“Do you really think this engagement could have been perfectly nullified by such ‘heartfelt’ pleading? To the point where there’s not a trace left?”

Valentine was speechless at those words.

They were right.

In truth, he hadn’t expected it to work so well in one go.

It was a perfect and clean result, almost unbelievable that it was due to his actions.

That’s why he had been skeptical for days, cooped up in his room. He kept expecting a royal messenger to fly into the Wiche Viscount’s house with a telegram canceling the agreement at any moment.

‘But it never came.’

Although hard to believe, the matter was already settled.

And the only apparent cause was what he had done. If not for that, the timing couldn’t have matched so perfectly.

“It may be hard to believe, but the matter has already been resolved so cleanly.”

Valentine said lightly, shrugging his shoulders. Whether Clifton dismissed him as a flower garden or not, facts were facts.

“Since I heard this news right after my letter was delivered, it’s hard for me to believe that what I did had no effect in this matter.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. Your Highness can think whatever you like. I’ll believe that this happened because I did well.”

Valentine snorted quietly and turned his head towards the scenery passing outside the carriage. It didn’t matter whether Clifton believed it or not.

And to tell the truth, it was indeed because of Valentine’s actions that this result came about.

If Valentine hadn’t encountered Reynard at the ball that night and spent the night with him, this would never have happened. The only difference was that Reynard was the one who applied the pressure.

So while Valentine was completely unaware of the most important fact, he did have a share in the cause.

Wealthy mansions lining the streets passed by outside the carriage window.

Clifton frowned and rubbed his temples as he watched Valentine’s relieved expression.

“Anyway, what you claim to have done has given me a headache.”

“A headache?”

Despite trying to ignore it, those words were impossible to disregard. Valentine’s bewildered question was reflected in his voice.

“I thought Your Highness would thank me for resolving our engagement issue. Or at least, I thought you’d be grateful.”

“Grateful?”

“Yes! Didn’t you despise and look down on me that much?”

The implication was that from the beginning, it was you, Clifton, who hated and despised our engagement the most. It was a fact Valentine didn’t even want to utter out of irritation, but he couldn’t help but say it.

He had to know the truth and the end of this ambiguity.

[I said there wouldn’t be a marriage, but I never said I didn’t want the engagement.]

The words Clifton had said when they met in front of Empress Beatrice’s palace last time flashed through Valentine’s mind again.

He needed to know why Clifton had been saying such things since last time, for the sake of his future, for a smoother life without any hindrances.

“That’s true.”

Although it was a known fact, hearing it directly affirmed by the person in question was a different story. Valentine let out an incredulous laugh at Clifton, who had thrown manners into the gutter. As the object of contempt for the past five years, anger boiled up again.

“But as I said then, I didn’t think you were useless. Your utility was great.”

“It’s rude to talk about a person’s utility to their face.”

“The real rudeness was when you snorted at royalty earlier.”

He seemed to have noticed everything despite appearing not to.

“I had made all my plans based on our engagement, you know. It’s become troublesome.”

Clifton said, rubbing his temples.

Judging from his long-term image-making for himself and his lover since his teens, he seemed to be quite the planner, but was today’s persistence all because of that ‘plan’? Should I compliment him on his tremendous life planning and will to execute it? After all, the Clifton in the original work was also an incredibly planned and meticulous character. It was natural since the original novel itself was a history of victory where he overcame all weaknesses and deficiencies to gradually and strategically seize the throne.

“Your Highness! You’re truly shameless.”

But saying it outright was a different context.

“See, this is real rudeness.”

That shamelessness of pointing out Valentine’s rudeness over his own until the end…!

“Since we’re both being rude, let’s put aside the talk of rudeness for now.”

“Fine.”

The conversation, which had seemed like a childish argument, calmed down a bit.

Valentine felt this was the moment to ask for the truth.

“I’ve wanted to ask since last time. What were you thinking to maintain the engagement? I need to hear why you’re being so persistent, what utility I still have for you.”

Clifton’s handsome face rarely showed surprise, as if he thought a sharp question had come from a slow person.

“So your head’s not completely useless after all?”

“…!”

