The Fiancée's Unannounced Visit
The day after that chaotic banquet, when I finally returned home, I was able to recall the identity of the young lady I had encountered. No wonder the situation felt familiar.
That scene had been the fateful first meeting between the original novel’s female protagonist and one of the male lead candidates.
‘Adela Proud.’
It wasn’t strange for her to attend a banquet where most of the empire’s nobility were present, but of all people, it had to be the female lead I ran into. I had gone out of my way to avoid every social event in order to stay out of the original story’s plot points, yet my five years of effort had gone up in smoke in a single day.
“…I’m screwed. Completely, utterly screwed.”
Once you get tangled up with someone, it’s obvious they’ll start bothering you. Even though I hadn’t met some of them yet, the moment I got involved, it was inevitable.
Still, all I could do was regret it. There was no point in regretting now. The water had already been spilled.
In the end, the only thing left for me was working out.
I shook off the bitter feeling and focused on bodyweight exercises in my room. I was right in the middle of sweating buckets when I heard familiar footsteps outside. They stopped right in front of the door.
Knock, knock.
A gentle rap against the wood. Who would come looking for someone with as terrible a social reputation as me?
…It had to be Ellie.
“…Come in.”
I didn’t even need to check who it was. I kept pushing through my reps. The door opened naturally, and Ellie stepped inside with a deep sigh.
Sighing first thing in the morning? What a way to start the day.
“Young master. What on earth is that indecent posture?”
A sigh followed immediately by nagging.
It didn’t exactly sound like the conversation between a servant and her master, but Ellie was allowed to act like this. She had been by my side through thick and thin since we were children.
“…Can’t you tell? It’s a push-up.”
“Don’t normal push-ups involve placing both hands on the floor? You’re doing a one-handed handstand right now.”
“That’s because… regular ones don’t give me enough… stimulation anymore.”
I answered through gritted teeth, my face flushed as if my blood vessels were about to burst. My body had reached the point where ordinary exercises no longer satisfied it.
“Ugh. That’s exactly why people call you the Lopez muscle pervert.”
“…Ugh.”
It didn’t sound quite that harsh when I heard it, but Ellie’s blunt words left me groaning. All of this had started because I had taken off my coat to cover Adela out of consideration.
My shirt had ended up completely soaked by the rain, and the wet fabric had clung to my skin, revealing every line of muscle underneath. The way those women had looked me up and down wasn’t admiration—it was straight-up sexual harassment.
Officer! It was those bastards! Arrest every last one of them, damn it!
‘Calling me the beast of Lopez is going a bit far, don’t you think?’
Anyway, instead of the “muscle pervert” nickname Ellie mentioned, I had somehow ended up with the unwanted title of “beast.”
“If you had just put your coat back on like a normal person! Why did you have to play the gentleman for some young lady whose name you didn’t even know…!”
“Okay, okay! Enough! The nagging is too much this early in the morning!”
I finally snapped when it seemed like her lecture would go on all day. Ellie snorted in disbelief and strode straight toward me. Her steps didn’t falter. She walked right past me and yanked open the tightly closed curtains.
“Morning? Young master, the sun is already high in the sky! What morning?”
When had so much time passed? So that’s why Ellie had come to my room—because it was already lunchtime. No wonder my shoulders felt so stiff. I had actually thought my body was just in bad shape today.
“Yeah, yeah. I should eat. What’s for lunch today?”
At my question, Ellie’s expression instantly shifted from irritation to concern, as if she had never been angry at all.
“…Young master. I’m asking this because I’m genuinely curious.”
I felt a little hurt by how seriously she was treating the question. Was it really that wrong to ask what was for lunch?
“…Have you forgotten what day it is today?”
What day? Today was just an ordinary day with nothing special about it.
Father or mother.
Older brother or younger sibling.
If I had to stretch it, the butler or Ellie.
None of them had a birthday today. It wasn’t my parents’ wedding anniversary, nor was there any family celebration I could recall.
“Is today some kind of special day?”
I asked again, thinking Ellie might know something I didn’t.
“…Oh dear. You poor, pitiful man.”
Pitiful? Who could Ellie possibly be calling pitiful?
“Ellie. Enough with the riddles. Just tell me what day it is. If it’s not urgent, I’d like to wash up first.”
“It’s extremely urgent. Today is the day she’s visiting. In fact, she’s already passed through the main gate.”
“Who?”
Someone was here to see me?
I didn’t even have a tutor these days.
“…Young master. Your fiancée.”
…Huh?
The Winterrose family’s cherished only daughter.
Ganet Winterrose, the precious jewel of the Margrave who guarded the western border of the Aurelia Empire, was marching with fierce determination toward the Lopez Marquisate’s estate in the capital of Exium.
‘I can’t take this anymore. Just because he’s the son of Marquis Lopez, does that make him special?’
Sitting inside the carriage, Ganet’s insides were boiling with rage directed at her nominal fiancé, Teo Lopez. It wasn’t as if she had wanted this engagement in the first place, but this was a matter of basic courtesy.
Nearly five years.
In all that time, he had completely ignored every single one of the letters she had sent inquiring after his well-being. Where in the world could you find a fiancé so shameless that he wouldn’t even send a single reply?
‘Besides, a frail, bookish weakling like him was never my type anyway.’
Ganet’s ideal type was very clear. She didn’t need someone as muscular as the knights who protected the Winterrose lands, but she wanted a man who looked reliable, healthy, and strong. That was her one and only absolute condition for a future husband.
It was the complete opposite of the pale, scrawny Teo Lopez she had met for the engagement years ago.
“My lady… are you truly going to break off the engagement with Young Master Teo?”
At her attendant Jade’s worried question, Ganet lifted her chin with firm resolve.
