My Engagement was Cancelled so I will stop Pretending to be a Fool

With a sudden desire to see Olivia’s face, Alan went to the Atoir manor only to find that she went on a trip.

His younger brother, Cyrus also went on a trip at the same time so it’s natural to think that they are traveling together.

While still unable to understand why that is a shock to him, Alan returned to the castle with frustration.

(Cyrus certainly proposed to Olivia but I don’t remember Olivia accepting his proposal. Just why are they on a trip together now?)

In the first place, Alan did not find Cyrus’s proposal to Olivia amusing at all. Olivia was supposed to belong to Alan. What was he thinking proposing to Olivia when he just broke off his engagement with her. Such an action is not funny even as a joke.

After he returned to the castle, he found Tiana standing in front of his room. It appears that she has some business with him.

“What’s wrong? Why are you out here? You should have waited inside.”

Hearing that, Tiana cast her gaze at the guards in front of his room and sulkily explained.

“But these people didn’t let me in.”

Right. Alan’s room is filled with important documents. It’s understandable why the guards do not let anyone in when he was absent.

“I see. You guys, even when I’m away, you can let Tiana inside. Tiana, come on.”

When Alan opened the door, Tiana happily followed after him.

“Come to think of it, what happened to the paperwork I left in your care? If they are too difficult then……”

“Ahh! That! It’s okay! There’s no problem at all.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes!”

“That’s fine, I guess…….”

Alan was a little doubtful but he nodded along since the person said it herself.

Then, Tiana starts chatting with him while eating the cake prepared by the maid. But, why? Listening to Tiana like this, Alan doesn’t think that it is as fun as it used to be.

After Tiana was satisfied with her chat, she was informed that her teachers have been looking for her and Tiana reluctantly returns to her room.

When Tiana left, Alan sank his back into the sofa.

“…….if it’s Olivia then-”

He thought suddenly.

Olivia was not very talkative. She always has a nice tone, a nice tempo and is the type that always speaks quietly. It’s only been a month but he terribly misses that.

Of course, it’s also true that he thought of those times as boring.

She never talked about herself and when Alan talked to her, she would only give him a bland reply.

She doesn’t even get angry when Alan calls her a fool around her and her eyebrows don’t even flinch when others jeer at her.

Sometimes Olivia was so quiet that he seriously doubted that she was an emotionless doll.

“…….a fool, huh.”

He tried saying it out loud.

Alan had always thought of Olivia as a fool. He thought that she didn’t receive any education at all. But the person in charge of the princess education, Wattle, as well as Alan’s aide, Bucks, all says that Olivia is a genius.

At first, Alan doubted their words but from the recent exchange with Prince Edward of Philarush, he began to think that what they said might be the case.

If so, why did Olivia pretend to be a fool?

Alan closed his eyes and thought back.

Then, he suddenly stood up with his eyes wide.

There is only one incident that came to his mind.

That’s right—–it was probably around a year or so after he got engaged to Olivia. One time, Alan disappointed his teacher and was compared to Olivia so he said–

—–People would think that I’m a fool when I’m standing next to you so you just pretend to be an idiot from now on. Don’t you go learn anything now alright!

Come to think of it, it was since then. That was the moment Olivia began to act strange.

Without thinking, he tried to keep Wattle who was in charge of Olivia’s education away from her. However, that was only meant to be a harmless prank. When he went away, he thought that Wattle would just begin his lesson for Olivia like usual and didn’t think much about it.

Perhaps because of that, Olivia did end up not receiving Wattle’s lessons. On the other hand, Alan himself completely forgot about what he said to Olivia and decided on his own that his fiancee’s a fool who always lazes around.

“Don’t tell me, Olivia had been taking what I said seriously all these times……..”

Alan covered his face with both hands.

The fool here isn’t Olivia—————–it was him.

However, even if he notices it now, he can’t do anything to fix the past. At that moment, Alan had no choice but to curse his own foolishness.

The town of Deborah was a prosperous town.

The place looked pretty much the same as she remembered it but when she saw it for the first time in a long time, the town was many times richer than she recalled it to be.

The road was well-maintained with cobblestones. The market is lively. The houses were newly built and even the clothes the people here are wearing are indicating that they are quite well off.

As far as he can see, there’s nothing suspicious-looking here.

The account books she looked at the castle said that the place is [Normal]. The town itself is also [Normal]. Thinking about it normally, there’s nothing abnormal about this.

There, Cyrus and Olivia decided to visit the town mayor for a greeting.

The Count who manages this area is currently away from the territory at the capital. In other words, he did not know that Cyrus and Olivia were coming. She thought that it might be okay since the Count should think of Olivia as a [fool] as well but this is just in case.

When Cyrus and Olivia visited the mayor’s house, they were greeted by the nervous mayor. Since they did not notify them about their visit in advance, it must have been a surprise to him. After all, a prince suddenly paid him a visit.

After a light exchange with the mayor, it doesn’t seem that he’s suspicious so they simply apologized for their abrupt visit.

The reason they paid him a sudden visit was that they expect the mayor to act suspicious if he’s guilty of something but perhaps it was unnecessary to surprise the poor man like that.

After that, Olivia and Cyrus walked around the town before heading back to the royal villa.

At the villa, Ritzberg, a subordinate of Cyrus who was sent to investigate the town in advance, was waiting for them.

When the two entered the salon, Ritzberg stood up to greet them. He is a relative of Colin, Cyrus’s personal escort so it appears that he’s a trustworthy and capable man.

They have asked Ritzberg to investigate the changes in the town people and the income and expenditures of the town itself, this also included the changes in the town industries.

The documents he prepared were piled up on the desk.

After this, Ritzberg was actually planning to cross over to Winbal immediately but Cyrus had a maid guide him to his room so that he can at least relax for a day.

In the meantime, Olivia just read through the documents but suddenly, her hand stopped.

“…….this might be even bigger than we expected.”

Olivia passed the document to Cyrus who immediately frowned after he saw it.