My Fiancée Hates Me

"...Do I not get a choice?" Prince Erik asked.

"What are you doing here? You should not be here," I told him.

"See...It was impossible...He has only seen you and will always see you. Even if I make you the mastermind of today's incident, he will probably still take your side," Kaya said.

She had a deep emptiness in her eyes.

I took a few steps towards her.

"What are you doing?" Prince Erik asked.

"...Fixing your mess... You never gave her a proper answer to her confession. You did not do or say anything. Giving her false hope and throwing her away without ever properly giving her a rejection makes you the worst one of us all," I told him coldly.

He stood still after I said that.

Prince Erik should have cut her cleanly from his life to let her move on. He did not do anything. That is why she feels as though she needs to corner herself like this to get even an ounce of his attention.

"...It is always you in the end, Arielle... Can you imagine how I feel?" she asked.

I stopped a few feet before her.

"I cannot...I am not you after all."

"I hate you," she said in tears. "I hate you so much, Arielle."

"The person you fell for loves someone else. That is but one tragic fate out of several hundred fates that could have befallen upon you, yet you want to let this one love led to you to a path of destruction. If he loved you back and was willing to follow you, maybe that would be the ideal romance...but he does not love you. Prince Erik is in love with me. As for me, I am also in love with someone else. Prince Erik's love for me will forever be unrequited as it will be for you too," I said coldly.

She brought out her dagger. It was a familiar curved tip with a gold shaft. The weapon that was killed me was in her hands again.

"...If I kill you, the most beloved person in his life, at least he will think of me forever," Kaya said wickedly.

I walked closer to her.

"He will still never love you..."

She lunged her dagger towards me. I grabbed her wrist as she tried to stab me and knocked the dagger out of her hands. I then punched her in the gut and rendered her unconscious.

It was over...

If the assassination attempt in front of a Royal was not enough, he also probably heard the confession of her crimes as well. This may be enough to clear my name.

"Arielle..."

"Yes?" I answered Prince Erik.

"I am sorry for everything," he said with much sincerity.

"... You do not have to tell me that you are sorry. I never asked for an apology. I only ask that you change your behavior towards women and people that love you. If you do not cut them cleanly, they will come back to bite you because they think they have a chance," I said as I began tying up Kaya Ouchi's hands. "Let's convict her in a proper court...I just ask that you give her some leniency in court. If she could repay for her crimes at a monastery..."

"Done."

"That is great," I said as I fell to my knees.

I wonder why my knees fell at that moment.

"Arielle?"

For several years, I had been carrying a deep burden in my heart.

Prince Erik can be saved...

Sadly, nor Erik or our child will have another chance in their life. This person will find another wife and conceive a child with that person. I do not think I will ever truly be able to fully accept it because I loved this person so much for so long before.

My tears, my memories, my feelings...will never reach you. I can never tell you that I love you. If I do, you will want to return my feelings.

Surely, that person will be hurt...I do not want to hurt him because I now realize that I love Garett more than I love Prince Erik. Yet despite everything, I still want to confess everything to the person in front of me before I can move on with Garett.

I grabbed his wrist as I tried to mouth my words, "For this whole time, I have love..."

From behind Prince Erik, I saw a looming dark shadow. I felt incoming danger as it came closer. I pulled Prince Erik aside.

It was all in an instant...

The found a blade lodged in my lower left quadrant.

Prince Erik had caught me as I was descending to the ground.

"Arielle!" Prince Erik called.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vance come and deal with the unknown assailant. He was in tatters from dealing with multiple people in the background. Thankfully, none of his injuries seemed too bad. Moments later, Knights from all over stormed the castle came in and assisted Vance. I heaved a sigh when I realized that he was going to live.

The letters that I sent out had successfully reached the Knights' faction. I sent most of them to the areas I anticipated of possible kidnapping areas. From how Kaya Ouchi had kidnapped me once, I thought tha I should prepare at least this most. I was right to think that Kaya Ouchi would be this devious.

"Arielle, stay with me!" Prince Erik continued screaming.

His screaming brought me back to the reality that I was in the middle of dying from a stab wound.

"You are too loud..."

I wonder what people usually think when they have been stabbed...

It's painful?

I have been stabbed?

Am I going to die?

I stabbed myself once before. It was more instantaneous and less painful the first time probably because I stabbed my chest immediately. I can feel my body slowly growing cold from my extremities to my upper body.

The pain no longer bothered me.

If there was something that did bother me, it would be the distraught look on Prince Erik's face right now. He was crying for me despite every cruel thing I had ever said to him.

"Why would you save me! Don't you hate me?" he asked. "You are the only fiancée who would openly show her hate for her fiancé. You should have acted in a way that was befitting of your role."

"I wonder why I saved you... Maybe because I love this kingdom? Even if I do not like you, you are still the best person to inherit the throne...and the will of the people. Someone like you should not die here," I said while trying to sound indifferent.

"Lies! You saved me because you do not actually hate me. If you did, you would not have done all this for me. Not just this, for everything...I know full well of how much you have done for me behind the scenes. Did you not think I would not find it strange that every poison and assassination attempt that I had would always fail for the past several years? Someone would always send my guards and taste testers a tip before the act."

I had taken a look at Erik's medical records before in our first life. He had over thirty poison attempts as a child and twenty-seven assassination attempts towards his person. Over half of those times, he barely escaped those attempts with his life.

Since he said they always failed, that means that I was successful in accurately guessing when the attempts were.

"I suppose you got lucky..."

"You were the anonymous tipper...Even all of my best guards, poison testers, and doctors were coincidentally recommended by you. You used your father's name instead, but they all mentioned you personally when I asked about why they chose to work for me. Would a mere fiancée that hates me really go this far to help me?"

He investigated me this far?

He will definitely become a great King...

"Those are all assumptions...I have done nothing other than do my best to ignore you."

"...Why do you keep lying?"

I could no longer feel any pain...

"...I never loved you...I have always hated you," I said to him.

I finally said it...Lies are easier to say when you are desperate to tell them on your deathbed.

It was easier this way. If I told him that I loved him, he would blame himself forever...

You will move on with your life and have a wonderful family. Although I am a bit sad that I will not be able to see it, my sacrifice will be worth it if you can live a full life this time.

"Are you really going to be a liar until the end!"

Forever...if I have to...

"I truly hate you..."

I have always hated you...I have always hated you...I have always hated you...I have always, always loved you, Erik Arundel...and I always will.

I could never apologize enough to Garett for sacrificing myself again for this person...☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