Even flipping a single page, the smell of dust was strong, and the papal seal on the ancient tome was clear, exactly containing the content Serena wanted.
[An engagement, like marriage, must be conducted in the name of our rightful God…]That moment was still vivid. Serena read that passage to the end, holding her breath, and then, after cutting through the useless noise at the beginning.
[However, if four years have passed after the engagement, it is considered a tacit annulment.]That single line was Serena’s light.
In a time similar to the Middle Ages, a woman losing her marriageable age was akin to ruining her life. Sometimes, during war or famine, an engaged person could fail to receive their bride, so this was a provision against that.
“Such customary law applies only to commoners during wartime; it’s nothing to do with us.”
“It does.”
Serena sharply countered and then opened the notebook she had been studying so diligently earlier.
“Papal archive , chapters 17, verses 3 to 9.”
“……What?”
Whether Lucas scrunched his face or not, Serena did not stop speaking.
“Thern Empire’s 5th Emperor’s compilation , Chapter 2.”
“That’s been invalidated by the Royal Family for being too old. You wouldn’t know, as you’re not yet a royal.”
“No, the same content is in the 12th Emperor’s , Chapter 4, and the , Chapter 3.”
Grinning. Serena’s expression was relaxed, like pulling out victory cards in a game.
“Do you want me to recite all the records?”
When Serena asked while holding her notebook, Lucas glared at her. It was a definite refusal.
“All currently valid records state that an engagement not fulfilled within four years is void.”
“Do you think I would adhere to such outdated books?”
Truthfully, Lucas had never imagined that he would reappear so robustly. But Serena had taken out insurance just in case.
“After the engagement ceremony, I spent a few months alone in the capital and then came to the Astel territory. I could do so thanks to the Pope, who oversaw our engagement, to whom I had explained my situation directly.”
“Situation?”
“I never saw Your Highness, the Crown Prince, after the engagement ceremony, and I was told not to participate in the departure ceremony.”
This was something the Emperor had advised after seeing the two bicker at the engagement ceremony, but the situation could be explained differently.
“Also……I apologized twice a year for not receiving a single letter or emissary from Your Highness, the Crown Prince, due to my inadequacy.”
Lucas’s mouth fell open without a sound. While he was wandering, there were many negative rumors about the Crown Prince’s engagement, and it was becoming gradually clear that thinking he could simply resolve them was a complete miscalculation.
Furthermore, Serena had effectively created evidence that the Crown Prince had abandoned his fiancée for six years using the excuse of confession. It was natural, then, that the nobles were quietly searching for a new Crown Princess candidate.
“I never cast you aside.”
“But you didn’t reach out either.”
It was a newly discovered blessing.
“It’s something His Holiness, the Pope, who oversaw our engagement, knows well.”
“Hmph.”
Lucas had become strong, only thinking of the day he would proudly take his fiancée and failing to consider anything else.
On the other hand, Serena had meticulously taken out insurance, even for a fiancé who seemed never to return.
“Is that what you were thinking while I was away?”
Betrayal and frustration laced Lucas’s voice, but Serena was not particularly concerned.
“What I confessed is all true and factual.”
“Enough with the talk of outdated books.”
“No, it’s reality. The engagement ceremony was a mess, and I’m a woman who hasn’t heard a word from her fiancé in six years.”
Had Serena been a typical young lady of this era with constrained thoughts, she would not have been able to endure the shame of the engagement ceremony, the abandonment, or the sixyear period, which all felt the same.
Perhaps, even if the marriage had taken place, she would have had to live her whole life cowering under others’ whispers.
“I’ve been training myself to become strong enough to embrace you, for you.”
“Yes, Your Highness’s intentions might have been so.”
Serena wore an inexplicable faint smile. Lucas’s words didn’t seem like a lie when she looked at him now.
“But that’s selfishness. The world only sees the results and the appearance.”
“I….”
Hesitating, Lucas was at a loss for words for the first time. He had longed for and envisioned the reunion with his fiancée, but he had never expressed it as Serena had.
“I don’t blame Your Highness. I just believe that there was no bond of marriage between us.”
As Serena spoke calmly, a shadow crossed Lucas’s face. He was only now realizing how long six years truly was.
An Indifferent Woman is the One Men Desire the Most
One-line summary: The female lead is actually cold-hearted and extremely rational. She has stage-by-stage relationships and won’t two-time, but there will always be someone who secretly likes her.
This novel has the following triggers, so if you’re sensitive to these, please don’t read:
1. The female lead has had many relationships, but she treated each one seriously and broke up properly.
It’s just that the men unilaterally pestered her incessantly. For the female lead, when she doesn’t like someone anymore, she simply doesn’t like them.
(This applies to her relationships with Male Lead 1, 2, 3, and 4 as well, but she’s loyal in each 1-on-1 relationship!)
2. In this novel, Male Lead 2 and the female lead kiss in a car, and Male Lead 1 sees it and beats up Male Lead 2.
The female lead calls the police and sends both Male Lead 1 and 2 to the police station! Male Lead 1 begs the female lead not to break up with him.
3. Male Lead 1 has a gentle appearance but an obsessive personality.
Male Lead 2 has a delicate and soft appearance, slightly green tea-like (two-faced).
Male Lead 3 is a youthful college student and a smart person who has secretly liked the female lead for a long time.
Male Lead 4 is the female lead’s father’s special assistant, a business elite with deep, hidden thoughts.
4. At the beginning of this novel, the female lead has already broken up with Male Lead 1 (Chapter 4) and gotten back together with Male Lead 2 (ex-boyfriend).
5. Enter with caution if you have triggers!!!
