Breaking Off the Engagement with the Demon King - Chapter 12

“Y-You really are barbaric. You’re nothing more than a ruffian.”

Someone from the Strey faction muttered those words under their breath.

As if in agreement, the rest of the Strey-aligned spectators began to stir with discontent.

“That’s right… There should be a limit to such behavior.”

“He’s clearly unfit to be the princess’s consort.”

There was no denying that Shou’s actions had gone too far by conventional standards. For the high nobility, who placed great value on dignity and decorum, this reaction was only natural.

To the Rudel family and their associates, who held views on life and death far removed from ordinary people, the incident with Donovan was no more than a minor skirmish. But to the young noble sons raised in the comfort of the peaceful royal capital—where war was nothing more than a distant concept—it was completely beyond comprehension.

“It seems you truly are unworthy of Kiara, Shou Rudel. We can’t possibly allow a wild man like you to become her partner.”

Perhaps thinking this was the right moment to seize the momentum, Lars spoke up. Though a cold sweat clung to his brow and his cheeks twitched slightly, he pressed forward. He seemed determined to gloss over the incident on Strey’s staircase by pushing ahead while the tide was in his favor.

However, not everyone was critical of Shou.

In fact, more cold stares from the gallery were now directed at Strey, with murmurs that he was the truly disgraceful one.

Among the nobility, showing weakness—or allowing oneself or one’s house to be humiliated—was a cause for scorn. While not everyone could possess the strength of someone like Shou, at the very least, nobles were expected to maintain a demeanor that did not suggest weakness. That was the bare minimum pride expected of their station.

Strey, who had lacked that pride, been cowed into wetting himself, and then fled upon seeing Shou’s face—once those disgraceful details were revealed, it was clear to any objective observer that he was not a suitable partner for Kiara. The critical gazes he received were, in that sense, inevitable.

If Shou lacked refinement, then Strey lacked resolve.

No matter how much Lars and his faction tried to belittle Shou, they could no longer conceal just how thoroughly Strey had embarrassed himself.

“…”

And that truth began to shake Kiara’s own feelings.

(Strey… I never imagined you would disgrace yourself like that.)

Compared to Shou—whom Kiara had, for quite some time, been aware of as a “man”—Strey now seemed unbearably pitiful.

“I’ll never make you cry.”

“I’ll always protect you.”

“To claim happiness, I’ll fight too.”

The words Strey had once whispered to her now rang hollow.

It hadn’t just been Lars encouraging her. Those bold, passionate words from Strey had been what gave Kiara the courage to break off her engagement. But now, as she began to see Strey for what he truly was—a man so weak it made her flinch—Kiara felt as though the ground beneath her feet had begun to crumble away.