Chapter 1

"Claudia Reihan! I will break off our engagement with you!"

Holding her aching head, she somehow managed to attend the evening party, only to be hit with her fiancé’s incomprehensible ramblings. Unable to understand his words, she looked at him, who was seated at the head of the room. He was there with an unusually sullen expression, dressed in the opulent attire befitting the first prince (though the key point is that he is not the crown prince), which accentuated his beauty inherited from the queen. Yes, my fiancé is very good-looking, exuding the air of a prince. No, he is undoubtedly a prince.

Due to the headache that had plagued her all morning, she couldn’t understand what the prince was fussing about. She wanted to pretend she hadn’t heard and ignore him, but... Holding her aching head, she glanced around. Everyone was looking at her with keen interest.

Suppressing a sigh, she reluctantly asked, "I’m sorry, but I didn’t understand. Could you please repeat it?"

"You must be a complete imbecile if you can’t understand me the first time! A woman with such low ability is not fit to be the future queen!"

"Ah..."

She was accused of being an imbecile with incredible force. Usually, he would only say a word or two in greeting, like "Ah" or "I see," or at most nod slightly and leave. But today, he was speaking in a steady stream of long words without pausing.

Dazed, she marveled that the prince could actually use words. Since the crown prince had not yet been decided, he was not the crown prince, and naturally, she was not the future queen. While she was thinking about such irrelevant matters, the prince continued his grand speech, accompanied by exaggerated gestures.

"My mother handles her heavy workload and takes charge of the country’s defense, all while maintaining her beauty."

"That’s true. The queen is very beautiful."

It was a fact acknowledged by everyone. Nodding without argument, she was glared at with disdain. Then, he shouted at her, spitting as he did so. Despite his good looks, spitting was a bit disappointing.

"Compared to you, what are you? You become so disheveled just from the education of a crown princess. It’s pitiful."

Pointing out her disheveled appearance, she looked down at her dress.

A deep pink dress with plenty of frills, which was said to be the latest trend. The frills were attached like seaweed to the hem and the collar, with an astonishing amount of frills.

From her personal taste, the frills were too much, and the color was painful to the eyes. Moreover, the deep pink did not suit her. The strong color overpowered her, making her pale skin look even more sallow, and her lackluster features were buried. Her poor complexion was mainly due to lack of sleep, but over the past few years, she had been in this state, so everyone must have thought it was her natural appearance.

She was aware that the dress provided did not suit her, but she couldn’t refuse the queen, who prepared it with the cheerful belief that cuteness would be doubled by excessive frills.

Even if it didn’t suit her, as long as it didn’t violate etiquette, it didn’t matter. She didn’t have the energy to focus on such things. However, if the prince expected her to always be the belle of the ball, she was undoubtedly unqualified as the prince’s (accurately, the prince’s) fiancée.

"... I do feel sorry that the dress given by the queen doesn’t suit me."

"That’s not all!"

There was more. Her face contorted with the effort to hide her frustration. If it were such trivial complaints, she wished he would have conveyed them in writing. Moreover, he was repeatedly calling her the crown princess, which was incorrect. She subtly looked around, searching for the king and queen. She had been told that envoys from other countries were present, so it seemed they were not in the hall.

It was problematic that no one was there to calm the excited prince.

Ignoring her anxiety, the prince continued.

"My mother has been lamenting the poor quality of your education."

"Huh..."

She reacted to the words "my mother." She had been taking on the queen’s duties, in addition to the prince’s, to get used to being a princess. Of course, this was out of consideration to avoid giving the gossipy nobles a chance to criticize her when she appeared in public. She was handling the less visible tasks, such as providing magical power to the country’s protective barriers and reviewing necessary documents.

This was an additional burden on top of her regular education as a princess. The workload was so heavy that she often fell behind. She understood her own inadequacies and often cried, but the queen comforted her gently.

The kind queen couldn’t bring herself to tell her that she lacked the ability to be a princess, knowing how hard she was working, even at the cost of sleep.

And, unable to bear it any longer, the prince had exploded, leading to this public announcement of the engagement’s dissolution. Finally understanding, she let her shoulders drop.

