Mistaken for a Wicked Woman!

Vasil barely restrained himself from calling out Iris’s name.

There were so many eyes, and ears that were looking, and listening at this place.

He couldn’t just greet her or be friendly with her, especially in front of people he didn’t know if they were friends or foes.

‘Uh, how did you know?’

Unfortunately, Iris didn’t seem to recognize him.

Perhaps she’d had enough of people mistaking her for Young Lady Bright, and she stuttered.

So he decided to pretend he didn’t know her either.

‘You’re actually the first person to recognize that I’m not that Young Lady Bright so…’

‘Well, you see, I have a good sense of smell.’

‘What?’

‘I don’t know. It’s not that you smell strange or anything like that. It’s just that everyone has their own body scent. They have had it ever since they were born. I just learned to distinguish them, I guess.’

He couldn’t tell Iris, who was a little intrigued, that it was actually because he knew her.

So Instead, he gave her another reason, which was not a lie, since he can really recognize Iris by her scent, that his body had memorized long before he had actually seen her face.

‘So you distinguish people by their smell, not their faces…’

Iris was dumbfounded by his answer.

She couldn’t believe what she just heard.

‘I didn’t tell you earlier, but apart from the scent, it’s also because your face is quite different from Young Lady Bright too.’

Vasil explained apologetically to Iris’s disbelieving gaze.

It was true that he could tell Iris and Young Lady Bright apart by their faces, not by their scents.

‘Your eyes are a little more upturned than Young Lady Bright’s, your nose is a little more prominent, your lips are fuller, and your skin is less pale and more lively.’

They resembled each other like two copies of the same picture, identical twins, but on closer inspection, their features and expressions were subtly different.

Vasil could recognize them, even if no one else could.

Fortunately, Iris seemed to accept his explanation.

“You said you’d never forget…”

Vasil muttered in a bitter tone.

His golden eyes sunk into darkness.

‘Don’t worry, my memory is pretty good. I’m very good at remembering things. I’ll never forget.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes! So come and visit us anytime’.

After reuniting with Iris, Vasil had hoped that she might remember him, after so many years…

But no matter how many times he saw her, no matter how many times they talked, she never recalled him.

They had only been together for a week in the first place.

It’s already a miracle that they’ve seen each other again, so he can’t be too greedy.

That’s what Vasil told himself whenever he felt a twinge of regret that Iris couldn’t remember him.

Childhood memories usually fade as one grows older.

She had forgotten many things as she grew up.

What had been unforgettable to him for the past ten years, but it might not be the case for her.

He consoled himself by thinking that she must have forgotten him naturally with the passage of time.

But to know that it wasn’t because of it?

“Hah…”

A heavy sigh escaped his lips.

Vasil clenched and unclenched his fist slowly, his expression became steady.

Obviously, not being able to remember him and having amnesia have different weights.

When he realized that Iris had not only been injured because of him, but that there were even repercussions because of it… He couldn’t help but feel a sudden surge of anger envelope him, but he had nowhere to vent.

“I should have waited for her to wake up then…”

There’s nothing more foolish than regretting the time that has long since passed, but the regret keeps coming back to him.

Maybe Iris just wanted to forget what had happened.

The thought of that, only made his chest tighten until it was hard enough for him to breathe.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and the voice from his memory buzzed in his ear—

‘Please. Please leave before Lady Iris wakes up.’

On that unforgettable day, when it all happened, Vasil wanted to be there to see Iris wake up safe and sound after being injured because of him.

But the butler of House Sabrina advised him to leave.

‘Today’s events must have been a nightmare for the young lady, and I don’t know when she’ll wake up—.’

‘I’ll just make sure she’s okay, then I’ll go.’

‘No, Young Master, you shouldn’t be here.’

The butler of Lady Subrina, who was also Iris’ guardian, firmly told him to leave, even though he knew his identity.

‘The young lady has already been seriously injured in her attempt to save the young Master, and I do not wish my young lady to have any further involvement in this matter.’

Vasil could not refute the butler’s words.

Even if he had ten mouths to feed, he couldn’t find the words to say, it was his fault that Iris was injured in the first place.

‘They say that people from the capital are now anxiously searching for you. From what I can tell, they’re not the ones who attacked you. If you join them, you’ll be able to return home safely.’

‘….’

‘With your permission, I’ll put you in touch with them.’

