MFAWW 10

Chapter 10

“Hmm, excuse me…… Bright Young Lady?”

“…….”

Silence is the best pressure tactic. As I wordlessly stared at the orange-haired young lady, she rolled her eyes guiltily.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s hard to forgive me. But at the time, I had no choice.”

The orange-haired girl, who had been hesitating and gauging my reaction, cautiously opened her mouth.

“People’s hearts don’t always do what we want, right? I had a really hard time too. I’m sorry for hurting you, but…….”

Muttering self-justifications in a small voice, the orange-haired girl suddenly lifted her head high. Then, as if overwhelmed with emotion, she raised her voice.

“But holding a grudge forever is too much, don’t you think?!”

Why is she suddenly like this? As I frowned, not understanding, her thick light-brown eyebrows shot up.

“What’s that expression? I had a hard time because of you too, and His Highness Pavel suffered as well!”

The orange-haired young lady lifted her chin provocatively, as if she wouldn’t back down.

“To be honest, isn’t it your own fault that His Highness Pavel chose me over you? If you had behaved better, none of this would have happened!”

Oh-ho, so that’s how it was. From her following words, I could roughly guess what had happened between the Bright Young Lady and the orange-haired young lady.

*’The public knows it as the engagement being broken off due to the Bright Young Lady’s fault…… but actually, it was our side’s fault.’*

Combining the Crown Prince’s words with what the orange-haired girl had just said, the puzzle pieces fit together easily.

I couldn’t be a hundred percent certain, but it seemed that Pavel was the Bright Young Lady’s former fiancé, the Second Prince, and that the orange-haired young lady was the reason the two had broken up.

“What? Do you feel wronged? You should have known your place, Bright Young Lady.”

As I calmly organized my thoughts, the orange-haired young lady’s expression changed again. She crossed her arms with a spiteful face and glared at me.

“I warned you, didn’t I? That if you kept living like that, you’d eventually get burned.”

She certainly has a wide range of expressions—she could be an actress.

I inwardly admired her while silently gazing at the smug orange-haired young lady. Her face twisted in response.

“What’s that expression? That’s not like you.”

The orange-haired young lady turned savage, as if her earlier friendliness had been a lie.

“You used to screech and cry like the world was ending—why aren’t you crying now?”

Yes, say more. More.

I quietly watched the orange-haired young lady ramble on. She seemed to interpret my silence differently, and her face lit up with glee as she sneered.

“What’s wrong? No tears left? Or have you finally accepted reality?”

“…….”

“I suppose so. A villainess like you becoming the imperial princess-in-law…… even a stray dog passing by would laugh.”

Her amber eyes curved like crescent moons, filled with obvious mockery.

“That’s right. Why covet something that was never yours to begin with? The position of imperial princess-in-law was never meant for you.”

The orange-haired young lady twisted her red lips as she looked at me with derisive eyes. Leaning toward me, she whispered in a seductive voice.

“How does it feel to be abandoned by your family and your beloved, left with nothing, after throwing your weight around based on your family name and looks?”

So this was the reality of high society the Crown Prince had spoken of.

Suddenly, an unbearable disgust welled up inside me. I thought I understood why my mother couldn’t endure the empire’s high society, and why she’d suffered from postpartum depression.

“……Shameless.”

Ah, I want to curse. I suppressed the dozens of curses rising to my throat and spat out the most refined words I could manage.

“What did you just say?”

“What do you mean?”

“Just now, to me…….”

“Ah, shameless?”

When I kindly repeated it for her, the orange-haired young lady gasped. She couldn’t hide her flustered expression, apparently caught off guard by my reaction.

“Wh-What…….”

“You’re truly shameless.”

Why do you keep pretending not to hear? I deliberately enunciated each word. At that, the orange-haired young lady trembled as if she’d suffered a grievous insult.

“Such in-insolence…….”

“Insolent? You’re the one who’s insolent. Who do you think you are, shouting like that—an adulterer?”

I dropped my smile and glared at the orange-haired young lady with icy eyes.

In the empire, adultery was treated akin to a crime. Nobles, who valued bloodlines, were sensitive to infidelity. That’s why when drawing up marriage contracts, nobles always included clauses stipulating massive alimony payments in case of adultery.

The amount of alimony was considerable—at the very least, worth the value of a mansion’s pillar. If one couldn’t pay due to financial reasons, their title could be demoted. That was why all nobles in the empire were cautious about marriage.

Of course, engagements were easier to break than marriages. But if the reason was infidelity, that was a different matter. Whether marriage or engagement, adultery meant breaking a vow made before the Great Spirit. Therefore, even without legal consequences, someone who cheated while engaged faced moral condemnation.

