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 46

Not long after Cardinal Claiburg arrived, the food was served. It seemed that this meeting was meant to include a meal.

Even after being informed that Ie would be stepping away for a while, the deep wrinkles Cardinal Claiburg’s forehead remained.

The atmosphere was so tense that it felt like I was carrying a heavy weight on my back.

Since Cardinal Claiburg offered a prayer before eating, I followed suit. As expected of a devout believer, his prayer was quite long.

Taking advantage of the fact that he was invisible, Carbuncle criticized the food placed on the table.

“Hey! This looks absolutely disgusting! You shouldn’t eat it!”

He must have been making sure no one else could hear him. A passing server didn’t seem to notice Carbuncle’s incredibly rude comment.

The appetizer was a vegetable terrine. I took a bite after Cardinal Claiburg did.

It had almost no flavor, and the natural taste of the ingredients seemed completely lost. I could understand why Carbuncle called it disgusting—it tasted like something that was probably good for the body.

Cardinal Claiburg ate without changing his expression, so this must have been the usual flavor.

The soup was a clear broth with no ingredients. I thought that at least the broth would have some taste since it had to be simmered, but—was this just hot water? That’s how it felt. The color was rich, but the flavor was strangely absent.

There was no meat dish; only fish was served.

The server said it was a sautéed white fish, but where was the buttery aroma? Was that pepper, or grains of sand? The fish was completely tasteless.

The dessert was a jelly made from water—at least, that’s what I wanted to ask.

The entire meal was eaten in complete silence, with a heavy, awkward atmosphere lingering in the air.

Meanwhile, Carbuncle kept commenting, “That’s awful! See? I told you it would be terrible!” making it hard for me to hold back my laughter.

After the meal, they served tea that tasted like plain hot water.

At this moment, Cardinal Claiburg finally spoke to me.

“I thought he refused to marry for years, and then he suddenly brings along an older woman like you?”

This was the first time I had heard the word “older woman” directed at me by someone other than a dryad.

Oh, how I wanted to shove medicinal herbs into his mouth, this cheating bastard! The words almost escaped my lips, but I managed to swallow them down.

Sensing my anger, Carbuncle flew toward Cardinal Claiburg and threw a flurry of punches at him from a distance.

Maybe he felt a bit of the wind pressure, because the archbishop started looking around in confusion.

“Over here, you old geezer!”

Please, don’t make me laugh! And where did he even learn such crude language?

It had to be the dryad’s influence.

“It feels like there’s some out-of-season bug flying around.”

“Y-Yes, it seems that way.”

Carbuncle, now being compared to an insect, seemed furious, but this was entirely his own fault.

“More importantly, are you really planning to marry that man?”

“That is what His Excellency intends.”

“I’m asking about your own feelings, not his.”

“Me?”

If I were being honest, I thought a younger, cuter girl would suit him better.

Our ages, backgrounds, and positions were completely mismatched.

But I had never seen Ie look as happy as he did when talking about marriage. If he truly wished for it, I was willing to accept.

Thinking that way, I realized something—I must like Ie.

Unfortunately, I had come to this realization at the worst possible time.

Of course, I had no intention of sharing any of this with Cardinal Claiburg.

“His Majesty the Holy King has given his blessing, so I gladly accept.”

“I see.”

Cardinal Claiburg glanced at a priest standing behind him and gave a signal. The priest handed him a square, leather-bound case.

He tossed it onto the table.

When I opened it, I found it filled with gold bars.

I had thought he handled it quite easily for something so heavy, but then I noticed that a spell had been placed on the case to make it lighter.

“If you agree to break off the engagement and never see him again, you can have all this gold.”

“Wow.”

How underhanded.

“I prepared this on short notice since he wasn’t around. No one will ever know, so you can accept it without worry.”

It seemed he intended to use his wealth to force us apart.

“With this amount, a witch like you could live in luxury for the rest of your life.”

That might be true.

But spending my days in idle luxury would be no different from being dead while alive.

“I truly appreciate the offer, but—”

I slammed my foot against the underside of the table.

The gold bars rattled inside the case.

“I refuse!”

Without waiting to see Cardinal Claiburg’s reaction, I turned and left the room.

“Hey, wait!”

I could hear his shout and the panicked voice of the priest chasing after me, but Carbuncle made me invisible, allowing me to escape with ease.