IYWHM Chapter 70

If she were asked to describe her fiancé Vischer Hillan in one word, Arta could confidently say:

The most stubborn-necked person in the world.

The man who had been arranged as her match since she was too young to remember was none other than the legitimate heir and only successor of the Hillan family, a great noble house said to have a longer history than even the royal family.

How preciously must he have been raised? Even the king expressed subtle dissatisfaction, saying he was a man who simply didn’t know how to bow his head.

Given Arta’s preference for submissive men with weak self-assertion who adored her endlessly, such a fiancé could hardly please her.

Moreover, this man, several years older than Arta, arrogantly treated the princess like a child.

Though he never committed any notable rudeness, he didn’t value the princess’s words as gold either.

No matter what Arta said to catch his attention, he was such a boring man who would merely nod once saying, “I see,” before returning his gaze to the newspaper he’d been reading.

He used two main approaches when conversing with his fiancée.

One was pretending to listen while actually ignoring her, and the other was indulging her just enough to end the conversation quickly.

In Arta’s lifetime, he was the only one who had left such an intolerable insult.

This time, it wasn’t the sort of problem her mother could solve even if she ran to her in tears.

The queen, trying to soothe her frustrated youngest daughter, asked if it wasn’t actually good that he wasn’t so easily manageable. Adding that a man who’s too easy would be boring.

Regrettably, that showed how little she knew her daughter.

Arta preferred easy men. She liked men who trembled at her every word and action, worshipping her.

And given her preference, she and Vischer Hillan, who thought too highly of himself, were like oil and water—completely incompatible.

Of course, that didn’t mean she wanted to break off the engagement.

The princess wasn’t foolish enough to refuse a husband like Duke Hillan simply because he didn’t match her taste.

Even though she herself would despise Vischer Hillan to the point of grinding her teeth, as long as others considered him the best marriage prospect, she was willing to endure his unpleasant aspects.

Vischer and the Hillan ducal family were trophies that would bring honor to Arta Derbon Sorbi.

Would she give up the position of mistress of Hillan because she found her husband-to-be disagreeable?

The joy of love and romance could be found with other men. Men who matched her taste perfectly.

Vischer, likewise, seemed largely unconcerned about Arta carrying on with other men.

Once, on impulse, wanting to see any sign of disturbance in his expression, the princess told him she had someone else she loved.

How did that dull man respond then?

He said, “I see,” and went back to reading his newspaper.

Apart from her wounded pride, Arta’s life plan was perfect.

It was somewhat disappointing that she couldn’t subdue the haughty Vischer, but it was simple to define him as such a being from the start.

A man who wouldn’t bleed a drop even if pricked with a needle. A man so full of himself that he couldn’t share his heart with others.

A man whose impassive steel-like expression couldn’t be cracked by anyone, not even Arta.

That’s how the princess viewed Vischer Hillan.

Until she accidentally discovered that he had feelings for a woman.

That woman was Kisa Vansfelt. Someone who had once, long ago, made the princess feel inferior.

Kisa, why you again?

The inferiority complex that Arta thought had disappeared from within her surged violently.

In fact, since that childhood incident, Kisa hadn’t held much significance to the princess.

There were plenty of friends who were more perceptive, eloquent, or loyal than her.

Even her once-impressive beauty had at some point started to seem unremarkable.

What good is a pretty face? It couldn’t even win the heart of the fiancé she was pining for.

When consoling Kisa about her troubles with her indifferent fiancé, Arta secretly harbored such thoughts.

Yet how foolish Kisa was, not knowing this and thinking the princess truly cared about her.

Anyway, to her, Kisa was just one of many attendees at tea parties.

But, but! To think that it was this Kisa who held the heart of Vischer Hillan, whom Arta had failed to subdue and had grudgingly accepted!

This was impossible. Was even the proud Duke Hillan ultimately just a pathetic character who easily fell for looks?

While Arta was struggling to understand why she should feel defeated by someone like Kisa, Vischer died meaninglessly.

A fire that broke out at the villa where he often spent time alone claimed his life.

When she received the tragic news about her fiancé, Arta nearly fainted.

Not from sadness, but from the indignation of eternal defeat.

