When My Enemies Began to Regret

“Lady Fanora! Happy birthday!”

“Thank you.”

“This is your birthday present…”

It was a few days later. The 16th birthday of Fanora Celsius, who regressed. Aloken was puzzled by the red-haired man who showed up and handed her a birthday present at the party.

“I know there is no relationship between Celsius and Andras.”

“Because we love animals! We got to know each other while talking about dogs before.”

Carl Andras skillfully lied without changing his expression at that time, but it didn’t work for Aloken. He wasn’t interested in other people’s expressions anyway, and there was only one thing he was interested in. Carl came to this banquet hall? The one who didn’t even snort when I begged him to come to my banquet?

Aloken was very curious about how Fanora maintained her relationship with Carl Andras, who was difficult to deal with in many ways.

“Do you like animals?”

“Yes. I like it.”

He thought after asking Fanora a question. She’s lying. She only likes insects that crawl on the ground at most.

Aloken Jalier was originally a man of many doubts. He believed that others couldn’t stab him in the back if he lived that way. So, all the investigation about the lady he would be engaged to have already been completed at her birthday party. What kind of position Fanora had in her family, what kind of acquaintances she had, what kind of relationships she had with her acquaintances, and how she sometimes visited the butler on weekends…

There was no information that could be harmful right away, but Aloken had one thing on his mind. How Fanora noticed his father’s illness and even sought a cure. He couldn’t find that connection anywhere. She said she found a cure from the wandering astrologist, but how could he believe that when there was no evidence?

Obviously, the investigation said that Celsius’s eldest daughter was timid and had no friends of her age. Still, she said that she interacted with Carl in that short time…?  It didn’t stop there, and in the blink of an eye, she made friends with Carl?

Carl was someone he couldn’t get even close to, even after pouring favor on him for the whole year. Wasn’t this really a coincidence?  Aloken didn’t like this situation, but on the other hand, he couldn’t erase his growing doubts.

The guy who knew nothing but fighting came in a hurry to celebrate someone else’s birthday. Aloken rolled his eyes from the birthday banquet hall of the day. His gaze alternately included a man with red hair and a woman with a similar hair color to himself.

There’s no way Carl, who ignores all the flattering words of nobles, can fall over so easily. Suspicious…

It was at that moment. Aloken suddenly remembered something. How his first meeting with Fanora was. She dared to make a deal with a member of the duke family, using Louis Jalier’s illness as her weapon. There was no law for such a bold person not to do the same thing twice.

Then he could make an assumption. Could it be she approached Carl Andras in a similar way to mine? Then it makes sense to keep the details of the deal a secret. Fanora might have offered another deal to the third son of the marquis rather than just having a member of the duke family as her fiancé.

“!”

Thinking so, he quickly became interested in the relationship between Carl and Fanora. Aloken had long coveted Carl Andras’s power and already knew what Carl really wished. What Carl wished was clearer than anyone else. It wasn’t much different from when his father collapsed. If so, did Fanora Celsius appear like a mirage and grant Carl’s wish?

“I changed my mind. I’m interested in you.”

He crouched down and approached his fake fiancée. The remark Aloken brought out seemed like the beginning of love, but the thoughts he had in mind were different.

This woman.

In a way, this thought was the root of everything.

Could she be related to the holy relic?

* * *

Once the doubt rolled like a snowball, it wouldn’t stop.

Marquis Andras and Count Celsius hadn’t had a single exchange for several generations. Still, there were many strange things in this generation, such as the sudden visit of the count’s family’s eldest daughter to the marquis’ main mansion. When Fanora was staying at Madam Maquil’s townhouse, his eyes widened as he heard that Carl had given her money which was no less than his whole fortune.

Oh, it’s b*llshit to call them as friends. He’s acting like a servant.

Fanora Celsius might have what Carl… Aloken continued to doubt Fanora even after their engagement ceremony, and his doubt quickly turned into conviction. He belatedly found out that Carl’s actions, which he had been trying to find out about Europa’s location, stopped one day. The two were supposed to have met for the first time around the time of the king’s birthday.

Fanora Celsius, you must have done something by contacting him.

Once convinced, the whole situation now seemed to indicate that she was the owner of the holy relic. Not only did she predict in advance the withdrawal of Gamiel’s spice merchant, which the kingdom’s most powerful person wasn’t aware of, but she was also aware of the critical condition of the previous Duke Jalier, which had been hidden thoroughly.

Right. Somehow, even in front of me, she didn’t flinch and behaved shamelessly. Too many things cannot be explained unless she has something to believe. As soon as Aloken made the assumption that her fiancée had something to do with the holy relic, he began making plans to court her.

One would think that any human in this world would desire holy relics, but he was particularly driven by greed. If there was even a slight possibility of obtaining a holy relic, Aloken had the willingness to kiss the feet of the one he despised.

