Chapter 16

Please dissolve our engagement

(…Fell…?!?!)

No, you pushed me!!
Onee-sama, you pushed me, didn’t you!? My back!!
You shoved me with all your might, didn’t you!?

I looked at her in disbelief.

For a moment, our eyes met.

“—”

The instant Onee-sama saw me, she flinched as if frightened.

Seeing this, Felix-sama turned a suspicious gaze toward me.

My heart went cold.
Burying her face in Felix-sama’s chest, Onee-sama said clearly in a trembling voice,

“Felicia…! Feli-cia… cough!”

Perhaps due to her agitation, she broke into a violent cough.

“Agnes! Don’t push yourself…”

Cutting off Felix-sama’s words, Onee-sama shouted.
In her faint, trembling voice.

“Felicia fell on her own…!!”

“What…?”

“Eh?”

Felix-sama and I each let out sounds of shock.

(What is she trying to say…?!)

Before my stunned self, Onee-sama spoke through her tears.
By now, she was the heroine of this scene.
The stage was set for her.

“It’s painful, she said. Watching us is too painful for her…”

“No way…”

“That’s not true!”

I shouted reflexively.
Dragging my aching foot, I forced myself up the stairs. Clinging to the handrail, I climbed with sheer determination until I reached Onee-sama, who widened her pale blue eyes.

Then, with a terribly frightened look, she averted her gaze from me and looked down.
That gesture infuriated me.

(You’re the one who pushed me, aren’t you?!)

So why is she lying?

Thinking that far, I realized Onee-sama’s intentions.

“—”

(That’s right, because…)

Onee-sama is a fragile person.
She typically only interacts with members of the ducal household.
The ducal household—every servant treats Onee-sama with kindness.
Of course.
She’s the beloved daughter of the house’s master.

Far more doted on than I, the legitimate wife’s daughter, Felicia.
If anyone so much as scratched her, who knows what punishment they’d face.

The servants protected Onee-sama almost to the point of overindulgence.

Cherished and pampered like a butterfly or flower, that’s how Onee-sama was raised.

So, she’s not used to it.

Being scolded.
Being blamed.

Even now, she’s lying because she doesn’t want anyone to know she pushed her sister.

(To push… your sister, nearly killing her… and that’s your attitude?)

I was dumbfounded.
Does she even realize what she’s done?

(You nearly killed someone!)

She almost killed her sister—and yet, at this point, she’s choosing self-preservation.

There’s no familial love there.
No trace of affection.

Now, I finally understand.

(Onee-sama… only cares about herself.)

No, that’s not quite right.

She only cares about herself.

The moment I realized that—I gave up on everything.

I know it’s pointless to say anything to someone like this.

Talking is meaningless.
Because she has no intention of facing me sincerely.
What meaning is there in words full of deceit and falsehoods?
What conversation can I have with someone who only lies?

As I cast a coldly detached gaze, Felix-sama looked at me cautiously, almost fearfully.
Onee-sama kept her face down, as if afraid of my stare.
Our eyes didn’t meet.

“…Felicia. So, you really do—?”

Give me a break, you jerk.

—I nearly let out words utterly unbefitting a lady.

Onee-sama, whose only concern is self-preservation.
Felix-sama, who can only see a world convenient to him.

(Fine. You two are perfect for each other.
No returns accepted, so there.)

Thinking such things, I let a faint smile form.
Felix-sama’s face twitched, so I must look absolutely terrifying right now.

Without a mirror, I don’t know what expression I’m making.
I don’t know, but—

It’s fine.
Even resembling Mother doesn’t matter anymore.

Worrying about such trivial things now seemed utterly foolish.

“Please dissolve our engagement. I can’t endure this.”

“—”

Felix-sama gasped.

By now, the number of onlookers had grown considerably.

(Everyone loves gossip, don’t they…)

Truly, nobles are no different from commoners when it comes to relishing rumors.

By tomorrow, this will surely spread throughout high society.

There are simply too many witnesses.

—The people around likely thought my words were born from the pain of a broken heart.

But Felix-sama, seeing my face, seemed to finally grasp my true intentions.

After all, my eyes must be as cold as Mother’s right now.
Looking into them, even he could tell there’s no love, only ill feelings.

They say the eyes speak as much as the mouth, don’t they?