MFAWW 07

Chapter 07

“……If it’s not too forward.”

I fidgeted nervously with my teacup amidst all the turmoil in my mind, then cautiously opened my mouth.

“Could I hear about the Marquess Bright’s daughter?”

From what I’d experienced so far, I understood that the Bright Young Lady was extremely disliked by the people of the capital. But no matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t understand why.

The Bright family was a prestigious house of the empire, and the Duke and Marquess were famous figures—but the Bright Young Lady was merely a noble’s daughter with no title of her own.

Could a noble’s daughter who hadn’t engaged in any significant social activities really become notorious enough that everyone she met recognized her face and name? And not just in some small village, but in the empire’s capital?

“That might be better asked of the Marquess or someone else, rather than me.”

“I don’t know anyone here, and the people who are supposedly my family feel like a bolt from the blue to me.”

Even if I wanted to ask others, everyone who saw my face was terrified, so the Crown Prince was the only person I could have a calm conversation with.

“Aren’t I also a stranger to you?”

“At least Your Highness doesn’t seem to dislike the Bright Young Lady.”

“Did I appear that way?”

The Crown Prince asked in an intrigued voice. I nodded, meeting his gaze.

“That’s how it looks to me.”

It might have been my imagination, but the Crown Prince seemed to lack the ill will toward the Bright Young Lady that others had. When I honestly shared my thoughts, he looked slightly surprised.

“Rather than the public’s assessment, I’d like to hear about the Bright Young Lady as Your Highness has seen her.”

“The Bright Young Lady as I’ve seen her…….”

The Crown Prince trailed off, lowering his gaze. I watched his long eyelashes, like soft pine needles, flutter as I swallowed dryly.

“……This is my extremely personal opinion.”

After a moment of contemplation, the Crown Prince met my eyes and slowly parted his lips.

“I believe the Marquess Bright’s daughter is both a perpetrator and a victim.”

Both a perpetrator and a victim?

At the puzzling words, my brow furrowed. If it was just wordplay, I could dismiss it, but the Crown Prince’s expression was serious.

“What do you mean by that…….”

“Do you know that the Marquess Bright’s daughter is famous in the capital as a villainess?”

“A villainess?”

Come to think of it, someone had called her a villainess earlier when the clerk said ‘Bright Young Lady.’ I’d been too flustered to remember until now.

Considering how the Duke of Bright had shouted about her tarnishing the family name, and how the guard had recognized her face—I had a bad feeling about this.

“……Did the Marquess Bright’s daughter do many bad things?”

“Hmm, a little?”

Damn it. Had she committed a crime? Had she been wanted? That wouldn’t be good. Suddenly, I felt extremely anxious.

Legally, the Bright family and the Subrina family were separate, but that didn’t erase the fact that we shared blood. If a direct family member had committed a serious crime, I wouldn’t be able to become a knight.

“Surely it wasn’t treason……?”

“Haha. Nothing that serious.”

When I asked with bated breath, the Crown Prince let out a small laugh. Well, if she’d committed a crime that serious, our family would have been ruined long ago. Only then did I feel slightly relieved.

“Hmm…… what I wanted to say was that there’s a reason the Bright Young Lady became a villainess.”

“Every action has its own reason, of course. Though most of them are just excuses.”

Because I was hungry, because my child was sick, because the world is garbage.

I recalled the criminals I’d met while handling territory affairs as my mother’s proxy. Throughout their trials, they’d spout all sorts of excuses, hoping for leniency. Very few of them had circumstances worthy of consideration.

“Excuses…… do you really think so?”

“There are many people in this world who live upholding goodness even when things are hard.”

In the rural territory, where human relationships were narrow and the land small, rumors spread quickly—but the capital was different. If hundreds of thousands of people in the capital all called her a villainess, she must have caused quite a major incident.

“If we let things slide one by one because of sad backstories, wouldn’t order fall apart?”

When I countered seriously, the Crown Prince wore an intrigued expression.

“You’re a principled person. That part of you resembles your grandfather, the Duke of Bright.”

“I don’t resemble him.”

Being told I resembled that ill-tempered old geezer wasn’t a compliment—it was an insult. Unable to accept that, I unconsciously stiffened my expression. My face must have turned quite sour, as the Crown Prince looked awkward.

“It seems I’ve misspoken.”

“Oh, no.”

I’d made a mistake. Maintaining composure in any situation is a noble’s basic bearing. Realizing my error, I gave a small, forced cough.

“I’m sorry. I had a bit of a clash with the Duke of Bright yesterday.”

“The Duke does have a fiery temper.”

The Crown Prince nodded as if he understood. I composed my expression and looked at him.

