Chapter 2Rigged to Miss, Won by a Prince

With a helpless sigh, Cedric pulled a jade hairpin from his sleeve and pressed it into my hand as an apology.

"All right, stop crying. Next year I'll hit the orb and bring you home as my wife. Just wait one more year."

The same old line.

I used to believe it. But I'd waited from fifteen to twenty, and he hadn't kept that promise even once.

I looked down at the hairpin, the one left over after Rosamund had picked through the rest. Then, while everyone stared in shock, I wiped away my tears and smashed it against the floor.

"Don't bother, Cedric. From now on, I'm not waiting for you anymore."

And not just the hairpin. I untied the blessing charm from my waist, slid the jade bracelet off my wrist, and took the letter breaking off our engagement, which I'd written long ago, out of my sleeve.

I threw all of it down in front of him.

The next second, Cedric gripped my hand hard.

"Evelina, I walked barefoot up the mountain to the abbey to get that charm for you the year you came of age! And that bracelet was our betrothal token! How dare you throw them away?"

He tore up the letter and stared at me in disbelief.

"We're getting married sooner or later anyway. Just because I missed the orb this time, you have to throw a tantrum and upset both our houses?"

Rosamund hurried over, took my arm, and nodded along.

"He's right, Evelina. After all these years, why fight with Cedric now?"

Even my parents frowned at me in disapproval.

"We really have spoiled you all these years if you think breaking off an engagement is some kind of game.

"Evelina, apologize to Cedric right now, and we'll pretend today never happened."

They said it with such righteous conviction, as if I'd always be the unreasonable one, and they, the ones who'd started all of it, would always be innocent.

Seeing Edmund guiltily avoid my eyes, I found the whole thing laughable.

I yanked my arm out of Rosamund's grip and looked Cedric calmly in the eye.

"I'm not throwing a tantrum, Cedric. I don't want these things anymore, and I don't want you either.

"If you and Rosamund are in love, just say so. Why keep up this fake act of wanting to marry me?"

The moment the words left my mouth, the whole room fell silent.

My parents looked mortified. Cedric's fists clenched, his face twisted with the anger of someone whose secret had just been exposed.

"What nonsense are you talking? Rosamund's like a little sister to me.

"We grew up together. Don't you know how I feel about you by now? Slandering me like this—Evelina, do you even have a heart?"

It was true. Cedric and I had grown up together.

He'd known since we were little that I was his future wife. So whenever someone picked on me during lessons, he'd step in without a second thought, shielding me behind him even if he got shoved around and came out of it looking like a mess.

Every year at the spring flower festival, countless girls in the capital tossed handkerchiefs and favors at him. But he only ever held my hand and led me through the sea of people, and beneath the lanterns, he made a sweeping, heartfelt vow.

"I, Cedric, want only to grow old with Evelina, for as long as I live.

"As God is my witness, if I ever break this vow, may He strike me down!"

But the earnest, devoted boy from back then had changed completely from the moment Rosamund was adopted into our family.

He used to stay by my side every minute of the day. After that, every other word out of his mouth was Rosamund.

Whatever gifts he sent—gold and silver jewelry, dresses, bolts of fabric—Rosamund got first pick of every single one. Only the leftovers ever made it to my room.

And now, just so he could openly stay by Rosamund's side, he'd missed for five whole years and put off the wedding he once couldn't wait for.

I swept my gaze over their faces, each wearing a different expression, and let out a mocking laugh.

"Whether I'm talking nonsense or not, you all know perfectly well.

"And I'm not treating this broken engagement like a game, either."

While they stared in disbelief, I pulled the orb with my name tied to it out of my sleeve.

"Cedric, the orb you missed for five years? Someone else hit it."