When My Enemies Began to Regret

“But I wasn’t lying when I said you were the best friend I’ve ever met in my life.”

“…”

“…I liked the time I spent with you to the point that I belittled Aloken’s words that I should stay away from you.”

With a clack, she carefully lifted the teacup in her hand. She was thirsty because she had been talking nonstop until now. Vasago gulped down the tea Fanora had given her. Then she continued.

“So from now on, I will make you my people. And I can’t allow the person who came into my arms to be unhappy.”

As if revealing her trust in Fanora.

“Fanora, listen to me carefully.”

“…”

“No matter what sweet words Aloken said to you, think it all a lie.”

Tak. Emptying her teacup instantly, she put her cup down and said, “If you want, I will help you annul the engagement naturally. I’m always on your side.”

“…”

“So, before you fall victim to his lies again and again or being used for strange things…”

The conversation between the two was ripe. In the end, Vasago made the grave mistake of mentioning the annulling of the engagement.

“Annulling the engagement?”

Fanora asked as if she was surprised, but the thought that ‘Vasago took away my fiancé’ had been deeply rooted in her consciousness for a long time. However, when the person who had influenced her canceled her engagement in her past life and tried to interfere with her engagement relationship again, Fanora felt a strong sense of rejection for some reason, even though she knew this was an irrational decision.  She had a needless complaint, and her anger toward Aloken was distorted.

Isn’t this also a lie to separate me and Aloken? No, even if Aloken really said that… It could have been an act to trick Princess Guelder to gain an advantage!

Vasago shouldn’t have mentioned the word annulling from the beginning. Of course, she had no clue about this.

This is absolutely my problem. It’s none of your business, Princes. When Fanora thought that, she rose up from her seat.

“Fanora?”

“Thank you for your words. But I can’t solve everything just by listening to other people.”

“…That’s right. I don’t listen to your true feelings either, and this is what happened.”

“So, I will take care of Aloken by myself.”

“Wait, but it’s too risky…”

Outwardly, she was quite calm. However, what soon came out of her mouth was clearly an order. “Princess, please leave for now.”

* * *

It was that afternoon. Based on the events in the midnight novel and Vasago’s testimony, her anxiety peaked. She had no plan, but she felt this uneasy feeling wouldn’t be resolved without seeing him.

“I came to see the duke.”

So Fanora eventually headed to Duke Jalier’s residence in the capital. The weather was fine, but her attire, arriving there, was as gloomy as if to represent her mood.

“Ah, Lady Celsius! There was an order: if Lady came, I must take you immediately! Then, I’ll take you to the parlor—”

“No. I’m not in the mood for tea, so lead me to his room immediately.”

“Yes? Ah, I understand, Lady.”

She wasn’t the usual dignified and friendly Lady Celsius. Her attitude was sharp enough to make the servant think so. The servant eventually took the lead in a depressed state.

“Master, your fiancée is visiting. She’s waiting at the door now.”

Knock, knock. A familiar voice came from inside when the servant spoke with a light knock. Fanora heard that voice and closed her mouth tightly.

“Fanora is here?”

“Yes, Master.”

Before the servant could do anything more, the door burst open from the inside. As soon as Aloken saw Fanora outside the door, he smiled with a stiff face.

“Are you feeling better?”

“I’m sorry to have troubled you.”

Hearing Fanora’s voice, Aloken’s mouth was covered with a gentle smile, like a frozen river melting. Fanora looked at him and thought inwardly, ‘Right, he’s a human being who loves me so much just by looking at me.’

Why did you lie to Vasago like that? His behavior, which would have felt romantic in the usual way, was bothering her today.

“Fanora, you look pale… if you still have a sore spot—”

“I’m okay.”

She looked around the office where Aloken spent his day. Perhaps he was working alone here. Many guards and servants were in the hallway, but this room was empty. It was the perfect environment for a quiet conversation.

“I’m sorry I suddenly visited you when I told you not to show up without an appointment.”

“I don’t care about that.”

“There’s something I really want to say right now.”

When Fanora said he had something to tell him, Aloken changed his mood. He sat cross-legged on the table in his office, looking at her with a radiant face. “It’s fine to speak slowly, but I don’t know if you’re overdoing it for no reason.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you come here to give an answer about my proposal?”

Fanora shook her head at his words. She didn’t bring the answer to his proposal right now. “No, I came today because I wanted to check something.”

“Check?”

“That’s… Aloken, do you have something to say to me?” She asked him a question, holding her hands finally together.

Aloken responded with an attitude as if he didn’t understand this. “I said everything I wanted on New Year’s Eve…”

“It’s not that, Aloken. I’m asking if you’re hiding something from me.”

Fanora began to question her fiancé. She felt so anxious. Her fingertips began to tremble little by little.

“…”

Aloken stared at her and immediately answered. “There are no secrets that will harm you.”

