I Supported My Fiancé for 10 Years After He Said, 'Let's Get Married When I Succeed,' but When He Finally Did, He Dumped Me. By the Way, I'm a Witch and Turning 30 Next Year!! - Episode 4
I was born as the fourth daughter of the Fouquet Baron family, a small noble house in the western territories.
My father had strengthened his status as a noble by arranging marriages for his daughters. However, this only lasted until my third eldest sister.
By the time it was my turn, the family had already exhausted the dowry funds. My father told me to marry someone willing to accept only jewelry and other small valuables as a dowry.
Of course, no one proposed to me. In the end, my father reluctantly applied for my debut in high society.
In the spring of my seventeenth year, I made my debut in the social scene of the Holy Capital.
However, as a daughter of a newly risen noble family with no substantial dowry, no one paid any attention to me.
It became unbearable to remain a wallflower, so I decided to take a walk in the garden.
Spring in the Holy Capital was a season of flowers, and the garden was filled with blooming roses.
Through magic, the flowers were kept blooming even at night. Under the glow of magic stone lamps, they flourished beautifully.
I had never been exposed to magic before, so I was deeply moved.
Just seeing these magical roses was enough to satisfy me.
As I walked through the garden, admiring the flowers, I encountered a young man who was also there to appreciate them.
That man was Rymer.
Since I was quite talkative, I started a conversation with him.
Through our talk, I learned that he was the second son of a Viscount family and, like me, was being ignored by everyone at the event.
As two people with similar circumstances, we quickly became close.
Even though he was born into a noble family, as a second son, he was not even allowed to call himself a noble. Moreover, he had no inheritance and had to build his own life from nothing.
His future options were limited—remain single for life, marry a wealthy wife to gain status, or rise through the ranks as a knight or a government official.
Rymer dreamed of becoming a Holy Knight.
A Holy Knight was an elite warrior tasked with protecting the Holy King and the Holy Maiden of the sacred nation of Heilig. Unlike ordinary knights, not just anyone could become one.
It required both exceptional skill and a significant financial investment.
Rymer spoke passionately about proving wrong those who had looked down on him by achieving his dream of becoming a Holy Knight.
To my seventeen-year-old self, he looked incredibly cool as he spoke.
However, at that time, Rymer was struggling to find a suitable marriage partner.
All the well-off women sought men with wealth and a guaranteed noble title in the future.
Still, Rymer refused to give up. Then, unexpectedly, he made me an offer.
“If neither of us is married in two years, why don’t we get engaged?”
It seemed that Holy Knights were given preferential treatment if they had a fiancée or wife.
Since they were considered role models for the people, having someone to protect was seen as a virtue.
To become a Holy Knight, he would need to find a fiancée sooner or later.
“If, in two years, neither of us has found someone better, let’s get engaged.”
Even though we had just met, Rymer suggested this to me.
From that point on, Rymer and I started exchanging letters once a month.
He was not particularly fond of writing, but he was delighted whenever I sent him specialties from my territory, such as ham, cheese, and wine.
As a way of supporting him, I continued to send him various food items every month.
This continued for two years. Since neither of us had found a spouse, we got engaged.
My family, knowing about our long exchange of letters, was pleased with the engagement.
Rymer’s parents also did not oppose our union.
With just a small amount of luggage, I moved to the royal capital, only to receive a shocking announcement.
“Rei, I’m sorry. I can’t marry you right away.”
“Why?”
“I don’t have enough money for the wedding… Also, to become a Holy Knight, I need expensive equipment called Holy Armor. If we get married now, I would only make you suffer.”
He believed that it was better to achieve success first before getting married.
From the way he spoke, my nineteen-year-old self assumed that he would rise through the ranks in two or three years.
I never imagined it would take him ten years to achieve his goal of becoming a Holy Knight.
“I understand. I will support you and wait for you.”
“Rei, thank you. I will protect you forever.”
He knelt on one knee, made this vow, and kissed the back of my hand.
It felt like something out of a romance novel, and my heart raced.
That moment was when my love for Rymer truly began.
Having little experience with men, I was easily deceived.
After that, Rymer and I started living together in a small apartment in the lower town.
The landlord was an acquaintance of my father, and he arranged for us to stay there for just one silver coin a month.
Rymer studied hard and trained his body to pass the Holy Knight exam.
To support him, I took care of the household chores like cooking and laundry.
At the time, Rymer was only a regular knight, earning about five silver coins a month—a meager salary.
When the time came for him to take the Holy Knight exam, we discovered that the entry fee was one gold coin.
Rymer asked me if he could take one gold coin from our wedding savings.
I thought it was a waste to spend the hard-earned money he had saved through work on a mere exam.
So instead, I sold my social debut dress and gave him the gold coin.
“Looking back now, that was my first mistake.”
Ten years later, I realized this mistake.
From that moment on, Rymer continued to ask me for money again and again.