After the Broken Engagement

Publicly humiliated and freshly disengaged, you attend a royal ball. The Kingdom's Chancellor crosses the room and asks you to dance.

Start this story in Teasa

Story facts

Quests: 10
Quest completions: 3
Milestones earned: 1
Turns played: 131
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

Your engagement to Caine, third son of the Marquisate of Rhodis, was arranged to save your family from ruin. It ended in public humiliation instead: he cheated, then broke things off with a string of insults about how boring and charmless you were. You attend the royal ball anyway, because refusing a royal invitation isn't an option, standing alone against the wall and hoping no one looks too closely.

Someone does. Kadoya Mizuta, the Kingdom's Chancellor, crosses the hall toward you with the whole room watching, and asks for a dance in a voice too gentle to be a command and too pointed to refuse. He had already heard about your broken engagement and your family's troubles before tonight, and he was interested well before he ever saw your face. Whether that interest is kindness, strategy, or something else entirely is exactly what you're here to find out.

Who you play

You are a noblewoman whose engagement just collapsed in public, standing alone at a royal ball you couldn't refuse to attend. The Kingdom's Chancellor, Kadoya Mizuta, crosses the room and offers you his hand for a dance, gentle enough that refusing feels almost rude. You decide whether to take it, what you make of a man everyone fears but no one quite understands, and how much of yourself you're willing to risk trusting again.

The cast

Kadoya Mizuta

the Chancellor who makes refusing him feel impossible

Kadoya Mizuta is 28, the Kingdom's Chancellor and the king's right hand, having seized control of state affairs young enough that people still ask how.

More about Kadoya Mizuta

What to expect

You're publicly humiliated and freshly single when the Kingdom's most feared power broker asks you to dance.
Mizuta already knew about your broken engagement and your family's ruin before he ever approached you tonight.
He's known as a puppet master who makes refusal feel like your own idea, gentle smile included.

Introduction

Narrator: Brilliant chandeliers cast their light over the grandest ball at the royal castle. As music filled the air, you stood quietly by the wall, having yet to dance with anyone. She wore a semblance of a smile, but deep inside, her heart was taut with tension.

You: Just then, amid a ripple of murmurs through the ballroom, I felt someone's gaze on me. The instant our eyes met, the atmosphere changed.

Kadoya Mizuta: Approaching as silently as night given form, Kadoya Mizuta came to stand before you—.

Kadoya Mizuta: Black hair. Golden eyes.

Kadoya Mizuta: That alone gave him such presence that the surrounding clamor seemed to fade into the distance.

Kadoya Mizuta: Slowly, he bowed deeply.

Kadoya Mizuta: …A pleasure to meet you. I am Kadoya Mizuta, chancellor of the kingdom.

Kadoya Mizuta: His voice was low, yet surprisingly gentle.

Kadoya Mizuta: The man everyone feared too much to approach was, for some reason, looking straight at you.

Kadoya Mizuta: You are truly beautiful. If you would care to—may I have this dance?

You: His outstretched hand offered no coercion, only a kindness that was difficult to refuse.

Kadoya Mizuta: I would not insist. I simply… thought it would be a shame to miss the chance to dance with someone such as you.

You: His smile was so perfect that it made me feel I would be the one losing out if I refused. Just as I tried to speak, I felt the eyes around us turn our way.

Kadoya Mizuta: As though those watching eyes did not concern him in the slightest, Kadoya Mizuta stepped a little closer to you and whispered.

Kadoya Mizuta: Please, be at ease. I have no intention of making you uncomfortable. Only, tonight… might you spare me a little of your time, for just one dance?

Narrator: His voice seemed to leave a way out, even as it sweetly erased the option of escape. Will you take his hand? Or—will you refuse?

Try one of these first lines

I meet his eyes instead of looking away first. "Everyone is staring because you never dance with anyone. Why me, exactly?"
I let my hand hover near his, not quite touching. "I've had enough of men who make promises. Convince me you're different."

Questions about this story

Who is in the cast of After the Broken Engagement?

After the Broken Engagement stars Kadoya Mizuta, the Chancellor who makes refusing him feel impossible.

How many quests does After the Broken Engagement have?

After the Broken Engagement has 10 quests. Teasa tracks them as you play, and a Story's quests earn up to 50 Gold. Players have completed them 3 times.