Mistaken for a Wicked Woman!

“Let me think about it.”

“…. That’s a good idea! I’m not forcing you to do it, so just think about it calmly.”

The Marquis’ face flushed as I took a step back.

Meanwhile, Duke Bright had finished his treatment and returned to his seat.

‘Now, what shall I do?’

I took a moment to choose my words while sipping the tea that the butler poured for me again.

The reason that I agreed to join them at tea time was because I had something to say to them both.

It was something I’d been thinking about ever since the day I’d run into Countess Olette and the Second Prince.

The Crown Prince had told me about what happened to Young Lady Bright. So I made up my mind and set my teacup down.

“I have something to tell the both of you.”

“To us?”

“Yes.”

The Marquis of Bright blinked while pointing to himself in a confused manner.

He then glanced at the Duke of Bright’s expression then looked back at me.

“With my father?”

“Yes. I figured that the both of you should know.”

“What is it?”

The Marquis of Bright asked nervously, as if he had sensed something untoward had happened. The Duke also stared at me with a stern expression.

“After coming to the capital, I couldn’t understand what was going on, so I decided to do my own investigation to figure out what really happened to young lady Bright. What I’m trying to say is that I went to look into my own twin sister’s, Archie’s affairs.”

“Ah.”

A small exclamation suddenly burst out of Marquis Bright’s mouth. He then murmured with his face grim,

“I would have told you all about it if you’d asked…”

“I’m sorry, but I figured I needed a different perspective.”

“Anyway, here’s something I stumbled across while doing some research on what Archie had gone through the past few years.”

I wondered what the look on their faces would be when they finally realize that their own family, the one that everyone has been calling a villainess and pointing fingers at, is the one who have been falsely accused.

“Hah.”

I took a deep breath and slowly closed and opened my eyes as I exhaled the breath that I didn’t know I’ve been holding in just now. It was finally time to tell them the truth.

“What I found out is…”

⚘

‘Oh I’m dying.’

I yawned softly as I stretched my arms. My body seemed to have stiffened because it was about to rain.

“Haah.”

I should have slept better.

Maybe it was because I wasn’t quite awake yet, but I had the urge to run back to my room and flop down on my fluffy bed.

“This way, right?”

Sophie pointed to the ballroom, which was beside the parlor where I had tea with the Marquis and the Duke yesterday. I was so worried because the Marquis’ Mansion was so large and spacious, but fortunately, I could still find it without getting lost.

As I got closer to the training grounds, my mind gradually became clearer and my face flushed in excitement.

Ever since I arrived in the capital, I hadn’t been able to hold the sword and practice since I was distracted by a lot of things.

The thought of wielding a sword to my heart’s content after such a long time made my heart flutter.

But my joy was short-lived.

When I was about to enter the training grounds, I saw someone I never wanted to see.

I frowned at the sight of the Duke of Bright standing in the middle of the training grounds.

“Good morning, your grace.”

Part of me wanted to turn around and walk away, but the Duke had already noticed my presence. After sensing the attention on him, he turned his head to look at me.

“Good morning…”

He offered a modest greeting and nodded at me weakly. And with that, a heavy silence eventually descended on the training grounds.

“…”

‘This is awkward. This is so awkward, It’s so suffocating.’

I sneak a peek at the face of the Duke of Bright. He had a sunken look on his face, and his eyes were downcast.

‘He looks groggy.’

This was probably due to the events of yesterday.

⚘

‘What do you mean?’

I told them everything about how young lady Bright had been framed and what had happened between the Second Prince and Countess Olette.

When I told them about what really happened, and about the communication between the Second Prince and the Countess Olette, a small gasp of surprise could not be restrained from the Duke of Bright.

He repeated my words again in disbelief.

‘That wretch, did what?’

‘The Second Prince had an affair with the young Countess of Olette.’

‘Heh…. An affair? With the second prince?’

The Duke muttered while looking quite shocked and half-stunned. His voice quivered badly.

‘I know it’s hard to believe, but I saw it with my own eyes. They mistook me for Archie, and they even tried to bully me. They even screamed at me.’

‘Nonsense.’

‘His Highness the Crown Prince had already confirmed this. He said that the Empress and Count Olette worked together to bury the truth. They took advantage of Archie’s poor reputation.’

‘Impossible… He.. wh–dare…’

Duke Bright stammered incoherently.

He shut his mouth, unable to continue his mutterings. He was at a loss for words, so was the Marquis.

‘I don’t mean to defend what Archie had done, but I wanted to tell you that there’s something more to the story and there’s a lot of things that you’re unaware of, and I wanted you to know what happened to Archie.’

The Duke of Bright remained speechless for a long time, until I finally finished my speech. His face was gradually turning into a deep shade of red.

‘Bastard. Son of a b–tch’

The Duke of Bright’s clenched jaw dropped.

‘The damned bastard!’

