Chapter 5

“How did it go?”

When she trudged back to the dormitory, Sierra, who had been occupying her room, looked up with sparkling eyes.

“…I failed, obviously.”

“Is the problem that you’re getting engaged after being rejected? Because you’re embarrassed? I don’t think Lord Xsanov cares about that kind of thing anyway. It’s not like you suddenly can’t stand the sight of him just because you got rejected. Wouldn’t it be better to marry someone you like if you have the chance?”

“No.”

Tislin stated firmly.

“Absolutely not.”

Of all people, marrying ‘the person she liked’ was the one thing that could never happen.

It was Tislin’s misfortune that this reason was difficult to explain to anyone, but that didn’t mean her mind would change.

“Sierra, you’re going to help me, right?”

“With what? Gasp, don’t tell me… breaking your engagement?”

Sierra Pontinaire was horrified, but Tislin didn’t back down. Ultimately forced to swallow the bitter pill, Sierra nodded and flopped back onto the sofa. In truth, she thought it might actually be a little fun.

“So what are you going to do? Do you have a plan?”

“Honestly, I thought if I talked to Damien, he would agree to break off the engagement. There’s no reason for him to marry me. …Is there?”

If there was such a reason, Damien would never break off the engagement until that reason vanished.

“Then shouldn’t we find that out first?”

Who would know about something like that?

“Adelinde. Or Arkin Rudera?”

Arkin Rudera, who had gone to war alongside Damien, might know something. Tislin rolled the name around in her mouth. She wasn’t particularly close to Arkin either, but now was not the time to be picky.

“Tis. But you know…”

“Yeah.”

“Can’t you just ask Lord Xsanov directly? Why he wants to get engaged to you.”

“I don’t think Damien would answer even if I asked.”

It was an intuitive judgment. And above all, talking to Damien made Tislin far too swayed and helpless. It certainly hadn’t been like this in the past—how had it come to this?

“I’ll have to ask Arkin Rudera. And Sierra, do me one favor.”

“What is it?”

“Introduce me to some guys.”

Sierra’s jaw dropped open.

“Hey, hey. You have Damien Xsanov as your fiancé right now, and…”

“I told you I’m going to break off the engagement.”

Tislin did not back down.

“I will absolutely never marry Damien.”

Sierra let out an appreciative ‘oh’. Based on what she had seen during three years of attending school together, whenever Tislin spoke that decisively, even if it wasn’t strictly the right path, she always had a valid reason for it.

“Well then, good luck.”

“I’m not asking for luck, I’m asking you to help me.”

Only after being nagged for a long time did Sierra finally return a limp answer: “I’ll look into it.”

Tislin let out a deep sigh. When her opponent was Damien Xsanov, even finding someone to help was this exhausting. Everyone naturally backed away out of fear.

So first, she needed to grasp the situation properly. She planned to head over to the Department of Knighthood, where Arkin Rudera was, before the sun went down.

“Watch out on the way. The other students will be keeping their eyes peeled.”

Coincidentally, since it was the beginning of the semester, there were no assignments heavy enough to keep students tied down. That was why Tislin and Sierra could laze around in the dorm like this, but if she went downstairs right now, the lounge would be teeming with students eager for gossip.

“If I avoid them too much, wouldn’t it feel like I’m making it too obvious…?”

“Then do you have an excuse ready?”

“That our families know each other… Ugh.”

Normally, that would be a reasonable excuse, but Damien Xsanov, strictly speaking, had no ‘family’ to speak of. If one were to interpret it more generously, his master, the Grand Duke of Luxen, could be equated to a ‘family.’ One option would sound blasphemously disrespectful, and the other would clearly be dismissed as total nonsense.

“I’ll just say it’s a secret. It’s not like they’re going to go demand answers from Damien anyway.”

That was true enough. But at this rate, she’d get caught in no time, Sierra thought as she flipped through the books stacked on Tislin’s desk.

Meanwhile, Tislin retrieved her coat and headed toward the Department of Knighthood to find Arkin Rudera.

The journey was hardly smooth.

“Oh, it’s Tislin! Tislin, talk to us for a second!”

As she passed the hallway in front of the lounge, students who had been in the same classroom earlier called out to her with brightened expressions. They seemed to be playing a game, but seeing them abandon their dice and wave frantically made a horrified Tislin shake her head.

“I’m really busy right now!”

With that, she practically slid down the stairs at a run, only to bump into another classmate. Ah, of all people, this chatterbox.

“Huh? Tislin, what did you talk about with Lord Xsanov today?”

“It’s a bit awkward to say. See you later, Lint!”

“Eh? Wait a minute!”

Tislin offered a quick brushed-off reply and hurried out of the dormitory building. Out of breath, she rested her hands on her knees and panted, only to spot another group of friends and quickly slip away.

This was all because of Damien. She hadn’t wanted to become the main subject of rumors like this. Was there no way he could have called her out discreetly? Like a letter, for instance. He really didn’t need to come find her in person.

