Everyone in the hall was shocked. So was I, since I still didn't understand what Felix had said.
Father fell silent, staring at Felix's serious expression. He seemed troubled, trying to think of how he should answer Felix's question.
Meanwhile, I lowered my head even further, feeling guilty for putting Father in such a difficult position.
"After giving it a great deal of thought, I feel that Princess Leonora's marriage shouldn't happen so soon. She still has a lot to learn about becoming a wife. And I don't want to force you into marrying my daughter, Felix. That's why I've decided not to proceed with planning your engagement to my daughter. I hope you don't mind." Father tried to offer a reasonable explanation.
I smiled at Father, showing him how grateful I was that he had still listened to my request—and had gone to the trouble of finding an answer to Felix's question.
Felix still looked dissatisfied. However, he nodded in agreement, then turned and went back to mingle with the guests at the evening's celebration.
"Considering that I'm not feeling well, I'd like to take my leave for now. I hope you can enjoy the party tonight even without me."
After saying that, he finally returned to the palace to rest, since he truly wasn't feeling well.
Meanwhile, I immediately chose to leave and head toward the palace, to avoid the nobles' mocking looks and cold remarks.
It was obvious that this incident would become hot gossip. Especially since no one had expected that cold Felix to ask about the canceled engagement right in front of all the nobles.
I sat down on a long bench to rest for a moment. Then I looked toward the palace ballroom. The dancing was taking place now, so everyone was surely busy dancing and had forgotten I was there.
I gazed up at the star-filled sky. It was so beautiful that, for a moment, I forgot about the incident that had left me so troubled.
It turned out it wasn't easy to let go of someone I loved so deeply. My chest felt so tight that tears nearly spilled from my eyes.
"Princess Leonora, what are you doing out here?"
Suddenly, Felix—the very person I had been avoiding—appeared in front of me. I let out a long sigh.
"I just wanted to rest for a moment," I replied. Felix then sat down on the bench right beside me. For some reason, my heart began pounding when he was so close.
"In that case, are you going back inside?"
"Of course. If I don't go in, people will talk about me," I answered. "What about you? Why are you out here?" I added, unwilling to be the only one under interrogation.
"I'm tired too, and I wanted to rest for a moment," he replied. After that, no conversation passed between us.
The atmosphere instantly became awkward. The silence made my heart beat faster than usual.
This was uncomfortable. It would be better to return to the ballroom than stay here alone with Felix.
But before I could rise from the bench, Felix suddenly glanced at me with a serious look, making me reconsider leaving.
"Princess, may I ask you something?"
I frowned. "Of course. What do you want to ask me?"
"I'm curious why the engagement that was supposed to be announced never happened. Did you not want to become engaged to me from the beginning?" Felix asked in a somber tone.
"Of course that's not what you think. As the King said, I still have a lot to learn," I answered quickly.
"Don't you mind? I heard you wanted very badly to become engaged to me."
I stared at Felix in confusion. Why was he asking about that? The Felix I knew was cold and didn't care about matters involving people he considered unimportant. But now he was actually involving himself in the issue.
Once again, he was different from the image I remembered. Could it be because I had changed my plans and decided not to become engaged? In that case, it made sense for Felix to behave this way.