“So, how did it go?”

When Tislin trudged back to the dormitory, Sierra, who had completely taken over her room, looked up with sparkling eyes.

“…It was a disaster.”

“So the problem is that he rejected you, but now you’re engaged? Is it because you’re embarrassed? I mean, Lord Ksanov doesn’t seem like the kind of person who’d care about something like that. It’s not like he rejected you and immediately couldn’t stand the sight of you anymore. Wouldn’t it be better to marry someone you actually like?”

“No.”

Tislin answered without hesitation.

“Absolutely not.”

If there was one person she could never marry, it was the person she loved.

The unfortunate part was that she couldn’t explain the reason to anyone. But that didn’t change how she felt.

“Sierra, you’ll help me, right?”

“With what? Wait… don’t tell me you’re planning to break off your engagement?”

Sierra stared in horror, but Tislin refused to back down. In the end, Sierra reluctantly nodded and flopped onto the sofa as though resigning herself to her fate.

Though, to be honest, it sounded like it might be a little entertaining.

“But how are you going to do it? Do you even have a plan?”

“To be honest, I thought Damian would agree if I just asked him. There’s no reason for him to marry me… is there?”

If there really was a reason, Damian would never agree to cancel the engagement until that reason disappeared.

“Shouldn’t you figure that out first?”

Who would even know the answer?

“Adelind. Or… Arkin Rudera?”

Arkin Rudera had fought alongside Damian during the war. Maybe he knew something.

Tislin rolled the name around in her mind. She wasn’t particularly close to Arkin either, but this wasn’t the time to be picky.

“Tis. But…”

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t you just ask Lord Ksanov directly why he wants to be engaged to you?”

“I don’t think Damian would answer, even if I asked.”

It was nothing more than intuition.

More importantly, whenever she talked to Damian, she always ended up being the one led around. It hadn’t always been like that, but somewhere along the way things had changed.

“I’ll ask Arkin Rudera. And Sierra… I have one more favor.”

“What is it?”

“Introduce me to a man.”

Sierra’s jaw dropped.

“H-Hey! You already have Damian Ksanov as your fiancé and you’re…”

“I told you I’m breaking off the engagement.”

Tislin remained firm.

“I am never marrying Damian.”

Sierra let out an impressed whistle.

Over the three years they’d spent together at school, she’d learned one thing about Tislin: whenever Tislin spoke this decisively, there was always a reason—even if that reason wasn’t necessarily the right one.

“Well… good luck.”

“Not ‘good luck.’ I’m asking you to help.”

Only after being pestered for quite a while did Sierra finally sigh.

“I’ll… look into it.”

Tislin let out a long breath.

When the other party was Damian Ksanov, even finding someone willing to help was difficult. Everyone instinctively backed away.

First, she needed to understand the situation properly.

Before sunset, she planned to visit the Knight Department and find Arkin Rudera.

“Be careful. Everyone’s going to be watching you.”

It was the beginning of the semester, so there weren’t any major assignments keeping students busy. That was why Tislin and Sierra could afford to laze around the dormitory in the middle of the day.

Which also meant that if she went downstairs now, the common room would be packed with students hungry for gossip.

“Wouldn’t avoiding them make it look even more suspicious…?”

“Then do you have an excuse ready?”

“We know each other through our families… I guess.”

Normally, that would have been a perfectly reasonable explanation.

The problem was Damian Ksanov.

To put it bluntly, he didn’t exactly have a “family.” If one were being generous, his master, the Grand Duke of Luxen, could be considered his family—but saying so would either be horribly disrespectful or dismissed as complete nonsense.

“Just tell them it’s a secret. They’re not going to interrogate Damian themselves.”

“That… is true.”

Still, if things kept going like this, the truth would come out sooner or later.

Sierra absentmindedly sorted through the books piled on Tislin’s desk while thinking exactly that.

Meanwhile, Tislin put on her coat and headed toward the Knight Department to find Arkin Rudera.

The journey was anything but smooth.

“Oh, it’s Tislin! Tislin, wait! We need to ask you something!”

As she passed the hallway outside the common room, several classmates from her classroom spotted her and eagerly waved.

They looked like they’d been in the middle of a game, yet they’d even abandoned their dice just to call after her.

Alarmed, Tislin shook her head.

“I’m busy right now!”

She practically slid down the stairs in her haste, only to bump into another classmate.

Oh no… of all people.

“Huh? Tislin, what were you talking about with Lord Ksanov today?”

“It’s… kind of hard to explain. See you later, Lind.”

“H-Hey! Wait!”

Giving only the vaguest response, Tislin hurried out of the dormitory.

She was bent over, gasping for breath, when she noticed yet another group of friends approaching and quietly slipped away before they could see her.

This was all Damian’s fault.

She had never wanted to become the center of school gossip like this.

