My Discarded Fiancé Returned (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 5

Recently, rumors that the Crown Prince would not honor his engagement had spread beyond high society and throughout the entire Empire. The gossip eventually reached Serena’s ears as well.

“Everyone seems to think the same.”

“Miss… even if it’s just a rumor, that’s far too harsh.”

“So what?”

Unlike Anna’s grave expression, Serena’s reaction was nothing short of cool.

“Anna, breaking off an engagement is better than getting divorced.”

Seeing Serena shrug her shoulders and smile, Anna had nothing more to say. After everything they’d been through, she no longer had the energy to be surprised by Serena’s behavior.

“Honestly, it would be stranger if this engagement actually held.”

“What? But this sacred engagement was presided over by His Holiness the Pope!”

“The feelings of the people involved matter most.”

Serena had some knowledge of that strange world where things had unfolded differently.

She knew the story of the woman whose life became meaningless—abandoned by her fiancé, forced into a loveless wedding after his return six years later, and destined to live out her days as a powerless empress.

“I haven’t met His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince even once since our engagement ceremony, nor have we exchanged a single letter. Can anyone truly call this engagement normal?”

Though engagements were traditionally arranged by parents, the fact that Lucas hadn’t sent even one letter during the six years since Serena left the capital clearly revealed his true feelings.

“But… Miss, you also…”

Of course, Serena had never foolishly sent him a letter first or inquired after his well-being either.

[The Empress of the Empire was a woman of noble birth but possessed no other merits.]

In the original story, Serena’s life had been utterly useless.

[She failed to manage either high society or the inner palace, instead locking herself away in her quarters and wasting her years, bearing no fruit with the Emperor—nor would she ever.]

Though she didn’t know exactly how many years in the future this would happen, she was certain it would occur once she married Lucas and he became Emperor.

Moreover, one vivid detail remained etched in her memory: that even her position as Empress would soon be in jeopardy.

[Elise decided to exploit the new Marchioness’s ambition to make her only daughter Empress.]

Elise was originally the protagonist of this story. Serena didn’t know where she was or what she was doing now, but she would surely appear when the time came.

The problem was that Elise’s moment to shine would arrive precisely when Serena—the Crown Prince’s original fiancée—was no longer merely an outcast but on the verge of being cast out entirely.

“I don’t belong in the Imperial family. I don’t want to beg for affection from someone who dislikes me, nor do I need to.”

After the engagement ceremony, Serena had done her best to reshape her life.

She didn’t want to die someday with the regret of having lived pointlessly as before. Now, each day filled her with fresh hope, and she looked forward to tomorrow.

“This moment… this place where my life finally has meaning—I like it.”

Serena still remembered clearly the cold stares directed at her for being just a little different from ordinary girls. It was a look she’d often endured in her past life.

A woman shouldn’t grow so tall.

What good is a woman being strong? Who would marry a woman like that?

This world hadn’t rid itself of those annoying standards—in fact, they might have been even stricter here, likely fueled by jealousy over her title as the Crown Prince’s fiancée.

But before she could dwell further on the capital, a sharp cry came from outside the window.

“Oh dear.”

A young maidservant was dangling helplessly from a tree branch, having climbed up and now unable to get down.

“Just leave her—servants will be here soon…”

Before Anna could finish her warning, Serena had already leaned halfway out the window.

“Miss, please be careful!”

Even though it was only the first floor, leaping cleanly through the window wasn’t easy—especially when the sill reached an average person’s chest height.

“…Hmph.”

Anna fretted inwardly once again as she watched Serena leap through the window like a gallant knight and catch the dangling maidservant.

“Our Miss truly suits this version of herself best.”

Serena’s confidence radiated as she held the child she’d just rescued from the tree. Though everyone had been shocked at first, the people of Astel now took pride in and adored their strong, spirited young lady.

[This is the timeline separator]

Not far from the Astel estate, a pair of jet-black eyes gazed at the setting sun.

“It seems the time has finally come.”

The man turned around after murmuring softly; his features were striking, and his build exceptionally robust. With a sword at his waist and broad shoulders, he appeared every bit a formidable warrior.

“What do you think, Cedric?”

The man ran a large hand through his tousled hair and asked with a slightly tense expression. Beside him, the brown-haired man met his gaze with solemn eyes.

“I share the same opinion.”

“…Are you certain?”

Despite his muscular frame, the man’s face still held traces of youth. He was Crown Prince Lucas, who had just turned twenty.

“No. The Wall of Truth.”

Lucas strode toward the wall, hesitated briefly, then took a deep breath and pressed his back flat against it.

“Go on, measure me again.”

Cedric measured the Crown Prince’s height with a ruler as if performing a critical duty, then marked the wall. Of course, Lucas himself was the most serious of all as he turned around to see the result.

“…Am I not growing anymore?”

