The broken engagement between Edward Hans and Eleanor Stikov made the front page of every newspaper.
One headline read:
— The Misfortune of Eleanor Stikov, Unlucky in Love! The First Noble Lady to Experience Three Broken Engagements.
Stella shredded the newspaper apart with a string of vicious curses. Watching the scraps flutter through the air, Eleanor calmly sipped her tea.
“You just let that bastard go?”
“No. I threw tea in his face.”
“And his cheek?”
“I left that alone.”
“What?! You should’ve slapped him!”
Stella fumed as if the betrayal had happened to her personally. Eleanor poked a piece of cake with her fork and pushed it into her friend’s mouth.
Even while chewing, Stella continued swearing at Edward.
“You should’ve kicked him between the legs and made him a eunuch.”
“Instead, I wrung a huge penalty fee out of him. I took the only mine his family owns.”
“And what are you supposed to do with that tiny thing?”
Eleanor merely smiled.
To Stella, the beloved youngest daughter of one of the richest marquis families in the Empire, a small gold mine naturally seemed insignificant.
But Eleanor was satisfied. Her parents had transferred ownership of the mine entirely into her name.
After three broken engagements, at least her purse had grown heavier. Every man who fell for her fiancée’s younger sister had paid dearly for it.
“Tell that jerk to watch his back at night. If I run into him, I might accidentally kill him.”
“I’m really fine, Stella. It’s already over. I got compensation too, so I should let it go.”
“Eleanor…”
Stella’s eyes drooped sadly.
Seeing Eleanor so composed even after such a humiliating engagement breakup somehow hurt more.
Grateful for the friend who became angry on her behalf, Eleanor quietly took Stella’s hand.
“I really am okay. It’s not like I loved him that much.”
She had thought he was decent enough and tried to love him. So perhaps she had loved him a little—but not deeply enough to shatter over it.
Though the bitterness lingering in her mouth could not be helped.
The day she told her parents about the broken engagement, Eleanor abandoned every lingering attachment she had toward Edward.
A single weak tear had slipped out.
That was all.
That tiny drop was the entirety of her feelings for him.
“So what are you going to do now? Weren’t you planning to get married and leave home?”
“I’m not sure.”
To distance herself from Lydia, Eleanor had tried to build an independent household through marriage.
In this world, it was not easy for a woman to live independently without a reason. Marriage was the fastest path for a woman to separate herself from her family.
That was why Eleanor had deliberately chosen men Lydia would never want.
And yet, as though even that luxury was forbidden to the heroine’s older sister, every single man she became engaged to eventually drifted toward Lydia instead.
The problem was that this had already happened three times.
Her value in the marriage market had undoubtedly plummeted.
Maybe I should just give up on marriage altogether.
Few men would willingly marry a woman who had already experienced three broken engagements.
Besides, after what happened with Edward, Eleanor no longer believed in this method.
No matter how ordinary or unimpressive a man she carefully selected, fate still made him fall in love with Lydia.
If she kept clinging to hopeless marriages, Eleanor would remain trapped forever as nothing more than the heroine’s older sister.
It was time to find another path.
“I’ll have to think of a different way.”
Taking a bite of the strawberry atop her cake, Eleanor smiled brightly.
After extracting a promise from Stella that she would slap Edward on sight if they ever crossed paths, Eleanor returned to the Stikov Count estate.
Stella was the only friend this world had allowed Eleanor to have.
Most noble ladies either became Lydia’s devoted followers or envied and resented her too much to grow close to Eleanor.
But Stella was different.
Perhaps because she never appeared in the original novel, she belonged to neither side, and thus could become Eleanor’s friend.
As Eleanor stepped out of the carriage and headed toward the mansion, she suddenly halted at the sight of several lavish carriages lined up by the garden.
The ornate crests emblazoned on them made it obvious that they had arrived.
When Eleanor spotted even the imperial crest among them, she quickly picked up her pace.
“My lady, welcome home.”
Her attempted escape was cut short almost immediately.
The butler, who had come to greet the eldest young lady, faithfully fulfilled his duty.
“His Highness the Crown Prince is here.”
Knowing royalty was present and failing to greet them without proper cause was considered a crime.
It could be interpreted as insulting the imperial family.
If she wished to avoid unnecessary punishment, she had no choice but to go.
Just thinking about seeing the Crown Prince—and the others—already exhausted Eleanor.
Since she had clearly gone out in good health, pretending to be ill would not work either. The servants all assumed without the slightest doubt that she would naturally go pay her respects.
“I shall guide you.”
Before Eleanor could say anything, the butler began walking.
Left with no choice, she followed with reluctant steps.
Of all times, it had to be immediately after the broken engagement. She had deliberately avoided meeting them for this very reason.
Unable to think of an excuse, Eleanor followed the butler to where Lydia and the others were gathered.
As always, they were inside the glass greenhouse decorated entirely to Lydia’s tastes.
After announcing Eleanor’s arrival, the butler withdrew.
Pretending nothing was wrong, Eleanor stepped before them.
Their polished faces gleamed beautifully beneath the sunlight.
She first bowed toward the man seated to Lydia’s left, lifting the hem of her dress gracefully.
“Eleanor Stikov greets Your Highness the Crown Prince. I apologize for not remaining at the estate to receive you, as I was unaware you would visit.”
Of course, had she known, she would not have returned home until evening.