As I’d suspected, the Crown Prince was rather favorable toward the Bright Young Lady. More than anyone I’d met so far, aside from the Marquess Bright.

“We got sidetracked. So now, can I hear in detail about why the Bright Young Lady became a villainess?”

“Are you familiar with witch hunts?”

“Witch hunts, you mean…….”

Why is that coming up now? The sudden question caught me off guard, but I calmly recalled what I knew.

“Are you referring to the past practice of branding spirit summoners as evil witches and executing them?”

“Correct.”

Currently, spirit summoners are revered in the empire, but it wasn’t always so. Before the empire was established, it was common to execute or exile those who could communicate with nature spirits, branding them as evil demons. That’s where the term ‘witch hunt’ came from.

“Why suddenly…… Ah.”

Suddenly, it clicked. In the present day, long after those times, ‘witch hunt’ was often used to refer to cases of being hounded by malicious rumors or framed.

“You mean the Bright Young Lady was subjected to a witch hunt?”

“Others may not see it, but I do.”

“A witch hunt…….”

The unexpected words left my mind in turmoil.

“I’m not defending all of the Bright Young Lady’s actions. She certainly did wrong. But she wasn’t a villainess from the start.”

The Crown Prince, his smile now gone, spoke with a grave expression.

“The Marquess Bright’s daughter was a victim—a scapegoat chosen by the nobility in high society.”

“A scapegoat?”

“Yes.”

“Are you saying the nobles deliberately framed the Marquess Bright’s daughter? Is that even possible?”

A young lady from a viscount’s family, perhaps—but the daughter of a marquess? Frowning at the incomprehensible situation, the Crown Prince looked slightly troubled.

“Hmm…… you haven’t had your debutante ball yet, have you?”

“No, not yet.”

Why bring up debutantes all of a sudden? The out-of-the-blue question was puzzling, but I answered faithfully.

“Then you’re not very familiar with the ways of high society.”

“I’m ashamed to say I’m not.”

High society. There couldn’t be a phrase more distant from me.

Of course, the northern region also had its central cities and high society circles. But I never had the luxury of attending the monthly banquets or social gatherings.

That was because our territory was in the back of beyond. Even the nearest neighboring territory was a good three days’ journey away. As a result, I could count on one hand the times I’d interacted with heirs and daughters of noble families.

“You’re eighteen this year, being twins with the Bright Young Lady? By capital standards, that’s rather late for a debut.”

“That may be so…… but I didn’t come to the capital to have a debutante ball in the first place.”

Unlike the coming-of-age ceremony that all empire citizens undergo at twenty, the debutante ball was an event exclusively for nobles. Before the coming-of-age ceremony, noble sons and daughters were required to have their debutante ball to enter high society.

As an extremely important event for nobles, debutante balls were held during the social season from late spring to summer, centered around the imperial family and the capital’s prestigious houses.

Since all the empire’s prominent families gathered, even those from modest houses could seize opportunities to enter politics and advance to the center by building connections or showcasing their abilities.

The problem was that holding a debutante ball required an amount of money equivalent to a year’s budget for an average noble family. Not all nobles were wealthy. Families without money simply couldn’t hold a debutante ball in the capital.

“Our family has no connections in the capital…….”

I wanted to say it proudly, but my voice kept trailing off. I hated to admit it, but our territory was so poor that preparing for a debutante ball was out of the question. And I had no intention of going into debt just for a debutante ball.

“Don’t you have connections now?”

“……Legally, we’re strangers. I don’t even think of them as my family yet.”

“The Marquess would cry if he heard that.”

“That can’t be helped. Anyway, as I said, I know nothing about high society.”

“Then let me explain briefly. I don’t know about the provinces, but in the capital, most have their debutante ball around sixteen, and at the latest by eighteen.”

“I see.”

“In the capital, young ladies start building connections around age ten by holding tea parties or attending social gatherings hosted by noblewomen. The relationships formed then continue all the way to the debutante ball.”

The Crown Prince explained in a gentle voice. So this is what they mean by ‘pearls rolling on a silver platter’? His voice was so lovely that every word sank in perfectly.

“The Bright Young Lady first appeared in public at fourteen. Quite late compared to others.”

“Because she was frail?”

“Exactly. She was born weak and frequently fell ill. She spent most of her childhood in bed. As a result, she wasn’t able to build any close friendships with anyone.”

“Ah.”

Though the reasons were different, thinking that the Bright Young Lady also spent a long time alone made me feel strangely unsettled.

“At any rate, the Bright Young Lady became an instant celebrity among her peers upon her debut. When she had her debutante ball two years later, she received everyone’s attention. People wouldn’t leave alone a young lady from a good family with beautiful looks. And that was the beginning of her misfortune.”

As the Crown Prince continued his story, a shadow fell over his face.