My Engagement Got Broken, But I Don’t Remember Getting Engaged in the First Place - Chapter 8

Any reproduction, distribution or other type of use of these translations elsewhere is not allowed. In other words, do not repost. Hosted exclusively at Foxaholic. Translated by lacusky.

Immediately after Elias left, another grayish-brown haired gentleman entered the restaurant.

Just as she wondered why he came back, Nora noticed that even though his hair color was the same, his eye color was different.

As soon as Allan saw Nora, he gestured for her to come over. Although it was troublesome, Nora decided to approach him. Because he came to dine properly at the restaurant, he was a customer that Nora was thankful to.

“I just saw Elias come out. Did the two of you fight?”

Ordering liquor with a natural gesture, Allan didn’t seem like the same haughty nobleman she first met.

“No, I wouldn’t say it was exactly a fight.”

After all, everything started with their bet. It’s probably over the moment she said, “I don’t think we should still be friends.”

“Then, will you accept me now?”

“What?”

“Won’t you be engaged with me once again? If I propose, will you think about it?”

Nora didn’t quite understand what he meant but Allan was waiting patiently for her reply.

“I refused because I didn’t want to be your second wife. I also made it clear to Sophia.”

“I see.” Allan took a sip of his ordered drink and heaved a sigh.

“As expected, Elias is better, huh. It can’t be me. Is it because you’re old acquaintances?”

“Huh? Who are?”

“You and Elias.”

Nora shook her head, expressing her failure to remember.

“I heard that when you were young, you helped Elias who had gotten lost. You beautifully sang him a song to cheer him up as he was anxiously crying. Was I wrong?”

Something like that didn’t seem to have happened.

Nora often played in the downtown area, so taking care of children became a daily routine.

“You told him you would protect him. He said it sounded really encouraging.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

Those words brought back memories from when she was young.

There was a rare instance when a child of nobility got lost in the alley. He was crying so she went to cheer him up.

It was a handsome child with grayish-brown hair.

Speaking of which, Elias used the same words to a lost child.

Was it the same thing I said?

Earlier, he asked her if she sang to kids and she wondered how he knew.

Is that also because he has listened to me before?

“That was Elias? But that happened when we were young, he surprisingly remembered well…”

Nora had already forgotten about it until now.

“In that case, how did he know it was me?”

“He only remembered the name Nora. I mean, you didn’t even remember…”

“That’s because everyday, lots of children get lost. Although, children of nobility were rare…”

“I’ve heard the story of ‘beautiful singer Nora’ so often that I’m sick of it.”

“That… must’ve been tough.”

“Elias came across this restaurant by accident about a year ago. At that time, he heard you sing. You looked vaguely familiar but when he heard your voice, he knew right away.”

He probably asked the staff to confirm her name. Even without it, he most likely already knew.

If it was Nora, that would’ve been impossible.

“At that time, a marriage proposal came to us. It said any of the Marquis Callum’s sons was fine.”

Perhaps it couldn’t be helped as upper-ranked nobilities, but that was still an extremely rude marriage proposal.

“Because it was such a glib proposal meant to establish ties with the family, Elias was the more suitable candidate as he was the successor. But he refused and told our parents he had someone he liked.” Allan shook his glass and sighed.

“If I took the engagement instead, I would become the successor. Elias said he was fine with that. So our parents had no choice but to relent.”

Thanks to that, he became the successor but Allan’s expression darkened.

“I didn’t want to be the successor. I thought that as part of the House of Marquis, I wouldn’t have any choice in my marriage. But thinking that Elias would be able to marry the person he liked made me furious. I felt even more unnerving because that was also what I wanted.”

Allan took a swig of his drink and eventually the topic shifted to the cancellation of the engagement.

“Elias received consent from your parents so he started the engagement procedure. But there was a mistake in the papers filed at the Royal Castle and I became your fiance instead. Elias immediately asked for a change but wasn’t able to.”

“Why?”

“Because I refused.” Allan laughed and downed the rest of his drink.

“I haven’t been able to beat Elias in anything no matter what I do. As twins, we’ve always been compared with each other. I’ve always been jealous of him.”

Come to think of it, Elias did say, “there’s always been a strong rivalry between us.”

“You mean, you did it to spite him?”

“That’s right. I know, it was foolish of me.”

Even if it’s temporary, he was willing to stay engaged to someone he didn’t even know. Nora couldn’t understand it but it seems like his jealousy was a bit twisted.

“As the official fiance, if I refused, Elias wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. Application and authorization were necessary for both engagement and cancellation. It wasn’t proper to cancel it so quickly so our parents didn’t allow it as well. I thought… that if I got married just like that, Elias would become the successor instead.”

“Then, was it your parents’ idea that I wasn’t informed about it?”

Perhaps they wanted to let time pass and keep it secret until the cancellation.

“No, it was Elias’ idea.”

As Nora tilted her head in puzzlement, Allan ordered another glass of drink.

Because it was another expensive drink, she wanted to say thank you but held back.

“Elias contacted the Kranz family as soon as he learned about the mistake. But because your father accepted the engagement on your behalf, he didn’t tell you. He probably found the sudden engagement with the House of Marquis suspicious. Only when it was formalized was he planning to tell you. But it was all in vain.”

I don’t understand my father’s feelings.

If it was Nora, rather than trusting half-heartedly, she would’ve doubted everything.

“It was difficult to quickly cancel my engagement with you. But being engaged meant that you wouldn’t be caught by another man. Elias used that to his advantage.”

“I don’t quite understand.”

“If you knew you were engaged to me, you’d be conscious of me. To prevent that, they kept it a secret. It was also to keep obstacles out of the way. I never wanted to be engaged so I didn’t tell anyone nor did I bother contacting you. And if your parents didn’t tell others as well, no one would know. On top of that, he tried to search for an easy way to cancel the engagement.”

Indeed, if she knew who she was engaged to, she’d be conscious of him.

Even if there wasn’t love, knowing that you’ll eventually be together will make you see each other in a different light.

“Nobody mentioned your name, and at evening parties, I danced with other girls… So, I ended up forgetting about the engagement.” As he was about to take another sip of his drink, he abruptly stopped.

“That’s what he also expected.” Rather than to Nora, the explanation seemed to be directed to himself.

Nora became infamous for being the discarded young noble daughter.

Even though it wasn’t exactly the truth, it’s still pathetic and embarrassing. And although it has already been cancelled, there was no use explaining what happened as well.

Even if she explained the situation, it didn’t change the fact that the engagement was cancelled.

Allan just shrugged his shoulders in amusement.

“That’s probably because you said you wouldn’t cancel the engagement.”

T/N: Poor Allan. Lol.

Special thanks to YinofYang for sending me kofi!