Cedric’s new mark on the wall aligned perfectly with the previous one. There were already about ten such marks in the same spot—meaning Lucas hadn’t grown taller in nearly a year.

“Your Highness is already robust enough. If you grow any more, we’ll have to replace every door in the Imperial Palace.”

There was no falsehood in that statement. Indeed, until a year ago, Lucas had grown at an astonishing rate, transforming so dramatically he seemed like an entirely different person.

“You know who my rival is.”

Lucas hadn’t forgotten that day’s humiliation.

The moment those dazzling blue eyes had approached him and declared, “You’re too short.”

“You’ve long surpassed that person now. Haven’t you grown taller and stronger than even the tallest knight in the order?”

Right after the engagement ceremony, the Crown Prince had been sent off to the battlefield, so consumed by rage he refused to eat or drink. Suddenly, as if making a firm resolution, he began training himself relentlessly.

He ate everything known to benefit his physique and strictly regulated his sleep, determined to become the strongest Emperor in the Imperial bloodline’s history.

“And Your Highness… I hesitate to say this, but…”

Cedric now had to look up slightly as he spoke.

“How many times must I tell you that it’s unwise to treat your fiancée as a rival in your training?”

Hmph. Lucas scoffed and took a few steps away. At moments like this, he seemed to have grown only in body, his boyish stubbornness intact.

“You wouldn’t understand unless you’d seen her expression.”

In the past, Cedric had thought the young Crown Prince’s wounded pride over a pointless contest was childish. True, the Duke’s daughter had been no less provoking at the engagement ceremony, but in terms of immaturity, the two were evenly matched.

“Your Highness has already come of age and turned twenty.”

Despite Cedric’s earnest plea for Lucas to finally mature, the Crown Prince merely gave an arrogant smile.

“Hasn’t His Imperial Majesty the Emperor repeatedly expressed his wish for Your Highness to return and assist with state affairs?”

“And didn’t I already say I’d return to the capital?”

Yet even Lucas’s reply couldn’t lighten Cedric’s grim expression. The stubbornness Lucas had shown since childhood hadn’t mellowed with age—in fact, it had reached its peak—and now, like a contrary frog, he was deliberately heading toward the Astel estate.

That is, in the exact opposite direction of the capital.

“If Your Highness simply returned to the capital and summoned the Duke’s daughter…”

“No. I must settle our last match.”

After six long years, even Cedric was exhausted. The hardships of constantly yielding to Lucas’s obstinacy were beyond words.

“Your Highness, how many hundreds of times must I say it? You’re engaged to her—not competing against her…”

But Lucas, now grown so tall and strong he nearly brushed the ceiling, wasn’t listening.

“If you liked the Duke’s daughter so much, why not hasten the wedding?”

“Who ever said I liked that woman?”

His indifferent expression and sharp gaze were just as they’d been in childhood.

“I simply need to show that shameless woman that things are different now from before. I’ll make sure she apologizes.”

He had no idea that Serena was far too busy cultivating her estate to even remember his existence.

“Yes… Since we’ve come this far, do as you please.”

Cedric muttered as if giving up. Regardless, Lucas kept picturing Serena—the very standard by which he’d always measured himself.

“I wonder… has the young lady grown taller too? Like me?”

“If she remains the young lady I know, that’s impossible.”

“We’ll meet soon enough.”

The memory of her dazzling platinum hair and eyes bluer than jewels remained vivid—no, he hadn’t forgotten her for even a single day.

Lucas had disciplined himself with rigorous, methodical routines solely to look down at her.

At first, it had been out of resentment, but what had those accumulating feelings gradually become? He was beginning to grasp the answer faintly.

“I think I finally understand everything. Yes… I want to see my fiancée as soon as possible.”

Watching Lucas smirk with one corner of his mouth lifted—just as he had on the day he first saw her—Cedric silently muttered to himself: Did it really take six years to realize that?

“I’ll send a servant ahead to Duke Astel’s residence.”

“No.”

What Lucas desired wasn’t an ordinary reunion. If he intended to make a formal visit as Crown Prince, wouldn’t summoning her to the capital suffice?

“I want to see how she’s truly living—her real self.”

“Understood. Then I’ll proceed as we usually do when visiting other estates: arrive unannounced.”

“…No. That’s not enough.”

Cedric’s attempt at sarcasm fell flat against Lucas’s suddenly serious expression.

“How about we pose as wandering knights and request lodging at the Duke’s residence?”

Lucas’s dark eyes already sparkled with amusement. The closer they got to the Astel estate—where Serena awaited—the more absurd ideas he kept coming up with, much to Cedric’s annoyance.

“Let’s carry it out tonight.”

“Yes, Your Highness…”

“Not ‘Your Highness’—call me ‘my lord.’ That way, we won’t be discovered, right?”

Lucas’s chest already pounded fiercely as he smiled. Though Serena’s image in his memory was crystal clear, the thought of seeing her face again stirred a whirlwind of emotions within him.