This Novel is not my Novel

If it were up to me, I would applaud Vigdís's slightly more confident attitude and gladly grant her request.

Unfortunately, whether she could continue attending the academy was not something I could guarantee.

If Count Sjalfráði found out we were planning to break off the engagement, he would immediately make Vigdís withdraw from the academy.

'How is a fiancé who's planning to break off the engagement supposed to stop a guardian from submitting a withdrawal form?'

As much as I understood Vigdís's situation, if something like that were to happen, I did intend to help her continue attending the academy.

But effort does not always lead to good results.

Therefore, I could not include a clause regarding Vigdís's academy attendance in the contract.

"That's not possible. It's beyond my ability."

"Really... it's not possible...?"

"Wouldn't it be fine as long as Count Sjalfráði doesn't find out we're planning to break the engagement?"

"And how are we supposed to stop him from finding out? You've completely lost interest in me..."

"So? Do you want me to act the way I did last semester again?"

"Th-that's not what I want, but..."

As if she had never shown any confidence at all, Vigdís trailed off and started mumbling again.

Putting that aside, I couldn't understand why such a conflicted expression was spreading across her face.

She looked as though she were contemplating whether she should say she was willing to endure the obsession.

"I don't want that either. Even this time spent talking to you is a waste, so why would I waste even more precious time constantly paying attention to you? I don't want anything from you anymore."

"Ah......"

The emotion that surfaced on Vigdís's face as she let out that sigh was unmistakably frustration.

Even the hands clutching the contract had lost their strength.

I couldn't understand the flow of her emotions, but I could guess what had prompted her actions.

She had realized that even if we didn't sign the contract, I was unlikely to obsess over her the way the old Karvaldr had.

The reason she had been desperately clinging to the contract must have disappeared.

"Now I understand... clauses 3 and 4 of the contract weren't written for my sake... Kar, you're planning to completely sever ties with me."

"Do not call me by that nickname anymore."

"......!"

At my firm response, Vigdís clenched her teeth with an offended expression.

She seemed to be holding herself back from arguing about how I could hide the fact that I was trying to break up with her while forbidding her from using a nickname.

She glared at me resentfully, then lowered her head, and finally spoke.

"Can't we just... not break off the engagement?"

"What...?"

I was caught off guard by the unexpected remark.

I had thought she wouldn't sign the contract right away, since she couldn't trust Karvaldr.

But I hadn't expected her to suggest abandoning the contract altogether.

'That's because Vigdís doesn't have even a shred of affection for Karvaldr. She said it herself that she dreamed of breaking off the engagement... Besides, isn't she supposed to fall so deeply in love with Reisir later that she'd even die for him? Why would a character like that...?'

Reisir wouldn't leave me alone easily, and now Vigdís was acting like this too.

Was it because the period during which she had suffered from Karvaldr's bullying and obsession had only lasted one semester, just four months?

A headache started to come on, so I pressed my fingers to my temples.

"The only reason I wanted to break up with Kar was because of your obsession. Now that the obsession is gone, I guess there's no reason to break up. I don't think getting married like this would be so bad..."

"I believe I told you not to call me by my nickname. What are you going to do if this current attitude of mine is nothing more than a whim, and I start obsessing over you again?"

"St-still..."

"This is an opportunity that won't come again. Think carefully."

"I'm doing this precisely so I won't miss that opportunity."

My threatening words had no effect on her.

Vigdís only flinched for a moment and did not change her opinion.

On the contrary, she became even more resolute, to the point that she placed the contract she had been clutching onto the table.

'Even if Vigdís doesn't sign that contract, I still intend to keep everything written in it anyway...'

The problem was that Vigdís herself seemed to have no intention of quietly staying out of sight.

Even after I subtly threatened her by saying that if she married me, she might end up living a confined life.

If this were a web novel, that line would have appeared in the final chapter, but I had actually said it just a few minutes ago.

'And she still wants to marry me? Is Vigdís trying to win my heart and become obsessed with me the same way Karvaldr was obsessed with her last semester?'

A wave of anxiety washed over me.

I think I had to admit it.

I had been too complacent.

'Where did it go wrong? Was my character analysis lacking...?'

I reviewed Vigdís's actions in the original story while simultaneously recalling the information about her written in the directory of names I had received from the family.

And then I realized what I had overlooked.

"Vigdís. Come to think of it, your age is..."

"My birthday was last month, so I'm 20 years old now."

"An adult."

"I am an adult...?"

When I furrowed my brow and muttered the word "adult," Vigdís reacted as if asking what I was talking about.

Indeed, just like in Korea, people in this world were considered adults from the age of 19.

It was understandable that she would wonder, 'Why bring that up now of all times?'

"Did you receive proposal letters before I proposed our engagement? No, of course you did. A lot of them, since Vigdís is quite beautiful..."

"Y-yes...?!"

"So which one of them did your father say he would marry you off to?"

"Th-that's... Count Ilskvam..."

