I Ended My Engagement With The Woman Who Despised Me

✦  Chapter 10 — Siren (1)  ✦

「Translator — Creator」

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Just as I had expected, the kitchen was located near the dining hall, so fetching tea wasn’t particularly difficult. However, while it wasn't difficult, it certainly wasn't smooth sailing either.

Each time I walked past the chefs or maids, someone would inevitably drop a plate or tray, shattering it into pieces; though I bore no responsibility for their mishaps, I couldn’t help but feel guilty.

Just how much must Damian have tormented them to make them react this way?

Out of guilt, I tried to help them clean up, but—

"Please... please spare my life... sob"

When one of the maids broke down crying and prostrated herself before me, I had no choice but to leave them be and exit the area.

'Loraine had said Damian was only somewhat of a tyrant, but...'

No matter how I looked at it, their reactions were far too extreme to be described as ‘somewhat.’ Sensing something wasn't quite right, I asked Loraine, who was waiting for me at the training grounds.

"Umm, young master, we're close, right? You won't deny me tea just for telling the truth, would you?"

She glanced at me nervously before giving an awkward laugh and finally spilling the details.

“Well… You used to hit people with wooden swords or iron bars whenever you felt like it. Sometimes you’d pick fights on purpose and shove people into ponds. Oh! And there was that one time you tried to make one of the maids eat bugs!”

I blinked in stunned silence as each revelation hit me like a blow.

These weren’t just pranks — they were outright acts of cruelty. In the modern world, such behavior would’ve been headline news, labeled as an abuse-of-power scandal. Damian’s actions were vile enough to warrant universal condemnation.

My thoughts churned in a mix of shock and unease, but then a question surfaced, one I couldn’t ignore—

Why does Damian’s family still care so deeply for him?

If his family were haughty nobles who looked down on commoners, it would’ve made some sense. But in the short time I’d spent with them, they struck me as genuine, upright people — empathetic and respectful even toward their staff.

'Even at a glance, it was clear the servants took pride in their work.'

This meant Damian's tyrannical behavior wasn't inherited from the family's atmosphere but rather stemmed from his own personal deviation... What I couldn't understand was why none of his family members tried to correct his behavior despite being aware of it.

'No... they seemed to do more than just leave him be—they actually protected him.'

The more I thought about it, the less sense it made.

Hoping to get some clarity, I carefully phrased the question and asked Loraine as tactfully as possible.

She hesitated before finally revealing the reason behind Damian’s family’s leniency.

"I don't know all the details, but I heard the young master was terribly ill when he was little. That's when the overprotection began, I was told. Perhaps that's why? And with the large age gap between siblings, being the youngest, I suppose they can't help but dote on you."

Her explanation brought a new question to mind:

If Damian grew up surrounded by so much love and care, how did he end up this broken?

But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t find an answer. Frustrated by my own overthinking, I pushed the thoughts aside and picked up a wooden sword.

"... Let's just train."

At my words, Loraine let out a relieved sigh and gestured with her wooden sword.

"Yes. Shall we begin right away?"

The training method Loraine and I had been following was simple.

We would continue sparring until I sustained a critical injury, and when things became dangerous, we would replenish our strength and mental energy with potions and tea before resuming.

It was an efficient, if brutal, way to grow stronger.

The downside, however, was the mess; the intense sparring often left the training grounds splattered with blood, staining everything red. Fortunately, enchanted cleaning tools solved that problem at the end of every session.

In my opinion, it was a flawless training method.

The knights watching us, however, didn’t seem to share my perspective.

"... Is that really training? Isn't he just trying to kill himself?"

"That's incredibly harsh."

Voices could be heard from all around.

In the North, people had openly treated me as if I didn't exist, so I never knew how others perceived our training. Here, without such treatment, I realized our methods were perhaps more extreme than I'd thought.

Still, it was effective, and that was all that mattered. Ignoring the murmurs, I prepared to continue sparring with Loraine — until a loud voice rang out from the entrance.

"D-Damian?!"

It was Damian's elder sister, Lilia Carsaril.

According to Loraine, she possessed such a graceful and caring personality that some knights regarded her as a saint. She rushed toward me with a shocked expression, examining my body as she spoke.

"Are you alright? M-my baby brother is b-bleeding... Loraine, what is the meaning of this?"

"Ah, well..."

"How could you strike Damian when I entrusted you with his protection?!"

"I'm sorry... I have no words to defend myself, even with ten mouths."

Loraine was not at fault.

After all, she had been reluctant to engage in this training, saying it was too brutal.

I quickly tried to intervene before poor Loraine could receive a proper scolding from Sister Lilia.

"This was my choice, so there's no need to worry—"

"You be quiet. What makes you think you have any right to interrupt?"

