Chapter 27: True Love’s Final Escape.

Seira muttered at the end,

“…We simply awakened to true love, that’s all…”

Even those words, which had previously rallied so many to her side, now found no agreement from anyone.

“Amelia, are you all right?”

At the gentle, concerned voice, she looked up.

Sarju was peering at her worriedly.

The moment she saw his face, tears spilled over.

She thought how embarrassing it was to cry in front of so many people, yet she couldn’t stop them.

Sarju gently wiped her tears away.

Only his fingertips touched her, but the soft warmth soothed her wounded heart.

“Thank you, Sarju-sama.”

Lease was gone.

The rumors that had tormented her would soon fade as well.

From this day forward, she could finally begin a normal academy life.

She was told it would be better to rest for the day, so she obediently returned to her dormitory room.

Changing out of her uniform into casual clothes, she flopped straight onto the bed.

It was unladylike, but no one was watching—and surely today she could be forgiven.

Relaxing in her own room like this felt like the first time in two days.

(So much has happened…)

She slowly recalled everything from the day Lease’s letters stopped arriving.

There had been plenty of painful moments, but looking back, not everything had been bad.

Without those events, she might never have grown close to Sarju, nor met Julius or Marie.

Above all, if she had married Lease as planned, she could never have continued studying magic.

( I didn’t dislike being involved in territory management, so I might have settled into that life…)

But she couldn’t imagine finding happiness with someone who hated her enough to frame her.

Eventually, it would have fallen apart.

She would never see her ten-year fiancé again.

Yet the thought brought no loneliness.

Only the lingering warmth of Sarju’s fingers as he gently wiped her tears remained on her cheek.

When she softly touched her own face, a memory suddenly surfaced.

(Come to think of it… I danced with Sarju-sama the very first time we met. And when I injured my foot, he carried me in his arms…)

Back then, she had only felt overwhelmed by his status.

But recalling it now filled her with overwhelming embarrassment—yet it had been an irreplaceable experience.

She would continue helping with Sarju’s research, but she doubted they would ever touch so intimately again.

Lying on her bed, she gazed at the ceiling and let out a sigh.

This one carried not sorrow like before, but a faint, bittersweet ache.

That same day, Amelia wrote a letter to her father, reporting everything that had happened.

Most likely, the engagement with Lease would be dissolved as it stood.

She would follow whatever her father decided, but even if she bore no fault, the scandal had grown so large that finding a new fiancé might prove difficult.

If it came to that, the title would have to pass to her cousin.

(…I was careless too. I never once imagined Lease would betray me.)

She had known him since childhood; he had felt almost like family.

That had been her naivety.

And that naivety might now seal her own future shut.

(There’s no point dwelling on what’s already over. I need to think seriously about what comes next.)

If her cousin inherited the title, Amelia would have to leave the house and become independent.

To live alone without marriage, she would need proper employment.

( I remember Julius-sama saying that advancing to Special Class A would allow one to become a magic researcher.)

That seemed the most ideal path.

Leaving the Renis territory she had long helped manage would be lonely, but her cousin was earnest and kind—she could entrust it to him with peace of mind.

Besides, she wanted to keep studying magic.

That way, she could continue assisting Sarju as well.

Even if she married someone to secure the title transfer, being known as the “scandal-tainted daughter” might leave her husband feeling burdened.

Better to work diligently on her own and live freely.

From now on, she would pursue her studies with even greater seriousness—for the sake of her future.

Amelia set that as her new goal.

She would forget about Lease.

She was a little curious what judgment would befall him, but whatever the outcome, it was his own doing.

With that resolve, the next day arrived.

And then she heard that Lease had eloped with Seira.

(…Eloped? How did it come to this?)

As Sarju had stated, Lease had been issued an expulsion order.

That very day, he slipped out of the academy dormitory and vanished together with Seira.

Although they had been taken into custody by the guards, formal punishment had not yet been handed down, so no one had been specifically watching them.

The dormitory guards probably never imagined the pair would flee the same day.

A note left in Lease’s room bore both their names, declaring that no matter the hardships, they would uphold their “true love.”

True love.

Hearing those words, Amelia couldn’t help but sigh.

Regardless of the facts, right after the bad rumors had spread, this incident occurred.

Someone was bound to claim that Amelia had torn apart a loving couple and driven Lease to expulsion.

However, since Sarju had been involved, it might not escalate into as big a scandal as before.

Even so, by eloping with Seira, Lease had chosen—in the end—to tarnish Amelia one last time.

Cornered by Sarju, rather than repenting his actions, he had opted to attack her until the very last.

She had hoped he might show even a hint of the kindness he once had at the end.

But perhaps that gentle person had never truly existed.

Rumors don’t last forever.

Rather than being troubled by such things, she should focus solely on studying for her future.