Chapter 253: The Illusion Of Choice
"...They had been watching you all along, hadn’t they?" It seems like my guess was right.
Because there’s no way such a powerful family would let their ’failed investment’ slip through their fingers so easily, especially when her ’price’ was skyrocketing nonstop.
"That’s right." She nodded, her expression bitter.
"Almost every move I made, every victory I thought I earned through my own cunning and strength..."
"They orchestrated it all. I even started to suspect that they were somehow controlling me, manipulating my very thoughts and decisions." Her hands clenched into fists. "I thought I had broken free from their control, that I had finally become author of my own story. But I was still dancing to their tune, just on a longer leash."
She won the game but lost the board; was that it? To change that much, to do all that in a short amount of time, she clearly fits the role of a protagonist.
"And of course," she continued with a sardonic smile. "They had already found another fiancé for me. Someone younger this time, more presentable to the public eye after the marquis scandal. They wanted to repeat that same scenario."
"You don’t mean that red-haired guy, do you?" I asked, the pieces clicking into place.
"Yes, it’s that guy, Thaddeus. Handsome, charming, politically connected, and completely unaware that he was just another pawn in their game, though perhaps a more willing one than I ever was."
Yeah, I could guess it as much. That guy wanted women, money, from what I heard and saw after all. He probably didn’t care who he would end up with as long as he was ’free’ to do what he wanted.
And that was his mistake.
"...You didn’t give up, right?" Although I knew the answer, I wanted the conversation to keep going. I wanted to know more about her.
"Hmm." That fierce fire returned to her eyes. "Because by then, I had learned from my mistakes with the marquis. I knew they were watching, knew they were trying to predict and control my moves. So I started playing a deeper game."
"I used everything I had - the system, the powers it granted, the memories, my own innate powers, experience, every connection I’d made."
"But it didn’t exactly go well. I failed repeatedly. But I learned from each failure, and slowly began to operate in ways they couldn’t control or predict."
"It took about two years," She admitted. "But gradually, I started to break free from their web influence. I ’left’ the duchy. I built my own merchant network in territories they had no reach in, established relationships with people who didn’t fear them or owed nothing, created resources they couldn’t seize or manipulate."
Her expression grew more confident, more like the formidable woman I knew her to be.
"Now, they can’t directly interfere with me anymore. Well, they still try, through intermediaries, political pressure, and economic manipulation, but they can no longer simply dictate my fate with a signed contract. And..."
"That’s why breaking of the engagement with Thaddeus was so important, right?" I asked.
"You really understand me well." She grinned again. "And yeah, it was my declaration of independence, the final proof that I was no longer their obedient, clueless pawn, that I had truly become a player in my own right."
"That’s amazing. I can’t find the words to describe how inspiring your journey is, Cassandra."
I truly couldn’t find them.
But I now understand why she reacted strongly in those moments, when she ’wrecked’ everyone during the noble’s peril scenario, or how she treated princess Sara, and even the Carmine girl. She probably saw herself, her past within them. Although her words might have hurt and sounded harsh, they were the truth.
"To stand where you are now after everything they put you through - you are truly remarkable."
"Alright, thank you, but you can stop flattering me now." Cassandra waved her hand dismissively, but she couldn’t hide that smirk from me. "But, I heard something interesting from your mother, you know. About an engagement."
Hmm? Why is the atmosphere a bit cold?
More importantly, did she find out about the tradition between the shield families? Was my guess really correct?
"Oh, so you know about it? Didn’t you say you have no memories of the past?" She asked again, crossing her arms.
"Oh, about that, I found out a while ago, too," I decided to be honest. And I might need her help when the time comes, too. "I was just researching and stumbled upon the details of engagement tradition between our families. It seems it’s quite an old agreement. But I didn’t know whether our families talked about it yet, now you said it yourself, it seems like they have, huh?"
Cassandra nodded thoughtfully. "I’m really speechless. We are really in many ways. Even in this arranged marriage, things."
"You don’t say." I chuckled at the irony. "By the way, can you tell me the details? What did Mother tell you?"
"Hmm... She said the girl’s guardian came to their castle one day and told them about you and her ’daughter’, that you both should be engaged and then eventually get married in the future. What’s more, she apparently told your mother that you had already agreed to it."
I blinked, confusion washing over me.
"Wait, what?" I shook my head, a frown creasing my forehead. "That doesn’t add up at all."
"Why?" Cassandra asked curiously.
"Well, like I said, I have no memories of my past, but I recently found out that she and I had no connection at all," I explained. "By the way, did she tell you when she came? Was it before I lost my memories after all?"
Cassandra pondered for a moment, her brow furrowing as she tried to recall the details.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "Your mother said it was around the middle of the autumn, two months after you left for the new academy."
My frown deepened.
What’s going on? Did I really have a connection with her? With her ? Or was the other party lying?
"That can’t be right. I didn’t meet anyone or talk about this topic before..."
I searched through my memories. Nope, not a clue.
"And certainly not about agreeing to an ’engagement’."
Wait...!
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