Mistaken for a Wicked Woman!

「Then you’ll just have to get used to it.」

“What?”

「How about you practice until you get used to calling me by my name?」

“…Practice?”

「Yes, if you say it often enough, it’ll stick in your mouth.」

“Uh-oh…”

‘This isn’t right.’

I stuttered a little, and was greatly embarrassed by the situation that was going completely against my intentions.

However, the Crown Prince, who seemed to have been energized, demanded confidently,

「Let’s start practicing today. How about from now on, every time you say goodnight to me before you go to bed, you practice calling me by my name?」

“No, w-wait!”

「Alright so from now on, you must call my name out three times.」

“… I-isn’t this too sudden?”

「Don’t they usually tell you to take out the iron while it’s hot.1」

“Yes, but I need to be prepared…”

When he noticed me faltering at the unexpected situation, the crown prince urged me with a stern voice.

「Come on.」

How many people can resist when the crown prince of the empire asks them to do something?

I clutched the spirit stone in my hand with a dejected expression.

There was no point in going against it anymore.

“….”

「What’s wrong?」

‘Ugh.’

This isn’t even the first time I’ve ever said the crown prince’s name, but my heart can’t help racing.

My mouth went dry and an unknown tension suddenly rose in my stomach while I tried to say his name the way he wanted it.

I pursed my lips a few times and finally called him.

“Va—sil.”

I don’t know why I was so scared to say his name.

「Yes, Iris.」

His response came out instantaneously.

‘Oh my God, honey! His voice, why is it so sweet?’

「You still have two more left.」

I was momentarily in a daze and lost for words, but the crown prince still urged me on.

When I finally regained my composure, I called his name again.

“Va—Vasil.”

「Yes, Iris. 」

‘Oh, my God.’

I blushed and bit my lower lip in embarrassment.

My heart raced for a moment at the sound of his chuckling voice, and I almost lost the grip on the spirit stone in my hand.

‘Oh no, I can’t do this. I might actually have a heart attack and die.’

But there’s only one way out of this situation—

I tightened my grip on the spirit stone and called out the crown prince’s name one last time—

“I’m going to bed now! Good night, Vasil.”

‘Alright!’

That third one was more natural.

A strange sense of pride suddenly washed over me after I finally succeeded in calling the crown prince’s name three times using my nightly greeting.

I felt like a knight who had just successfully completed her mission, but the crown prince was a formidable foe.

My heart, which had barely calmed down started pounding faster again, at the sound of his sweet voice on my ears,

At the same moment, the spirit stone I was holding was dropped from my hand…

「Good night, Iris. Sleep well tonight.」

⚘

“Hahaha.”

Vasil smiled broadly after he ended the conversation with Iris and said goodnight.

The room fell silent immediately after the voice coming from the spirit stone faded away.

Vasil rolled the spirit stone in his hand and rose from his seat.

He sat on the railing of the balcony while the cool breeze was blowing, and gazed out over the darkened palace.

The Imperial palace, immersed in the dull moonlight, was as silent as if it were floating on still water, only the occasional sound of grasshoppers can be heard.

“… So cute.”

In the peaceful silence, Vasil suddenly muttered with a pleasant face as he recalled the conversation they had from earlier.

He couldn’t help but chuckle as he recalled how embarrassed she was when she tried to call him by his name.

『Hmm? What’s so funny?』

A small cluster of lights, attracted by his laughter, popped into existence and hovered around him like fairy dust.

The spirits revealed themselves one-by-one, some looked like flowers and leaves, some looked like butterflies and bees, and more—

He was surrounded by spirits in an instant, and he smiled.

『Is it because of that child?』

Vasil answered them with a smile, while looking at the spirits who were curious about his actions.

The spirits immediately shimmered, as if pleased to see their favorite human smile.

They had been watching him for so long, and knew who it was that had suddenly ignited his life that had been as static and dull as stagnant water.

It was due to that child with a clear, strong soul and gypsy blood.

She was not as pretty, and precious as the human smiling before them now, but she was a girl like a dewy wildflower, and she made him smile again, even when he was about to wilt like a withered plant.

“Yes, I’ve been having a lot of fun lately.”

Vasil nodded, and a cool night breeze stroked his hair.

He squinted at the corner of his eyes as it tickled his hair.

He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d laughed so often.

“Hah…”

The breath that escaped his lips wafted through the air.

He turned his head towards the imperial palace in the distance, then Vasil stopped smiling.

“… What’s going on with the Empress?”

