosen her after witnessing an unexpected side of her during a chance encounter in the shopping district.

Typically, noble ladies were haughty. Having been raised in privilege, many displayed arrogant attitudes. But she was different.

Her exceptional response to a situation where a running child collided with and knocked over a cat noble lady’s maid coming out of a shop had caught his attention.

‘What’s with that little one?’

‘I don’t know. Why is he crying when he ran into us first?’

The cat noble lady and her maid looked at the sobbing child with scraped knees, unable to understand his behavior.

Though they had collided due to mutual carelessness, they pretended they had done nothing wrong and ignored the crying child as they boarded their carriage.

‘Are you okay?’

Meanwhile, Violet approached the child to check if he was alright, then sent her maid to buy ointment from the shop and applied it to his wound.

Interesting.

At that moment, Aslan became intrigued by her and thought she might make a good fiancée.

It wasn’t anything close to falling in love. She simply had good qualities for a temporary fake fiancée.

First approval: she still looked youthful since her heat cycle hadn’t come. Second approval: her kind and gentle nature suggested she wouldn’t cause too much trouble when he eventually broke off the engagement.

Of course, even the gentlest person would be angry, but he thought she would be less troublesome than someone temperamental and arrogant.

Aslan immediately investigated which family she belonged to. When he learned she was from the Mori family, he realized they were one of the nobles who had been defrauded by Count Whale.

Their financial difficulties were fortunate for him. Using that as an excuse to become engaged to Violet would free him from the pressure around him for a while.

Since her heat cycle hadn’t arrived for a full two years after that, he had been able to escape the pressure to marry. Violet had been quite helpful to Aslan, who had no intention of getting married.

But now it was time to end their relationship, so he had boldly broken off the engagement.

“Sending a letter to break the engagement and then reporting it to me afterward… You really do whatever you please.”

The king clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“I truly apologize for that.”

“Well, it would be cruel to the lady to maintain an engagement with no intention of marriage. But won’t such a sudden breakup be difficult for her?”

“I think she might actually be pleased. She never showed any interest in me anyway.”

Aslan was well aware of his popularity and that many women desired to be engaged to him. So he could easily tell that Violet had no interest in him.

Especially considering her unhappy expression on the day of their engagement ceremony, breaking it off would probably be better for her.

“Reconsider. Lady Mori could be your destined partner.”

But the king had a completely different thought. Even if there was no affection now, couldn’t it develop later? Wasn’t that how relationships between men and women worked?

“I’m not sure I can agree with that opinion. If she were truly my destined partner, there would have been some special change during our engagement period.”

“You should have waited a bit longer. You were too hasty.”

“Dragging it out any longer would only be cruel to the lady, so I ended it before that happened.”

“If you thought it would be cruel, you shouldn’t have proposed in the first place.”

The king clicked his tongue and responded with a disgruntled voice.

In truth, he had been surprised when Aslan, who had been avoiding women due to his illness, suddenly announced his engagement to the rabbit lady. Since the engagement had lasted quite long, he had secretly hoped it might lead to marriage.

But love? What a disrespectful, black-hearted fellow, even if he was a friend!

The king felt betrayed, only now realizing that this cunning snake had used him to escape the pressure from the snake clan to get married.

“I know I acted selfishly. But it’s disappointing to hear you say that when you understand my situation so well.”

“I do understand your circumstances, but…”

Full of regret, the king couldn’t finish his sentence.

He thought it was a shame to let the rabbit lady go.

He had seen her at social gatherings several times and heard she resembled her father, Count Mori, who was known for his good character. She was beautiful, kind-hearted, and even humble.

He thought she would complement Aslan’s cold nature well. Like hot and cold waters mixing to create a harmonious balance.

So when the engagement was broken off, his hopes turned to dust, and disappointment was evident in the king’s eyes.

“So you’re looking for another fiancée?”

“I’m in the process of searching. I’ve been recommended the fox Count’s daughter and am considering her, but nothing is certain yet.”

“The fox Count?”

At that moment, the king’s eyes narrowed.

“Is there a problem?”

“No. You’ll do whatever you want regardless of what I say, so what’s the point of me saying anything?”

The fox Count was known to be cunning and good at lying, which could cause quite a commotion. Would that be okay?

It seemed that one of Aslan’s detractors among the king’s close advisors had deliberately recommended the fox lady to cause him trouble.

“You won’t be attending this upcoming social gathering either, I suppose?”

The king probed Aslan. If he didn’t attend this time, it could become quite troublesome…

“No. I detest bothersome affairs.”

As expected, he had no plans to attend the gathering. This meant he wouldn’t be able to counter whatever lies the fox lady might spread.

The result would inevitably be trouble if it bothered the rabbit lady. Even the gentlest person could become unpredictable when angered.

Like frost falling in the middle of summer, what was he thinking?

There were many concerns, but the king was annoyed that Aslan hadn’t informed him beforehand, so he decided to keep quiet about the fox Count and his daughter.

“I hope nothing goes wrong.”

Though he had an ominous feeling that something might happen at the gathering, the king didn’t voice it. He simply compressed his feelings into a brief statement.

“What could possibly go wrong?”

The king clicked his tongue at Aslan, who turned away with a composed face after giving his greetings.

It would be good if truly nothing happened. Strangely, he had a foreboding feeling this time. So he could only hope things would work out as Aslan thought.

This was a thought from the perspective of a friend, not his sovereign.