An Unexpected Encounter
I felt the sudden, violent thud of my heartbeat and let out a bitter smile. Kyle’s body was reacting on pure instinct. The moment I registered that response, I understood. Even after everything, this fool still clung to lingering feelings. That he had genuinely loved Rosalyn.
With that complicated smile still on my lips, I studied her profile—only for her to turn her head as if she’d sensed my gaze.
“……”
Our eyes met.
“……”
For a split second, I watched a storm of emotions flash across her face. None of them were positive, of course. Under normal circumstances, she would have ignored me completely, pretending we’d never locked eyes, pretending a man named Kyle Berwen had never existed. That was the usual pattern.
But something changed.
Rosalyn began walking toward me.
Thump. Thump.
My heartbeat grew fiercer with every step she took.
Just stay quiet, damn it.
I had no idea what part of a woman like her could possibly appeal to anyone, yet this body was still leaking pathetic traces of obsession. Still, those were Kyle’s emotions, not mine. I forcibly suppressed the physical reaction and wondered what she could possibly want to say.
Then she spoke.
“I heard you were disowned.”
Rosalyn had drawn close enough that her voice carried a sweet, poisonous lilt. I simply stared at her without answering, trying to read her intent. Fortunately, I didn’t have to guess for long. She kindly clarified it herself.
“What will you do now? The only thing you had was your family name, and now you’ve lost even that.”
She smiled as she said it.
Hah.
I laughed inwardly. Her purpose was crystal clear. She had approached solely to torment me—to torment the disowned Kyle.
“You’ve become complete garbage with no worth whatsoever.”
She added the words with a bright, lovely smile.
Once again, I muttered inside my head.
What terrible taste in women.
That was directed at Kyle. I had pitied the guy for loving someone like this, but this time I felt no sympathy at all. If he hadn’t known her true nature, maybe I could have forgiven him. But he had known exactly what kind of person she was and still couldn’t sever his attachment.
She was beautiful, I’d give her that. Soft waves of chestnut hair and eyes like deep mountain lakes. No wonder people said she had received a fairy’s blessing. Yet I felt zero attraction. How could anyone feel charmed by a woman when they knew a hideous monster lurked beneath that skin?
No one else seemed to know this side of her. She had hidden it so perfectly that not a single soul suspected. Even I hadn’t known.
Rosalyn. I had been familiar with her in my previous life because she appeared in the game. Given the prestige of the Blanche family, it would have been strange if she lacked any presence in the academy arc. She was even a recruitable character, complete with her own personal episodes if you pursued her route. In other words, she was a character with actual weight.
Even so, I had never known this side of her. I rarely added her to my party because she wasn’t my preferred type, but the fact that I had remained completely ignorant of her true nature was remarkable. It meant the community had never circulated any information about it either. She had concealed her real temperament that thoroughly.
Once my thoughts reached that point, the woman standing before me no longer looked human. She looked like a monster wearing human skin.
“What will you do? You’ll have to fend for yourself from now on… and let’s be honest, you never had much talent, did you?”
I listened to Rosalyn’s continued barbs in silence. Unlike when I had dealt with Victor, I offered no rebuttal. Was it because her words held truth? No. Was my mentality too shaken to fight back? Also no. It was the opposite.
I was angry.
Not because the insults were aimed at me, but because they were aimed at Kyle. The fact that this woman would continue to humiliate and mentally trample him even now left a foul taste in my mouth. Cold fury bloomed inside my chest.
But I swallowed it down. Given my current position, I couldn’t afford to let that anger show. Instead, I simply turned and walked away. Even speaking with her felt repulsive.
I could feel her gaze boring into my back, but I never stopped.
“……”
Rosalyn stared silently at the receding figure. Surprise flickered in her eyes.
Kyle Berwen. She had never expected that kind of reaction from him. The old Kyle would never have responded this way. He would have gone berserk or begged—those were the only two options.
…I don’t like this.
Rosalyn muttered inwardly. His calm demeanor displeased her greatly. To stand before her in this situation and show such composure… If he had raged or pleaded instead, if he had reacted exactly as expected, she would have felt some satisfaction. After all, the sight would have been utterly pathetic.
Rosalyn wanted to see Kyle in utter misery.
Yet even now, he remained composed. That fact irritated her to no end.
When had it started? When exactly had she begun to despise him?
From the beginning.
