Mistaken for a Wicked Woman!

Whether I was dazed or not, the crown prince still smiled sweetly and turned the hand that had been wrapped around my pinky finger to the side.

Then he took my right hand in his and slowly rose to one knee.

“Ugh… Your Highness?”

I called out to the crown prince, bewildered by his sudden behavior, and he looked up at me, his knees still bent. His expression was solemn, almost reverent.

“Young Viscountess Iris Sabrina.”

His voice, as determined as his unwaveringly serious golden eyes, tickled my ears. The crown prince who had called my name bowed his head in a lazy motion.

The locks of his light-colored hair tickled the back of my hand, and a soft warmth seemed to have pulled at my skin. He rested his forehead on the back of my hand and whispered sweetly.

“Will you have me as your cavalier?”

“Ca–Cavalier?”

For a moment I thought I’d misheard him.

I stuttered like an idiot.

I was so surprised that the words didn’t come out right.

“Uh, yeah. Cavalier.”

Raising his head, the crown prince rested his chin on the back of my hand and said with a nonchalant face.

“Take me as your Cavalier.”

Gasp.

For a moment, a strange sound almost jumped out of my mouth.

I barely stifled a throaty scream and brought my free left hand to my chest.

‘Heart—.. Are you still alive?’

“I mean, uh, right now, it’s getting a little too embarrassing.”

I could feel my heart beating hard against my palm, as if I’d run twenty laps around a racetrack. I stuttered uncomfortably.

“No?”

When I didn’t answer right away, the crown prince asked, tilting his head slightly like a pouting puppy, and my heart leapt into my throat at the sight.

“No, no!!! Of course I like it, of course I like it, of course I’m flattered…..”

‘Aaaah, I’m going to hit him!’

I felt strangely out of breath, like I’d just run up a mountain.

“Sure, you don’t mind?”

A debutante’s partner, a cavalier, is special. They had a different meaning than a partner at a normal ball.

It was because of a story. In which a Cavalier, proposed to become a debutante’s partner, as a sign of a promise for their future.

It was a bit similar to when a knight would dedicate their life to their masters.

It had long been customary in the Empire for a nobleman to propose to become a cavalier, and for a noblewoman to confess her love by accepting it.

The custom of pledging neutrality to a lady to more conservative families, was when the father or an in-law serve as the debutante’s cavalier, but this was extremely rare, and the cavalier was usually someone they plan on dating or currently dating.

“Is there anything wrong with that?”

The crown prince asked, his face a mask of confusion. His eyes were innocent and lips soft and shiny.

“Your Highness has no consort.”

“Indeed.”

“If you were to become my cavalier.. surely it would be noisy, and people might misunderstand the relationship between you and me.”

As far as I know, the crown prince has never had a consort yet.

The Empire considers marriage to be sacred, and even among the nobility, free love is favored over arranged marriages, but still, by the time a man reaches the age of twenty, he is bound to have an engagement.

He is handsome, capable, and, most importantly, the next owner of the empire.

So it was unnatural for the crown prince, who was the most coveted groom, to have no consort until now.

Perhaps it was because of the empress’s disapproval.

For noble families, a consort was a political partner, and marriage was a union of family and a clan.

And for the empress, who wanted to push the crown prince away, having an outside source of support for him was unwelcome.

“It’s okay.”

Contrary to my worries, the crown prince was calm. He didn’t really seem to care about anything. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it.

“I’m doing it because I want to.”

“Your Highness.”

“And it’s not like you don’t have anyone in mind.”

“However there’s a big difference between a crown prince’s consort… and a mere daughter of a viscountess.”

“Iris.”

The crown prince rubbed his cheek against the back of my hand like an affectionate puppy.

“I am courting you.”

I want to tell him not to, but my throat clenches as if something has caught in it.

I can’t take my eyes off his golden eyes, which are strangely amused.

“So take me as your Cavalier.”

‘I lost. I lost. I lost. How could I win this?’

I nodded, dumbfounded, like a person possessed by a fox.

Then, having achieved his goal, the crown prince smiled broadly.

It was the smile of a winner.

(T/N: If I were Iris, I’d have died. Lol)

⚘

“Lady, look at this, it’s silk from the East!”

“Uh huh. ”

“Each and every one of them, blue silks, they’re priceless!”

Sophie was excited to see all the fabrics and jewelry piled up in the room.

She busily walked this way and that, admiring the bundle of things.

A year’s budget for a debutante ball would have been enough for most families, and what was here would be enough for three years on our estate.

In contrast to Sophie’s childlike excitement, I was quite bored.

What a waste of money, we’re only going to the palace balls and hunting competition. What’s the fuss?

Whether he knew it or not, the Marquis of Bright has been sending me a lot of silk and jewelry every day, as if to make up for what he hasn’t been able to do for me, and I don’t know how much he’s bought exactly.

