Marceline

He did not take his education as seriously as others, and there was no other heir to spur on his competitive spirit.

What made matters worse was that his parents often let him get away with various things and did not force him to do much.

Everything seemed like it would be okay since he would have someone capable by his side to provide wise counsel.

Unfortunately, her attempts to provide such counsel were not received too well, and he soon grew tired of her nagging.

Another major problem that emerged later was due to the strict and honest personality of Marceline, who could not hold back when correcting others and pointing out their flaws.

She was someone who was brought up very strictly, so what was expected of her as a noble lady would be thought of as something that other nobles should aim for.

Misunderstandings and poor choices of words had ended up resulting in a strained relationship with Prince Francis, while others were upset by her resulting in rumours being spread about her.

It was a well-known fact among the nobility that she was someone who liked to pick on others, and she was using her status as the future Queen to harass them, so there were a large number of rumours and names spread about her.

She was referred to as a villainess while others called her a prickly princess, along with a long list of other nicknames.

Her reputation had fallen greatly, and so had her relationship with Prince Francis.

All that was left was a feeling of loss as she stared at the man in front of her, who was holding onto another woman as if protecting her.

What made it all cut much deeper for Marceline was that Prince Francis was protecting the woman from her.

It was the same woman whom she had warned the prince about in the past, and the same person whom the prince ended up getting romantically involved with despite the warnings given.

Marceline had warned him for several reasons, but the most important ones were that she was a commoner who was adopted by one of the noble families, so it would not be good for him to get involved with her.

The important reason was that the noble family belonged to the opposing noble faction and had different political agendas that did not always take the interests of the royal family and the Archipelago as being the main priority.

There was a time when Marceline trusted and had feelings for him, but that was no longer the case.

All that she was feeling was disappointment as she faced his accusations and looked at her like she was someone vicious.

A sigh escaped her lips before talking in a cold tone. "What is the meaning of this?"

The woman looked to be fearful of Marceline and began to cower, holding onto Prince Francis closer. "My Prince..."

Prince Francis patted the woman to reassure her while stepping forward. "Marceline De Weiss, I declare in the name of the royal family that our arranged marriage has been cancelled. Please leave and never show your face in front of us again."

Marceline narrowed her black eyes once more before twirling a lock of her light purple drill-styled hair around her finger. "Oh? Have your parents approved of this?"

She knew that things had turned sour between them, but an agreement was an agreement.

It could not be broken from the word of the prince alone, and they required the consent of his parents.

There was no way that they would agree to such a thing.

Even Marceline had known that the current King and Queen had relied on her to solve several political disputes and foreign diplomacy, along with a long list of other expectations they had for her.

It could be said that most of the successes in recent developments have been thanks to her efforts.

It would be unthinkable for the King and Queen to agree with such a thing since it would risk losing her as a result.

She was not holding on to the hope that they would, since it was just a fact that they would do that.

Not even a moment after Marceline asked that question, Prince Francis took out a royal decree showing it to everyone. "I did not want to do this, but look. By royal decree, our marriage agreement is over."

Marceline looked toward it and she saw the names which were signed on the decree. "This..."

She was shocked by such a revelation, which was to be expected since she had always believed that the king and queen valued her greatly, and they had always expressed their wishes for her to support their son.

She could not understand why their names were signed there, but she could not refute a royal decree.

Trying to hold onto what dignity she had left, Marceline hid her emotions behind her folding fan before leaving everyone behind.

What was worse for her was what awaited her once she returned to her family home in the Capital.

The disgrace that had been brought to the De Weiss family from everything that took place did not have a good result.

Marceline was forced to take all of the blame and make up for it all so that the family could avoid most of the political fallout.

Insulting and demeaning words were said to Marceline that stated how they raised her with great care and effort, only for her to fail and come back in disgrace.

It was almost like all of her efforts and accomplishments so far had been overlooked or forgotten, while the current image of her was too shameful to even those of her family.