Mistaken for a Wicked Woman!

Whether I like it or not, I know that the more time I spent with the Bright Family, the more my feelings for them will change from negative to positive.

Of course that didn’t mean I trusted the Duke and Marquis of Bright.

I still needed time to fully trust them.

That was the problem.

“I feel like I’m running up a debt I can’t pay up.”

At first, I was happy to receive the molten iron sword, but then my heart grew heavy with the thought that if I took something so valuable and pretended that nothing happened afterwards, then I would be a lowly human being.

“I wish I could have been someone brazen.”

If I knew that I would feel this uncomfortable, I should have just not asked the Bright family to support me.

It might be harder on my body, but at least I’d feel at ease.

That’s right.

I was being a hypocrite!

Whether I like it or not, I needed them for my debutante ball and until the end of the Imperial Knight’s Selection test.

To be exact, I needed the background of the Bright family and the affection and guilt they have for me.

「So you’re saying that your conscience is being pricked because you feel like you’re using them?」

“Relationships are not… It’s not right for one to keep giving and the other to keep taking.”

The world runs on a give and take system.

Whether it’s money or love, something has to come before something can go.

A relationship in which one party is only giving was bound to crumble the moment they realize that they were simply pouring water into a bottomless jar.

The Duke and the Marquis said that they wanted nothing from me, but would they continue to do so?

After months of this, they would surely grow greedy.

I knew this, but I was not willing to give in to their desires so easily.

This is why I felt like I was making calculations with those who gave me their affections for my immediate benefit.

“I’m worried that I’ll really become a person with no conscience.”

「Nah. You’re nice.」

“What?”

What did he say?

When I raised my head in surprise at the unexpected words, the spirit stone in front of me sparkled affectionately.

「Iris, the reason why you’re feeling so conflicted right now is because you’re a good and righteous person.」

“What do you mean good, how am I good?”

Me? Good?

It was ridiculous enough to make a passing dog laugh.

If I was so good, I would have long since accepted the Bright family.

「Well, Iris—.」

The crown prince trailed off, then spoke carefully.

「Whatever you may think of them, the Duke and the Marquis are your family, and they have not taken care of you well until now. So what you’re feeling is completely reasonable.」

“There were reasons behind their actions…”

「Whatever those reasons were, the fact still remains that the Duke and Marquis have failed in their duty to take good care of you. Parents are responsible for their children, even if they are divorced.」

“That’s because my mother…”

「Sure, Viscountess Sabrina’s behavior was indeed wrong, but that’s no excuse. The Marquis should have found a way to help you grow up without neglecting you.」

“I…”

「In my view as a third party, the Duke and the Marquis are now similar to a loose colt. What had been suppressed for more than 10 years exploded at once.」

“Hmm.”

「Just relax and enjoy it for now. Don’t think you have to give back what you got from those two people. There’s nothing more sad than not being able to trust your own family and have to calculate your behavior around them. It’s a sad thing.」

I can understand why the crown prince said that, so I closed my mouth.

He was currently on an ongoing and life-threatening struggle with his stepmother, the Empress.

「Take it easy. What the Duke and the Marquis gave you is what you should have enjoyed.」

“If I had grown up as the daughter of the Marquis of Bright, not as the Sabrina estate’s young lady, I would have been able to accept them easily, right?”

「No, even if you had grown up as the young lady of Sabrina, you would still deserve them. Even if your last name is different, you’re still a family by virtue of your blood.」

“That’s true, but…”

「I think you’re simply getting what you should have received from an early age until now at once. If you hadn’t lived apart, you would have had them.」

“Shall I? Can I really do that?”

「Of course, it’s your right.」

My right.

His words worked pretty well.

Listening to the crown prince, I thought it would be okay to relax a little now.

Then my heavy shoulders became lighter as if the pile of debt, had been reduced a little.

“There are times when I think about it.”

「What?」

After feeling cool as if my blocked stomach had been unclogged, I fiddled with the spirit stone with a more comfortable expression.

“What if Young Lady Bright, I mean Archie was the one who followed my mother, I wondered what it would have been like to grow up here.”

「Why did you think that?」

“I just don’t think Archie would have become a villainess if she had… But I’m still glad my mother took me instead of Archie.”

「Why?」

“Our territory has a poor environment. Well, your highness doesn’t know, but it’s so backward that it’s so embarrassing to even call it a fief.”