In a way, it was a vague answer. However, from Fanora’s POV, those words didn’t match at all. Of course, the lies he had been hiding had already had a negative impact on her.

“Are you serious?”

“…”

“I… actually, I just heard it all. That the first conversation you had with Princess Guelder wasn’t about complimenting me.”

“…”

“In addition, I know all about what you said to the princess afterward, but you have no secrets that could harm me? Because of you, the princess kept me in check for no reason. How could you call that harmless?”

Feeling impatience, Fanora revealed her secret first. This situation, in which she had to doubt the person she liked, was very burdensome for her, so she wanted to reveal the truth as soon as possible.

What if all the expressions of affection that Aloken has shown are acts, just like in the novel? She knew that Aloken had no reason to do so. What on earth could Aloken gain by deceiving a count’s daughter, not even Princess Guelder? So, perhaps, the only reason Aloken used her was to attack the princess a little bit.

Fanora tried to calm her anxiety by recalling this idea. Even so, she kept feeling a sense of crisis.

“The princess was keeping in check?”

Aloken listened quietly to her question and gave her an answer. However, what followed wasn’t the explanation Fanora was expecting.

“Listening to that sound, it seems that Vasago told you something.”

“…”

“So what did the princess say? Is she saying something like I’ve been talking bad about Celsius?”

“Yes.”

It would be rather for him to feel sorry for using her. It would have been nice if he told her that it was unavoidable. Fanora looked at Aloken’s calm face, which didn’t even frown.

“Fanora, I can’t do that.”

He had a very confident attitude to be considered the culprit who caused the estrangement between Vasago and her.

“You, the last time I was injured by the thugs and bedridden in the Guelder mansion… You said you came to see me. But you had an appointment with Princess Guelder, right? Why do you meet the princess in person? Besides, repeatedly?”

“It’s just a business meeting.”

“The princess doesn’t say that.”

There was a moment of silence between them. It was Aloken who broke the silence that had fallen in the room first.

“Aha, now I understand why I’m being questioned like this. So this… suspicion? Did you call it like that?”

“Aloken.”

“I didn’t mean to speak ill of you. It’s just that I feel good that you finally seem to be jealous.”

Feeling good? Are you kidding me? Fanora frowned as her opponent began to laugh in the middle of the earnest talk. But Aloken was still smiling and looked at his fiancée for a long time with soft eyes.

“It’s true that I’ve been meeting Vasago. That’s also in secret.”

“…!”

“The reason I kept this meeting a secret was because I was worried that you would get tired of being surrounded by rumors. As you may know, there aren’t one or two people in the world who like to make fun of their mouths. Even if Vasago and I exchanged a few words, all sorts of stories would come out.”

“…”

“But the only conversations I had with Vasago were really business conversations…”

Aloken spoke quietly to himself and began to furrow one eyebrow. A small wrinkle appeared on his face.

“Perhaps Vasago had an insidious heart towards me. Since the duke’s fiancée is only a daughter of a count, maybe she thought she could push you away?”

“Push me away?”

“Otherwise, there is no reason to drive a wedge between us.”

He sighed a little and changed his posture by crossing his legs as he sat at his desk. “This is just Vasago’s trick, so forget it. And, if you say you don’t like it, I will never meet Vasago again.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You’re the only one I care about, even if the heavens and the earth are turned upside down.”

Aloken said so and looked calmly at his fiancé. There was no hesitation in his counterargument, and every gesture he made was filled with confidence. His demeanor was clearly not that of someone telling lies, evident to anyone who observed. On the contrary, when she thought about it now, Vasago’s hesitant attitude seemed more like a person with something in her mind.

“…”

Then, does that mean it was Vasago who lied, and her true intention was to steal Fanora’s fiancé, Aloken? Fanora would have accepted Aloken’s words if she hadn’t been a regressor. However… Something is wrong.

At this moment, Fanora intuitively realized that it was Vasago who told the truth. She knew that the protagonist of this world was Vasago. In addition, she read a novel that depicted Vasago’s life from beginning to end.

Vasago grew up with a lot of love and has high self-esteem. She’s a righteous person who never gives up on what she thinks is right, just like during the incident with Naverius. So at some point, Fanora understood the protagonist’s ‘setting.’ Except for her stubbornness and arrogance, Vasago is rather a good person.

No matter how hard she thought about it, Vasago Guelder wasn’t the kind of woman who would steal her fiancé by deceiving others with lies. So, obviously, the one who lied was Aloken.

“…Aloken.”

Fanora looked at the man sitting at the table. Assuming he was lying, there was still a question to be asked.

“Are you in love with me?”

“Do you still believe the lie Vasago told you?”

Then she opened her mouth carefully. Until now, it hadn’t seemed strange to her at all. However, there was a question that suddenly came to her because things turned out like this.

“Then why didn’t you calm the rumors down?”