He slowly said while still staring at the palace, which was as beautiful and elegant as the moon even in the middle of the night.

The spirits soon began to chatter.

The spirits were everywhere and could be anywhere, be it on the water, wind, trees, birds, butterflies, flowers, and nature itself.

The spirits that loved Vasil became his eyes and ears, in place of him, who didn’t have the time.

This is how Vasil, who lost his only ally, his mother, at a young age, and was thrown out into the world alone with no one to protect him, survived the countless plots against his life, and the countless crises that befell him.

“Yes, I see.”

Vasil squinted his eyes as he listened to the spirits tell him their tale.

He listened to every story the Spirit told him, and a white ball of light coolly sat on his hand.

The golden eyes shone with a little hint of cold, filled with warmth as if they had never done so.

“Thank you.”

He stretched out his hand in gratitude to the spirits who had relayed him the information.

“What about Count Olette and Marquis Maite?”

When he started asking about the trends of the nobles surrounding the Empress, a leaf that was circling around him approached him and whispered in his ear.

Vasil listened intently to what the spirit had to say.

“—-As expected.”

They’re so predictable.

Vasil curled his lips.

As he’d predicted, the nobles of the Empress’s faction, who favored Countess Olette, were trying to discredit Iris and isolate her from society, just as they had with the Young Lady of the Bright family.

“I can’t let them do that.”

Vasil muttered in a cold voice.

He quickly organized his thoughts.

“How do I….”

It was clearly a great advantage for him, to be able to get information from spirits and know what was going on around him, but knowing someone’s plot or malice didn’t make things easier for him.

Even if he’s prepared for an event to happen, or even if he’s already played the game before it started, there are always variables.

One can never be too careful because something they might not be able to expect may happen along the way.

“Hmm?”

Vasil’s thoughts were interrupted by a flash of light in front of him.

A leaf on top of it swayed, as if it wanted him to do something.

“Ah.”

Vasil exclaimed, after realizing he’d forgotten to thank them, and reached out to the cluster of lights in front of him.

“Thank you.”

He moved his fingers and gently stroked the leaves and the glowing white orb.

Then the glowing white orb shivered, while the leaves fluttered left and right.

The other spirits circled around the light cluster and the leaves, enviously.

“Keep an eye on them. Let me know once something’s wrong,”

The cluster of white lights sparkled and twirled as if to say, 『Trust me.』

As Vasil watched the spirit’s little antics with amusement, he soon replayed the conversation he’d had with Iris in his mind.

‘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.’

Vasil’s face darkened as he recalled what Iris had said earlier.

‘Amnesia—-.’

When he met Iris again at the reception desk, she didn’t recognize him at all.

He wasn’t disheartened to learn that she didn’t remember him, because the last time he’d met her, and stayed with her, was about ten years ago, and it was only for a week.

It’s impossible for anyone to remember every detail of their childhood.

Even people with good memories often have fuzzy memories of when they were young.

Vasil knew it was ridiculous to expect Iris, who was eight years old at the time, to remember him when they had only been together for a few days, so he didn’t think he could help it if she didn’t remember him.

But amnesia?

‘Woow~ who are you? Are you a forest fairy?’

‘My God, you’re human just like me? No way! I’ve never seen such a pretty girl like you since I was a baby!’

A faint smile appeared on Vasil’s face as he remembered the past for a moment.

However, it quickly faded into silence.

“Hah!”

A sound that could have been a sigh or a chuckle escaped his lips.

Vasil frustratingly unbuttoned the top of his shirt, he thought back to the day he and Iris were reunited.

It was when he heard the commotion outside his office, he was about to rush out, to ask about it, when he was stopped by a nostalgic scent.

It was a refreshing scent resembling the fresh wind of early spring, which was the scent of someone he had not forgotten for the past decade.

‘What’s all the noise?’

He asked, while trying to keep his voice from trembling, but his gaze was already fixed on the girl with the crystal clear, azure-blue hair.

‘That… Young Lady Bright…’

‘Young Lady Bright?’

No way!

He couldn’t believe it—-.

Vasil tried to remain calm.

That’s because he also knew of one other young lady with azure-blue hair, it was the symbol of the Bright Family.

Iris Sabrina.

She was a girl of the Bright family blood, but was raised to be the heir of House Sabrina.

“Is that really you, Young Lady Bright?”

The moment his eyes met those emerald eyes that were so similar to a blade of fresh grass, Vasil felt his heart skip a beat.

Iris.

It was her.