It had been from the very first moment. From the instant she first laid eyes on Kyle Berwen, she had found him distasteful. The reason was simple: he didn’t meet her standards.
The moment she saw that face, she knew. He wasn’t particularly outstanding material. His character, his eyes, his aura—none of it reached the level she demanded. His appearance was passable, but even that didn’t suit her taste. Nothing about him pleased her.
Nevertheless, Rosalyn never revealed her true feelings. She hid them behind smiles and acted as though she adored Kyle Berwen. The reason was straightforward: he was her fiancé and the prospective heir to the Berwen family.
Berwen. One of the giants that ruled the empire from the shadows. Excluding the imperial family that stood above the heavens, few houses possessed greater power on the continent. With that kind of background, even if the man himself was unappealing, the engagement was more than worth it. Marrying him would make her the mistress of that colossal family.
Therefore, Rosalyn concealed her heart. She smiled, she acted as if every word and gesture was sincere. All for the single goal of becoming the mistress of House Berwen. She spoke words she didn’t mean and wore expressions she didn’t feel. She did everything to truly captivate Kyle.
Fortunately, she had been born with extraordinary beauty and exceptional acting talent. Melting one man’s heart was child’s play. Before long, Kyle had fallen for her completely.
Her plan had seemed to proceed smoothly.
But then an anomaly occurred. A rival suddenly appeared. The head of House Berwen took a new wife, and out of nowhere, Kyle gained a half-brother—Bellard Berwen. The number of heir candidates doubled overnight. To make matters worse, Kyle’s maternal family had collapsed entirely. The situation was unfavorable.
Clicking her tongue at the development, Rosalyn nevertheless supported Kyle. She even used the power of her own house to back him. She had no intention of giving up the position of Berwen’s mistress.
Yet despite all her efforts, Kyle ultimately lost the succession race. The reason was simple: the difference in their vessels. Kyle lacked talent. Bellard possessed it in abundance. Already behind in background and secretly unsupported by their father, the gap in talent made the outcome inevitable.
In the end, Kyle lost his position as the next head of House Berwen.
When she heard the news from Kyle’s own mouth, Rosalyn felt her blood run cold. The cause was rage—freezing, razor-sharp fury.
All the time and money I invested in you…
Every second now felt wasted and hollow. Her resentment toward Kyle swelled in an instant. She had never liked the man to begin with. She had only suppressed her feelings for the sake of the future. Now that the title of Berwen’s heir had vanished, there was no longer any reason to hide.
She poured her anger over him and left. From that day on, she erased the very existence of Kyle Berwen from her mind. He no longer held any value to her.
Then, years later, she unexpectedly ran into him at the academy.
The moment they met again, Rosalyn realized it immediately—Kyle still harbored lingering feelings for her. Of course, she felt nothing of the sort. In fact, she had gone beyond indifference. She loathed him. This worthless creature who had wasted her time, money, and effort.
In that sense, Kyle’s behavior after entering the academy had been deeply satisfying. The sight of him wandering lost, unable to adapt, acting like a complete degenerate as he raced toward ruin… The worse his conduct became, the lower his reputation fell, the greater her satisfaction grew.
And finally, Kyle Berwen met true destruction. He caused a major incident and was disowned by his family. To her, he had long since become worthless, but society still viewed him as a direct descendant of Berwen. Once he was severed from the family, however, even that disappeared. A man who had nothing but his family name had now lost it. He had become truly worthless.
That fact brought Rosalyn genuine delight.
That was probably why she had approached him when they met by chance. Why she had spoken to him. She had been curious what kind of reaction the ruined Kyle—now with nothing left but a pit of despair—would show.
But contrary to her expectations, his response was calm. No, it was more than calm. It was indifferent. Not a single emotion could be read in the eyes that looked at her. As if Kyle had become an entirely different person.
That couldn’t be. That must not be. He should have begged. He should have gone mad. He should have shown a pathetic reaction.
Rosalyn’s mood sank into icy depths. She glared at the spot where Kyle had disappeared.
How dare you.
What irritated her most was that gaze. The audacity of Kyle Berwen—a worthless piece of trash with nothing left—looking at her with those eyes. It was unacceptable.
Yes. This was still fine. Rosalyn was not the type to sit beneath a grapevine and wait patiently for the fruit to fall. If shaking the tree was what it took to make the grapes drop, then so be it.
If the desired reaction wouldn’t come on its own, she simply had to create it.
Rosalyn’s eyes grew cold as ice.