“Jade. Don’t make me repeat myself, and don’t even think about trying to stop me.”
No matter how powerful the Lopez family was among the empire’s great nobles, Ganet was confident that the name “Winterrose” attached to hers would not bow before them.
Despite Jade’s concerns, the carriage raced onward without hesitation and soon arrived in front of the Lopez estate. Ganet strode forward with bold steps, guided by the servants who had come out to greet her, heading straight for the reception room.
But something felt off.
‘Why does everyone look so restless?’
She had sent word of her visit in advance, so there was no reason for them to be flustered. The servants’ behavior was extremely unnatural.
Was this how the Lopez family did things? Or was it some kind of power play?
The more she walked, the deeper the furrow between her brows became. Her mood had just about reached its limit when the butler guiding her finally placed his hand on the reception room door handle and cautiously broke the heavy silence.
“…Lady Ganet. There is something I was unable to inform you of beforehand.”
What could possibly be so important that he had been giving her those nervous looks the entire time? It wasn’t as if she had shown up without warning, and she was still technically his fiancée.
“…Haa, just say it quickly.”
She wanted to explode in anger right then and there, but if she did, even her doting father, the Margrave of Winterrose, would scold her for being rude in another family’s home. Especially since that family was the Lopezes. She would be lucky if she only received a reprimand.
That was why Ganet swallowed her emotions and kept her composure. She would listen to whatever ridiculous excuse they had for leaving a guest standing here so uncomfortably.
The butler broke out in a cold sweat and stammered.
“The truth is… the second young master is still…”
“Still what? Stop trailing off like that, it’s frustrating. Just say it clearly.”
Her irritation finally leaked through. And then she understood exactly why the butler had been acting so nervous.
Instead of answering, the Lopez butler simply opened the door to the reception room. Inside was a truly splendid spread that could only be described as a perfect reception for an honored guest.
The only problem was that the person who was supposed to be receiving the guest was nowhere to be seen.
“…Ha!”
A hollow laugh of disbelief escaped Ganet’s lips.
“Look at this bastard.”
The red flower of the rugged western border.
The last thread of Ganet Winterrose’s remaining sanity snapped cleanly in two.
“You should have told me first thing in the morning if it was today!”
“But you told me not to interrupt your morning workout!”
I burst out of my room, hastily changing my shirt as I went. When I blamed Ellie for not giving me a heads-up, she threw my own past words back in my face. I had no counterargument against such perfect logic.
She really was good at her job. Too good.
“…From now on, if something like this happens, just come and tell me no matter what.”
“Sigh. Poor Lady Winterrose. Her fiancé, whom she hasn’t seen in five years, can’t even be bothered to get ready…”
Ellie followed behind me, holding the clothes I had just changed out of and clicking her tongue. Her tone grated on my nerves a little, but I didn’t have the luxury of snapping back right now. At least I had managed to change into decent clothes. My hair was still a mess, though.
When we finally reached the reception room, the butler was waiting with a miserable expression on his face.
‘She’s already inside. And she’s definitely furious.’
His face alone told me everything I needed to know. I stopped in front of the door, straightened my hair as best I could, and pulled on a jacket.
Even though we hadn’t seen each other in five years, and I had ignored all the letters she sent because I didn’t know how to respond, she was still my fiancée.
Once I finished tidying up, the butler forced a supportive smile and carefully opened the door.
Through the gap, I saw the fiancée I was meeting again after so long.
The only thing different from the Ganet in my memories was her appearance. Our engagement had been arranged for political reasons between our families. Back then, I had only cared about having fun, and she had hated the idea of a forced connection.
Sunlight pouring in from the window created a halo behind her. The vivid red hair characteristic of the Winterrose family instantly caught the eye.
Her long locks cascaded past her shoulders, drawing red trails with even the slightest movement. The light filtering through them sparkled like rubies.
She was wearing a deep green dress.
Unlike me, who had simply thrown a plain jacket over a white shirt, the intricate gold embroidery on her attire only enhanced her dignity.
The lace draped across her chest and the tightly cinched corset were flawless, radiating perfect authority.
Ganet, who had been staring out the window, was biting her lip with puffed cheeks and a furrowed brow. The atmosphere around her made it hard to approach. The butler quietly closed the door behind me with a soft click.
The sound of the latch falling shut cut off any chance of escape.
Damn butler. I’m still the second son of this house, you know.
“…You’re here?”
Now that we were alone in the reception room, Ganet’s icy voice snapped me back to attention.
“Y-yeah.”
It had been a long time since we last met. She still refused to turn around, her gaze fixed on the scenery outside.
“…Even after five years, you haven’t changed at all.”
If we were being technical, I had changed quite a bit in those five years. I had grown a full handspan taller and quit fooling around. But she didn’t know any of that yet.
“All that time, I tried so hard to change. I did everything I could to think differently. But you… you’re still the same immature, arrogant jerk you’ve always been.”
The letters Ganet had sent me at regular intervals had been filled with news of her life and questions about my well-being. In the beginning, they had contained more complaints about her own situation than actual greetings, but still.
There had clearly been changes in her, yet I had deliberately pretended not to notice.
“…I thought about this for a very long time.”
Her fingertips lightly brushed across the windowsill. After a long silence, she added softly.
“I think it’s time we make this clear, Teo.”
She rubbed the tiny speck of dust from her fingers and slowly turned her head with determination.
“Our engagement ends here……”
The moment her gaze landed on me—more precisely, on my body—her words abruptly cut off.
Her deep red eyes, the same color as her name, trembled violently.
“…W-who are you?”
Her stare was far too blatant to call it mere confusion. Her eyes traced the muscles visible beneath my shirt as if asking where the Teo Lopez from her memories had gone. There was a strange gleam in them.
…Can I take back what I said about not having changed?