“The Uspiron Empire? Isn’t that a country to the east? It’s so far from here.”

“Yeah.”

“I see. Do you need any help? If you ever need my assistance, just let me know. Got it?”

“Thank you, Adelia. So, um, about that… I actually need your help with the engagement issue.”

“Engagement issue?”
“Yeah. Before I go abroad for studies… I want to break off the engagement with the Duke.”

“…What? What did you say? Break off the engagement?”

Adelia asked me with a face of immense shock.

“Yeah. I don’t know how long my study abroad will take… I want to finish my studies thoroughly since I’m going anyway. But I don’t want to cause trouble to the Duke because of my ambitions.”

“Wait, wait. Herena.”

Adelia, who had been silently listening, stopped me with a stern face.

“Trouble? What trouble are you causing?”

“As you know, nobles usually get married in their early twenties unless there are specific reasons. But the Duke couldn’t do that because I was young.”

“That couldn’t be helped. There are many restrictions on marriages with minors.”

“Right. But because of that, the Duke’s marriageable age has passed. And if I go abroad for my studies, it will be several more years. I can’t keep the Duke tied down until then. Do you understand what I mean?”

I did my best to persuade Adelia.

And I desperately hoped that she, having understood, would help me break this engagement.

“What does my brother say? Have you told him?”

“Yeah. I told him, but…”

“But what?”

“He told me to go and come back.”

“Go and come back?”

“Yeah. He said he would wait for me, so he told me to go and come back.”

“Ah, of course.”

Adelia’s face, which had been stern at my initial response, softened in an instant.

“Herena.”

“Yeah?”
“There’s nothing I can do if my brother says he’ll wait.”

“What?”

“I understand what you’re concerned about. But if my brother says he’s okay, then he really is okay. So, you don’t have to worry.”

“But Adelia, Kaern, or rather the Duke, deserves a better person as the Duchess.”

“Why?”

“Because he needs to welcome a Duchess who will contribute more to the family.”

“Did you say the same thing to your brother?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Of course, your brother must have disagreed, right?”

“Yeah. That’s why I brought it up with the hope that you could persuade the Duke.”

“Herena.”

Adelia called me in a calm voice.

“What do you want, Herena?”

“Huh?”

“Do you really want to divorce my brother?”

“…Huh?”

For a moment, I couldn’t answer right away, as if there was a catch that I didn’t know about.

“Huh, yeah. I hope so…”

But soon after, I regained my composure and conveyed my determination.

“Really?”

“Yeah…”

But even as I said that, I couldn’t look into Adelia’s eyes.

“Sigh.”

I heard Adelia sigh deeply.

“If Herena really feels that way, I would like to help somehow, but honestly, I can’t break my brother’s stubbornness. He is someone who somehow achieves what he wants. Although it seems there was someone who could break that stubbornness, this time it doesn’t seem possible.”

Saying that, Adelia stared at me intently.