The next morning, I went to the Imperial Palace with Dominic to report the change of use for the building and the opening of a stationery store. Dominic had no official identity yet, so he couldn't enter the Imperial Palace in his human form. Instead, he transformed into a long sword and rested in my hand.
I arrived in front of the Imperial Palace in a rental wagon, proved my identity, and headed to the government office in charge of business reporting. After navigating through a crowded area and passing through a garden that resembled a small, winding path, I soon reached the office. There were few people around, and no one except for a tall man in the distance, so the atmosphere was peaceful.
'It felt good from the start.'
I walked with a monotonous hum. However, someone stood in my way. It was none other than...
"It's been a while."
It was the male protagonist, my fiancé, Duke Lennox Hessmann. Of course, I tried to ignore Lennox and pass him by. There was no reason to pretend to know him. The problem was that he openly called out to me as I walked down the Imperial Palace road.
"Lady Meldenique Babyloa."
There weren't many people, but perhaps because we were in the Imperial Palace, he looked at me with a gentle smile.
'What? They usually treat me like a useless, invisible person.'
I frowned, remembering what he had said in the past. At first, Lennox had been warm to Meldenique as well.
"Lady Meldenique. Good morning."
Meldenique, who had no one close to her because of the rumors that she was cursed, easily fell in love with him.
"Your Excellency, Duke Hessmann, don't you hate me?"
"I don't think so. You are necessary and useful to me. Call me Lennox."
"Yes, Lennox."
For Meldenique, who was coldly treated by everyone, he was her only salvation. However, as soon as he had charmed Meldenique enough, Lennox changed his attitude.
"You are not beautiful. So the dress doesn't fit." He cracked down on Meldenique's clothes and makeup.
"You know, you're not talented in business." Meldenique's talent was ignored.
"Why are you doing business with Sheria instead of me?"
"Because you are incompetent and Lady Sheria Babyloa is competent."
Even though he knew that Meldenique had an inferiority complex towards Sheria, he still compared the two. When Sheria and Lennox became partners at the ball, Meldenique asked, "You don't think Sheria and you have anything to do with it, do you?"
Lennox's speech was masterful. He brainwashed Meldenique, who suspected the two of them were having an affair. "Listen. If I'm cheating on you with Lady Sheria, it's because you're not attractive enough to me."
"...That's not my attractiveness problem..."
"Are you going against me?"
He manipulated Meldenique in this way, hoping that the despised Meldenique would lose her self-esteem and fall into despair.
"Because I'm me, I'm good to people like you."
Finally, Meldenique began to believe that she was stupid. And she delegated all decision-making power to him.
"Listen to me. We will definitely get married."
Meldenique endured all the ignorance, contempt, and gaslighting in her desire to marry him.
'Because Meldenique loved Lennox so much.'
When I thought back to the past, I felt like Lennox's deep voice echoed in my ears. I glared at him.
'Crazy guy. No matter how much I think about this, I'm...'
Thinking of the secret contempt, ignorance, and verbal abuse stirred my anger. The sword in my hand vibrated slightly, as if it had read my mind, as if to calm me down. But I gripped my sword tighter.
Anyway, this man was someone I had to meet at least once. If they were going to provoke me, there was no reason for me to be depressed.
"I see you, Duke Hessmann."
He frowned for a moment, perhaps surprised I didn't call him by his given name. I glanced at his black hair and brown eyes. Even though he was a knight with a sword, his pure white skin always matched his cold, expressionless demeanor. He definitely had the visual appeal of a male protagonist. To me, however, he was just an adulterous man.
He stared at my face and asked gently, "Lady Meldenique, I heard that you've left your family."
"Yes, Duke. Now that I've left my family, I'm just Meldenique."
In response to my answer, he whispered coldly, "It can't be. I didn't allow it, so what are you talking about?"
"..."
"Finish your deviations within a month. I don't like the woman who will be my wife to live a debauched life. Aren't you going to have a wedding soon?"
I frowned. 'Is someone who's cheating talking about marriage?' I didn't expect the wedding topic to come out of this man's mouth. I was stunned, my mind reeling, and I was at a loss for words. At this point, after I had already squandered a hundred billion becquerels, he was already playing a love game with my sister, Sheria. As fate would have it, they often ran into each other and were attracted to each other, and Lennox openly expressed interest in Sheria even in the apparent presence of his fiancée.
