MFAWW 11

Chapter 11

“Crushed it with her bare hands?”

“I’m telling the truth!”

As the prince looked back and forth between me and the orange fragments with a skeptical expression, the orange-haired young lady raised her voice.

“She called me shameless, said I had no shame for cheating—ah.”

Orange Hair, who had been tattling with a resentful expression, stopped short. Realizing she had just admitted to cheating with her own mouth, her face turned pale. The prince’s face also twisted as he heard her words.

“Pa-Pavel.”

Realizing her mistake, Orange Hair hesitantly glanced at the prince.

“It’s alright.”

The prince didn’t get angry at her. Instead, he glared at me with a menacing face.

“Is what Eris said true?”

“It’s not wrong, is it?”

I answered curtly with my arms crossed. My irritation made my words come out harshly.

“She said it herself—that because I behaved poorly, His Highness chose her over me. So the two of you committed adultery, didn’t you?”

“Gasp.”

Orange Hair gasped sharply at my words. The prince’s face also flushed red with anger.

“How dare you!”

He growled with an enraged face. What are you going to do by glaring at me like that? You piece of trash. Do you think I’m scared?

“Was I wrong?”

When I met his gaze without backing down, the prince faltered. He seemed quite surprised that I didn’t avoid his eyes. But soon his expression turned indignant.

“Our breakup wasn’t because of Eris! It was because of your behavior, which was unfit for a princess-in-law……!”

The prince, his pride wounded, raised his voice and eventually blurted out nonsense.

“Do you think I’d come back to you just because you act like this?”

“Crazy.”

“What?”

Ah, damn. I was so dumbfounded that the curse slipped out. I quickly covered my mouth with my hand, but it was too late. The prince’s eyes widened at my words.

“What did you just say?”

“……I was muttering to myself.”

“Do you think I’m deaf?! Say it again!”

The prince shouted in an angry voice. His voice was so loud that passersby stopped and whispered among themselves. This was bad—were they going to call the guard again?

“Your Highness, calm down!”

Orange Hair, feeling the weight of the gazes on them, tried to restrain the prince while glaring at me venomously.

“Apologize to His Highness right now!”

Birds of a feather flock together. These two shameless human trash were perfect for each other.

“Hoo.”

If that adulterer wasn’t a member of the imperial family, I would have already struck him down with my sword sheath like a wild boar on a hunt.

I took a long breath and steadied myself to calm my boiling insides.

Bear with it. I must bear with it. Ah, I can’t take it.

“I apologize. I was so dumbfounded that some strange words slipped out without meaning to.”

“You call that an apology……!”

“It just seemed to me that Your Highness was having soup before even dreaming of bread.”

To hell with it. Arrest me for lèse-majesté or whatever. So what if I go to jail.

“Anyway, even if you come back later regretting it, don’t expect a warm welcome.”

There’s an old saying that a manure cart can’t be fixed. Even if it was my twin sister who had the relationship with that seaweed-head, I decided to nail this down firmly.

My words seemed quite shocking—the prince blinked in surprise.

“Archel! You……!”

“Ah, and I’m not Archel.”

Unlike some people, I had a conscience, so I decided to correct the prince’s misunderstanding here.

“What nonsense are you talking now!”

“Exactly what I said. I’m not the Bright Young Lady.”

I gave a light sneer at the fool who couldn’t even recognize his former fiancée. Then I turned my gaze to Orange Hair, who was clinging to the prince like a sloth.

“Hey there. Miss Eris, or Miss Orange, or whatever.”

“Don’t call me Orange!”

“Then what should I call someone with orange hair if not Orange Hair?”

“Wh-What?!”

“Anyway, I don’t want to repeat myself, so you explain the situation.”

“Do you think I’d believe such a lie?!”

Orange Hair sneered with a smug face.

“I see you’re pretending to have amnesia again, just like last time…….”

Ah. My twin sister, why on earth did you pretend to have amnesia and bring this trial upon me? Feeling a headache coming on, I closed my eyes and opened them again.

“Think what you want. It’s your choice whether to believe me or not.”

It seemed further conversation would only exhaust me, so I gave up on talking to Orange Hair and turned back to the prince, who was still standing there with a dumbfounded expression.

“Then I’ll be going now—I have an appointment.”

It’s not fear that makes you avoid dung, it’s disgust. Not wanting to be polite to trash, I gave a cursory nod and turned around.

“Wait!”

I heard the prince calling from behind, but I pretended not to hear and quickened my pace. I didn’t want to breathe the same air as those trash any longer. But contrary to my wishes, the prince was persistent.

“Stop there! I said stop!”

What a tenacious bastard, more stubborn than an octopus’s suction cups. The seaweed-haired prince eventually chased me into the alley and roughly grabbed my shoulder.

“You’re not listening to—!”

“Found you.”

