MFAWW 18

Chapter 18

“Iris!”

“Hello.”

As I entered the rear garden, thick with the scent of flowers, the Marquess of Bright waved at me with a bright smile. Amidst the fully bloomed flowers, the Marquess looked more beautiful and handsome than usual.

Could my mother have been swayed by the Marquess’s looks? That thought suddenly crossed my mind.

“Come in, sit here.”

Next to the Marquess, as Sophie had said, sat the Duke of Bright. He still wore that gruff expression.

“It’s been a while, Your Grace the Duke.”

When I greeted him politely with proper formality, the Duke of Bright’s thick eyebrows twitched.

“Iris…… just speak comfortably. I’m your grandfather.”

The Marquess of Bright fidgeted nervously, glancing at the Duke, but I pretended not to notice and took my seat. I still couldn’t bring myself to call even the more approachable Marquess “Father,” so how could I possibly call the already unlikable Duke “Grandfather”?

“You’re early today.”

“Hm? Ah, work ended a little early today.”

The Marquess smiled warmly. I noticed the faint dark circles beneath his eyes as I picked up my teacup.

“It’s delicious.”

“……! You like it?”

“Yes. The fragrance is lovely and the taste is smooth.”

“What a relief.”

When I responded positively, the Marquess of Bright looked relieved.

“I heard from the butler that you’ve applied for the Imperial Knights selection exam?”

“That’s the very reason I came to the capital.”

“I didn’t know you had the ambition to become a knight. When did you start learning the sword?”

“I started seriously training a little over ten years ago.”

“Wendy truly was an outstanding warrior…….”

Was he thinking of my mother? The Marquess of Bright’s face grew wistful.

“Arke took after me and had no talent for the sword at all. It seems your mother’s gift has passed on to you.”

“I’m still far from reaching my mother’s level.”

The Duke of Bright didn’t say a word while the Marquess and I talked. Yet I could feel all his attention focused on us.

“The first exam is next month, right?”

“Yes.”

The Imperial Knights selection exam was scheduled in three rounds. If I made it all the way to the end, I’d have to stay in the capital until summer.

“I heard from the Knight Commander that the final selection might be postponed until after summer because it overlaps with the débutante season.”

“Excuse me? The exam is being postponed?”

What is this nonsense? Startled by the unexpected news, I nearly choked.

“Well, you see…… to apply for the Imperial Knights, you have to come from a noble or military family, right?”

“What does that have to do with it?”

As the Marquess said, Imperial Knights were slightly different from knights belonging to noble houses. Imperial Knights could become officers without graduating from the military academy. In other words, depending on their ability, they could even rise to the rank of general leading an army.

That was why, unlike ordinary knights, only nobles with titles, knights, and those from families with a long history of military service could apply for the Imperial Knights.

“It seems the majority of applicants are young ladies and lords of noble families…… so a petition was submitted saying it would be too burdensome to hold the débutante and the selection exam simultaneously. The talk now is to hold the first and second rounds as scheduled, but push the final third round to after summer.”

“What…….”

“I heard it’s because many of this year’s applicants are also scheduled to make their début this year.”

The Marquess of Bright said with an awkward smile.

“Since the selection exam isn’t held every year, everyone seems to be in favor.”

“That’s absurd!”

What does the débutante have to do with anything! If they said the schedule had to be delayed unavoidably because applicants were flooding in from all over the empire, I could have accepted it. But postponing it just because of their social activities? That’s utter nonsense!

“If taking the exam is so important, they can just hold their début next year!”

“Iris, calm down. There are reasons for all of this.”

My reaction must have been more intense than I realized, because the Marquess of Bright looked flustered and tried to soothe me.

“What reasons?!”

“Originally, the plan was to replenish the knights at the end of this year or early next year. But His Majesty suddenly ordered the selection to be held this year, so the schedule was rushed and that’s how things ended up this way…….”

“Even so, you can’t just change the schedule now!”

For nobles based in the capital, a schedule change wouldn’t be much of a blow. But it’s different for those who came from the provinces. A change like this could cause all sorts of difficulties.

“It seems I’ve said something unnecessary. But nothing is set in stone yet, so please calm down for now, alright?”

“Huff.”

I took a deep breath and tried to suppress my irritation. As he said, nothing was confirmed yet, so there was no need to get worked up.

“That being said…….”

I took a sip of tea to cool my heated frustration, when the Marquess of Bright seemed to hesitate, as if wanting to say something, before cautiously opening his mouth.

“Have you ever considered making your début?”

“*Cough!*”

This time, I really did choke.

“*Cough, cough!*”

“Oh, dear child.”

Startled by my violent coughing, the Marquess panicked and handed me a handkerchief. I covered my mouth with it and coughed a few more times until the fit subsided. After finally calming down, I asked in disbelief.