Even a prince was no exception. Rather, it was worse because he was a member of the imperial family. A prince, who should set an example for others, cheating while engaged was bound to be criticized for a long time. Yet this orange-haired girl was remarkably brazen about committing adultery with a prince.

“Adulterer?! Ho-How dare you say such a thing……!”

“What? It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

How thick-skinned. I now understood why the Crown Prince had said it was their side’s fault. Seeing the orange-haired girl throw such a fit made it easy to imagine what the situation must have been like.

“S-Say that again! Do you think you’ll get away with this?!”

“Adulterers have no shame, do they?”

Did you think I wouldn’t say it again? When I curled one corner of my lips, her amber eyes widened. She’s the one who did wrong—why is she the one surprised?

“Eek……!”

“If I were you, I’d be too ashamed to even lift my head. The world really is a wonderful place, allowing adulterers to walk around with their heads held high.”

Back in our territory, she’d have been dragged through the streets and beaten black and blue. I swallowed the curses rising to my throat and took a deep breath.

“This is for the oranges.”

First, I needed to send the child away. Ignoring the orange-haired girl, who was trembling in shock, I pulled a few silver coins from my inner pocket.

As I placed three or four silver coins in the basket, the child, who had been fidgeting nervously watching us, brightened up.

“Would you give me the basket too, if you don’t mind?”

“Sure!”

“Thank you.”

The child, having earned far more than expected, happily handed me the basket.

“Hey, Orange Hair.”

“O-Orange Hair……!”

Since I didn’t know her name, calling her Orange Hair made her face flush bright red. Whether she liked it or not, I took a round orange from the basket.

“First, I am not the Marquess Bright’s daughter.”

I put force into each word as I glared at Orange Hair. Since I was quite angry, I additionally raised a bit of my aura. Startled by the fighting spirit, Orange Hair hiccupped, but I paid no attention and squeezed the orange in my hand.

“Second, I don’t back down from a fight.”

*Squish.*

The moment I finished speaking, the orange in my hand was completely crushed. At the sight, the young lady’s face turned pale.

“A-Are you… threatening… me?!”

Orange Hair stammered, trembling.

“No. You’re the one who picked a fight first—I’m just responding.”

Was that unnecessary? It seemed successful in intimidating her, but the juice dripping from my hand was unpleasant. As I casually shook my hand and replied, Orange Hair gripped her fan tightly and stomped her feet. She seemed furious but too scared of me to speak.

“What’s going on here?”

Just then, a head of dark turquoise hair appeared above Orange Hair’s. What’s this, handsome seaweed hair?

“What are you doing out here by yourself…… Hm?”

The man seemed to be Orange Hair’s companion. The unexpected intruder spotted me and immediately furrowed his brow.

“Archel? Why are you here?”

“Pavel!”

Oh, so that’s the adulterer, the Second Prince. Thanks to Orange Hair calling his name, I could easily identify him.

“Your Highness, please listen to me. Do you know what that woman said to me?”

Orange Hair, who had been cowering, regained her momentum now that her ally had appeared.

“Eris, calm down. What happened?”

The man soothed Orange Hair—Eris—with a gentle voice as she clung to him, while glaring at me with sharp eyes.

“This is truly tiresome. I told you never to let me see you again.”

It’s strange to say “tiresome” when we’ve never met before.

My chest felt heavy, as if a sweet potato was lodged in my throat. I wanted to hurl a bucket of curses, but unfortunately, my opponent was an imperial prince.

I’m the one who’s more tired of you, salted seaweed hair.

“What did you do to Eris?”

As I could only curse internally, the seaweed-haired prince interrogated me with a fierce expression. Anyone watching would think I was a traitor.

“I did nothing.”

“Liar! If you did nothing, would Eris be like this?”

His hostility-filled gaze made my already sour mood even worse. I was truly fed up at this point.

“Well…… maybe she saw a bug or something?”

I answered curtly and looked at Orange Hair, who was called Eris. She flinched and shrank her shoulders while in the prince’s arms. At that, the prince frowned.

“If you’ve harmed Eris again…….”

“I only crushed an orange.”

“An orange?”

“Yes. An orange.”

Only then did the prince notice the shattered orange rolling on the ground, and he blinked.

“What is this…….”

“Pavel! That woman crushed an orange with her bare hands and threatened me!”

“Huh?”

The prince furrowed his brow, apparently unable to comprehend the situation. It made sense for him to be skeptical—an ordinary young lady wouldn’t have the strength to crush an orange with her bare hands.

But I was someone walking the path of a knight. I could easily crush apples and walnuts, which were harder than oranges.