The moment the servant announced her arrival, all eyes in the room turned toward her.
“Selina Arsene, legitimate daughter of Count Arsene, greets the heads of both houses and everyone assembled for this joint meeting.”
With an elegant curtsy and a subtle smile, she looked entirely calm, as though the storm around her did not concern her in the least.
Her poise and composure struck the members of the Patel family dumb—the very people who had just been tearing her name to shreds.
“First, I wish to apologize to both House Arsene and House Patel for this unfortunate turn of events. The fault lies entirely with my shortcomings. I should have ensured matters never escalated to the point of holding such a meeting.”
She delivered her apology with seamless sincerity, making those who had been shouting seconds earlier draw back in sheepish silence.
As soon as the atmosphere settled, Selina cut straight to the heart of the matter.
“I should like to ask once more: is House Patel’s desire to dissolve the betrothal final?”
As she asked the question, the smile vanished entirely from her face.
‘From this point on… it’s a direct confrontation.’
Her expression turned utterly blank—cold, disdainful, sharp as a polished dagger. The Patel family members were momentarily shaken before raising their voices again, determined not to show weakness.
“How can we even think of marriage when Miss Arsene’s reputation is in the gutter?”
“Even if she offered a formal apology to Miss Hazel and restored her standing, Morgan could never accept this match now.”
“How can we force him into a loveless marriage?”
Just as the meeting threatened to devolve into chaos once more, Selina took a deliberate step forward.
“Enough. I understand your views perfectly. Now let me ask another question.”
After meeting the gaze of every member of the Patel family, she spoke:
“Is anyone here equating dissolving the betrothal… with canceling our joint trade venture?”
“What do you mean? How can we continue trading if there is no marriage?”
“Of course the two are linked! How can our family tie its fortunes to someone with such an atrocious reputation?”
“It seems the one responsible for this mess in the first place is the young lady herself. What gives you the nerve to speak so boldly?”
“Silence! If our young lady has genuinely done any wrong, bring forth your evidence and take her to the Imperial Court!”
When the clamor flared again, Selina glanced toward Count Arsene, who made a sharp, commanding gesture.
“Silence! Let everyone hold their tongue!”
“Now… I ask that you listen closely. Offer your opinions once I have finished speaking. Understood?”
When absolute silence fell, she began to speak calmly.
“You claim your issue is with my reputation… but this is a commercial venture between two houses. A personal matter cannot be turned into a collective liability. The current head of our house is not me, but my father. And no one has said he will hand the mantle of family head to me tomorrow, so that is hardly a concern you need worry over.”
“Still… you are the acting head, and naturally you will inherit the house later—”
A man began to interrupt her, but he fell silent the moment she fixed him with a razor-sharp glare.
“As for my reputation… restoring it will not be difficult. But the quickest way forward is… yes, this would be most fitting: dissolving my betrothal to Morgan Patel. Then we may move on to secure a far greater, more advantageous opportunity for both our houses. What do you think?”
“What… what are you planning?”
“Are you saying you agree to the dissolution now?”
“Yes. You are the ones demanding the betrothal be broken, and I agree.”
In truth, the real motive driving the Patels was resentment that their profit share from the venture was smaller than House Arsene’s. They had intended to use the threat of breaking the engagement as leverage to extract better terms.
Morgan’s supposed unwillingness was nothing more than a pretext; noble marriages were founded on mutual benefit, not love.
And the union between Morgan and Selina was the linchpin meant to ensure the two families’ joint venture held together.
Yet now that Selina had agreed to the dissolution outright… the Patels had lost their only bargaining chip, and words failed them.
“Selina, what are you doing?”
Count Arsene asked, dismayed.
“Father, I made many fine connections at the academy. It is true they are sons of military families, so their social activity is limited, but they are steadfast allies who support me even in adversity. Tell me which house you deem suitable, and I will immediately arrange a meeting to discuss a new betrothal. We carry numerous military goods in our merchant caravan, do we not? It will serve our interests as well.”
“Yes… that is true, but…”
“Are you saying you would break the betrothal with House Patel merely so the Arsene merchant company alone can profit?”
When a Patel family member demanded this in shocked tones, Selina asked with feigned innocence,
“Was it not House Patel who first declared that doing business with House Arsene—housing someone with so tainted a reputation as mine—was a loss? And that you wished to dissolve both the betrothal and the trade contract with it? Did I misunderstand something?”
“No, but even so… how can you announce to our faces that you will simply choose another fiancé?”
“You were the ones who brought up dissolving the betrothal. I merely said I agree.”
Her expression made it seem as though she truly could not fathom what was wrong, leaving the Patels without a shred of an argument.
She watched them for several seconds while they gasped in disbelief, then continued,
“Yet I believe the joint trade venture and the dissolution of the betrothal are two separate matters. And if our family—House Arsene—allies with a house of higher standing, it will bring immense benefits to our trading partners… meaning you. Therefore, following this dissolution… I shall become betrothed into a family of higher rank.”
‘Which means your profits will only increase!’
Not one among them could bring themselves to voice the thought aloud, resorting instead to biting their lips.
“Besides, I am well aware that young master Morgan Patel dislikes me intensely. Is that not so? He came and told me as much in person.”
“What? He told you that himself?”
Count Arsene’s expression darkened menacingly upon learning that someone had dared say such a thing to his only daughter.
“I heard it from his own mouth. He said he believed high society’s rumors without bothering to investigate the truth… told me to live a decent life, and left.”
Count Arsene’s countenance hardened even further, while Count Patel—Morgan’s father—turned deathly pale.
“He even informed me with utter confidence that this dissolution was the will of your family elders as well. At this stage… do I not also have the right to consider my own happiness after marriage?”
When Selina smiled faintly, the members of the Patel family realized the tide had turned completely against them.
“Unbelievable! He said such words?”
“How insolent! How dare he treat our house this way?”
“Please, calm yourselves.”
With a single word from Selina, the Arsene family fell silent at once.
“I repeat… I consider the matter of trade and the matter of betrothal to be entirely distinct. It is true that we are dissolving the betrothal on account of my reputation…”
‘But we never said we were officially dissolving it! We haven’t even exchanged the tokens of dissolution!’
The Patels felt a surge of suffocating rage, yet they were powerless to object.
“And so that House Patel suffers no further disappointment… I shall betroth myself to a distinguished house and swiftly restore my reputation. When that happens… you will have no objection to continuing the joint trade venture, correct?”
“In truth… if Miss Selina restores her standing, there would be no need to dissolve the betrothal in the first place…”
“Father, give me that.”
“Yes, here.”
At Count Arsene’s gesture, the head butler brought forward a jewelry box.
“Miss Selina, this is far too hasty—”
“You must find this box familiar. Yes, it contains the pair of gold bracelets… the pledge of betrothal between House Patel and House Arsene.”
Selina opened the box to reveal both the man’s bracelet and the woman’s.
“Let us conclude this dissolution… right this moment.”
Taking up the two bracelets, she hooked them onto the tip of a metal rod and deftly melted them until only half of each bracelet remained.
“I return to you the token of dissolution.”
Flustered, the Patel family found themselves accepting the tokens of the broken betrothal, entirely unable to object.
“If I do not restore my reputation within three months… I will not blame you should you refuse to sign the trade contract.”
Before Selina’s self-assured smile… not a single member of House Patel could utter a word.