She wouldn’t deny that she had been glad to see his face after a long time. Even so, the aftermath was far too intense.

Students in the Department of Administrative Sciences generally didn’t tear people apart over engagement rumors, but like typical students their age, they were alarmingly good at spreading gossip about school celebrities. Like Prince Anatis, who reportedly enrolled in the Department of Liberal Arts this year, or the rumor that Marcel Dant, the biggest celebrity in the Department of Fine Arts, was the illegitimate child of Count Hogan.

In any case, it was better not to get caught needlessly. Though the absolute best scenario would be ending this engagement as quickly as possible.

Once she left the Administrative Sciences building, no one paid any attention to Tislin. She headed straight for the Department of Knighthood building. Since she had frequented the place a few times last year for end-of-term assignments, she knew the way well.

“…What brings a senior from Administrative Sciences here?”

And there were occasionally familiar faces. Tislin spotted her junior’s fiancé from Administrative Sciences and immediately snagged him. No matter how well she knew the way, bursting into another department’s building unannounced felt burdensome.

“Is Arkin Rudera here?”

“I’m not sure. I think the 3rd years have personal training time right now.”

“Could you check for me?”

The kind Knighthood student, instead of asking how she knew that foreigner, went inside the building.

After waiting for about ten minutes, Arkin Rudera, with red hair as messy as if he had just woken up, came strolling out with both hands stuffed in his trousers pockets.

“Tislin Ermiz? What brings you here?”

The two had met at the Grand Duke of Luxen’s mansion, and that was the exact extent of their acquaintance. The Tislin that Arkin knew was likely just a noble from Cassady-Minorca who hung around Adelinde. The Arkin Rudera that Tislin knew was…

Damien’s friend. And a strange guy who had bothered to follow Damien Xsanov into the Royal Academy for no real reason.

However, precisely because he was such a person, he would likely know the internal affairs of the Grand Duchy of Luxen—things that Tislin, essentially an outsider, would not know well.

“I have something to ask you. Do you have a moment?”

“Well, I do, which is why I came out. But here is a bit…”

Since the Department of Knighthood was overwhelmingly male compared to other departments, people were sensitive to visits from women—especially women from other departments. Arkin could vividly feel the presence of men inside the dormitory, staring out with bloodshot eyes.

“Why?”

“Rumors will spread. Their big mouths are worse than those of high-society noblewomen.”

It certainly looked that way. Tislin suddenly looked up at the dormitory windows and caught sight of ten pairs of eyes glued to the large lounge window, giving her goosebumps as she rubbed her arms.

“Follow me.”

Arkin strode ahead as if to say, ‘She and I are nothing to each other.’ Tislin followed behind at a modest distance.

The quiet, deserted place Arkin found was none other than the training grounds.

“This is the Department of Knighthood, and there’s no one at the training ground?”

“They said it’s off-limits today because they’re churning the soil. So the ones with official affiliations all went to use their respective squad grounds—including Damien, of course. Perfect timing.”

It was a statement she couldn’t deny.

“So, what did you come to ask?”

“Do you know about my engagement?”

“Of course I know.”

“What on earth happened? I mean, let’s say my mother and father suddenly lost their minds and sent a marriage proposal to His Grace. Why did His Grace accept it? And why did Damien agree to it?”

Faced with a rapid barrage of questions, Arkin went blank for a moment. Then, he gently tapped Tislin’s leaning shoulder to straighten her up.

“Hold on. Hold on a second.”

The moment Tislin stopped talking, Arkin’s hand pulled back immediately.

“From what I know, that marriage proposal didn’t come from your parents.”

“…What?”

Does that… does that even make sense? Tislin stood frozen like a wax doll, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly.

Arkin ruffled his hair messily as he traced back his memory.

It was last month when Damien had been briefly summoned back to Luxen. Until then, the Grand Duke had tried to set him up on a few blind dates with women his age who had good reputations in Luxen, but Damien had declined them all.

Arkin had vaguely assumed he just wasn’t interested because he still had a lot to achieve as a knight, but right after returning, he had suddenly gotten engaged. Furthermore, Arkin remembered being surprised to hear that the partner was Tislin Ermiz, whom Damien had known since childhood.

At the time, Arkin had simply brushed it off thinking Damien had his own reasons for making that decision.

Seeing how Tislin was only now going around asking about this, the engagement must have been finalized around last week, even considering the time it took for letters to arrive.

That meant the decision to send the proposal to the Ermiz family had to have been made last month. Everything aligned perfectly if one assumed Luxen sent the marriage proposal first last month, the two families negotiated a few contract clauses, and it was finalized last week.

“Damien briefly went to Luxen last month, right? It seems it was decided then.”

Tislin also knew when that was.

‘That was right after I confessed.’

He had rejected her confession, yet agreed to an engagement?