My Fiancée Hates Me
Chapter 76: Personal Experience

Vance appeared the next day. Garett had an unpleasant facial expression when he saw Vance arriving with a basket of fruits.

"...It will be for a short while," Vance said nervously.

Vance had changed his name and cut off much of his hair to give him a new sense of identity. His background story was set to be Dolton's distant relative who just so happens to look much like him. He took the Knight test and passed on the very first try. He later received a recommendation from my father as well as his blood related father to become a Knight of Prince Erik.

When he became a Knight close to Prince Erik, not many questions were asked about his origins because of his powerful backing.

I still do not think he is enough of a suspicious fellow for Garett to be worried about though...

"Have a great time," Garett said as he left us alone.

"He does not seem to like me," Vance said with an awkward smile.

"I happen to like you," I said lightheartedly.

"Please do not say such things so easily...Jealousy of a man with a lover is very scary," Vance said.

"He probably is jealous," I said with a small chuckle. "Were you well acquainted with him before the time leap?"

"He was His Highness' cousin, so we spoke to each other sometimes. We were never really close...When you look at them side by side, they are very similar to each other. They could be twins if no one knew any better."

"I was surprised too. It was not until long after I left the Academy that I noticed their faces were so close in similarity."

"That is a bit long considering how long you three had known each other..."

"I suppose my mind was filled with other things back then."

"His Highness?"

"...I do not deny it," I confessed.

"How are your injuries?" he asked.

"They reopened again, but I will live."

"They reopened!" he said with a worried look on his face.

I cannot tell him about yesterday's trysts...

I coughed lightly into my fist to clear my throat and tried to fan away my flushed face.

"It's fine... You have something to tell me?" I asked.

"I have a few things to report. In the recent incident, the Knights caught around fourteen disguised assailants, two mercenaries, and seven Nobles. Along with Kaya Ouchi and her father, five other Nobles were found to be connected to the recent incident. Coincidentally, they are all Nobles that have accepted bribes from The Balik Empire," Vance reported.

"...How is Er...His Highness?" I asked him concernedly.

"His Highness is fine. He is just a bit shaken from recent events. I believe half of it was due to self-reflection and the other was probably witnessing your fall," Vance said.

What a troublesome man...

"I want to see Kaya Ouchi," I told him.

"Right now?"

"Right now."

Vance swept me off of the bed and into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He stepped onto the window ledge with me in his arms.

It was great that Vance was a man of action who did not express many complaints.

"I know a shortcut down," Vance said.

"Really?" I asked sarcastically.

Just then, Garett appeared back in the room with a contemplative look on his face.

"What are you doing with someone else's lover?" Garett asked with a slightly irritated facial expression.

"I will be going out for a bit," I said as I waved him goodbye.

Vance jumped down three stories with me in his arms.

Garett's yelling became inaudible the further we got away from the hospital room.

"...He sounds very angry," Vance noted.

"He is angry...It will be fine if I show a bit of affection later," I said happily.

I changed into a maroon-colored dress with a high pinup white collar and a white frilled scarf with a green broach when we went into town. Everything was paid of course by Vance since I had no money on me. It is no problem at all because he receives hefty salaries from his job.

By using my father's name, I was easily able to access the tower that Kaya Ouchi was being held at.

She was a Noble, so her treatment was far from being disadvantageous with how she was able to gain a large room with a comfortable bed and access to three meals a day.

"Who are you?" Kaya Ouchi asked.

I removed the hood over my head and walked out of the shadows and closer to her cell.

"It's me," I said. She gasped as she looked at me as if I was a ghost. "Let me in, Vance. I would like to talk to her in her cell."

She was no longer a threat without her weapons or dangerous backing.

"Only if I join you, My Lady," he said.

I nodded anyways. He must have a few things he must want to say to her as well.

The guard opened the gate for us and left soon afterwards. Vance pulled out a chair for me and held my hand for me as I sat down in front of Kaya Ouchi. I took a closer look at her appearance. She only had

on a long unattractive night gown and became rather humble looking without her many decorations. Looking at her in a simple dress made me see her natural beauty.

"I thought that you had died..." she said as she sat down on her bed.

"I came back from the dead just to haunt you," I joked. She did not take well to my joke and only grew paler. I thought that I should redeem myself a little by clearing my throat first with a cough. "I have better things to do than follow you around. I only came here for a short chat."

"I doubt that you would replace pleasantries in talking with a prisoner," she said snidely.

She spoke with so much zest that it almost appeared as if she did not think of herself as a convict.

"This is the fifth time we have spoken each other face to face alone," I said.

"...I do not recall..."

"Of course, you would not...I time leaped to the past from three years in the future," I said.

"...Y-You time leapt?"

"You did this stunt three years into the future because you were unsuccessful in your attempts to woo Prince Erik and ended up killing Prince Erik by your hands."

"I killed him?"

"You were aiming for me, but he got in the way of the blade instead because he wanted to protect me...I came back to the past shortly after that and returned to what would be over a decade ago in this world." "... You knew everything then...Why not kill me when you knew about my true intentions?"

If I just killed her, I would not be able to round up all of Prince Erik's enemies in one setting.

You were bait for me too...

"I loved Erik, but his love was too heavy for me...I was a pain in his side with him always having to protect me at the expense of himself. When I returned, I thought the best way for us to avoid hurting each other was to just break off the engagement in this life."

I thought that I might as well tell her everything about my ill relationship with Erik and how I suffered through mental instability all the way up to when I took my own life.

Kaya Ouchi seemed to be understanding of me since she quietly listened to everything that I had to say.

"...Why save him in this life?" she asked me.

"...I love him despite everything. What other reason do I need?" I answered her.

"I always assumed that marriage with Prince Erik would be the ultimate happiness. Reality is just so different...If you still love him, why not return to him?" she asked.

"A painful love like the one we had would only be a poisonous one...If that was not all, I love someone else much more now," I said.

"...I woke up shortly after you were stabbed. I heard everything you said to him. That is when I thought, 'Ah...I will really never compare to this person who was willing to sacrifice her own life for someone else.' could never do that... Twisted as your love was, I think you two are still meant for each other. What you feel for your current partner is not love. You want a safe haven to which you could always feel safe at. The person who can move you the most is without a doubt Prince Erik. No matter how much you lie, you can never be able to lie to your own heart. Take it from personal experience," she said.

Her words rung deeply in my heart.

What I feel for Garett is not love? Am I also just using him like everyone up until now?

"...I can live without Prince Erik, but cannot live without Garett," I said.

I let Vance takeover for a bit before I left the cell.00000000