With Vischer’s death, Arta had forever lost the chance to forcibly subdue him or steal his heart.

The opportunity to prove she was superior to Kisa had also vanished like bubbles.

This made her so sorrowful that she refused to eat.

While her family was extremely worried and Gabriel devotedly cared for his lover, the one who restored the princess’s vitality was someone else.

Seyard Hillan. Vischer Hillan’s twin brother and the new Duke of Hillan who resembled him exactly.

When Arta saw him visiting the king for succession to the title, she decided to use him as a replacement for her dead fiancé.

This time, she would definitely triumph over Kisa. By capturing Seyard Hillan.

She didn’t think it would be too difficult.

Seyard was quite clever, but unlike Vischer, he wasn’t hardened by the capital’s political scene or noble society.

Indeed, unlike his brother who merely blinked no matter what the youngest princess said, Seyard showed relatively easy-to-read reactions.

She thought she just needed to push a little more.

But then.

[I have gotten engaged.]

When she heard the sudden engagement announcement at Count Habertz’s charity banquet, it felt like someone had struck the back of her head with a blunt object.

Seyard wasn’t an innocent scholar raised in a monastery.

In some ways, he was even more cunning and crafty than his brother.

While Arta was confidently teasing Kisa at tea parties, certain of victory, that man was plotting to escape her grasp beneath the surface.

And in a way that mercilessly trampled the princess’s pride—by becoming engaged to Kisa.

The princess tried everything to make up for her mistake. She tried to prevent Seyard and Kisa’s union.

But both her father and mother just shook their heads helplessly.

Unlike Vischer, who had been the princess’s fiancé, there was no proper justification to strongly constrain Seyard.

In despair, Arta fell ill again. And during that time, Gabriel seized the opportunity to flee from her.

In his mind, he seemed to have hoped that with Vischer’s death, Arta might now look only at him. How presumptuous.

Though she had no intention of fulfilling that futile wish, Arta was determined to bring Gabriel back at all costs.

To her, Gabriel Williams was so obviously her possession that she couldn’t even imagine a situation where he wasn’t hers.

To be honest, she was a bit tired.

Whether it was Kisa, Vischer, or Seyard, Arta decided to abandon these beings who had tormented her for so long and to whom she had been obsessed.

What could she do if, despite all her efforts, the love of those ominous twin brothers belonged to Kisa Vansfelt?

The princess planned to spend a happy and comfortable life with a man she liked rather than continuing to entangle with people she disliked.

“So I haven’t lost, Kisa.”

I’ll live a much better life than you, so I’m the winner over you.

In the carriage, the princess quietly muttered to herself.

“And Vischer.”

Her gaze turned toward the distant sky, as if her dead fiancé were there.

Just watch carefully. The sight of your brother, who was like a worm compared to you, possessing the woman you could never have.

Imagining the aggrieved face of a man she could never see again, Arta giggled.

****

On a day when the season had turned to early summer, Kisa left home as usual and boarded a carriage to visit the Hillan mansion.

A few days earlier, Seyard had told Kisa that she could come to the duke’s residence anytime, even without an invitation.

To be honest, Kisa had been bored lately.

She didn’t want to go to social events because too many people clung to her annoyingly, and there wasn’t much to do just staying at home.

Therefore, she was currently heading to the Hillan mansion with the purpose of secretly watching Seyard work and perhaps having a meal with him.

But then it happened.

Neeeeiiiigh!

Along with the horses’ rough cries, the carriage suddenly lurched.

As Kisa suppressed a groan after hitting the side of her head against the wall, the coachman called out to her.

“I’m sorry, miss! Someone suddenly jumped in front of the horses, so—!”

“What? Then what happened to that person?”

“Fortunately, we stopped before hitting them, so they’re fine… Wait, who are you?”

“What’s wrong? What’s happening?”

Before Kisa could check on the coachman’s distress, the carriage door flung open.

The intruder who barged into the carriage sat directly across from Kisa.

“It’s been a while, Kisa.”

The man, whose eyes had become somewhat sunken and skin darkened since she’d last seen him, was Daniel Lowens.

“I heard the news. You’re engaged, aren’t you?”

He twisted his lips into a crooked smile.