Although I'm still me, I'm possessing this body. Damian Kraus was not the main character in the novel. It would be more accurate to say that he's a third-rate villain at most.
His family was among one of the three great households in the empire and he was Count Kraus' heir. Furthermore, he was engaged to Elena Edelweiss, who was renowned to be the most beautiful in the empire.
Looking at his specs, his solid background and his gorgeous fiancée, he really seemed like the main character of a fantasy story.
Despite not being the world's genius, he was born with martial prowess impressive enough to be called one thus there was no one he needed to be jealous of.
But as to be expected, his personality ruined it all.
As soon as he was born, he, who had everything – family, talent, and a gorgeous fiancée – was abysmally arrogant, egoistical, and self-centered.
He was a literal scoundrel.
Had Damian been the male lead in the Romance Fantasy, all of his shortcomings would have transformed into virtues by the hands of the heroine.
Sadly, Damian was the first male candidate and the trigger to create an opportunity for the heroine to stand up on her own, not relying on the strength of her family. Nothing more, nothing less.
Since I was fully aware of that fact, I was cautious again and again.
If the original Damian's rudeness was the problem, then all I had to do was act rude.
The engagement with the heroine was merely a verbal promise between the family's elders, meaning it was relatively easy to call off as it did not have any legal effect.
Unlike some simpletons in novels, I had no intention of becoming the main character.
In the future, whether it be the one worthy to be called the very first imperial swordmaster, or the one in charge of the Twilight Tower harnessing the power of the world, or even the Crown Prince of the Empire, I would get embroiled in a bloody battle with these strong individuals just by being by her side.
I was a villain who would leave at the beginning of the novel.
I'd quickly be kicked off the stage like the original Damian without doing a single thing.
It wasn't even a fight in the first place when the chance of victory was zero. I'm also in the body of a third-rate villain, so I knew my place well.
Taking my position into consideration, my small dream is to live a normal life.
It's absurd to get close to the heroine when I'm a supporting character, an engaged villain who would take his leave early on.
It's obvious that I would get caught up in all kinds of trouble, and such a life was completely opposite from my dream life.
Therefore, it'll be fine as long as I don't go up on the stage from the very start. Then, I won't have to die or get caught up in any incidents.
In order to not get entangled in her story, I must break off this engagement.
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Few minutes later....
I have never been this nervous in my entire life.
Bathump. Bathump.
The evidence of my palpitating heart. It had never beat this much even when I was on my first wild hunt with my father. Just the fact that she was in front of me, it felt like my senses heightened and my body instinctively knew of an unimaginable crisis yet to come.
However, it would not make sense for Count Kraus' eldest son to be improperly tense in front of the lady. After I managed to calm down my overloaded senses, I faced the young woman in front of me.
She was pale-white, with long hair resembling the snow. Her eyes were like a refined amethyst, a clear and transparent violet.
Simply the sight of her lips slightly curling upward would invoke the fruitless imagination of the men around her.
"A woman of great beauty," such words were not wasted on her.
Seeing every feature that had been described in writing, now in reality, I realized how poor my imagination of Elena Edelweiss truly was.
Her elegance and beauty made me ponder about many things again, but I was able to quickly come to my senses due to my strong sense of purpose.
If I, who had been so wary of her, was rendered to this state, I can't imagine what the original defenseless males were like.
So there was a reason after all as to why those guys would take out everything for her, be it their liver or gallbladder.
Ken, who was standing beside me, was someone who had experienced all the things in the world.
Yet, even he was staring at her in a daze. It went without saying what hot-blooded young males would do.
They would have swarmed in like buzzing bees to the honey in front of them.
In fact, the day after Damian's engagement fell through, the majority of the men at the academy said the time for the suitors had come.
She would then be terrorized with letters of courtship starting from the academy's entrance ceremony.
"Nice to meet you, Lady Edelweiss. I'm Damian Kraus, the eldest son of House Kraus."
"… Nice to meet you, Sir Kraus. I'm Elena Edelweiss, the eldest daughter of House Edelweiss."
Although she did hesitate a little, Elena smiled and responded to my greeting. The smile made a dynamite burst within my calm heart.
As I thought, this engagement should be broken as soon as possible. I'll actually fall for her at this rate and end up doing who knows what for her.
I stepped on Ken, who was still in a dazed state, signaling him to leave. Whether it was fortunate or not, Ken winked at me and exited with Elena's maid.
When the two of them left, it was only me and Elena in the room. It was good to send them out because I wanted to speak to her a bit comfortably, but now that it was only us here, I was starting to get nervous.