✶✶✶
“I want to see Siraiya already…”
I must have reached my breaking point if I was letting words like that escape my mouth. Was I exhausted from class or from avoiding all the students who spent the entire day trying to get close to me? Or perhaps it was all the nerves of becoming a noble of note so suddenly.
I trudged down the hallway to my carriage, taking my normal route toward the academy’s front gates. But then someone grabbed my arm.
“Cynthia! How I’ve missed you, darling! It’s been too long! Remember how deeply we used to love each other?”
Oops. I let my guard down.
There stood Eddie, much less dazzling than he used to be when the Rhuddlan family was pampering him. His long orange hair was once a burning sunset in my eyes. But now, it was dry, tangled, and looked like a different color altogether.
How had Siraiya, in comparison, been so attractive before he had anyone in his life taking care of him? He must have had an innate beauty much stronger than Eddie’s. That didn’t mean Eddie was inferior, though I was confident that his personality was beyond salvation after everything I’d seen of him.
Therefore, I could treat him coldly without guilt.
“You’re a commoner now, so you have some nerve grabbing my arm,” I said in crisp tones. “I would let go before the knights yank you off of me.” My smile held no affection for the boy. But perhaps he would still interpret it that way.
Eddie had already been disowned by the Dorris family. They decided that there was no need to leave their disgraceful, incompetent, foolish son on the family register. That also reduced how much money they would need to repay the Rhuddlans. Eddie would have to go into debt to cover his personal expenses, but he had no way of repaying what he owed our family.
The credibility of the Dorris family took a hit, too, though they were too busy scraping together money and restoring their family name to give Eddie a second thought.
“How can you be so cruel?! You must be really angry… I see, but it’s only natural after how cruel I was to you. You loved me so much, so it must have hurt you badly when I changed.”
“What are you even doing here? Now that I think of it, some of your belongings remained on campus even after you dropped out. Did you come to collect them? If that’s the case, I wouldn’t cause any trouble in the process. You may be allowed in as a former student, but that will change if you break the faculty’s trust.”
He could probably secure school tuition if he used that pretty face of his to cozy up to someone wealthy. Paying his fees and coming back as a returning student would be easier than starting from square one. Even as a commoner, graduating from our academy would open up much easier paths to earn money in the future.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about, Cynthia! You went too far when you forced me to drop out, don’t you think? You even ended our engagement just because I was a little cold to you… I had a really hard time after that, you know. The Dorris family disinherited me and told me to work a commoner’s job. But I don’t belong in a terrible place like that! I chipped my nails and have no time to take long baths afterwards. I can’t even remember the last time I got to use an aromatic oil. My hair and my skin are as dry as sand! Haven’t I suffered enough? Can’t you stop with this selfishness already, Cynthia, darling?”
“I don’t remember putting you through any of that. You still haven’t repaid what you owe our family, so please continue working until you have the money. Now, I’ll ask you again to let go of my arm. We’ve gathered quite a crowd, so if I make a break for it now, I can tell everyone whatever story I like.”
The other students had stopped to watch us on the way to their carriages. The more witnesses gathered, the more people could potentially report this to the school faculty. Ah, someone just took off in that direction right now.
“Ugh, there’s no use talking to you. You’re too stubborn and selfish. Someone at work told me about people called ‘sadists’ who show their love for their partners with cruelty. Fits you to a tee, doesn’t it? I’m sure you think you’re expressing your love, but it doesn’t feel that way to me. You’re going to have to change your ways before we’re married,” he nitpicked.
“On the contrary, I’m the type to spoil her dear husband rotten with love. But that has nothing to do with you anymore. Why don’t you go see Miss Elly if you’re going to come back to school like this? She’s been looking for you, you know. Now, for a third time, I ask that you let go of me.”
Eddie had been looking at me like a disobedient child up to this point. But then he gasped all of a sudden, like he figured out the missing piece of the puzzle. “I see! So that’s what you thought, Cynthia! But you’ve got it all wrong! There’s nothing going on between Elly and me! She’s a good friend, but I don’t want anything more from her! I’m your lover, your fiancé, and your future husband, Cynthia!”
Eddie’s shouts echoed off the walls of the school hall. He seriously thought I was going to be overjoyed when I heard that loud declaration of his. He could easily lose his job on top of everything else if he caused a scene here in public. It wasn’t as if I had high hopes of being repaid in the first place, but I felt guilty that my poor taste in men was going to end up harming my family financially.
I looked up to see if the guards were on their way. But then a large hand grabbed Eddie’s arm and wrenched it away.
“Ow, ow, owwww!!”
The blood drained from Eddie’s face. Finally, I’d been freed. A tall, silver-haired man was clutching Eddie’s arm. Those bangs that used to shroud his face were neatly trimmed, exposing his beautiful features to the world.
“Cynthia’s only lover, fiancé, and future husband is me. Say something that foolish again and I’ll drown you in the ocean so you can never speak another word in this life.”
So this Siraiya thinks about drowning people in the ocean, too?
“Siraiya! What are you doing here?!” When I cried out in shock, Siraiya tossed Eddie’s arm aside like trash and took me by the hand. Concern flickered in his eyes as they checked me over for harm.
“I’ve officially been given the title of duke. It won’t be announced for some time, but I wanted to tell you as soon as possible. I waited by your carriage until I was told about ‘Cynthia’s confrontation with her ex-fiancé.’ I’m sorry. I know you told me to wait a little longer before coming back to school, but I couldn’t help it.”
Siraiya slumped like a guilty dog. Despite his tall, sturdy build, emphasized by all the grooming he received at the Rhuddlan manor, he still turned into a sad puppy around me sometimes.
In truth, I’d delayed his return to school because I wanted to keep the sweet, adorable man I’d shaped him into to myself just a little longer. Perhaps I was selfish after all.
“It’s all right, Siraiya. I’m glad you came for me.”
I smiled and watched relief cross his face. But who told Siraiya what was happening…? That was when I looked behind him and noticed His Royal Highness’ personal security guard standing there. He must have left to inform the new Duke Brooke as quickly as possible.
I let go of Siraiya’s hand and curtsied respectfully. “You have my most heartfelt congratulations on your newly bestowed title, Duke Siraiya Brooke.”
A murmur ran through the crowd when they heard Siraiya say he’d become a duke, but those voices grew in volume at my response.
“So the rumors were true! He’s the first student duke in history!”
“Is that really Siraiya Brooke? He’s even more handsome than he looked at the dressage race!”
“Damn it, I’m not going to beat a duke… But I really wanted to marry into her family…”
“I would have gotten closer to that gorgeous boy if I knew things were going to turn out like this…”
I was overhearing lots of regrets. I didn’t know much about how Siraiya was treated at school, but it was easy to tell that everyone looked down on him. He was the unwanted son without so much as a single fitted school uniform to his name.
How did it feel for Siraiya now that everyone was reexamining his value? If he wanted to deal even more damage, I could find ways to help him get revenge while maintaining our manners and dignity.
“Thank you, Lady Cynthia Rhuddlan. Now lift your head.”
With Siraiya’s permission, I stared into his green eyes and saw myself reflected in them—just me and nothing else. But then those eyes lowered as he brought his weight down to one knee.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment. Will you marry me, Cynthia?” He took my hand and kissed it.