What kind of reaction would she have if I told her I would make her my real bride? Anyone can tell my family is a much better trader than the marquis family…

Is there any other emotion in this world that is as easy to use as love? He thought that if he made Fanora’s heart his own, he could someday take away the holy relic she valued the most. That’s why Aloken began to dig into her heart.

He no longer said that he would marry into a new family. He also did little tricks to catch his fake fiancée, using his father as an excuse to make her come up to North.

“Will you go to town with me? I happened to buy a seat at the opera just in case you were bored.”

As long as the plan was made, the opera at that time was only one of the many starting points that would capture Fanora’s heart. If this failed, he was going to try meeting her several times, pretending it to be a coincidence…

“Aloken, you didn’t like the opera you just saw, didn’t you?”

“…”

“But seeing you sit in a boring opera for hours just trying to be a fake lover… It made me think differently.”

The innocent Lady Celsius easily bit the bait he threw.

“That’s right. Fortunately, I think I’ve already found something I’m interested in this time.”

How plausible is this scene when a cold-blooded man meets a woman who embraces him for the first time and feels excited? He simply created a reason why Aloken Jalier fell for Fanora Celsius. Therefore, Fanora didn’t know that everything was fake from the beginning.

It’s not as easy as I thought.  Aloken, of course, had its own difficulties. Fanora vaguely rejected his affection because she was badly hurt by his ex-lover. The progress was extremely slow even when he expressed his affection, which would have already been passed on if it had been another noble lady.

It’s annoying. Moreover, although he was initially convinced that she might have a holy relic, as time passed, the assumption she might be Europa’s master also faded. No matter how much he dug up her back, he couldn’t see any relation to the holy relic. If she had an important holy relic like eternal life, she would always have it with her, but he didn’t even know she hid that holy relic.

Then one autumn day, by the time Fanora had her fox hunt after regression. Aloken looked at Fanora’s wounds for a long time; whose back of her hand was swollen by a heavy cup thrown by Lady Duroc.

“It’s swollen a lot.”

“It’s nothing special, but why do you keep looking at it?”

“It’s my first time seeing you hurt.”

This wasn’t because he felt sorry for his lover. It was just because the owner of the holy relic of eternal life would heal soon. Aloken thought of the commotion at the after-party as an opportunity. Maybe Fanora wasn’t the owner of Europa.

“…”

However, Aloken never stopped trying to win Fanora’s heart. He deceived his fake fiancée for two years because there was one more reason besides the holy relic.

“I never thought that I would find my first love at this age. If you feel sorry for me, why don’t you pay me back?”

“I’m leaving now, Duke Jalier.”

At first, Fanora reacted to his sweet talk as if it wasn’t worth listening to.

“There is quite a bit left until the end of the contract engagement… so, this is enough.”

“Nonsense!”

But Fanora gradually reacted violently at his courtship. Her reaction was angry or raised her voice. The trigger was probably from the time he killed Rose Jalier, who was trying to hurt her.

I did well to intentionally leave a trace. But it doesn’t matter. I even pretended to be Rose when I commissioned it. If she didn’t recognize it, I’d be disappointed.

It was a stupid thing to do. It was like she was moving around without knowing who was the real culprit behind the assassination. It was none other than Aloken who sent the assassins to Fanora. His purpose was to confirm the power of a holy relic believed to be owned by Fanora. Although it wasn’t possible to confirm it due to interference of Carl.

Thanks to that, it’s easier to blame Rose for everything. It was beneficial to get rid of his irritating younger brother and win her favor. After that, emotions erupted once, and their relationship gained momentum.

“Do you really like me?”

The first time he heard her say this was probably right after he saved her from being verbally abused by Purson. Soon after, as expected, Fanora began to react differently. She hesitated but acted as if she wanted to confirm his feelings.

Aloken, who had been through this change from the beginning, stood still when he heard the question she asked one day.

“I was thinking of giving up on this because you didn’t show much reaction.”

Right. In fact, this was the reason why he was able to engage in a heartless courtship for two years.

Finally.

Aloken found this situation purely amusing. His act began to make her fall in love. Being able to change the emotions of others to his taste was more stimulating for him than any other hunt. So Aloken found this woman falling for him really funny but satisfying. With obtaining the holy relic as a pretext and the fun of deceiving her as a secondary motive, he decided to maintain this relationship.

It’s amazing how persistent and wicked people can be. It had been two years in a row he spent time deceiving one woman.

After tying Fanora to marriage, I’ll be able to find out where the information she has obtained so far comes from. In addition, he thought if Fanora had a holy relic, he should ‘of course’ own it. Rather than letting the treasure rot in the hands of those who couldn’t use it properly, he thought it was right to use it.

If marriage alone doesn’t work, then using her child…

Everywhere you look, he doesn’t seem to feel guilty…

Here, it became clear what Aloken was inherently lacking. It was a conscience.