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‘I adore you.’
Philomel blinked her eyes as she woke up from her sleep, greeted by the sunlight streaming through the window.
“It wasn’t a dream.”
With a groggy mind, she recalled the events of the previous night.
Last night, Philomel received a confession from Nassar.
“It doesn’t mean I’m asking for an immediate answer. It’s just that I couldn’t bear to keep it inside any longer
”
After confessing, he simply got on the carriage and returned home.
Normally, he had a face that often couldn’t express himself properly, but at that moment, he had a serene expression that was surprisingly calm. It led to frivolous thoughts.
‘Indeed, Nassar likes me.’
In truth, Philomel already knew. From a certain point, She had been thinking, ‘Could it be that?’ Unlike Ellencia, who hadn’t noticed, Philomel sensed Nassar’s dislike for Ellencia.
Until yesterday, she had believed that all the kindness Nassar showed her stemmed from his sense of duty as her fiancé and their friendship.
Among them, there were some moments that seemed excessive to be attributed to mere duty or friendship
 but due to the contexts of <Princess Ellencia> the truth of Philomel’s life, she chose to pretend they didn’t hold any meaning .
Philomel wondered if Nassar would fall for Ellencia, or even if he didn’t, the image of Nassar as “Ellencia’s man” was too strong in Philomel’s mind.
And there were many other things that occupied her thoughts. The truth of the book, Ellencia, Eustis, Le Guin, Jeremiah, and others
 Oh, even Roseanne had a greater presence in Philomel’s mind than Nassar.
Amidst the entanglement of those who made Philomel tense, Nassar
 ‘What should I say?’ When they were together, he was a comfortable person who didn’t require complicated thoughts.
‘But now, Nassar is the one who gives me the most anxiety.’
Philomel looked at the bouquet of flowers placed on the side table.
New flowers for the new Philomel.
‘I had a feeling that soon he would express his feelings clearly.’
The moment her vague suspicion turned into certainty was when she received those flowers from him as a birthday gift yesterday.
It was an incredible feat to develop a new breed of flowers that bloom only for one night in Utina. Without exceptional patience, it would have been impossible. Even if someone ordered it, the cost would be exorbitant.
‘How could I not know that he would give such a gift for my birthday?’
What Philomel didn’t know was that he would confess his feelings on that day.
“I adore you.” Not “I like you” or “I love you,” but an excessively weighty confession with “adore.”
She wrapped her head with both arms.
“I have to do something somehow.”
Philomel couldn’t accept his feelings. Even though Nassar said it was okay not to give an immediate answer, she couldn’t let him hold onto futile hope.
‘Fine. Let’s reject him. Let’s minimize the damage to his feelings as much as possible.’
But before that, there was another matter that needed to be dealt with.
After having a meal and completing her preparations, Philomel left the Southern Palace.
Her destination was the Imperial Office.
She had to meet Eustis immediately.
The Emperor seemed tired as if he had worked late yesterday.
“Philomel, did the birthday banquet go well yesterday?”
‘Oh, come to think of it, didn’t he send the Imperial Orchestra yesterday. I was preoccupied with various things and completely forgot.’
Philomel briefly expressed her gratitude and brought up the main issue.
“Your Majesty, please allow me to break off the engagement with Little duke Nassar Averydon.”
That’s right. The engagement between her and Nassar was still intact.
‘I’m not sure of the reason myself.’
In the book, it was clearly stated that once it was revealed that Philomel was not a Princess, the engagement would automatically be broken. However, seeing that it didn’t happen like that, it seemed to require specific actions.
An engagement is a promise between households.
When breaking this promise, it usually required a request from one side, followed by discussions between the families for annulment.
So in this case, either the Emperor or Duke Averydon had to bring up the topic of annulment first.
Duke Averydon would probably be eager to annul the engagement by now.
‘He probably doesn’t want to send his well-raised son to a despised woman.’
But so far, the Duke hadn’t taken any specific actions.