"He would openly ignore me and always take Sheria's side."
You still enjoy the feeling of making fun of Meldenique and breaking taboos while secretly cultivating your love, don't you?
'They're delusional, thinking no one knows about their affair.'
Now that Sheria had temporarily left for a retreat in the warm Holy Land of the South, Lennox might be feeling her absence and growing even more enamored with her. And he wants to have a wedding on such a topic?
'It's crazy.'
I had to deal with him directly, especially after encountering him like this.
"Your Excellency, I know everything."
"What does that mean?"
His attitude was calm, but he couldn't hide the annoyance in his gaze. He was looking at me as if I were an insect.
'The past Meldenique hated him so much that it's strange she hung onto him without knowing his true nature.'
Why did he want to get married on such a topic? I looked at him and whispered clearly, "The relationship between Sheria and the Duke."
Lennox and Sheria shared a love affair. Of course, people were suspicious of the relationship between Lennox and Sheria. However, they pretended to be innocent in public.
'They wouldn't have wanted to be accused of having an affair.'
Some people lamented that they would have been able to fall in love without Meldenique. In Enchanted Lovers, Meldenique was just an obstacle to love, and an impurity to the socialites. Duke Lennox Hessmann, even though his real fiancée was Meldenique...
"Oh." Lennox seemed embarrassed by my words, but he smiled calmly. "Didn't I say it wasn't an affair? Just believe my words, I told you."
In the original story, Meldenique suffered the shame but failed to break the engagement. She used to cling to him and beg for a relationship, because she loved him. But I was different.
'But an affair is an affair, no matter the reason.'
"I don't want to hear excuses." I glared at him and opened my mouth, syllable by syllable. "I am not going to marry Your Excellency."
"...What?" For the first time, his eyes widened in surprise.
"Oh, I'll give you an alternative. I think you can marry my sister Sheria. If that happens, arranged marriages between families will also be implemented. Neat, isn't it?"
With a rare puzzled face, Lennox spoke. "As I have always said, I have no intention of marrying Sheria. She is graceful, beautiful, and lovely, unlike you..."
"What, why are you suddenly complimenting Sheria to me?" I looked at him pathetically.
As if intoxicated by his theatrical love, Lennox shook his head, speechless. "Yes, I am different from you in many ways, but I am going to marry you anyway."
I didn't know where to begin pointing out his hypocrisy. He was saying he'd have a relationship and marriage with a different woman, completely separate from me. However, I had no intention of following his actions. I was going to rewrite the end of this novel on my own.
"You won't marry Sheria, is that it?"
"Yes."
"Then you can marry Lady Hildegard. I'm not going to get married."
The age difference between the two is about thirty years, but try to overcome it. I cautioned, trying to deal with his illogical statements.
At my words, he looked speechless and ran a hand over his face.
"Meldenique Babyloa, what kind of trick is this?"
I didn't think this was enough. I slid the sheath off the sword in my hand. Although I had tried to minimize the anticipation to make it look like a self-defense sword, Lennox was sure to be embarrassed.
"Now... Are you holding a sword in the Imperial Palace? Do you dare challenge me?"
I looked at him. As expected, he was looking at me with confused eyes.
'It would be surprising that I, who had always ignored and gaslighted him, rebelled.'
And here was another person who was confused.
'Well, what are you doing? Mel!'
Dominic. According to the original story, they could only hit each other in an emergency, but Dominic seemed to be in a hurry right now. I said to Dominic:
'I'm sorry. I'll give you a bonus.'
Dominic quickly changed his stance.
'You must give it in gold.'
With his permission, I grabbed the hilt of the sword and slammed the blade into the ground with force.
Thud!
The tip of the sword was deeply embedded in the ground. After expressing my condolences to Dominic, I turned to Lennox and continued, "I don't understand your reasoning, but I am formally requesting a breakup, Sir Duke."
Plunging a blade into the ground meant you were asking for a duel. Of course, I wasn't asking for a formal duel.
'If you don't break up the marriage, I'll do it anyway.'
That's what I wanted. However, Lennox was certainly embarrassed. I stared at him and pulled back my sword. He elegantly tucked the sword into its sheath.
"Enough. You must have known my intentions, so I'll send you a letter of separation soon."