An Early Engagement - Chapter 46 - Declaration of Breaking the Engagement

“Are you still not going to open the gifts?”

“I can’t be bothered.”

Shirley glanced at the pile of gift boxes stacked in the corner of the room before burying her face into the cushion.

Nearly a month had passed since her birthday, but Shirley showed no signs of opening the gift boxes.

“Just throw them all away.”

It didn’t matter how valuable or beautiful the contents might be. No matter how extraordinary the gifts were, they held no meaning for her.

After the birthday party, there had been no contact from Damian.

Naturally, she hadn’t seen a single strand of his hair either.

This was the first time she had gone so long without seeing him. Even after returning from their vacation at the villa, it had only been a week at most.

But now, she hadn’t seen her fiancé’s face for several times that length of time.

In the meantime, the seasons had completely changed. Cool breezes began to blow, the sleeves of dresses grew longer, and fabrics became thicker. The autumn social season was about to begin in full swing.

Shirley, too, had to prepare for the upcoming social season—dress fittings and various other tasks awaited her. But nothing seemed to progress.

Instead, she spent her days lying listlessly on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling, taking short naps, or sighing deeply.

Occasionally, Melissa would visit and chatter away, but their conversations never lasted long. Shirley’s responses—”Yeah,” “Sure,” “That’s nice,” “Oh my”—were so brief that even the usually talkative Melissa would eventually give up and leave.

Today was no different. Shirley lay lazily on the sofa, wasting yet another day.

“A letter has arrived from the Elpart Ducal Residence.”

At the news delivered by Sophie, Shirley, who had been lying limp like a wilted reed, shot up from the sofa.

“From Damian?”

Seeing Shirley’s eyes sparkle in a way they hadn’t for weeks, Sophie smiled awkwardly and examined the letter.

“Well… for now, the envelope only says ‘Elpart Ducal House.’ It’s sealed with the ducal crest.”

“Give it to me.”

Shirley quickly snatched the letter from Sophie’s hand.

As Sophie had said, the envelope bore only the official seal of the Elphart Ducal House. There was no personal signature from Damian or anything else to indicate it was from him.

What is this?

Shirley was taken aback by the stark difference between this letter and the ones she usually received from Damian.

Whenever he sent her a letter, Damian would always use stationery stamped with cat paw prints—her favorite—and write in pink ink.

He would even seal it with pink wax, stamped with the family crest in an adorable way.

But the letter in her hand now used dull black wax, and the envelope was utterly plain.

And most importantly…

“It’s not there.”

“Huh?”

“Damian’s name.”

“That’s what I told you.”

Sophie spoke cautiously.

“‘Shirley’s Damian.'”

The name that always appeared in the sender’s section was missing. In its place was the name of the Elpart Ducal House, written in a stiff, formal script.

But still, it was a letter from the Elpart family.

After all, Damian was soon to become the head of the Elpart family. Maybe he had decided to stop using those childish stationery and envelopes.

Shirley tried her best to rationalize the letter she had received.

Just as she was about to use a knife to break the wax seal, Sophie held out a silver tray toward her.

“The person who delivered the letter also left this box.” On the silver tray Sophie presented was a small velvet box.

Shirley frowned as she recognized the familiar shape.

“Why is this…?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Sophie looked deeply troubled. When Shirley picked up the velvet box and opened it, a dazzling rainbow of colors spilled out.

A stunning ring, platinum with diamond accents.

There was no mistaking it.

It was Shirley’s own engagement ring.

A token prepared in advance for the wedding they were supposed to have someday.

Damian had kept Shirley’s ring, and Shirley had kept Damian’s, with the plan to exchange them on their wedding day.

For it to be here now…

“Why is this here?”

At Shirley’s question, Sophie bit her lip hard and avoided her gaze.

For a moment, Shirley sat there in a daze, then roughly tore open the envelope she was holding.

Inside was not a typical letter, but an official document from the Elpart Ducal Residence.

Shirley’s eyes widened as she read the words at the top of the document.

**Annulment of Engagement.**

She read it once, twice, and then a third time, but the words didn’t change.

Shirley’s gaze slowly moved downward. The lengthy preamble made no sense no matter how many times she read it, so she skipped to the final line.

**”…Therefore, this prenatal engagement is hereby annulled, and the engaged parties, Shirley de Lafez and Damian de Elpart, are released from their engagement obligations.”**

“Miss Shirley…?”

Sophie cautiously spoke up, seeing Shirley frozen in place.

“Are you okay?”

“……”

*Thud.*

The letter and the ring fell from Shirley’s hands at the same time. Then, she herself slid limply off the sofa and collapsed onto the floor.

“Oh my, miss! Good heavens!”

Sophie panicked and was about to run out to call for help when Shirley grabbed her.

“No, no, don’t!”

“Huh?”

Sophie stopped in her tracks at Shirley’s sudden, desperate cry.

“No, you can’t call anyone.”