“If I had known you were this kind of person earlier, I would have hurried the engagement. It’s really a shame. Not knowing this, I took my time and got blindsided…”

Valentine’s mouth fell open in disbelief.

“Your Highness…! Don’t you… Don’t you feel sorry for Evener Luwin at all?”

This was what Valentine really wanted to say. It was the thought that immediately came to mind when he heard last time that Clifton had intentionally maintained the engagement.

Although Evener was someone Valentine couldn’t like even a bit, and was equally terrifying and hateful, this case was an exception.

‘If you really thought that way, isn’t he completely a victim…?’

It was understandable why he had hated Valentine.

The parents of his beloved lover wanted someone else. And that lover, while verbally professing love for him, was internally agreeing to an engagement with another. If this wasn’t a secret betrayal behind his back, what was it? Evener was smart enough to graduate top of his class at the Academy full of alphas, and quick-witted. Moreover, being perceptive, he must have known all of this.

Thinking this way, sympathy welled up for the person he disliked.

“…My Evener is a very intelligent person.”

“That’s not an answer.”

Valentine’s mind was filled with coldness.

“The future I envision is far greater and more magnificent than you can imagine. And my lovely lover understands that perfectly.”

As soon as he heard those words, a hollow laugh escaped Valentine’s lips out of disbelief.

‘No, it seems Evener Luwin didn’t understand at all?’

Clifton should have seen the expression Evener made in front of Valentine. If anyone else had seen how he directed all his anger and resentment towards Valentine as the cause…! If anyone had seen that even once, they wouldn’t be able to say he ‘understands.’

“Regardless of my lover, I want to say that our union was a politically very beneficial relationship.”

Clifton’s true feelings were revealed without any pretense.

“If you wished for a political alliance with our family, it shouldn’t have been done this way.”

“…Then are you saying I should have genuinely welcomed our union and loved you?”

Love without any feelings? Clifton sneered.

“No. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have despised and disliked me when the engagement talks came up. This isn’t about complaints or whining like that.”

After regaining memories of his past life, all perceptions of the 3rd Prince Clifton Leopold were at their worst.

No matter how much he had sorted out everything else and fully accepted the political union with Valentine, agreeing to the engagement, the union would not have happened.

Because Valentine, the person involved, would have strongly opposed it. Living a lifetime beside such a calculating alpha was absolutely out of the question for him.

‘Apart from the disastrous ending, he’s really someone I can’t warm up to.’

Just looking at his current behavior proves it.

To express regret like this to a potential strategic marriage partner while having a lover… It was a move unthinkable for someone who had worked hard with the media from early on to create their image.

Listening to him speak, Valentine could vaguely see the blueprint he might have drawn. It seemed he wanted to play the victim of an unavoidable strategic engagement forced by the older generation, while simultaneously trying to squeeze out all the benefits. Just like in the original work.

‘I didn’t know he was this kind of person, but to think he was someone who wouldn’t keep faith even with a lover. No, he used that faith as an excuse to exploit both sides. The more I know, the worse it gets.’

Valentine could no longer believe in the Clifton from the original work either. To think all of that was calculated behavior…

“If you desired a political alliance with our family, Your Highness would have known there were plenty of normal other ways.”

There were many methods, starting from simply showing support.

The Wiche Viscount’s family becoming a family that politically supported the 3rd Prince. Or collaborating in some other way, anything.

But Clifton didn’t choose those methods.

Did he think those weren’t enough? Or did he have other ulterior motives?

Valentine shook his head. Whatever it was, such questions and concerns were now pointless.

He didn’t want to understand what Clifton in front of him was thinking. He had confirmed the prince’s true intentions and verified that he was a completely useless piece of trash, so he didn’t want to exchange any more words. With a sigh, Valentine confirmed the familiar scenery outside the window and bid farewell to him.

“I hope we never meet alone like this again in the future.”

“…”

“The engagement talks that have been dragging on since five years ago have completely fallen through. Your Highness is nothing to me.”

He pointed out the rudeness and impropriety of forcibly creating a private moment with an adult omega.

“I’ll be getting off first, so farewell.”