When My Enemies Began to Regret

 “Lord Aloken.”

Short hair resembling black silk with eyes that curve softly like a fox. A man stood neatly in front of the black carriage. The dark suit he was wearing was no different than usual. If Fanora had to pick one thing that made this scenery different from the last time, it would be that the man has a cane in his hand.

“I wondered if I would have to wait a long time under the scorching sun again, but you showed up early, Lady Fanora.”

Aloken stepped on the ground, holding a cane made of silkwood that looked expensive at first glance in his right hand. His spare hand lifted up and pointed at Fanora.

“Looking at your face, I guess you want to know why I’m here.”

“Yes.”

His guess was correct. To be honest, Fanora wanted to ask why he had come suddenly without prior notice, but Aloken started talking about it.

“I heard belatedly that my fiancée’s birthday is just around the corner.”

“Birthday?”

“Isn’t it will be your birthday? In the next few days.”

For a moment, Fanora didn’t understand why he brought up the topic of birthdays. And then…

“I know you don’t have any plans today. So, let me accompany you to the boutique.”

“?”

“Did you not understand? I’m here to help you fit the dress.”

Fanora didn’t even correct her disheveled shawl as she was startled by his words, so Aloken added a few words. “It’s okay if you don’t want to wear jewelry, but you have to measure your dress, right?”

“Wait, I don’t get it right now… Are you talking about fitting a dress for our engagement ceremony? Or…”

“It’s about a dress for your birthday banquet. We will also make the engagement ceremony dress according to your measurements today.”

Fanora was almost swept away by Aloken’s words. If she thought about it, this was strange. That Aloken personally would take care of her birthday, an event that had nothing to do with their  engagement. Judging from his duality in treating the duke, Aloken Jalier was a human being who wouldn’t move unless it was to gain an advantage for himself.

“You won’t get anything from doing something like this.”

She warned him to stop if he hoped to gain something from doing this. But Aloken whispered softly without changing his expression. “Fanora, you said you would break the marriage talk with this deal, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Then you know that it would be a problem if people found out that our engagement was a fake with a set deadline, right? There’s no way you don’t know about it.”

“That’s right.”

“That’s why I’m keeping the terms of the deal for you. To avoid suspicion, at least pretend to be my fiancée.”

It was a grateful consideration to imitate the behavior that only lovers would do to keep the secret of this fake engagement. 

“If that’s the reason, I understand. Then, if we show the public that we can interact once a month…”

“Celsius.”

However, as if Fanora’s answer was not satisfactory, he hit his cane hard on the ground. As her gaze turned to the sound source, the man began to talk again.

“Tell me who I am.”

Fanora didn’t know what he meant right now, but she did what he told her to do for now.

“Aloken… Jalier.”

“In more detail.”

“Uh? More details?”

Fanora rolled her eyes for a moment, then tried to hide her anxiousness and continued the explanation.

“That… You’re Aloken, the heir to the Duke of Jalier.”

“Is that the only thing that comes to your mind? What are my characteristics?”

“No. You’re rich, powerful…”

After hearing this, he was still displeased. The confidence gradually disappeared from Fanora’s voice. In the end, she decided to bring up everything she could think of.

“And… handsome?”

Fanora tilted her head, not sure of what she said. Aloken let out a flat laugh when I talked about his appearance.

“Ho, what did you say?”

But his expression finally began to unravel. Aloken took a step back and placed both of his hands on top of his cane. Now he looked relaxed.

“I don’t think you know, so let me ask you one thing. We obviously will break all our relationships as soon as the contract ends. And you told me that I can announce the reason why we’re breaking up, right?”

“That’s right. You can tell them that you can’t stand my personality.”

“But even if I made such a rumor at the time of our breakup, what would people think if I was the one who turned a blind eye to my fiancée’s birthday during our engagement period?”

Aloken picked up the cane that was on the ground and turned it half a turn.

“As you said, I’m the next Duke of the Jalier family. Even after breaking up with you, I have to marry a new person that I have in mind, so it’s hard for me to lose my reputation.”

“…”

“So I will be accompanying you to your birthday, New Year’s Eve celebrations, the royal celebrations, and even the Celsius family tea party. I’m not going to neglect any event that you will attend.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Why are you so surprised about? You know that the reputation of an ideal groom is not built in a day or two, right?”

Aloken tilted his head to the side to examine his fiancee’s complexion, then slowly stretched out his hand forward. It was a gesture to escort her.

“If you want to keep this deal going, you better keep up with the play.”

“…”

“There are some parties where their fiancée must accompany them, so if I send an invitation, make sure to come quickly. I’m doing my duty here too, so you won’t betray me, right?”

Things have really become a nuisance.

Fanora should have known that the relationship between humans wasn’t the same as trades between merchants, where there was only supply and demand. 

“Ah, is that person running over here the butler of the Celsius family?”

“He’s a newly promoted butler.”