“A début… you say?”

“Yes.”

I stared at the Marquess, dumbfounded, and he wore an awkward expression.

“Once you become an Imperial Knight, you’re required to serve for ten years, aren’t you? If you’re going to be staying in the capital from now on, I thought it might be a good opportunity for you to make your début as well.”

“Isn’t that getting ahead of things? I might fail the first exam, you know.”

“What nonsense! With your skills, you’ll surely place first!”

“You’ve never even seen me use a sword.”

“That’s true, but…….”

When I pointed that out, the Marquess of Bright made an *ngg* sound. Just then, the Duke of Bright, who had been silent all this time, abruptly joined the conversation.

“I agree as well.”

“Excuse me?”

“The primary duty of Imperial Knights is to attend and protect the imperial family. Once you become a knight, you’ll have to attend banquets and hunting competitions, so it would be beneficial to build connections in advance through the débutante.”

The Duke spoke in a near-monotone, without even looking in my direction. Then he awkwardly cleared his throat.

“Father is right, Iris.”

The Marquess of Bright nodded enthusiastically in agreement with the Duke.

“That’s not all. I heard that when you went to submit your exam application, there was a commotion because the clerk mistook you for Arke?”

“How did you know about that?”

“The Knight Commander came to apologize for his subordinate’s rudeness.”

The Marquess of Bright looked at me with worry-filled eyes.

Affection, regret, pity……

The Marquess’s eyes held a mixture of emotions as he looked at me. Meeting those big, doe-like eyes suddenly made me feel strange.

“It was nothing serious.”

“I heard it could have become a big problem if His Highness the Crown Prince hadn’t helped.”

At the Marquess’s words, the Duke of Bright, who had been sipping his tea, paused.

“It was just a small argument with the clerk.”

“At any rate, if you’re going to stay in the capital, things like that could happen again. And the newspapers have been stirring things up lately too.”

The Marquess of Bright said in a worried tone. Come to think of it, there had been a few newspapers lately writing strange articles claiming the Bright young lady had returned, with headlines like “Exclusive Scoop” and “Our Paper’s Exclusive.”

Right now they were writing articles mistaking me for Lady Bright, but if my true identity were revealed, it would cause an uproar of a different kind. Just thinking about it made me tired.

“Don’t pay attention to the words of those wastes of paper.”

The Duke of Bright set down his teacup roughly and spoke with a stern face.

“Journalists are all garbage. They’re not worth associating with.”

He gritted his teeth as if just thinking about it made his blood boil.

“Wretched bastards. If I ever catch them in my sight, I’ll smash their wrists to pieces……!”

“Father!”

*Crack!*

In an instant, the handle of the teacup in the Duke’s hand shattered, veins bulging in his hand. The broken handle crumbled into dust and scattered onto the table with a soft patter.

“Master! Are you alright?”

The startled butler quickly cleared away the broken teacup. Even the servants who had been standing at a distance rushed over to tidy the table.

“Father, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

The Marquess of Bright fidgeted nervously, examining the Duke’s hand. I could see drops of red blood falling onto the table.

“Wretched bastards.”

Even after breaking the teacup, the Duke seemed unsatisfied, huffing and puffing. Watching him, I felt strangely unsettled.

It wasn’t just Lady Bright who had been hurt by those vicious articles. In the end, the entire Bright family were victims.

“Dear child, you were startled, weren’t you? I’m sorry. Your grandfather has a bit of a fiery temper…….”

“No, it’s alright.”

After handing the Duke over to the family physician, who had rushed over in a fluster upon the butler’s summons, the Marquess apologized with an embarrassed face.

“Ahem, at any rate, what do you think about making your début to make sure people don’t mistake you for Arke? It would leave a clear impression.”

“Would that really work?”

Honestly, I was skeptical of the Marquess’s suggestion. At first, I thought at least one person with working eyes would exist, but now I knew better.

When even the servants of the Marquess’s residence, who had seen Lady Bright for years, and her former fiancé, who had been closest to her, couldn’t tell the difference, what was there to hope for?

I no longer expected anyone to correctly distinguish me from Lady Bright.

If Lady Bright ever returned safely, how many people would actually recognize her? The only one certain was His Highness the Crown Prince. He said he could tell us apart by our scent.

“If you’re worried about the cost of the début, don’t be. I haven’t done anything for you as a parent all this time, so at least let me do this much.”

“It’s not that…… it just seems a bit late to start preparing now.”

Aside from not wanting to owe him any more favors, I also felt it was too late to start. Tailoring dresses and jewelry, finding a cavalier and a chaperone—all of that usually requires at least six months of preparation.

“That’s not true. There’s plenty of time. We have connections with many merchants as well.”

Even though I subtly declined, the Marquess of Bright didn’t back down easily. He kept trying to persuade me. It seemed like this would never end.