Breaking Off the Engagement with the Demon King - Chapter 8

“…Kiara, what do you want to do? If you’re unhappy with this engagement, we can place the blame on him and have it annulled from his side.”

Lars spoke with uncharacteristic hesitation, but Kiara slowly shook her head.

“Father told me once… A warrior, when roused by the heat of battle, will inevitably become prey to his baser desires. If Shou took another woman during the campaign, I was to turn a blind eye. That’s what it means to be the wife of a frontier lord.”

Looking back, perhaps the reason a young, attractive woman like Soa had been placed at Shou’s side as his aide… was because even that role had been designed with such needs in mind.

“But—”

“It’s fine.”

Kiara cut Lars off before he could protest further.

At the time, she truly believed what she was saying.

But then came more reports. More shadows’ reports.
Time and time again, she heard that Shou and Soa had spent the night together.

Though Kiara tried to accept that soldiers had needs—especially during long campaigns—she had hoped at the very least for letters.
She had written often, sending her words filled with longing and hope… but Shou had never replied. Not once.

If it was only a fleeting, physical indulgence, she could forgive that.
But when the reports started to say that the relationship between Shou and Soa was growing deeper—more intimate—Kiara’s heart began to unravel.

Loneliness had already taken root in her. Now, betrayal watered it.
She was crumbling.

It was then—at her lowest—that he approached her.

Strey.

He said he couldn’t bear to see her like that every day.
She had known him, of course—he was a fellow student, a noble from a ducal house, and they had interacted several times as part of their social roles. But that day, when he reached out to her—Kiara noticed him for the first time.

Slender, graceful, his androgynous beauty was almost otherworldly.
In every way, he was the opposite of Shou.

And for the first time… Kiara’s heart skipped a beat.

She knew Strey was adored by many noble girls.
A living painting, a flawless figure carved from marble.
He was breathtaking.

And now… he was speaking to her every day.
Asking how she was. Worrying about her.

Kiara, caught between confusion and exhilaration, began to feel emotions she had never known—not even when she was with Shou.
Her heart began to flutter.

Perhaps it was the thrill, or perhaps it was the attention…
Whatever the reason, Kiara slowly began to return to her old self.
And with each passing day, her bond with Strey deepened.

“I would never do anything to dim your smile, Lady Kiara.”

“I curse fate. If only I had met you first… I would never have let another man have you.”

“Just a moment… Just a sliver of your time. Will you not grant it to me?”

He whispered sweet words like honey, and Kiara—who had never known how to resist—was slowly and completely consumed.

At first, she had thought of it as nothing more than a game.
A brief flirtation. A chance to finally experience what “love” felt like.

“If Shou can do it, then why not me? I can indulge a little, can’t I?”

Justifying herself with Shou’s supposed betrayal, Kiara dipped into her little affair with Strey, thinking it was harmless.
But before long, she was convinced—this wasn’t a game.
This was real love.

And just like that, her heart no longer belonged to Shou.

In her eyes, Strey was the man she was meant to be with.
He was her true partner, not Shou.

“I think it’ll be fine. If we blame Shou for the engagement’s end, we can make it work.”

With her brother Lars encouraging her from the sidelines, even Kiara—who had hesitated at first—finally made her decision.

She would end her engagement with Shou.

She gave no thought to what would come after.