CH 1.1

“Bridget Maydell. I’m breaking off my engagement to you!”

It happened in the middle of a party held in the central hall of the Academy of Magic. At the voice of the Third Prince making such a sudden announcement, the people gathered at the party thought from their hearts:

Ahh…the day has finally arrived…

The gazes of the well-dressed ladies and gentlemen naturally gravitated toward a certain person. It was, of course, Bridget, the young lady whose name had been called by the prince.

Countess Bridget Maydell, not even realizing that she was the center of attention, hung her mouth half-open.

She is a young girl who, despite wearing lots of makeup, has a beautiful and well-proportioned face.

She has brilliant red hair that swayed like a burning flame and slightly slanted emerald green eyes. Her pink dress, adorned with an abundance of ribbons and lace, was cute in design, but somewhat childish and did not suit her mature appearance.

Standing in front of Bridget were a man and woman.

One was Joseph Fylde, who is the third prince of the Kingdom of Fylde and Bridget’s fiancée.

The other was Lisa Selmine, who is the daughter of a baron house and possessed a lovely appearance that evokes the desire to protect her.

The two beautiful-looking figures snuggled up together gave the impression of a happily married couple. Bridget, who was glaring at them, seemed like a villain in a story or something, many of the students who stared at this scene thought.

Here we are today.

Joseph having rented out the halls of the institute for the reason of hosting a consolation party for the recent exam was merely pretext. The party, which gathered many students of the same grade, was prepared only as a stage to publicly humiliate and make a laughingstock out of Bridget―

“Why… for what reason? Joseph-sama!”

Perhaps out of shock, Bridget exclaims in a tone of voice that seemed to quaver. Immediately, uncontrollable laughter broke out among the students.

Joseph scowled at Bridget’s words.

Joseph is usually known as a mild-mannered young man, but perhaps out of anger, his tone of voice in response was sharp.

“Even without asking me the reason why, you already know exactly what I’m talking about, don’t you? I know you were green with jealousy towards Lisa, who I was close to, and I know that you were harassing her behind my back!”

A murmur sweeps through the hall. Bridget’s bitter voice screaming “I did no such thing!” was swiftly silenced by Lisa’s moistening eyes, as if she had timed it to.

“You’re so cruel, Bridget-sama… I didn’t do anything wrong!”

A truly heartbroken-looking Joseph hugged Lisa’s shoulder as she wept tearfully. Unlike Bridget, Lisa, who looks good in her frilly pink dress, stared at Joseph with her cheeks flushed.

Unable to tolerate this, Bridget let out a cry.

“But—Be-because—Joseph-sama! I have absolutely no idea what is going on!”

“Even now, you’re still pretending that you don’t know anything!”

“D-do you have any proof? Where is the proof that I mistreated Baron Selmine’s daughter, Lisa!”

“I don’t need any of that! Lisa would never lie to me!”

At this declaration, Bridget became lost for words. Taking her silence as an opportunity, the students whispered to each other.

“To think she was abusing Lisa-sama…”

“I guess she thinks she can do whatever she wants just because she’s the prince’s fiancée.”

“The ‘Red Fairy’ must be burning with the flames of intense jealousy… Oh no, now that’s terrifying.”

The exchange of conversations were hushed―yet loud enough for Bridget to hear. There was not the slightest hint of sympathy in their voices. Because the girl they call Bridget is despised by many people.

She was a failure who made a contract with a “Nameless” and became the fiancée of the third prince solely on the basis of her family background. She was proud, arrogant, and had a terrible personality. On top of that, she has even been harassing a baron’s daughter, so there is no way that any of the voices would speak in defense of Bridget.

―After hearing such voices, perhaps she finally realized that she had no one on her side in this situation.

Bridget’s face was filled with quiet despair. In fact, even if she were to leave this hall, Bridget would have no allies in the land beyond it. This realization only made the situation more and more amusing, and the volume of the laughter surrounding her only grew louder.

As if to give Bridget an ultimatum, who was finally trembling and head deeply downcast at last, Joseph sharply pointed his finger at her.

“Bridget, I’ll say it again. I am breaking off our engagement.”

“……”

Bridget no longer seemed able to speak back.

Pale, she picked up the hem of her skirt and managed to bow. Then, almost falling over, she started to stagger as she walked toward the back doorway.

As if to drive home the point, Joseph added, “Don’t ever get involved with me or Lisa again.”

For just a moment, she almost stopped in her tracks… But perhaps in a final act of pride, Bridget fought the urge to look back as she exited the hall.

――Afterwards, the party quickly grew more lively, continuing late into the night, and needless to say, it was filled with the joyful voices of the students ridiculing Bridget.