The Broken Engagement
In the study of the Barhen family mansion, Kallen von Barhen, the head of the house and a baron, let out a deep sigh.
“I’m sorry. Philia is still rather immature, I’m afraid.”
“It’s quite all right. I can wait as long as necessary for anything concerning Philia.”
Sitting across from him was a handsome young man with golden hair. He was the protagonist of Haelan Chronicles, Philia’s childhood friend, the second son of Count Richard’s household, and the one who would one day be called the Sword Saint—Andrew Richard. He had been eagerly awaiting her arrival.
Before long, the door to the study opened and Philia stepped inside.
“Philia…!”
“It’s been a while, Andrew.”
Philia answered him with a gentle smile. It was the kind of smile powerful enough to make countless men’s hearts flutter, yet Andrew sensed something strangely off about it.
“…Hm? Ah, yes. It has been a while.”
Philia seems… a little different?
Having been close since childhood, Andrew was keenly sensitive to any change in her. In the past, whenever she met him, she would either blush with embarrassment or light up with joy. But now…
Annoyance? Boredom?
Though her lips were curved in a smile, her eyes remained icy cold. Anyone could tell it was purely performative. To Andrew, the childhood friend standing before him felt oddly alien—like it wasn’t really Philia, but someone else wearing her skin.
“Andrew.”
“Y-yes?”
Before he could sink any deeper into his thoughts, she spoke first.
“What brings you here?”
“Well…”
The truth was, he had simply come because he wanted to see her face. Yet for some reason, the words refused to leave his mouth. He couldn’t explain it, but he had the strange feeling that if he didn’t give her a proper reason, he might never see her again.
What should he say? As Andrew racked his brain, Philia’s father, unable to watch any longer, spoke up.
“Does a man need a special reason to visit his fiancée? Don’t be so hard on him.”
“Ah, of course.”
Philia acted as if she had only just remembered such a thing existed. Without losing her smile, she turned to her father and declared,
“My lord. I wish to break off my engagement with Andrew.”
“What?”
Kallen stared at her in disbelief. Andrew, who had been listening beside him, was equally stunned.
“P-Philia… What are you saying?”
Only a short while ago they had been whispering words of love to each other. So why, all of a sudden…
“I already have someone I like.”
The irresponsible, absurd statement made Kallen feel dizzy.
“What nonsense is this, Philia? Weren’t you and Richard supposed to have fallen in love at first sight? You were overjoyed when the engagement between our families was arranged. Why would you suddenly…”
Engagements between nobles were never simply about “liking” each other. They were contracts built on mutual benefit. As long as the other family had not committed a grave crime such as treason, the engagement was expected to be honored. Moreover, for a mere baronial house like Barhen to dare break an engagement with a count’s family first? The Barhen name would plummet in status overnight. This was something Kallen could never accept—not as a father, but as the head of House Barhen.
“It’s true that when I was young and immature, I felt that way. But as I grew older… I realized love can change.”
“How old are you to be talking like that already? I will pretend I didn’t hear what you just said.”
Suppressing the urge to clutch the back of his neck, Kallen decided that the moment this conversation ended, he would track down whatever scoundrel had seduced his innocent daughter. It had to be some worthless rascal who had tricked her.
Philia paid no attention to her father’s reaction and stubbornly continued.
“If you’re worried about our relationship with House Richard, I have a solution. There is no need for you to concern yourself, Father. All you need to do is approve the dissolution of the engagement.”
She sounded utterly confident. Neutralizing any retaliation from a mere count’s household would be child’s play for her. In fact, given enough time, swallowing the entire empire wouldn’t be beyond her reach.
Kallen, naturally, assumed his daughter was simply throwing a tantrum.
Philia. How on earth could you possibly manage that?
Unless she had suddenly become an archmage or a swordmaster, it was impossible. Besides, bringing up the cancellation of an engagement in front of the person directly involved—Andrew—was far too inappropriate for this setting.
“Do you think I’m only concerned about the connection between our houses? Raising the topic of breaking the engagement right in front of Andrew is incredibly rude.”
Indeed. With her fiancé present, it wasn’t merely rude—it could easily be taken as an outright insult. Even the usually composed Andrew was visibly shaken and wanted to demand an explanation immediately. But remembering that this was the family head’s study, he exercised every ounce of patience he possessed.
“…I’m fine with it. However, I would like to ask Philia for her reason.”
He was anything but fine. Andrew desperately wanted to know why she was pushing so aggressively for the breakup. Could this be some kind of show meant to make him jealous? The situation was so sudden and difficult to accept that he almost hoped that was the case.
When it became clear he wouldn’t be persuaded, Philia decided to play her trump card.
“My lord. The truth is, I am already…”
She blushed shyly and gently stroked her belly, as if cradling something precious.
“S-surely not…”
Neither of them could fail to understand the implication. In that moment of embarrassed tenderness, Andrew caught a glimpse of the old Philia he remembered—but the emotion was no longer directed at him.
As Andrew was overwhelmed by a storm of confusion and rage, Kallen’s blood pressure finally spiked beyond endurance. He clutched the back of his neck.
Philia had not lied. Of course, her current body remained completely pure, untouched by even the slightest impurity. But in the distant future, it had truly happened.
“Lady Philia has been confined?”
“Yeah. The baron was furious and even issued a ban on her leaving the estate.”
I couldn’t help but be stunned by the news I had just heard.
Philia’s been confined? Was there anything like that in the original story?
I didn’t remember every detail of the early plot, but I was certain that around this time the story had focused on the events at the Masked Ball. There had been no scene of her being locked up.
If they’ve even forbidden her from going outside, it doesn’t look like she’ll be released anytime soon…
This was clearly different from the original story.
Could my possession have triggered some kind of butterfly effect?
If so, all my plans had already gone off the rails. I had no choice but to find out why Philia had changed.
The Flower Devil.
Philia von Barhen opened her eyes among a sea of corpses.
It felt as if she had been trapped in a long, terrible dream.
A nauseating sensation of being controlled by some distant “will” from above. She had carried out countless massacres while writhing in that disgust, yet—fortunately or unfortunately—she retained no clear memories of it.
When she finally awakened, she had been confused at first. Then she noticed that every corpse around her had a “flower” blooming from it, and only then did she realize the weight of her sins.
The “devil” inside her body had awakened and annihilated everyone nearby.
The truth was so devastating that a mere human could hardly bear it.
Guilt. Self-loathing. She wanted to deny her own existence with every fiber of her being.
She wanted to die.
She wanted to escape through death.
She wanted to scream that she was sorry.
But she could not die.
Having become the devil’s host, she was already immortal.
Even if she died, she would lose her mind and once again drag countless lives into ruin.
“I don’t know…”
What she should do. How she should live. The feeling of being hurled against an unchangeable fate brought a despair beyond words.
So she simply began to walk. Endlessly.
It was a journey so tedious it bordered on torture. Along the way she encountered bandits, monsters, and even devils. Some tried to possess her, others wanted to kill her, and some wished to worship her. She remained utterly indifferent to all of them.
Later, when she heard rumors of a man who was shattering demonic realms, she felt hope for the first time.
The only man who had reached out to her when she had lost her mind.
The only man who had been able to “kill” her, even if only temporarily.
“Yes… If it’s him.”
He can end me completely.
That was why she began searching for him without rest. She crossed ruined kingdoms, traversed deserts, and broke through the freezing cold of glaciers. Countless dangers lurked everywhere, but none of it mattered to her. In fact, she almost wished someone would kill her along the way—but she never died.
A very long time passed.
By the time she finally found him, he had already been broken beyond description.