Chapter 11: The Lie That Became Truth.

Julius let out a deep sigh as he looked between Sarju and Amelia.

“So, Sarju—what exactly did you want to ask her?”

“It’s about Amelia. You said ‘for now’ she has a fiancé. And that ‘being seen alone with me would only worsen her reputation further.’ I want to know the reason.”

“Ah…”

When Sarju had said he approached her because he wanted to become friends, the words had been so shocking that Amelia had let Julius’s important statement slip right past her.

“Forgive my presumption, but I would also like to know. Ever since coming to the royal capital, everything has been so confusing… I’m a little lost.”

Julius surely knew the full story.

To be honest—if Reese truly did not want to see her anymore, she could accept that.
She could simply tell her father everything and leave the rest to him.

Her father might not give up so easily on a husband who wielded earth magic, but she wanted the facts made clear—that Reese was the one at fault.

Still, being targeted with malice by complete strangers was frightening.

If there was a way to resolve this, she wanted to find it.
At the very least, she wanted to know the reason.

With that thought, she asked—and Julius nodded, then began posing several questions to her.

“Your fiancé is Reese, the second son of the Marquis Therma house. Is that correct?”

“Yes. Exactly.”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“…Last spring. When Reese left for the capital to attend the academy, I saw him off. That was the last time. We haven’t met since I arrived here, and though I requested a meeting, he said he was too busy.”

Amelia answered every question honestly.

“And correspondence?”

“I sent several letters. He replied only twice—both times saying he was too busy to meet.”

“…I see.”

Julius folded his arms and fell into thought for a long while.

“Brother. Please explain the situation to Amelia. If you stay silent after making her listen this long, she’ll only grow more anxious.”

Sarju spoke up at last, breaking the prolonged silence.

“Ah, you’re right. Forgive me. I’ll explain everything.”

What Julius then told her was so unbelievable that Amelia could scarcely process it.

Around last summer, Reese had grown close to a certain young lady—Seyla, daughter of Viscount Karia.

Having fallen deeply in love with Seyla, Reese had apparently approached Count Drita—Amelia’s father—with a formal request to dissolve the engagement, saying he could no longer continue it.

But according to the story circulating, Amelia had refused to accept it.
She had supposedly hurled vicious insults at Reese for changing his heart.

“I never heard anything of the sort…”

Amelia muttered the words without even trying to hide her shock.

She was surprised to learn Reese had found someone he loved and even considered breaking the engagement.
But far more shocking was the claim that she had rejected it outright and berated him.

That explained why the academy students whispered and glanced at her whenever she passed.

In this kingdom, most noble marriages were political.
Yet the young often dreamed of love matches.
In recent years, even among non-heirs and lower-ranking nobles, some had actually married their student sweethearts.
There were probably those who secretly cheered for Reese, who seemed ready to throw everything away for the woman he loved.

Meanwhile, Amelia—who had supposedly insulted Reese when he tried to dissolve the engagement in good faith and obstructed their love—had unwittingly been cast as the complete villain.

But no such request to break the engagement had ever reached her.

Her father was indeed desperate to secure an earth-magic user as a son-in-law.
Yet he had said nothing to Amelia about it.
If Reese had truly asked to dissolve the engagement, her father might have hesitated to accept—but he would surely have told her before she left for the capital.

So why had the story twisted into this?

“You truly knew nothing about any of this?”

Julius looked at Amelia with genuine concern after finishing the explanation.

“Yes. I had no idea Reese wanted to end the engagement…”

The sudden end to his letters must have been because he had fallen for this other woman.

If so, she wished he had simply told her honestly instead of hiding behind excuses about being busy.

“Why would Reese spread such a lie—that I insulted him…?”

Shaken, Amelia resolved that she had no choice but to confront Reese directly.

“Thank you for telling me. I’ll go ask Reese myself why things have turned out this way.”

“Amelia—don’t.”

It was Sarju who stopped her as she rose to leave.

“If you confront him now, he’ll simply play along with the rumors as they stand. He may even have spread them hoping for exactly this reaction. Calm down first. It’s better not to let things proceed exactly as he wants.”

His gentle admonition made Amelia pause.

Indeed—Sarju was right.
If she stormed up to Reese now, he would likely offer nothing more than apologetic words.
To onlookers, it would only look as though Amelia was desperately clinging to the engagement—just as the rumors claimed.

“…You’re right. Thank you.”

After taking several deep breaths, she turned to Sarju with gratitude.

If he hadn’t stopped her, she would have played right into Reese’s hands.