".........?"

"No, you come here too. How could you be so careless with your own body? Do you have any idea how much it hurts your family to see you in pain?"

I glanced at Loraine for help, but she merely nodded with a dazed expression on her face. Looking at her, I thought, 'Well, I suppose I did use her services for quite a while,' and lowered my gaze.

'It would be better to conduct our training sessions elsewhere from now on.'

As I resolved to relocate our future sparring sessions to somewhere less frequented, like the outskirts, I added a mental note to tell Loraine to look appropriately remorseful.

𓇗

After sister Lilia’s scolding ended, I served tea to everyone in the training ground.

In the North, even when I tried to serve tea, everyone ignored it without even taking a sip, so it was impossible to share it.

But here, everyone politely accepted and drank the tea without exception.

At first, the reaction wasn’t that strong, but by the time everyone had drunk a cup of tea, they were expressing their impressions of the tea with exclamations of shock from all around.

"This is incredible! I can feel all my accumulated fatigue disappearing!"

"What's with all the fuss... Oh, young master, I wasn't talking to you but to this fellow here. Yes, yes... Wait, what? What is this?"

"Even medicinal potions haven't been helping with my fatigue lately, but this tea completely cleared it away!"

Recalling the reactions Loraine usually showed me, I could roughly understand why they liked it so much.

I was smiling slightly seeing everyone enjoying it when my brother approached me and started praising it.

"Where did you learn to make this? It's remarkable. Not only is it delicious, but it's also incredibly refreshing."

“I just learned it while doing this and that.”

"Is that so? It's amazing."

Among all those who drank the tea, sister Lilia seemed to appreciate it the most. Apparently, she had been suffering from severe headaches recently, and she lavished praise on me, saying the tea had immediately relieved all her pain.

“My little one is making his sister live in luxury. I’m usually not one to cry… but I feel like I might tear up.”

As I stood there with an awkward smile, unsure how to respond, sister Lilia forcefully embraced me and stroked my head.

"Come here, let your sister give you a hug. There."

With our six-year age gap, it seemed inevitable that she would treat me like a child. While it wasn't unpleasant, it was certainly embarrassing, so I quickly tried to escape. Lilia looked at me with an expression full of sadness.

"Are you telling me you're all grown up now?"

".........."

Having no choice, I decided to just let her pat my head and fell into contemplation.

'What could be the reason for Lilia's assassination?'

She wasn't the type to make enemies with her gentle personality, and she wasn't just any noble lady — she was the eldest daughter of the Carsaril duchy, one of the most influential families in central politics.

In other words, she was someone who posed no threat worth taking such an enormous risk to assassinate. Yet someone had, and I couldn't fathom why, which only deepened my concerns.

'This requires investigation.'

And it was right to start that investigation from sister Lilia.

I asked sister Lilia, who was still stroking my head, “Are you having any difficulties or problems?”

“Hmm? Ah… I’ve been having severe headaches recently. But they were solved after drinking the tea my little one gave me earlier.”

Headaches.

I nodded, thinking that this might be related to the assassination incident.

𓇗

Since assassinations were basically carried out without the person knowing, I talked with sister Lilia, extracting information appropriately, then immediately left and started wandering around the mansion.

'I might be able to uncover some information.'

After forcibly dragging Loraine along, I thoroughly searched the mansion's interior, familiarizing myself with its layout, checking unused rooms, and investigating every corner.

I searched all sorts of places but couldn’t find any useful information, so I fell into contemplation.

'If I had at least known exactly when it would happen, I might have had something to go on.'

Most novels didn't elaborate much on villains' pasts, so unfortunately, I lacked detailed information about that aspect.

All I knew was that after Lilia's assassination, much later in the middle of the story, the protagonist Dale visited Carsaril territory and discovered 'black magic,' which he then exposed.

'Wait a minute—black magic?'

Something seemed odd when I thought about it.

Why would the Carsaril family, who wanted for nothing, need to resort to black magic?

'They wouldn't. Even if they needed something, there would be alternatives.'

So why did black magic come into play?

The moment this occurred to me, I sensed something was amiss.

'I need to investigate this immediately.'

I told Loraine, who was following behind me, to prepare for an outing, then took out the spirit from my chest.

"Myung!"

The spirit, apparently pleased to be summoned, nuzzled against my palm affectionately. I stroked its head while walking.

'The sun spirit despised black magic.'

In other words, it would strongly react to even the faintest traces or remnants of black magic.

Therefore, I concluded I could achieve definitive results by exploring the area with the spirit's help. When I stepped outside, what I discovered was—

Traces of black magic scattered throughout the city.

END of CHAPTER

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