‘… Okay.’

‘Thank you for your understanding, and I apologize for my rudeness.’

‘It’s all right.’

‘Please forgive us, but our lady is the most important person to us.’

(T/N: It’s always the butler and Nanny. They always mean well, but they only ruined things for her.)

At that point, Vasil felt it was right to leave for Iris’s sake, the Empress would not let her off the hook if she learned that she had helped him.

After returning to the capital through a series of twists and turns, he was soon informed that Iris had finally awakened safely with the help of the spirits.

‘Thank goodness—.’

I’m just glad that she’s alive and well.

With that thought, Vasil decided to put the events of the Sabrina estate to rest.

They were never going to meet again anyway.

He didn’t want to put Iris in danger again because of him.

But once in a while, when the seasons changed, Iris would come back to his mind, and he would ask the spirits to find out how she was doing.

It was heartwarming to hear from the spirits that she was still going strong and doing well.

Time passed, and just as Iris’s face was becoming a blur for him, her twin sister, the Young Lady Bright, appeared on the social scene.

Archie Bright.

She had a face just like Iris’, proving that they were identical twins, but everything about them was different.

‘I’m going to be rude and tell you the truth– I have no intention of making friends with His Royal Highness, so please don’t speak to me.’

Vasil wanted to make friends with Iris’ sister, the Young Lady Bright, but unfortunately she had no intention of doing so.

Young Lady Bright strangely disliked him.

More accurately, she was uncomfortable around him.

Vasil, who harbored a certain fondness for Iris’ twin sister, couldn’t understand why she was so uncomfortable and afraid of him.

‘Why? Am I uncomfortable to be around with?’

‘It’s a rude answer, but yes, you are.’

It was an unequivocal refusal, but her deep green eyes sometimes brought back nostalgic memories for him.

Vasil felt a little hurt then.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever done anything wrong to you, Young Lady, is there a reason why?’

The reply was cold.

She wouldn’t even tell him why.

‘I’m sorry. I can’t tell you, but forcing yourself on someone who doesn’t like you is bullying.’

Vasil gave up, and simply accepted her wishes.

He didn’t want to force himself on someone who was uncomfortable around him.

So instead, he decided to stay behind and watch quietly.

If Iris was a wildflower that grew with the wind and rain, the Young Lady Bright was a plant in a greenhouse, and doesn’t know anything about the world.

She is Iris’ twin sister, but they were complete opposites of each other.

Vasil had hoped to help Young Lady Bright find her place in the society.

But to Vasil’s dismay, she did not fit in and was eventually thrown around in it.

He made a few sneaky visits to keep her from isolating herself, but that soon became impossible—

That was because she had begun a formal engagement with her half-brother, Pavel.

Young Lady Bright, who had already been avoiding Vasil, turned against him once she was formally engaged to Pavel.

For her, Vasil was the enemy of her beloved, and with good reason.

‘Brother, aren’t you paying too much attention to my fiancé?’

Young Lady Bright is Pavel’s intended wife.

So the Empress and Pavel were also very wary of Vasil’s advances toward the Young Lady.

In the end, Vasil had to keep his hands off of her affairs.

Small gestures in social circles were often blown out of proportion.

Even the most innocuous words were calculated.

There were so many eyes on him that he couldn’t publicly lend a hand to the fiancé of his political opponent, his half-brother.

So he stopped.

Now that he thought about it, it was a mistake.

When he was unable to offer even the slightest assistance, the Young Lady Bright’s spirits plummeted.

She was unable to withstand the vicious attacks of the people around her.

She was branded as a villainess, and was ostracized from society.

She was even made the butt of the newspapers and public ridicule.

To make matters worse, her fiancé, Pavel, had an affair with the Countess Olette.

When the ambitious Count of Olette discovered that his daughter was having an affair with the Second Prince, he went to the Empress immediately.

The Empress was horrified to learn that her son had committed adultery, but soon moved to remedy the situation.

The same was true of Pavel and the young Countess.

『Don’t trust Pavel too much.』

All Vasil could do at the time was to write to the unsuspecting Young Lady Bright and warn her about it secretly, but she was already broken and unable to cope.

The Empress then used her as a scapegoat for her own son’s actions.

The Empress and Count Olette collaborated to make the Young Lady Bright the perpetrator instead of the victim, and made up a play in which the real culprit, Pavel, became the victim instead.