In the end, the fabrics that didn’t make it into the dressing room were piled up in the corner of the room where I was temporarily staying.

Can’t I take some of that with me when I go back later? I can’t, can I?

‘His Highness has agreed to be your cavalier?’

The Marquis of Bright was thrilled when I told him I was going to make my debutante, and though he looked puzzled for a moment at the mention of the crown prince becoming my cavalier, he grinned broadly, more with pleasure than worry.

Although he made a very quiet mysterious expression when he heard that the Crown Prince proposed it.

‘Hah, that pale pea1?’

One could tell that the Duke of Bright was not amused about me having the crown prince as my cavalier.

‘They may be half-brothers, but he’s still related to the Second Prince by blood.’

The Duke frowned.

Although he had softened a bit when I told him that he helped me get away from the Second Prince.

“These Furs are useless.”

I looked with weary eyes at the heaps of silks and furs in the corners of the room.

It was already enough to make my head ache, just seeing all the Marquis of Bright and the Crown Prince was buying and sending over, but today the Duke of Bright added to the mix.

He seemed to be preparing his debut tantrum.

He sent jewelries, white fox furs and deer skins, which he said he had splurged out for the winter.

Leather is okay, but furs in late spring and early summer?

Does he want me to have a stroke?

“Do you want me to help you?”

“No thanks! I can do this by myself.

“You should have called someone else.”

“No it’s fine.”

Sophie replied seriously as she organized the deerskin. The butler assigned Sophie to take care of everything, saying that it couldn’t hurt to be careful since the newspapers were running feature stories about me all the time.

As a result, Sophie has been busy organizing the nonstop influx of goods for the past few days, but her face is still very cheerful.

If not now, when else would she get to see and touch something so precious?

I guess I’d just get her something later.

“When is the tailor coming?”

“Later this afternoon. The craftsman will also come tomorrow. In the evening, the jeweller will also come to the room!”

“Is there any more space to live here?”

As if what we have now isn’t enough. It’s already overflowing but they’re still calling in a couple of craftsmen.

“It’s very fashionable nowadays to go to ‘The Cavalíer’2 and the downtown area to do your own shopping while preparing for your debutante, but my lady can’t go out right now because of the reporters…”

Sophie looked at me with wistful eyes.

As she said, the Marquis Estate was currently being flooded by reporters right now.

It was because Marquis Bright had finally revealed my existence.

『The Young Lady Bright’s twin sister appears!』

『Young Lady Bright’s twin, Young Viscountess Sabrina, who is she?』

『Appearance indistinguishable from Young Lady Bright!』

『A New villainess appeared?』

The newspaper reporters pounced on the mansion like starving gaffes.

They tinkered doggedly about the grounds, though they were constantly being kicked out by the Bright Family Knights.

Even though the butler tried to keep everyone’s mouth shut, it was inevitable that information would still leak out.

Reporters contacted some servants to get a story, and some were willing to pay just to get an interview.

Blinded by a few bucks, the servants who sold their own masters for money were all fired for being unable to keep their mouths shut.

What’s more troublesome here are the speculations.

I pressed my temples together.

“I’m going out.”

I stood and picked up the letter, from my seat.

When I stood up, Sophie also tried to follow.

“Where are you going Miss?”

“I’m just going to visit the butler.”

“You could just call for him…”

“No, I’ve been stuck inside my room for a long time. I need to move around.”

I left Sophie and went out of my room by myself.

I was supposed to send a letter to the butler and nanny today, now that I’ve also added that I was going to hold my debutante.

I couldn’t put it off any longer.

I wonder how long it will take for them to read and send a letter back…

As I descended the stairs, I quietly estimated how long it would take for my letter to arrive at the manor and for the butler and nanny’s reply to reach the capital.

However, I suddenly heard a shrill voice.

“Miss?”

I turned to follow the startled voice and saw a gaunt, haggard woman standing in the foyer.

As our eyes met, the worn bag in her wrinkled hand dropped to the marble floor with a thud.

“Miss, where have you been all this time..!”

The woman ran towards me with a look of excitement on her face, then stopped dead in her tracks.

She squinted her eyes as if something was wrong.

“You…”

The petite woman’s body shuddered. The corners of her eyes streaked with tears.

“You are not my lady.”

The desperation in her voice escaped through her white, blackened, scabbed lips.

The woman crumbled to the ground as if her strength had been released.

“Lady Iris, why are you there…”

Just then, the butler appeared from the back of the staircase and rushed over.

He was then startled by the sight of the woman on the floor.

It was then that I realized her identity.

“Elena!”

It was Archie’s nanny, Lady Elena.

She was also the second person to recognize at a glance that I wasn’t Young Lady Bright.

The duke literally called him 완두콩 which means pea, and used this 주제에 which was usually added in conversation when the speaker was being condescending towards the subject.

‘The Cavalier’ here is the name of the shop.