Chapter 130: Ren and Aria settle on what to do with their engagement.

Ren arrived at the restaurant ten minutes before the agreed time, not because she felt like being there, but simply because she hated arriving late anywhere.

The place was far too elegant for a conversation that, according to Aria, was "important for both of us."

From the moment she received the message, Ren had suspected that nothing good could come of it.

When she entered the restaurant, an employee approached her immediately.

"Good afternoon, do you have a reservation?"

"Aria Celestia."

The woman checked a tablet.

"Of course, Miss Aria Celestia is waiting for you."

Ren made a small grimace.

’Of course she’s already waiting.’

The employee guided her to a private section where Aria sat by a large window, sipping a drink while reviewing some documents.

She didn’t even look like she was expecting a complicated conversation.

When Ren appeared, Aria looked up.

"Ren, how long has it been?"

"Aria."

"What a pleasant expression."

"I didn’t come here to please you."

"I’d already figured that out."

Ren took a seat across from her and didn’t bother looking at the menu.

"What do you want?"

Aria set her cup on the table.

"I just want to talk."

"That’s what you said in the message."

"I’m glad to confirm you know how to read."

Ren narrowed her eyes.

"If you made me come all the way here just to mess with me..."

"No, I have plenty of other people to entertain myself with besides you."

Aria crossed one leg over the other.

"This time I really do have something important to tell you."

Ren stayed quiet to listen, and Aria continued.

"The engagement between our families has been canceled."

Ren didn’t react for several seconds until she blinked in disbelief at what she’d heard.

"What?"

"Our engagement."

"I heard that part."

"Then there was no need for me to repeat it."

Ren rested both hands on the table.

"They canceled it!?"

"Yes."

"Completely!?"

"Exactly, that’s what I said."

Ren watched her, searching for any hint of mockery, but Aria was far too calm, and that only made Ren distrust her more.

"Your mother agreed?"

"Yes, hard as it is to believe."

Ren frowned.

"That’s impossible."

"Well, it wasn’t so impossible, because it already happened."

"Your mother spent years pushing for that arrangement."

"Correct."

"Your family wanted to strengthen the relationship with mine."

"You’re right about that too."

"And you yourself said that canceling the engagement outright would cause problems between both families."

Aria picked up her cup again.

"I didn’t say I would cancel it outright."

Ren went still.

"What did you do, Aria?"

Aria took a sip before continuing.

"I negotiated a little."

"That doesn’t tell me anything important."

"It tells quite a bit."

"Aria."

"What’s the matter, Ren?"

"Talk. Now."

Aria smiled slightly before answering.

"I convinced my mother."

"How?"

"I explained that the original agreement was no longer necessary."

Ren crossed her arms.

"And she just accepted it?"

"No, what do you think?"

"I knew it, that witch."

"First she refused."

"That makes more sense."

"But then I presented her with an alternative."

Ren stopped moving when she heard those words.

"What alternative?"

Aria rested her elbow on the table.

"A small change."

Ren frowned in confusion.

"What kind of change?"

"A rather convenient one, honestly."

"Convenient for you?"

"Convenient for everyone."

"I know you well, and I know that when you say that it usually means someone is going to suffer."

Aria let out a small laugh.

"Always so distrustful."

"Because I know you better than anyone."

"That’s debatable."

Ren ignored the comment and stayed on the subject of the engagement.

"Explain properly what you did."

Aria watched her for a few seconds before speaking.

"The engagement between you and me existed because our families wanted to maintain a formal union."

"Yes, and?"

"It also existed because my mother considered that both families would benefit."

"And what does that have to do with any of this?"

"That the agreement existed before a new variable appeared in our lives."

Ren stayed silent, thinking, while Aria smiled and Ren slowly closed her eyes.

’No.’

She opened them, realizing something.

"Aria..."

"Yes?"

"No, you’re not allowed to do that."

"But I didn’t ask any question."

"I said no."

Aria smiled a little more while Ren began putting every piece together.

Aria’s insistence about Noah, her open confession, the dinner, the constant appearances, the fact that she no longer tried to hide that she wanted to marry him.

Everything so that suddenly the engagement between the families had been canceled without causing any conflict.

Ren brought a hand to her forehead.

"Wait."

Aria drank calmly while Ren started thinking.

’If she canceled our engagement but kept the alliance between the families...’

She raised her gaze.

’That means we’re still engaged, but... no...’

Aria continued looking at her.

’She can’t have done that.’

Ren opened her mouth.

"Did you change the engagement so that...?"

The next day, Noah walked through one of the main buildings of the high school while checking Aria’s message for the third time.

[Come to the student council’s private room at 15:30 and come alone.]

Nothing more, so Noah put the phone away.

’Of course she had to say to come alone.’

It had taken him quite a while to manage it.

Yume had wanted to go with him the moment she learned Aria had summoned him, and so had Luna.

Noah still thought about how both of them had interrogated him when they saw him checking his phone.

Yume had been direct.

"I’m going with you."

And Luna hadn’t held back.

"I’m going too."

Noah had spent almost fifteen minutes explaining that it was probably a student council matter, but neither of them believed him.

Yume had even tried to follow him, and Luna had done exactly the same.

In the end, Noah had to change routes several times, enter a building, exit through another door, and wait behind some vending machines until he confirmed neither of them was still nearby.

’I can’t believe I had to shake off my own girlfriends.’

Noah kept walking.

’But I think it was the right decision.’

When it came to Aria, bringing Yume and Luna could turn a simple conversation into a problem.

After walking a little farther, he finally arrived in front of the indicated door and knocked twice.

"Come in."

Noah recognized Aria’s voice and opened it.

"Hey, Aria."

"Welcome, Noah."

Aria was seated in one of the armchairs.

The private room was quite large, with a central table, several chairs, and documents organized on a desk.

Noah took a step and stopped, because there was someone else there whom he recognized at once.

"Ren, is that you?"

Noah was going to have more than one surprise in that room.