"... I understand the reasons. I truly feel sorry for my inadequacies."

"If you understand, accept the dissolution of the engagement gracefully."

"I agree. I accept the dissolution of the engagement."

Even without being told, if the reason was her inadequacies, she had no choice but to accept. She couldn’t do any more work than she was already doing. She truly respected the royal family.

She didn’t feel any regret. The tension she had been holding onto relaxed, and she realized she felt a sense of relief. Perhaps this was her flaw.

"Wait a moment! What are you saying here!"

Someone must have called for her, as the queen hurried back into the hall. Someone must have seen the commotion and called for her.

"Mother, no, Your Majesty, please be silent. This is a serious issue for the country. I cannot have a woman who is not as capable as the queen by my side."

"That’s why I’m saying this isn’t the place to discuss it. Someone, take this girl to another room."

The queen raised her voice to try to calm the situation, but the prince was not one to back down so easily. Before the knights could approach, he raised his voice.

"There are young ladies with far greater magical power than Claudia."

"Huh?"

"This woman has a half-sister. She is also from a traditional earl’s family and has the same potential. With proper training, she will surely..."

Hearing about the half-sister, she looked behind the prince and saw Amalie, her half-sister, standing with her hands clasped in front of her chest, her eyes brimming with tears. Amalie, who was a year younger, was the daughter of her stepmother. She had learned about her after her mother’s death, but it seemed that her father had been in a relationship with Amalie’s mother even before their marriage and continued the relationship after they were married. Therefore, although Amalie was a stepchild, she also inherited the blood of the earl’s family.

"Half-sister, I’m sorry. I couldn’t leave the prince in his distress..."

With acting skills that would make a professional actress blush, she played the role of a tragic heroine.

Seeing this, she finally understood that the engagement’s dissolution was a scheme by the prince and Amalie. While she couldn’t argue with the points of criticism, it wasn’t clear that Amalie was better than her.

That girl hated studying and disliked magical training. She had been cutting corners since childhood, and even when she came to the main house as a stepchild, she stopped scolding her when she saw her father’s indulgence.

"True, I have my flaws, but can you handle it?"

If Amalie were to take her place, the amount of study would increase. Not only the studies for a princess but also the magical training to bring out her potential and the administrative work, which would require additional study. Even for someone like her, who didn’t mind studying, it was a mountain of tasks that made her want to run away.

She was happy when she was chosen as the fiancée of the first prince, who might become the crown prince. It meant her abilities were recognized more than other young ladies. In this country, a strong magical power was essential for a princess, as the royal family needed to operate the country’s protective magical devices. Therefore, a young lady with a lot of magical power was chosen as a wife to ensure that the next generation would also have strong magical power.

However, she was only happy at the evening party where the engagement was announced. After that, it was a hell of studies and work. She often thought about how much more enjoyable it would have been to attend parties and tea parties like the other young ladies without being a fiancée.

Hmm?

Perhaps the dissolution of the engagement is a good thing?

While it would leave many scars on her, it felt more enjoyable than dedicating her life to the country. After the engagement was dissolved, she couldn’t return to the earl’s house, but she could go to her mother’s family. Her aunt, who lived in a neighboring country and was the daughter of a marquis, regularly sent letters inviting her to visit. Her mother was a marquis’s daughter, and even after her aunt became the marquis, she was a very concerned relative.

Perhaps sensing her deep thoughts as a refusal, Amalie looked at her with a condescending gaze, despite her modest attitude.

"Half-sister, you may not know this, but I am more capable than you."

Alright, if you’re that confident, I’ll let you have it!

Taking a deep breath, she gathered her meager acting skills. Even if she was a bad actor, she needed to properly play the role of a young lady whose engagement was dissolved. She couldn’t show any joy.

Opening her fan, she lowered her head and widened her eyes. She managed to squeeze out a tear from her dry eyes, which were from the paperwork, and peeked at the two from behind the fan. A small tear rolled down her cheek. She wanted to produce another, but couldn’t, so she tightened her throat to make her voice tremble.

"I understand. I’m very sorry for causing you trouble."

Well then.

Before more is said, I’ll leave the castle.