“I’m going to tell him that we’re going to buy a dress for you.”

Fanora was forced to enter the black carriage after Aloken threatened to break their contract. However, even when the high-quality cushion was touching her butt, she felt uncomfortable, as if she was on a torture chair.

How could the prediction be wrong? Fanora clearly thought Aloken would leave her alone if he had already achieved our contract deals. But she couldn’t keep rejecting him. His justification for his reputation was not so wrong.

They had a contractual relationship, so if something happened, they had to be sure to look like a couple. After completing the calculations, she waited for Aloken to return to adjust the contents of their contract. 

“Why don’t you go inside?”

“Are you sure you’re going to join me? You brought two carriages.”

“The other one is to carry the things we’re going to buy. Come on! Coachman, let’s go.”

After talking to the butler, Aloken entered the carriage where Fanora was without hesitation. Even if it was a luxury carriage for nobles, it was cramped when the two people boarded in it.

So, how did she, as his fiancée, feel when she skipped her meals and got into the carriage in the early morning?

Fanora expressed her infinite gratitude to him.

“You took care of my birthday… I’m so moved to tears.”

“Your expression doesn’t look happy at all. Are you sure you’re feeling like that?”

Soon the carriage rattled and moved, so Fanora  changed the topic. “By the way, you said that you’re going to call for me when there is a party that needs a fiancée as the partner. I’m sorry, but I also have my own schedule…”

“Therefore?”

“I will try to meet the schedule as much as possible, but I will decline it depending on the situation.”

Fanora thought she was making her claim too proudly in front of the future Duke, but surprisingly, Aloken accepted her request.

“I don’t want to lose an astrologist that is capable enough to save the Duke, so do whatever you want.”

At this moment, Fanora felt that calling her an astrologist was a way for Aloken to mock her.

The carriage was silent for a while. Fanora looked out the window as she straightened the shawl that hung over her shoulder. As soon as she woke up, Cecil brushed her hair so her hair avoided looking messy. However, when she looked at the reflection in the window, it was not so neat.

Black curly hair got messy like tangled threads, dull skin caused by frequent insomnia, and dark lashes. In addition, people with thin lips, which was far from the standard of beautiful women these days, were often criticized for looking mean.

Fanora looked at her appearance in the carriage window for a long time, which looked like she had been cursed all her life. Even though she came back a few years younger than before, she didn’t look pretty.

“We have arrived.”

“I can get off by myself…”

“Count’s daughter will reject the escort from the little Duke?”

Aloken, who touched the ground with his cane with a light sound, reached out his hand. Fanora felt awkward and uncomfortable with his escort. Still, she had no choice but to respond because of the passerby’s eyes.

“What kind of cane is that?”

Perhaps because she had been reading the atmosphere for a while, Aloken’s cane suddenly came into her gaze. So she asked a question to soothe the awkwardness before entering the boutique. 

It was a cane with a dragon’s head at the tip. Even if not now, it seemed that she would have noticed it sooner or later.

“Cane? Ah, in the North where I was, beasts popped out of the carriage from time to time. That’s why I always carry a sword.”

“Does this have anything to do with it?”

“In the royal capital, if someone other than a knight carried a sword, people would label them barbaric. I can’t walk around as I did in the North, and my hands feel empty if I don’t carry anything.”

Fanora didn’t know the details of the human being called Aloken Jalier. So this little information felt new.

Perhaps Fasago or Naverius had also completed their swordsmanship classes. That was why she thought she should also consider her revenge target’s martial arts skills for a better plan.

And a few seconds after getting off the carriage and walking a few steps, they saw a huge boutique in front of them.

A sign with the name ‘Romang Boutique’ stood out. This boutique created a new product inspired by priests’ robes around the time when she was an adult. Soon I remembered that the clothes made at that time had been sold like hot cakes.

“Welcome to the Romang Boutique. What kind of clothes are you looking for?”

“I would like to see some dresses for my fiancée…”

“Then I will take you this way.”

Although this boutique wasn’t number one in the industry now, the boutique was neat as a high-end clothing store with a reputation among nobles.

Fanora felt some strange glances as she looked around the glamorous boutique.

“I came at this time on purpose because I didn’t want to disturb others, but there were customers.”

The strange glances came from a group of nobles who were enjoying shopping early in the morning. Fanora couldn’t figure out who they were.

“Over there… people with black hair, aren’t they a bit familiar? Aren’t they them?”

“I’ve met Lord Aloken Jalier in person, so I’m sure it’s him.”

“Oh my, are they here to get a dress for their engagement ceremony?”

The whispers of nobles couldn’t be heard clearly, but Fanora thought about it as she received the gaze of the unfamiliar ladies.

That was because she had been living for nearly 20 years as a person who had been labeled with blemishes, shameless, gloomy, and strange lady from the Count Celsius family. Due to these circumstances, Fampra reflexively thought like that just by seeing other people whisper. Moreover, those labels were not so wrong.