Proposing a Sham Engagement
“Young master. She's ready.”
“Tell her I'm coming right away.”
I donned the medieval finery and gave myself one last check in the mirror.
Elia Adventus. The lady of the Adventus Duke family and my fiancée.
In the original story, she was a sub-villainess of sorts—someone who teamed up with the characters tormenting the protagonist, only to get dumped by Kael later and vanish into a convent.
Not the main villain, but like the spiteful stepsisters in a Cinderella tale, she played a key supporting antagonist role.
“Lady Elia Adventus of the Adventus Duke family awaits you in the drawing room.”
“Got it. I said I'm coming.”
I let out a heavy sigh and stepped out of my room.
Even as I descended the stairs, I kept mulling over Elia Adventus.
She was portrayed as a villainess in the original, but beyond her personality, she had a tragic fate. For a sub-villain, she got a surprising amount of depth. If the Northern Grand Duke's daughter—the crown prince's fiancée—was just a one-note main villain, Elia from the Adventus family had some justification for her misdeeds.
According to the story, she'd basically been sold to the Lotus Border Count. The Adventus Duke family had too many enemies and desperately needed allies.
“Young master Kael Lotus enters.”
The maids waiting at the drawing room opened the doors for me.
Inside sat a woman straight out of the novel's description, elegantly tilting her teacup.
Purple hair, red eyes. A beauty with long lashes.
Even in a romance fantasy aimed at women, they'd put this much care into a sub-villainess's looks? It made me want to grill the author again on why they botched the ending so badly with that kind of effort.
“You're late.”
“...”
“Making a lady wait. Isn't that rude, especially on first meeting?”
She shot me a curt glance, no hint of playfulness. She seemed genuinely annoyed.
I hadn't wanted this marriage either, so I had no intention of sucking up to her.
I sat in a chair and propped my feet on the table.
“The rumors aren't exaggerated. The wastrel Kael.”
“Pot calling the kettle black, Elia Adventus.”
I gave a look to the maids hovering nearby, and they discreetly excused themselves.
Now we could talk properly.
Where to even start?
As I pondered how to broach it, she spoke first.
“Kael Lotus. Do you have any intention of taking this marriage seriously?”
“Not really?”
Political marriages didn't bother me per se. Compared to self-destructive romance, they had a certain rationality.
“As you know, we're engaged. How about showing a little decorum?”
She grimaced at my posture.
But I didn't budge.
My thinking was simple: make this marriage never happen.
Of course, that would screw over the Adventus family. They couldn't openly break it off without issues on their end.
We just needed to keep out of each other's way. No more, no less.
Propping my feet up and crossing my legs was deliberate staging for that.
“Sorry, but I'm passing.”
I smirked and turned down her expectation.
Her expression soured a bit.
“How did I end up with a guy like this...”
“I can hear you.”
“Let's be frank. I have zero interest in marrying you.”
I nodded.
No surprise there. Who actually liked arranged marriages?
At least she seemed aware she'd been shipped off like merchandise.
“Same here. I'd break it off right now if I could.”
“You don't like me either?”
“Nah, it's not that you don't appeal to me. The whole engagement's premise is rotten from the start.”
That was the fatal flaw of arranged marriages: no consent from the parties involved.
So my plan was to keep the engagement on paper but ignore each other entirely. The sweet spot.
A fake engagement.
Truth be told, Elia and I had no reason to fight or hurt each other. As long as we kept up appearances outwardly, we'd both get what we wanted.
“So you do like me? Then why not take me? You could if you wanted. Right here, right now. Wastrel Kael.”
“Want the honest truth?”
“Go ahead.”
“A woman like you? Hell yeah, I'd take that in a heartbeat. Silky purple hair, defiant red eyes, porcelain skin. Like a living doll.”
“W-wait. Suddenly?”
“And that voice—bet it's sweet enough to make a dozen guys beg and cry all night if you wanted. You saying passing up a catch like that doesn't sting?”
I chuckled.
That kind of thing never lasts. Love? Lust? Who cares. But that's all it is.
Beautiful romance, magical one-night stands—they might distract from pain in the moment, but they don't deliver the real stuff.
A happy life? Wealth? Success?
Not a damn one.
Just more useless worries and responsibilities piled on.
I hated couples enough already; no way was I repeating their mistakes.
Not when my main quest came first.
“What do you take me for? A rapist? A wastrel?”
“Kael?”
“I'm not like those scumbags.”
Memories from my past life flashed by.
Guys wrecking lives for 'love.'
A tattooed idiot peacocking in front of girls.
A pretty boy slapping me over some misunderstanding.
A woman bawling on the phone, begging me to rethink it.
Hell, she'd called sobbing, but I still had no clue who she was.
-“Please, Jeong-hyun! Reconsider! I was wrong!”
-“Wrong number.”
-“You forgot me already? Sob... Sniff...”
-“Who the fuck is this?”
What a nightmare.
Woke up to 99+ missed calls from a stranger. Cosmic horror levels.
I'm different. Clearly different.
“Elia Adventus. Listen up. I have zero interest in hooking up with you. You're a beauty, sure—other guys wouldn't pass. But one thing's clear: nothing's more of a hassle than non-consensual bullshit.”
“Consent... you mean?”
“We both know neither of us wants this marriage. But the Adventus family needs the Lotus alliance, right? That's why they sent you.”
“...Spot on.”
“Then it's settled. We keep the engagement on paper and do jack shit.”
“Huh?”
“In other words, fake it. You fool your family, I fool mine. Maintain the fake engagement. And if wedding bells actually near...”
I'm a wastrel. Rumors had me pegged as one even before the story started.
Kael Lotus was that guy, after all.
Reputation meant squat to me anyway. No point caring now—the wastrel label's permanent.
So what's one more wastrel stunt?
“I'll make a scene.”
“A scene?”
“Wastrel being wastrel? Big whoop. I'll own it and tank the wedding. No harm done. You just play the tragic lady heartbroken by her wastrel fiancé. By then, your family's situation should improve anyway.”
If I'm gonna be the bad guy, might as well own all the bad deeds.
My rep couldn't sink lower.
That's what Kael Lotus left me with.
That was the plan.
And at the same time...
This should keep Elia from turning full villainess.
Her cruelty to the original heroine stemmed from her engagement to Kael Lotus.
It was crucial for her family.
But when Kael ditched her for the protagonist, Elia had no choice but to sabotage the heroine for her house's survival.
With me upholding the fake engagement, she wouldn't need to.
So yeah, this eased my path—and successfully deradicalized one character.