「Really?」

“Yes, it is literally the worse of the worst. There’s no good medicine or a good doctor… I heard Archie was congenitally weak? It’s terrible to imagine, but if she followed my mother to the estate, she might not have lived that long. That’s probably why my mother took me as her successor instead of her.”

I murmured in a confident tone.

“I just look like this, but I almost died once because I didn’t get proper treatment on time.”

「What?」

“Oh, it was nothing serious. I just had a head injury when I was a kid.”

「….」

“I almost died because I couldn’t get treatment right away, thankfully I survived, but I lost all my memory before I was eight years old because of that accident.”

「… I see.」

‘Oh, I shouldn’t have said that.’

After hearing the crown prince’s voice trail off, I suddenly regretted saying something that useless.

“Hmmm, anyways… Thank you. After talking to your highness, I felt a little better.”

It was already late at night, and I changed the subject because I thought I should wrap up the story at this point.

Fortunately, the crown prince also matched my rhythm.

「That’s a relief.」

“Thanks to your highness.”

「Haha, I didn’t do much.」

“You listened to my story seriously. You gave me advice.”

「It’s not even advice.」

The Crown Prince spoke in an embarrassed tone.

He really didn’t seem to think he had done anything for me.

But my thoughts were different.

He listened to me really seriously and told me that I wasn’t bad.

That helped me a lot.

“If it were anyone else, I’d say you’re full of shit.”

「No way.」

Sometimes it’s just nice to hear someone say that you’re okay, and you’re not doing something wrong.

If it weren’t for the crown prince, I would have felt as uncomfortable as I did.

I thanked the crown prince again.

“Thank you very much. In many ways…”

「If you’re so grateful, why don’t you get used to calling me by my first name?」

“What?”

What does that mean?

While I paused in confusion, a light glow suddenly emanated from my spirit stone.

「You’ve been calling me ‘Your Highness‘ the entire time.」

“Ah.”

It’s been a while since we’ve agreed to call each other by our first names.

“Aren’t you sorry?”

The crown prince grumbled in a playful voice.

I felt unfair for some reason, but I still apologized because it was my fault.

“I’m trying, but it’s not easy.”

「Why?」

“I have to be careful in front of others.”

The only time the crown prince and I call each other by our first names is when we’re alone.

Even nobles who are close to each other in private, address each other using their titles in public, but for me, a mere noblewoman, to casually call the crown prince by his first name in front of other people was like saying, ‘Just Kill me!’

Even if the crown prince had granted me permission to use his name, such behavior would be unacceptable in the Empire, which is a strictly hierarchical society.

For this reason, I had been using a combination of his title and real name depending on the situation.

The problem was that it was still difficult for me to call him by his name even when we were alone.

Some may think what’s so hard about calling other people’s names, but it’s not as easy as it sounds.

To be honest, I was more comfortable calling him formally than when I’m using his name.

So I would call him ‘Vasil‘ and then, while talking to him, I would unconsciously call him ‘Your highness’ again.

「You don’t have to worry about anyone.」

“If I did that, there would be a lot more fuss than there is now.”

When a nobleman gives you permission to call their name, it means you’re close to them.

If the person is royalty, it could mean even more.

I’m already hearing all sorts of bizarre rumors like being the prospective crown princess, the lady who melted the crown prince’s frozen heart, with our betrothal gifts having been exchanged, and so on, so if they learnt that I’m calling him by his first name…

Not only would the nobles protest that it was against etiquette, but the reporters, who were skilled at turning precious paper into rubbish, would say that I was wrong, and write another bizarre story.

「Is that why you won’t call me by my first name?」

The crown prince asked grimly.

He sounded like a puppy whimpering pitifully in the rain.

“Uh, well, not really—.”

What can I do?

Part of me wants to cancel our agreement where we have to call each other by our names and tell him to just call each other with whatever we felt comfortable with, but I’m afraid that would make him shrivel up like spinach cooked in water.

“I just need time to get used to it.”

I couldn’t say that I didn’t want to call him by his first name, so I made up an excuse.

If I had known this would happen, I would have said I didn’t want to be called by my first name before…

I felt a little regretful.

“Even though I’ve been communicating with you through the spirit stones every day, I’ve only met you and called you Vasil a few times.”

「True.」

“In addition to this, even if we met, it’s still hard for us to be alone together. So I didn’t have a lot of opportunities to call your name, this is why I haven’t gotten used to it yet.”

「I see your point.」

I rambled on and on, and the crown prince seems to agree with me.

Just as I was getting relieved by his reaction, the crown prince suddenly came up with an unexpected solution.