A vague speculation was that perhaps Philomel’s position hadn’t plummeted yet, so he didn’t want to demand annulment right after it was revealed that she wasn’t a Princess.
‘He’s a nobleman, so he’s probably waiting for the right time.’
Philomel also waited for the Duke to take action. The problem was that it was taking too long. Impatient, Philomel decided to take matters into her own hands.
However

Anger flashed on the Emperor’s face. His voice trembled with anger.
“How dare that insignificant Averydon say he doesn’t want to marry you just because you’re not my biological daughter?”
“Your, Your Majesty?”
“Or is it the big one? Tell me. Who said that?”
Philomel was taken aback.
‘Why is he getting so angry?’
Even as the Emperor, it would be better for him to break this engagement. There’s nothing good that can come out of maintaining a strained relationship with a powerful noble.
‘Could it be
 Is there a special reason why Eustis hasn’t brought up the annulment request first?’
Until now, she thought he was simply being lazy or busy.
In any case, if she remained passive, it would only bring trouble to Nassar’s side for no reason. So Philomel hastily denied it.
“No! It wasn’t demanded by the Averydon House. It’s my own will.”
“Don’t deceive me. That cunning old fox and his lineage must have manipulated you well.”
“That’s not true. Do you see me as someone who gets easily manipulated?”
Fortunately, it seemed that her words were accepted, and Eustis fell silent for a moment.
“
Is it sincere?”
“It’s sincere.”
“Why do you want to break the engagement?”
“I, as a commoner, cannot be married to someone from a family like the  Duke Averydon’s
 “
Eustis extended his hand.
“If that’s the reason, there’s no need to listen. I’ll handle it myself, so you don’t have to worry.”
“But isn’t it customary for nobles to marry someone of the same social standing?”
Philomel spoke in a low voice.
“I married the person I wanted.”
‘Oh, you’re such an exceptional romanticist! That’s not the norm!’
“Even if I marry the little Duke, how would they perceive me, a commoner, in the Duke’s family
”
“If it bothers you, tell me. I’ll take care of it.”
“I apologize, but it seems Your Majesty has already made up your mind
”
“As long as the royal family doesn’t end up being assassinated from generation to generation, the bloodline will continue.”
Superficial reasons won’t work.
Philomel decided to be honest and open about her true feelings.
“I don’t have any feelings for the little duke. That’s why I want to break off the engagement.”
At that moment, Eustis’s eyes widened. For someone who had limited emotional expressions, especially surprise, it meant he was extremely astonished.
He was the person who appeared nonchalant even when Roseanna was dancing or whatever.
“Lies.”
“It’s not a lie.”
“I can’t believe that.”
“Why are you so convinced?”
“If I didn’t arrange your engagement with that guy when you were young, you said you wouldn’t eat anything, didn’t you?”
Philomel swallowed her words.
‘
Did I say that?’
She had no memory of it.
When she got engaged to Nassar, she was only six years old. Her memories were relatively vivid after she turned nine and started reading books, but before that, they were vague.
Eustis continued speaking.
“You said you wouldn’t get up from the floor during a meeting until I arranged your engagement with him.”

Even during a meeting?
In her memory, it remained as a mere tantrum.
But it didn’t end there.
“When I tried to go somewhere else, you clung to my ankles and cried, not letting me leave.”
Confronted with her embarrassing past, Philomel felt like hiding herself even under a rock. If she could go back to the past, she wanted to slap her younger self.
“But more importantly
 “
“You can stop now!”
Philomel slammed the desk, interrupting the Emperor’s words.
‘What am I doing?’
She quickly regained her composure and coughed lightly.
“Anyway, that’s a story from when I was six years old. My feelings have changed since then. Your Majesty, even at that age, it’s not like one’s liking for the opposite sex lasts a lifetime. You know that, don’t you?”
“
I’m not sure, but if you say so, then maybe it’s true.”
Eustis seemed somewhat uncertain, but he seemed to accept it.
“Alright. I will order the annulment with Duke Averydon’s House.”
“Thank you.”
With that, Philomel achieved what she desired and returned to her chambers.