Couldn’t he have called her out more discreetly?

A letter, perhaps?

Did he really have to come in person?

She couldn’t deny that she’d been happy to see him after so long.

But the aftermath was far too overwhelming.

The students of the Administration Department generally weren’t the type to tear someone apart over an engagement.

Still, like students their age everywhere, they spread news about famous people and scandals around the school with uncanny speed.

Whether it was Prince Anatis enrolling in the Liberal Arts Department that year…

Or the rumor that Marcel Dant, the most famous student in the Fine Arts Department, was Count Hogan’s illegitimate son.

Whatever the case, it would be best if no one learned the truth.

Better yet, she’d end this engagement as quickly as possible.

Once she left the Administration Department building behind, no one paid any attention to her.

She headed straight for the Knight Department.

She knew the way, having come here several times the previous year while working on a final assignment.

“…What brings a senior from the Administration Department here?”

She even spotted someone she knew—the fiancé of a junior from her department.

Even if she knew the building, barging into another department still felt awkward.

“Is Arkin Rudera around?”

“I’m not sure. I think the third-years are in individual training.”

“Could you check for me?”

The kind Knight Department student simply nodded instead of asking how she knew that foreigner and disappeared inside.

About ten minutes later, Arkin Rudera emerged.

His red hair was tousled as though he’d just crawled out of bed, and both hands were stuffed casually into his trouser pockets.

“Tislin Ermise? What brings you here?”

The two had met at the Grand Duke of Luxen’s estate.

That was the extent of their acquaintance.

To Arkin, Tislin was probably just a noble girl from Casady-Manorca who was always with Adelind.

To Tislin…

Arkin Rudera was Damian’s friend.

And the strange fellow who had enrolled in the Royal Academy for no apparent reason other than following Damian Ksanov there.

Precisely because he was someone so close to Damian, he would know the inner workings of the Grand Duchy of Luxen far better than an outsider like her ever could.

“I have something to ask you. Do you have a minute?”

“Well, I came out because I do. But not here.”

The Knight Department was overwhelmingly male compared to the other departments.

Girls—and especially girls from other departments—visiting attracted immediate attention.

Arkin could practically feel dozens of men inside the dormitory staring through bloodshot eyes.

“Why?”

“People will start rumors. Those idiots gossip worse than noblewomen at a tea party.”

Looking up, Tislin suddenly noticed it herself.

At the large window that appeared to belong to the common room, at least ten pairs of eyes were pressed against the glass.

A chill ran down her spine, and she rubbed her arms.

“Follow me.”

Arkin strode ahead as though to make it perfectly clear that there was absolutely nothing between them.

Tislin followed a short distance behind.

The quiet place he chose was…

The training grounds.

“The Knight Department’s training grounds are empty?”

“They’re replacing the soil today, so it’s off-limits. Everyone who’s assigned to a unit is using the other training field instead. Naturally, Damian’s there too.”

He shrugged.

“Perfect timing.”

She couldn’t argue with that.

“So, what did you want to ask?”

“You know about my engagement, right?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“What exactly happened? I mean… let’s say my parents suddenly lost their minds and sent a marriage proposal to the Grand Duke. Fine. But why did His Grace accept it? And why did Damian agree?”

The barrage of questions left Arkin momentarily speechless.

He gently pushed Tislin back by the shoulder, making her stand upright again.

“Hold on. Slow down.”

The moment Tislin stopped talking, he withdrew his hand.

“As far as I know… your parents weren’t the ones who sent the proposal.”

“…What?”

That… that couldn’t be right.

Tislin froze like a wax statue, her lips opening and closing soundlessly.

Arkin raked a hand through his already messy hair as he searched his memory.

Damian had been called back to Luxen briefly the previous month.

Until then, Arkin had heard that the Grand Duke had tried introducing Damian to several well-regarded young women from Luxen, but Damian had declined every meeting.

Arkin had simply assumed Damian wasn’t interested in marriage yet because he still had plenty to accomplish as a knight.

Then, right after returning from Luxen, Damian had suddenly announced his engagement.

The bride-to-be was Tislin Ermise—the girl he’d known since childhood.

Arkin had been surprised, but since it was Damian’s decision, he’d assumed there was a reason and hadn’t questioned it further.

But…

Judging by the fact that Tislin was only asking about it now, she must have received the letter sometime last week.

Considering the time it took for correspondence to travel, that meant the decision to approach the Ermise family had been made the month before.

Luxen must have initiated the proposal first, then the two families spent several weeks negotiating the contract before officially reaching an agreement last week.

The timeline fit perfectly.

“Damian went back to Luxen last month, remember? I think that’s when it was decided.”

Tislin knew exactly when that had been.

It was after I confessed to him.

He rejected her confession…

Yet agreed to marry her?