TCBUP 42

Chapter 42

 It Doesn’t Concern You

“What doesn’t?”

“That I don’t want to get engaged. I can make it as if it never happened.”

“How?”

He asked the question he was expecting. But I could already guess his answer.

This engagement was pushed forward by the Empress. And if it were to be broken off, she’d demand compensation.

What the Empress wanted most was the Duke of Ortiz’s support. And Damien—more precisely, the Duke—was something she couldn’t afford to lose.

But I didn’t want to burden Damien, who had always sought to avoid entanglement with the Imperial Family.

Our debt, inherited from the previous generation, was already more than enough.

“You don’t want to be involved with the Imperial Family. You’ve worked hard to stay neutral. Don’t give them an excuse now.”

“……”

Judging by Damien’s firmly closed lips, I must have hit the mark.

“Of course, I have no right to comment on your family’s decisions, but you did promise last time you wouldn’t cause trouble for me. So just pretend you don’t know anything.”

“Siena, but…”

“Whatever the case, I’m still to become a Crown Princess. That’s better than some ambiguous marriage alliance. Besides, won’t this relieve your guilt over breaking off the engagement? It’s a win-win for both of us.”

“Don’t use me as an excuse.”

Damien’s voice, for once, came out sharply.

“Just say you want the position of Crown Princess. That, at least, I could understand.”

“Even if that were true, it has nothing to do with you.”

Damien didn’t truly know me. Not Siena.

He didn’t know that I had clung to him not out of ambition for the duchess title—but because I had genuinely loved him.

It’s pathetic to say it now, but still…

“Why do you get to comment on who I marry? Who are you to me, Damien?”

My voice was calm. My tone, composed.

But Damien looked as if I’d screamed at him. His face stiffened completely.

“We’re over. Any petty sympathy or leftover feelings you might have… even the slightest word or action from you—would only become a subject of gossip. We’re worse than strangers now.”

“……”

“You shouldn’t have come here today, Damien.”

He stayed completely still.

I thought he’d frown. He wouldn’t get angry—my marriage wasn’t important enough to be worth that—but I expected at least some sign of discomfort.

After all these years, I thought I knew him well.

But his next words shattered all my assumptions.

“Do you love him?”

Ah. So he heard everything.

I hadn’t mentioned a name, but he knew who I meant.

Compared to marrying a crown prince, this was harder to discuss with Damien.

Nobles are used to arranged marriages. But love… that’s different.

Back when we were engaged, I’d confessed my love countless times. Not once was it returned. So for him to bring it up now—

“I don’t see the need to answer—”

“He’s not the one.”

He cut me off, his voice slicing through mine.

His eyes burned with intensity. Lips tightly sealed, like he was barely holding back fury.

“Why not?”

“Because I hired him. To protect you.”

“……”

“I was afraid the people at the salon would discover who you really are. That they’d do something.”

Ah. Now it all made sense.

Why Leon always showed up wherever I went. Why he insisted on doing everything for me—cooking, guarding, staying close.

Why, no matter what he did, his favorability never rose.

“It was all for money. He stuck around because you paid him.”

When I said nothing, Damien added:

“So if you give him your heart so easily…”

“My heart is mine to give.”

“What?”

“Even if it started with money, he gave me his best. That’s reason enough to like him.”

His dark eyes—always calm and deep—wavered.

My words seemed to hit him harder than the talk of marriage.

“Why are you choosing the hard path? He’ll never truly let you in.”

“It’s funny hearing that from you, of all people.”

“……”

“You were the same.”

He stared blankly at me.

His ever-composed lips parted but failed to speak.

“Don’t worry. I’m used to one-sided love.”

“Siena.”

“I’ve done it all my life.”

The air around us had grown too heavy. I tried to lighten the mood, if only a little.

But he looked like someone who’d just realized something important—too late.

“Is that all you wanted to say?”

“……”

“Then… please leave.”

The red four-leaf clover shimmered like an ominous stain of blood in my mind.

Still, I had no intention of checking his heart anymore.

To me, he wasn’t the future I would bet my life on—but the past I had already laid to rest.

Though the atmosphere now seemed to accept my engagement to Prince Aidan as a given, I hadn’t made a final decision.

Not yet.

Before that, I wanted to talk to Leon.

Not just because he’d introduced me to Aidan—but because I needed someone I could confide my doubts in.

And more than anything, I wanted to see his reaction.

After days of deliberation, I finally visited the address Leon had given me for emergencies.

It was a place rough and shady enough to suit a mercenary. Danger oozed from every corner.

“So this is why he told me never to come alone.”

Leon had told me to find one of his men—those loitering around the alley in black clothes—and give them the password.

“Tell them, ‘The Bullet of Aatrox,’ and they’ll escort you safely.”

“…Why is no one here?”

I wandered around for 30 minutes but saw no one that looked like his men.

“It’s the middle of the day. What could possibly happen?”

Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the alley alone.

I wore my hood low enough to cover all my hair, hoping to go unnoticed.

About halfway in, two men in suits blocked my path.

They weren’t in black, but their neat appearance suggested they might be the ones Leon mentioned.

“Good day, miss.”

“Where are you headed? It’s dangerous for a lady to walk here alone.”

“Ah. I have business with Aatrox. It’s down this way, right?”

They exchanged glances, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Ah. I forgot to say the password.

“‘The Bullet of Aatrox.’ That’s what I was told to say.”

“I see. Then, shall we escort you?”

They flanked me like bodyguards.

Thank goodness. This place really was scary.

“Is it far from here?”

“Not too far.”

“But miss, you mustn’t enter places like this alone.”

“Yes, I know. But I had no choice—it was urgent.”

“No matter how urgent, you should still be careful.”

Just then, the man to my left grabbed my wrist.

In a flash, he pulled me into a firm grip from behind.

“This is what happens when you ignore such advice.”

His voice in my ear was low, mocking.

Gone was the polite demeanor. The man in front roughly pulled down my hood.

“Ooh. A premium one.”

He grabbed my chin, tilting it this way and that as he examined me.

“Especially those eyes. They’ll love those.”

Crimson eyes—so rare—would look divine glistening with tears.

Their words passed between them like they’d just scored a priceless item.

Despite being restrained, I carefully moved my hand, little by little.

“Do you even know who I am?”

“Who knows? Who are you?”

“I’ll be royalty soon. If anything happens to me, you won’t survive in the Empire.”

I spoke boldly, but my voice trembled with fear.

I couldn’t help but scoff at myself—bringing up royalty when I hadn’t even decided yet.

“Oh? And what brings such a grand lady to this side of town?”

What was disturbing was that even their jeers were spoken with a strange air of refinement.

These were not your average street thugs.

“You… who are you really? You don’t seem like men who’d stoop to this.”

“Exactly. That’s how we planned it. Even noble etiquette has its uses.”

“You were fooled, weren’t you?”

They weren’t wrong.

Their tailored suits and courteous language made me let my guard down.

But I wasn’t about to surrender quietly.

Leon’s base was nearby. If I could just buy time, he might show up—like he always did.

As I distracted them with pointless talk, my hand finally found what I was searching for beneath my robe.