Chapter 10

### The Backstory of the Broken Engagement

I am Eadaria.

At eighteen, I relinquished my name as a prince and a mage, and now I am just Eadaria.

The complexity of the magical oath is a cruel thing that allows no room for error. Writing the name of the country could inadvertently entangle the entire nation in my magic. That's why I also abandoned the grandiose name that signifies my bloodline.

The reason I gave up my status as a prince was to stop being a victim of the nation's evil customs. The current king is a good ruler, but the institution of the nation itself is not inherently good.

The nation is unyieldingly cunning and rational, and it must present a fabricated gentle smile to its innocent citizens, acting as a great mother.

I thought that by freeing myself from the yoke of the royal family, I would gain the same freedom as others who serve the same nation. Of course, even the freedom of the nobles in high positions would suffice.

However, on the night my half-brother lost his fiancée, the song summoner, the king declared that the next song summoner should be my fiancée.

I felt like I had asked, "Why?"

Hadn't I won a part of my life with this ability? Hadn't I escaped that prison and fled to a place where I could breathe?

The king's explanation was simple: the next song summoner should be supported by my magic to prevent an early death.

With this imperial command, I found the new song summoner, and when I saw the girl, I was not the only one who was stunned. The song summoner and her contracted beast, who were assigned to guard me, were also taken aback.

"Einbrea, ... is this a mistake?"

I leaned my elbows on the desk, watching the ordinary girl with no beauty, talent, or any special qualities leave, and I asked the oracle.

But the oracle only laughed as if it were someone else's business.

"Well, she will be the most pitiful face of the nation, but I have only followed the oracle. She is the song summoner who will benefit the nation. That's all I know. Whether she lives or dies, she will be a good tool."

The oracle's words lingered in my ears even after she returned to the capital.

The oracle is a beacon of the magic of words. If that's the case, the girl must indeed be necessary for the nation. If so, there's no need for me to intervene; fate will guide her on its own. Perhaps even her death will be her purpose.

I don't feel pity. After all, she is just an unknown girl who became my fiancée the moment we met. Her ordinariness, which doesn't move my heart, is not her responsibility to bear.

While thinking about this, I decided to have a drink. Then, I sensed a significant magical disturbance within the grounds.

"What is this?!"

As I shouted, the song summoner guard rushed into the room.

"Zenosch! What is this?"

The middle-aged knight, the song summoner, asked, and his contracted beast, which usually has a sleepy gaze, opened its eyes wide in shock and answered.

"Another beast has set up a protective barrier. That song summoner has contracted a beast. ... I've never seen such a powerful beast, not even Alice's beast."

"Wait, are you saying that the song summoner ... Nea, has captured a beast more powerful than Alistair, without a ritual?"

Zenosch, who rarely speaks to me, a non-master, answered, "Probably."

"Alice's beast was a count. The beast in the palace now is likely of a higher rank."

"Lord Eadaria, let's go and see what's happening. Zenosch, please protect Lord Eadaria until I return."

Glast, the leader of the Rienberg knights and my sword master, left the room quickly, leaving those words. Although I was taken aback by the unexpected situation, as a mage, I didn't need to waste my magic on protection.

The song summoner's beast is a beast bound by the nation's chains.

... All I can do is hope that it is so.

When I arrived at the palace, I encountered a beast that was literally holding Glast.

It was lifting Glast, a tall and large man, by the neck, as if it were a child.

The moment its gaze turned to me, I shuddered.

The beast was a White Holder.

And it possessed all the colors that signify its attributes.

"Oh, you must be Nea's fiancé."

A beautiful voice fell softly. A voice as dark as the depths of an abyss, dazzlingly dark.

The beast smiled, then threw Glast aside and slowly turned to face me.

"This is a problem."

I needed to explain quickly. The song summoner, as a face of the nation, must be tied to the nation to prevent their authority from growing beyond the royal family. That is the meaning of this engagement as a contract. It is not to infringe on the domain of the contracted beast.

Yet, I couldn't take my eyes off the beast in front of me.

My fingers trembled, and my throat couldn't produce a sound. The beast in front of me, which smiled gently, was directing clear malice at me.

(... Even that malice is just a game.)

My face must have contorted with fear and shame. My slightly shaking body averted its gaze just a little.

In that moment, I saw something.

"Stop threatening the authority!"

The ordinary girl, who had just been chosen, jumped up and struck the head of the tall White Holder with a hand strike, without hesitation.

(To harm a White Holder, what foolishness! The end of the nation...)

That was the last thing I saw that night.

The next morning, when I woke up, Glast, who had apparently been with me, looked at me with a questioning gaze. As I worked, the newly summoned song summoner confessed that her rash action last night did not anger the beast; instead, it pleased the beast. Glast had been grabbed because she had opened the door when he didn't respond to her call as she was about to go to bed. The beast had judged him to be an intruder disturbing her sleep.

Then, the new song summoner of Verklear, a girl named Nea, looked at me with an oddly hopeful gaze, like a puppy.

"If you like Dino's face being knocked down, I can definitely give it to you. Please take him! I think Dino would make a good, obedient chair with Eadaria's slightly sharp personality!"

Face, ... preference?

No, ... chair?

Chair?

I looked at Glast in shock, and he turned away faster than I had ever seen. From that day on, Glast avoided my gaze for a very long time.

Later, I broke off the engagement with her, defying the king's command, because every time we met, she tried to connect me with that White Holder. I confess this here.