The directory of names only listed people close to Karvaldr, or academy members who were absolutely necessary to know.

Therefore, Count Ilskvam had not been included in the directory, but there was no need to ask who he was.

The noble registry had also been part of the basic common knowledge I had memorized.

"Count Ilskvam is an old man over seventy, isn't he? And haven't three of his wives already died under mysterious circumstances? He also has five children, doesn't he? Is your father in his right mind, trying to marry his daughter into a household like that?"

"......"

"What kind of incredible conditions did they offer him?"

"I don't know that much..."

I was so dumbfounded that a hollow laugh escaped me.

Not only had he tried to marry off his young daughter, who had only just become an adult, to an old man, but he hadn't even told her what he stood to gain from the marriage?

There had been no detailed information about Count Sjalfráði in the original novel, so I had vaguely assumed he was simply an old-fashioned man.

'Given the worldview of 《NaSE》, he's exactly the kind of person who could exist, but this is seriously a mess.'

No matter how much I knew she was merely a character in a novel, seeing the victim alive and breathing right in front of me made my irritation surge.

I swept back my cumbersome hair and asked another question.

"You said your birthday was last month? Since I didn't contact you at all during the break and didn't even celebrate your birthday, Count Sjalfráði must have nagged you. Saying things like, 'What have you been doing for your fiancé to grow tired of you already?' And he probably threatened that if the engagement were broken off, he'd marry you to Count Ilskvam."

"Y-yes, that's right...!"

"Ha..., no wonder."

Yes.

Better to marry an obsessive younger man and live confined than marry a man over seventy and die young. freeweɓnovel.cøm

I had found the answer, but instead of feeling relieved, my chest only tightened painfully.

"Are you getting angry on my behalf right now...?"

"Don't get emotional on your own. Anyone with common sense would be angry about this."

I snapped at her, then let out a sigh.

Until now, I had thought it wouldn't matter if people found out I was planning to break off my engagement with Vigdís.

Even if I tried to help her continue attending the academy and it accomplished nothing.

And even if Vigdís, pressured by Count Sjalfráði, demanded that the engagement be broken immediately, I had thought it couldn't be helped. freewebnovёl.ƈom

'Reisir is the protagonist, so he won't die anyway. Dying to protect him by taking the boss mob's attack in his place would be a completely meaningless death. In that case, it'd be better for her to leave the academy and quickly marry some decent man instead. She could always learn swordsmanship as a hobby after getting married. Count Sjalfráði probably wouldn't interfere with his married daughter's hobbies.'

...or so I had thought.

But to think he would try to marry her off to someone like Count Ilskvam. I had never imagined Count Sjalfráði was such a rotten person.

At this point, he was even less qualified to be a parent than Hárðr, the father of the body I had possessed.

'If I keep going around making it obvious that I want to break up with Vigdís even after learning all this, wouldn't I become an even bigger piece of trash than Karvaldr?'

The moment that thought crossed my mind...

...a memory flashed through my head like lightning.

"Ah...! I let it slip to the senior research students that I planned to maintain the engagement only until you'd established enough independence from your family..."

"What?!"

I could see the color drain from Vigdís's face in real time.

A feeling of guilt welled up inside me, and my conscience began to sting.

"I-it should be alright. They're not the type to spread gossip carelessly, and... it seems they misunderstood things and think I'm deeply in love with you, but because my feelings are too burdensome for you, I'm trying to let you go with tears in my eyes..."

"How on earth...?"

"I don't know either."

If I knew, I wouldn't have been misunderstood in the first place.

But now that I thought about it, it was actually a huge relief.

"Anyway, since things turned out like this, I guess we'll have to go along with it."

"What?"

"I'll tell the seniors that you've forgiven me and that we've decided to maintain the engagement on the condition that I won't act obsessively anymore. It might also be a good idea to let people misunderstand that you hold the upper hand in our ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) relationship, so they won't find it strange if you dump me the moment you gain the means to become independent from your family."

"Then won't it look like I'm using Kar...?"

"What are you pretending you're not doing? Aren't you trying to use me so you can continue learning swordsmanship at the academy without having to marry someone like Count Ilskvam?"

"......!!"

Vigdís's pupils shook as her gaze darted around.

Was she shocked by the realization that she was trying to use someone, or shocked that I was willing to let myself be used?

I didn't know which it was, but her reaction clearly showed that she understood my words.

"Use whatever you can to survive. That's how I live too."

"......"

"Anyway, as stated in the contract, I won't approach you unless it's unavoidable. So you... hmm... talk to me once in a while, like you're feeding a fish in a fishbowl. And spread the rumor that I love you so much that I accepted the condition of not speaking to you first in exchange for maintaining the engagement. Then your father won't suspect anything either."

"Do we really have to go that far? Isn't there some normal way we could show we're on good terms...? Like... being friends?"

I almost asked, 'You want to be friends too?'

Reisir had been like that, and now Vigdís too. I had no idea why they were both so desperate to become friends.