Harsh words kept coming out of his mouth as he rose from his chair, he then roared like a wild beast.

The air was stirred by the killing intent emanating from him.

‘I’ll make him regret it!’

‘I should have broken his legs thoroughly! Make sure he can only crawl!’

He stomped off. A strong momentum was emanating from him. If the Marquis hadn’t stopped him, the Duke of Bright would have gone to the imperial palace and beaten the second prince in the feat of anger.

As they talked, the Marquis of Bright, who had been listening quietly, interrupted the Duke.

‘Father, calm down.’

The Duke was unmoved.

‘Where are you going?’

‘Wherever I’m going, of course..!’

‘Are you going to go to the Imperial Palace and try to catch the Second Prince and beat him?’

‘Of course I will! He had no talent except for his appearance that could barely reach the mark! All he’s done is wrapped himself under his mother’s skirt, and he even dares to disgrace our family?’

‘No.’

Unlike the furious Duke Bright, the Marquis was very calm.

However, his face was frighteningly rigid.

‘Aren’t you angry, you bastard! The Empress is said to have framed our Archie!’

‘I am angry.’

The Marquis of Bright replied in a frosty voice. The smile had already faded from his face.

His face had changed completely, and he looked like a different person.

‘If the Empress is involved, as Iris said, then we must move with caution. If we make a mistake, we will be the ones to take the blame.’

‘Then why are you stopping me!’

The Marquis of Bright soothed the Duke with an impatient urgency. He took several deep breaths in between, as if trying to contain his boiling anger.

‘Then what do you suggest we do?’

‘We must find conclusive evidence.’

‘That’s it, we’ll just have to shake Countess Olette and the second prince by the scruff of their neck and make them admit it!’

‘If father goes to the palace and creates havoc, won’t you end up with probation like last time?’

The Duke paused at the Marquis of Bright’s words…

‘Is there a way?..’

‘Let me think about it now, let’s wait for the right time.’

The Marquis of Bright’s eyes shone with a sickly glow. I was used to seeing him with a childlike smile, so when I see his expression now, I know he was being serious.

I was actually more afraid of the Marquis in his silent rage than I was of the Duke in a fit of his temper.

‘So please calm down and don’t do anything for now.’

‘Damn it!’

The swearing duke didn’t hesitate in his seat. He drew a long, lean hand across his gaping face. His bloodshot hands were trembling.

‘I’ll leave first.’

The Duke of Bright could hardly stop for a minute. Eventually left the room as if running away.

‘…’

⚘

Oh, no. I’d been so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t hear what the Duke said.

I didn’t know how to respond, so I blinked in a confused way, and the Duke spoke again.

“I am so sorry.”

“Oh..”

Duke Bright apologized under the gloomy daylight. His voice held an unmistakable sense of devastation.

“What I did to you was not something I should have done, I was very rude and I sincerely apologize.”

(T/N: If you can’t remember correctly, he tried to coerce her with his ‘Killing Intention’ when they first met, to render her immobile.)

The Duke, who seemed to have aged dramatically overnight, bowed his head. His eyes were wrinkled from lack of sleep, and his thick lips were white.

The dampness in his eyes, and the sight of him made me feel a little uncomfortable.

‘I hope you don’t resent my father too much.’

The words of the Marquis Bright suddenly flashed through my mind.

Yesterday, after the Duke had left, he and I had talked some more, alone.

‘After Wendy left, I was half mad,’ He said, ‘And I didn’t have the presence of mind to take care of Archie, so my father took over and raised her by hand.’

The Marquis Bright spoke with a somber expression and a deep guilt was evident in his shadowed face.

‘I know you’re angry with my father. You must be disappointed in me, too. I didn’t even know what happened to Archie… I wasn’t able to help.. I’m ashamed.’

The Marquis muttered bitterly.

He blamed himself for not being a good mediator.

Everytime Archie did something wrong he would usually just cover it up. However, the Duke would become even more strict.

So the more Archie did something wrong, the more erratic he became.

The Marquis of Bright bit his lower lip in emotion.

‘What my father has done to you is inexcusable. And what he did to Archie has also hurt her too.’

After a moment’s hesitation, the Marquis of Bright spoke cautiously.

‘It’s not that my father didn’t love Archie. On the contrary, he loved her too much, and I want you to know that.’

“I see what you mean.”

The more you love something, the more you feel betrayed. Just as, when I was a child, I was also disappointed in my always missing mother, so the Duke of Bright must have been disappointed in his granddaughter’s continual misbehavior.

Above all, Lady Bright was never innocent.

While she had certainly been unfairly labeled as a Villainess by those with ill intentions, she had also committed her own misdeeds, such as shoplifting and using violence against people.

As the Crown Prince had said, Lady Bright was a Villainess, she was both the perpetrator and the victim.

And the Duke and Marquis of Bright were just as bad. They were as much her victims as they were her perpetrators.