As she lifted her head after speaking those hollow pleasantries, a man sitting with crossed legs like a sculpture entered her view.
Glossy black hair.
Deep violet eyes reminiscent of amethysts.
Sharp and elegant features carved with breathtaking precision.
Crown Prince Leopold.
He lazily inclined his head.
Relaxing her posture, Eleanor folded her hands neatly before her.
The Crown Prince being inside the greenhouse of a mere count’s family was not surprising at all.
After all, that “mere count’s family” belonged to the heroine.
“Where have you been, Lady Eleanor?”
A man with silver hair like finely spun silver thread and brilliant golden eyes smiled warmly as he spoke.
It was Ernst Lerner—the Marquis of Lerner and Lydia’s childhood friend.
The Lerner Marquisate and the Stikov County had been close for generations, so Eleanor and Ernst had known each other for a long time.
More accurately, Ernst had frequently visited to see Lydia since childhood, and Eleanor naturally crossed paths with him because of it.
Still, Ernst treated Eleanor reasonably well.
Compared to the others, his attitude was remarkably gentle.
“I had tea with Lady Stella Maxill.”
“I see.”
“She seems perfectly cheerful for someone who just broke off an engagement.”
The mocking voice belonged to Vincent, a man with dark red hair like blooming roses and blue eyes similar to Eleanor’s own.
He was the complete opposite of Ernst when it came to his treatment of Eleanor.
Since his lack of manners was hardly new, Eleanor chose not to respond.
Instead, Lydia—who sat beside him—immediately snapped at him.
“Vince! Don’t speak to my sister like that!”
“Ah, okay. Sorry.”
Vincent instantly backed down.
After a careless apology, he immediately turned back toward Lydia.
He looked ready to wag his tail like a dog greeting its owner, and Eleanor nearly laughed inwardly.
The man who never spared her a single kind word became utterly anxious and attentive whenever it came to Lydia.
“Vincent isn’t entirely wrong.”
A cold voice speaking with flawless aristocratic refinement defended him.
“If this is your third broken engagement, wouldn’t it be wiser to refrain from social outings for a while?”
Sinclair Tess elegantly set down his teacup.
His dazzling golden hair, like melted pure gold, and clear turquoise eyes stood out vividly.
Seated amid the blooming flowers, he resembled a perfectly cultivated narcissus blossom.
“The gossip papers are making fortunes off your engagement scandal.”
“It’s not Sister’s fault! They were the ones who changed their minds and broke it off. It was completely one-sided and rude!”
Lydia clenched her fists indignantly, her flushed cheeks turning rosy.
With her pale pink hair half tied back and a light green dress matching her eyes, she looked as lovely as ever today.
Eleanor had deliberately concealed the real reason behind her broken engagement with Edward Hans.
Publicly, she simply announced that Edward’s feelings had changed.
If it became known Lydia was involved, the gossip papers would go wild—and so would the men before her.
Eleanor had no desire to make the situation even messier.
“Still, it would be best if you behaved more cautiously from now on, Lady Stikov.”
Lightly tapping his teacup, Leopold spoke.
Without thinking, Eleanor looked toward him, only to hurriedly lower her gaze again.
Looking directly at royalty without permission was considered rude.
After staring at her for a moment, Leopold slowly raised one eyebrow.
“Raise your head, my lady.”
His displeased voice suggested he disliked the sight of her standing there with lowered eyes and hands placed modestly over her chest.
Eleanor lifted her head and faced his flawless features.
“Your actions affect not only your personal honor, but the honor of your family as well.”
His jewel-like violet eyes sharpened within his deep, elegant gaze.
“So whoever you choose to associate with in the future, behave more carefully.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Edward Hans had already been someone she had chosen carefully.
But Eleanor accepted the reprimand without excuse.
In the end, what he truly meant was simple:
Do not do anything that might damage Lydia’s reputation.
“I will conduct myself more prudently from now on so as not to bring shame upon the Stikov name.”
Eleanor added the words smoothly enough to satisfy Leopold.
He parted his lips as though about to say something else, then apparently decided that was sufficient and remained silent.
Still, this was relatively mild.
Leopold was hardly the only one worried about the Stikov family’s reputation for Lydia’s sake.
“People have started whispering about Lydia too, and it concerns me. I’d feel more at ease if you exercised a little restraint, Lady Eleanor.”
“Who would welcome the fact that their older sister has had three broken engagements? Even if it isn’t your fault, perhaps you should spend some time reflecting on yourself.”
“Lydia’s too kind for her own good. At least try caring half as much as your sweet little sister worries about you. You cause all the trouble and show no remorse.”
There was no point arguing with Ernst, Sinclair, or Vincent.
Eleanor was not the heroine.
Lydia was.
They were the male leads from My Beloved Lady.
And Eleanor, merely the heroine’s extra older sister, held absolutely no influence over them.
No matter how often Lydia defended her, all it accomplished was strengthening Lydia’s image as a kind-hearted heroine who cared for her sister.
Nothing truly changed.
“I will remember all of your advice carefully.”
Eleanor curved her lips into a perfect smile.
This was exactly why she had avoided seeing them after the broken engagement.
She already knew they would scold her for causing trouble that might affect Lydia.
But now that they had met and she had heard their unpleasant words, there was no undoing it.
So Eleanor fulfilled her own role as well.
“After all, Lydia is the person I love most in this world.”
It was the perfect answer for an extra sister devoted to the heroine.