The moment I was forcibly turned around, a sweet floral scent enveloped me. Coming to my senses, I found myself in someone’s embrace. I looked up and saw a face as beautiful as a freshly bloomed flower.

“You didn’t show up at the appointed time, so I came out to meet you.”

The Crown Prince, his hair fluttering like fresh new growth, smiled, his eyes curving gently.

“Brother?”

“Your Highness?”

At the Crown Prince’s sudden appearance, the seaweed-haired prince wore a flustered expression. Orange Hair, who had belatedly entered the alley, also blinked in surprise. Unlike them, the Crown Prince was perfectly composed.

“It’s been a while, little brother.”

“What brings you here?”

“It’s a holiday, so I stepped out for a bit. I had an appointment with the Subrina Viscount’s Young Lady here.”

When the Crown Prince referred to me as the Subrina Young Lady, the prince’s eyes trembled.

“The Subrina Viscount’s Young Lady……?”

“Yes. The daughter of Viscount Wendy Subrina.”

His golden gaze, tinged with a clear smile, turned to me.

“And also the daughter of the Marquess Bright.”

“Impossible!”

At the Crown Prince’s added words, Orange Hair gasped in shock and covered her mouth with both hands.

“What do you mean?”

The seaweed-haired prince asked with a stiff face. Even with the situation as it was, he still seemed unable to believe I wasn’t the Bright Young Lady.

“This is no time for word games…….”

“Oh dear, it seems you don’t remember.”

The Crown Prince cut off the prince’s words and spoke in a regretful tone.

“The Marquess Bright’s daughter was a twin, wasn’t she?”

“Ah.”

As if recalling something he’d forgotten, the prince let out an exclamation. He looked at me with an incredulous expression.

“Then…… that person isn’t Archel, but…….”

“Let me reintroduce you. This is the Subrina Viscount’s Young Lady—the twin sister of the Marquess Bright’s daughter.”

The Crown Prince carefully placed his hand on my shoulder as he introduced me.

“Is that true?”

“Do you not trust my words?”

“No, it’s just…….”

“I thought you’d recognize her right away. The Marquess Bright’s daughter was your fiancée, after all.”

At the reproachful words, the prince awkwardly averted his gaze and cleared his throat.

“……They look so alike that I was mistaken.”

“How strange. I recognized her immediately.”

Liar. You recognized me by smell.

Knowing the truth, I grumbled inwardly while watching the two face off. Unlike the Crown Prince, who remained composed throughout, the prince looked extremely uncomfortable.

“I don’t know exactly what happened before I arrived, but it seems you were discourteous to the Subrina Viscount’s Young Lady.”

The Crown Prince pointed out the Second Prince’s wrongdoing in a gentle voice. At the Crown Prince’s rebuke, the prince bit his lower lip with a resentful expression. Was it time for me to step in?

“As His Highness the Crown Prince said, I am not the Bright Young Lady. I am Iris Subrina, the acting head of the Subrina family.”

“I see…….”

The seaweed-haired prince looked at me with a flustered expression. His deep sea-colored eyes shook mercilessly. If I hadn’t known what kind of person he was, I might have felt a little sorry seeing him so unsettled. But to me, he was just a disgusting clump of seaweed.

“Now that the misunderstanding is cleared up, I’d appreciate an apology for the rudeness shown to me. Your Highness the Second Prince and Orange Hair—I mean, Eris…….”

“Eris Ollet.”

A voice as clear as a mountain stream pierced my ears. When our eyes met, the Crown Prince smiled gently. He was so beautiful that it seemed as if sunlight was shining only on him, creating a halo effect.

“The Countess Ollet’s daughter.”

“Thank you.”

I expressed my gratitude to the kind Crown Prince who had told me Orange Hair’s name, and looked at her standing there with a dazed expression.

“Countess Ollet.”

“……! Su-Subrina Viscount’s Young Lady…….”

Startled at being addressed, Countess Ollet stammered.

“I apologize for my rudeness earlier. Recently, everyone who sees me calls me the Bright Young Lady and says strange things, so I’ve been a bit on edge.”

“Th-That’s understandable.”

Countess Ollet smiled awkwardly. Her strained smile couldn’t hide her anxiety. After glancing at me hesitantly, she cautiously opened her mouth.

“Um, what I said earlier…….”

“I’m sorry about my sister Archel. I knew about the broken engagement, but I didn’t know that was the reason.”

Countess Ollet’s face turned pale in an instant. The orange-haired girl and the seaweed-head had probably been gleefully blaming everything on the Bright Young Lady. Having that exposed to someone connected to the Bright family must have made them squirm.

“Grandfather and Father also didn’t know the exact reason why my sister’s engagement was broken, so I was very curious. Thanks to Countess Ollet, I now know.”

“That’s, well…….”

Bingo. I’d guessed based on what the Duke of Bright had said earlier, and it seemed I’d hit the mark. I smiled gently at the deathly pale Countess Ollet. So she’d even deceived the Bright family, had she?