The Royal Capital’s noble district.
At the heart of the sector where the kingdom’s aristocracy maintained their residences stood a mansion of unparalleled scale and grandeur.
With its pristine white walls and deep blue roof, the estate was surrounded by a garden where the flowers of the season bloomed in wild profusion. It was an opulent sight, yet it possessed a refined elegance that prevented it from ever feeling gaudy or ostentatious. This served as a silent testament to the fact that the owner was not merely a person of wealth and power, but a figure of true dignity and pedigree.
This was the home of the Duke Crocus House.
The head of the house, Verios Crocus, was the premier noble of the Aiwood Kingdom and served as its Prime Minister. He possessed everything a man could desire: bloodline, status, authority, and wealth. He was the kingdom’s number-two figure in both name and reality, second only to the Royal Family itself.
Deep within that ducal mansion, a young woman peered out from a second-story window, her face clouded by a look of profound melancholy.
"...The Academy’s start date is nearly upon us."
"......Yes, My Lady," the maid standing in the corner of the room replied, her voice heavy with sympathy.
The woman was Celestine Crocus.
She was the only daughter of Duke Crocus and the fiancé of the Third Prince, Rodel Aiwood. A woman of immense talent, she had achieved a perfect score on the Royal Academy’s entrance exam, earning her the position of Top Student within the Magic Department.
Celestine was the picture of a perfect lady. Born into a prestigious lineage that shared roots with the Royal Family, she was naturally gifted in every field she touched—magic, academics, and athletics.
To top it all off, she possessed a beauty that rivaled a diamond. Her platinum hair flowed like a shimmering waterfall reflecting the morning sun, and her translucent skin was as flawless as a large pearl. Her nose was elegantly straight, her lips were as red as roses, and her eyes sparkled with a vivid amethyst hue that seemed more like gemstones than human features.
Had she not been betrothed to the Third Prince in her childhood, suitors from the royalty and nobility of every neighboring nation would have surely fought for her hand.
Despite all this, the "Perfect Lady" wore a look of utter gloom.
The cause of her distress, the single reason for the shadow over her heart, was her fiancé: Rodel Aiwood.
"Once I enter the Academy, my days will be spent cleaning up after Prince Rodel... I fear I won’t have a single moment of peace."
She let out a sigh—she had long ago lost count of how many she had exhaled that day.
Rodel Aiwood possessed exceptional magical talent, and his future was once bright with the hope that he might one day become a Sage. Unfortunately, beyond that single spark of magical genius, he lacked even a shred of character worthy of respect.
His personality was arrogance incarnate. Since their childhood, he had greeted Celestine with nothing but verbal abuse every time they met. Lately, having reached a certain age, he had apparently discovered the pleasures of the flesh; he was constantly causing trouble by harassing the palace maids or attempting to corner noble daughters in secluded rooms.
Celestine herself had been a target of his advances. When she refused him, citing that premarital relations were unthinkable regardless of their engagement, he had nearly resorted to physical violence. Even now, her skin crawled at the memory of how close he had come; if a bystander hadn't intervened, things would have turned out horribly.
(Why must I be forced to marry such a man? Once we are at the Royal Academy, he is certain to cause an incident.)
When Celestine was announced as the Top Student, he had reportedly flown into a murderous rage, screaming, "How dare a mere woman be chosen over me!" before smashing every piece of furniture in sight.
Once they were officially enrolled, his behavior would surely escalate. And because she was his fiancé, there was no one else but Celestine to shoulder the burden of his messes. No matter how vile he was, he was still a prince. Given his rank and her status, there was no one else who could even attempt to admonish him.
(I truly... resent you for this, Grandfather.)
The engagement between Celestine and Rodel was the fault of her grandfather, the Former Duke Crocus. He was a man with a soft heart who had a deep-seated affection for the Queen Dowager, Rodel’s grandmother.
The Queen Dowager had doted on Rodel because he looked so much like her. As her health failed and her end drew near, she grew anxious about the boy’s future. To secure his place, she had pleaded with the Former Duke to arrange a marriage with the young Celestine.
The majority of the Crocus household had been left speechless by the engagement, which had been finalized without the consent of Celestine or her father, the current Duke. Even back then, Rodel was infamous as the "Selfish Prince." It was obvious that the engagement would bring nothing but misery.
Worst of all, the arrangement was bound by a magical contract that prohibited the Duke Crocus House from ever initiating a cancellation. It was a complete trap. The current Duke was so disgusted by his father’s actions that he had banished the old man to a small estate on the furthest edge of their territory.
But the banishment didn't dissolve the contract.
Celestine had grown up jerked around by an arrogant fiancé who refused to change, and now she had finally reached the age to enter the Royal Academy.
"I wish he would just be the one to break it off instead..."
"...I truly feel for you, My Lady."
Both Celestine and her maid sighed in unison.
Unfortunately, no matter how much Rodel belittled her, he showed no intention of letting her go. He likely realized that the political weight of the Crocus family was essential for his own future.
The sentiment that he should actually treat her with some shred of decency if he valued the alliance was shared by every member of the Crocus household.
(If I could just be free of him, I wouldn't care who my next fiancé was. A commoner, a lower noble—I wouldn't even care if they had other women...)
That was how cornered Celestine felt.
There were only two weeks left until the start of the term. Once it began, she would have to look at Rodel’s face nearly every single day.
"Haa..."
Like a condemned prisoner awaiting the walk to the gallows, Celestine let out another long, weary sigh.