I Became Crown Prince's Wife
What seems to change does not change (2)

Richard went straight to Marquis Westin after seeing the notice of the cancellation of the engagement.

When Richard arrived, Sophia Westin greeted him with a big smile.

"What's up, Richard?"

Instead of answering him, Richard handed over the annulment letter he had received from Marquis Westin.

"What's this?"

"This is an engagement annulment letter."

"W-You want to break up with me?"

Richard's expression was tangled.

The seal on the envelope was stamped with the Westin family badge.

No matter how one looked at it, it was Marquis Westin who sent the divorce notice and Richard came to protest it. But Sophia without understanding misunderstood the situation.

What a stupid woman.

Richard's half-brother, Frank, is unhappy with the appearance of his fiancee, Sophia.

There were plenty of times when he mocked her face, laughing at her black hair and freckles.

Richard also did not consider Sophia beautiful. However, he was more annoyed with his stupid personality.

"There's never a time when I'm not frustrated with him."

Still, seeing Sophia's reaction, she didn't seem to know about the engagement's cancellation.

“Read for now.”

"Good…"

It was only then that Sophia read the form inside the envelope.

"Oh no!I never send a letter like that.”

Sophia's face turned pale when she finally learned of the situation.

As Richard had guessed, Marquis Westin had decided on his own.

Exactly it. He had made a lot of effort for this girl.

He could not betray her like that.

Richard had tolerated so much that he could regain the life he originally had.

But no matter how hard he tried, he could not regain his true identity.

In some cases, people can pay to receive a title, but that is not possible for an ordinary person without a name.

Tenstheon placed more emphasis on individual abilities than titles, and he was one of the most outstanding Emperors of the Astery Empire.

Some nobles also complained that this made their titles less valuable, but this did not apply to Richard.

Tenstheon distrusted Richard and watched his every move. Even if Richard achieved something great, Tenstheon would not give him a title.

Richard finally found a way after much consideration. It was through marriage.

When he married one of the noble daughters, he would be able to regain his title and return to the noble society.

In addition, there was a hierarchy among the nobles.

If he escaped the status of an ordinary person by purchasing the title or receiving it from the Emperor, he would be at the bottom among the nobles.

However, if he were to become the son-in-law of a powerful family, he could at least rank higher in the hierarchy.

Richard looked for candidates, and among them, he chose Sophia Westin.

Marquis Westin's family has been on the decline since the fall of the Cassil family. However, they were still noble families and had a lot of wealth. Moreover, Marquis Westin only had one daughter, so it would be easy for Richard to become his son-in-law.

Sophia was locked up in her home after her engagement to Frank broke up and she suffered from severe depression.

Marquis Westin tried to find a suitable match for him, but it was not easy.

Although the marriage was nearing completion for Sophia, she rejected the idea, saying she no longer wanted a political marriage.

Is there anything easier than seducing a wounded woman?

Richard uses Sophia's servant to make her come to his orphanage.

Sophia visits the orphanage as planned and cries when she sees the children that their parents have abandoned.

Richard approached the crying girl and handed her a handkerchief.

"Thank you!"

Sophia's eyes opened wide when she saw Richard.

"Miss Sophia, long time no see."

"How did you get here ..."

“This is the orphanage I manage.”

“Yes, I don't know that. All right, I'll go then.”

Sophia had met the brother of her former fiance, so she turned around hurriedly.

Richard had already guessed his reaction. He winks at Karuo, a boy in an orphanage.

Karuo quickly clings to Sofia.

“Sister, don't go. Play with me."

When the boy depended on her, Sophia stood there helplessly.

"Karuo, don't make things difficult for that woman."

"Sister!"

Karuo is a brilliant boy. He understood Richard's gesture and sat down before he started crying.

“M-m-sorry. Son, don't cry.”

Sophia forgot that she was trying to avoid Richard and began to calm the boy down.

Richard naturally approached her and started talking to her.

“Thanks for keeping Karuo today.”

“No, it's okay.”

Sofia shook her head. Perhaps it was because he had spent time calming Karuo down with Richard, but he did not avoid it like when he first met him.

"By the way, where did his sister go?"

“She has died.”

"What's? How did that happen…?"

“As you can guess from the name, Karuo is a Roum. Her brother committed suicide after being given a hard job because he was a Roum. So only Karuo came to our orphanage.”

Actually, his older sister Karan was still alive, but Richard lied without hesitation.

"Have the criminals been caught?"

“No, Roum is not treated like a human. There is no way to investigate this case.”

“I can't believe it. That's too much."

"If I have the strength, I will help this child .. I feel sorry for him."

“No, you take care of it like this has helped a lot.”

Sophia seemed to be moved by Richard's good deeds.

“I've heard that private orphanages usually reject Roum, so you're really amazing.”

“After all, I am also a Roum.”

Richard frankly told him about his weakness.

It has been revealed that he was a Roum during the Cassil family trial.

"Oh yeah…"

Although Sophia felt sympathy for her siblings tragedy, she quickly froze awkwardly as she recalled the fact that Richard was also a Roum.

Richard gritted his teeth inside.

Did he make a mistake?

His response was unexpected.

There was a deep-rooted hatred towards Roum in the Asteris Empire.

Even among those who pretended to be kind out of feeling sorry for Roum, it was not uncommon to see people dodging and cursing them when they actually met a Roum.

"I'm sorry about what happened before."

"Huh?"

"I should have stopped them ..."

Sophia shook her head anxiously as Richard brought up the topic about Frank.

"Oh no. I know you're having a hard time because of that. ”

"No. I should've helped you. Actually, it's my fault he hates you. He hates me too. That's why he hates you. That's because your hair color is the same as mine.”

"That's not true.It's because I'm ugly.”.

Sophia lowered her head, while hiding her face behind her black hair.

Frank doesn't like being engaged to Sophia and talking rudely to her.

Sophia was depressed, but her father only told her to accept it.

He decided to accept it as his father had ordered.

But that's not all.

“How dare you touch me? You are so ugly! If not for the Marquis, who would want to be with you?”

Frank insulted Sophia at the palace dance.

After that day, Sophia was afraid to go out. He felt as if everyone was mocking and laughing at him.

Although several years had passed since Frank's death, the wound still lingered in his heart.

“No, I never thought of that before. If I were Frank, I would never hurt you. It's late, but I want to apologize on her behalf.”

Richard bowed politely.

"Thank you."

No one had ever entertained him before.

When she breaks up with Frank and is humiliated, all her friends leave her.

Sophia cried because she received her first sincere apology.

Richard smiled inwardly without any regret as he looked up and looked at Sophia.

"Miss, don't cry."

Richard took Sophia's hand. He did not release his hand.

“I should have visited you and apologized, but I was late.”

"No, thanks for telling me now."

“If you don't mind, please visit us often. Karuo seems to like you a lot. And I also want to meet you.”

"…ok."

Sophia's face flushed. Richard also smiled broadly.

'Enough.'

After destroying its walls, it was a piece of cake to proceed to the next level.

And everything went exactly as Richard had planned.