MFAWW 19

Chapter 19

“I’ll think about it.”

“……! Good thinking! I’m not forcing you, so take your time and consider it.”

The Marquess’s face brightened at my slight retreat. Meanwhile, the Duke of Bright had finished his treatment and returned to his seat.

Now, what should I do.

I sipped the tea the butler had freshly poured, choosing my words for a moment. I had responded to today’s tea time because I had something to say to both of them.

Ever since the day I encountered the Countess Olette’s daughter and the Second Prince, and heard about Lady Bright from the Crown Prince, I had been agonizing over this. I made up my mind and set down my teacup.

“……I have something to tell you both.”

“Us?”

“Yes.”

The Marquess of Bright pointed at himself and blinked. He glanced at the Duke’s face, then looked back at me.

“Oh, Father as well?”

“I think both of you should know.”

“What is it?”

Sensing something unusual, the Marquess of Bright asked with a tense face. The Duke also fixed his stern gaze on me.

“After coming to the capital, I couldn’t understand what was happening to me. So I looked into Lady Bright—my twin sister, Arke—on my own.”

“Ah.”

A small sigh escaped the Marquess of Bright’s lips. He muttered in a somber voice.

“If you had asked, I would have told you everything…….”

“I’m sorry. But I needed an objective perspective.”

“Hmm.”

“Anyway, while investigating Lady Bright, I happened to discover something.”

What kind of expressions would the two of them make when they learned that their family member, whom everyone condemned and pointed fingers at as a villainess, was actually an unfairly framed victim?

“Huff.”

I took a deep breath, exhaled, and slowly closed my eyes before opening them. Now it was time to tell them the truth.

“What I found out was…….”

“Ughhh…….”

Oh, I’m going to die. I stretched and let out a small yawn. My body felt heavy, maybe because it was about to rain.

“*Yawn.*”

Maybe I should have slept a little longer. Still not fully awake, I felt the urge to go back to my room and bury myself in bed.

“It was this way, right?”

The training ground Sophie had told me about was near the rear garden where we had tea yesterday. I had worried because the Marquess’s residence was so vast, but fortunately, it seemed I could find it without getting lost.

As I got closer to the training ground, I gradually woke up and felt my spirits rise. Since coming to the capital, I’d been so busy with various things that I hadn’t properly held a sword. Thinking I could finally swing one to my heart’s content after so long made my heart flutter for no reason.

But the joy didn’t last long. When I entered the training ground, I saw a person I absolutely did not want to encounter.

“Hm?”

According to Sophie, the Duke had his own residence, so why did he keep appearing at his son’s house? I frowned at the Duke of Bright, standing alone in the middle of the training ground.

“Good morning.”

I wanted to just turn around and avoid him, but the Duke noticed me first. Sensing my presence, he turned his head and looked at me.

“Good morning…….”

When I offered an awkward greeting, the Duke of Bright gave a weak nod. After that, a heavy silence fell.

“…….”

Awkward. Completely awkward. I’d suffocate at this rate.

I glanced at the Duke of Bright’s face. He was looking down with a downcast expression. He seemed listless, probably due to what had happened yesterday.

—

*’What do you mean by that.’*

When I told them about Lady Bright being framed and the Second Prince’s adultery with Countess Olette’s daughter, the Duke of Bright was stunned. He asked me over and over again in disbelief.

*’That brat, what?’*

*’His Highness the Second Prince had an affair with Countess Olette’s daughter.’*

*’Hah……. An affair? That bastard?’*

The Duke seemed deeply shocked, muttering in a dazed voice. His vacant tone trembled pitifully.

*’I know it’s hard to believe, but I saw it with my own eyes. The two of them mistook me for Lady Bright and mocked me.’*

*’That’s impossible.’*

*’His Highness the Crown Prince confirmed it. He said that the Empress and Count Olette joined hands, using Lady Bright’s bad reputation to bury the truth.’*

*’That, that can’t be.’*

The Duke of Bright uncharacteristically stammered. He couldn’t continue and fell silent. The Marquess was equally lost for words.

*’I’m not trying to defend everything Lady Bright—Arke—has done so far. But I wanted to tell you that there were things you didn’t know, and that Arke also has aspects that are unjust.’*

The Duke of Bright remained silent for a while after I finished speaking. Gradually, his face flushed red and purple.

*’……Son of a bitch.’*

Harsh words slipped from the Duke of Bright’s tightly closed lips.

*’That damned bastard finally!!’*

Kicking his chair aside, the Duke rose and roared like a wild beast. The tranquil air rippled from the killing intent radiating from him.

*’I should have made sure he couldn’t function as a man back then!’*

The Duke of Bright was beside himself with rage, thrashing about. He looked ready to go to the Imperial Palace right then and beat the Second Prince to a pulp. If the Marquess hadn’t stopped him, he might very well have done it.

*’Father, calm down.’*

The Marquess of Bright, who had been listening quietly throughout the conversation, grabbed the Duke.

*’Where are you going?’*

*’Where else! Obviously……!’*

*’Are you going to go to the Imperial Palace and grab the Second Prince by the collar again?’*

*’Of course! That bastard has nothing going for him but a pretty face, no ability, and he spends his days idling under his mother’s skirts—how dare he insult our family?!’*

*’You can’t.’*

*’What?’*

Unlike the agitated Duke, the Marquess was very calm. But his face was terrifyingly rigid.

*’Aren’t you angry too! That scoundrel! The Empress framed our Arke……!’*

*’I am angry.’*

The Marquess of Bright replied in a cold voice. With his smile gone, his face was completely different, like another person.

*’Then why are you stopping me!’*

*’If the Empress is involved, as Iris said, we need to move carefully. One wrong step and we’ll be the ones to fall.’*

The Marquess of Bright soothed the Duke in a measured tone. Even so, he seemed to have trouble suppressing his boiling anger, pausing several times to take deep breaths.

*’Then what do you propose?’*

*’We need to find decisive evidence.’*

*’That’s simple! Just grab Count Olette and that princeling by the scruff of the neck, shake them until they confess!’*

*’If you go to the Imperial Palace and cause a disturbance now, it won’t end with just a house arrest like last time.’*

At the Marquess’s words, the Duke froze.

*’Is there a way?’*

*’We have to think of one. While waiting for the right moment.’*

The Marquess of Bright’s eyes glinted coldly. Having only ever seen him smiling foolishly like a child, seeing him so stern was unfamiliar. The quietly furious Marquess was more frightening than the loudly raging Duke.

*’So please calm down for now and sit.’*

*’Damn it!’*

Cursing, the Duke slumped back into his seat. He repeatedly rubbed his face as if to hide his flushed complexion. His hand, bulging with veins, trembled violently.

*’I’ll take my leave first.’*

The Duke of Bright could not easily quell his anger. Eventually, he fled from the room.

—

“……da.”

“Excuse me?”

Oh. Lost in thought, I hadn’t heard what the Duke had just said. As I blinked, unsure how to respond, the Duke spoke again.

“I’m truly sorry.”

“Ah.”

The Duke of Bright apologized with a gloomy face. His voice carried an undeniable sense of devastation.

“What I did to you was something a warrior should never do. I sincerely apologize.”

The Duke, who seemed to have aged overnight, bowed his head. Dark circles ringed his wrinkled eyes, as if he hadn’t slept, and his thick lips were cracked white. Seeing him like that made me feel a little uncomfortable.

—

*’I hope you don’t resent your grandfather too much.’*

—

Suddenly, the Marquess of Bright’s words came to mind. After the Duke left yesterday, he and I had talked a little longer.

—

*’After Wendy left, I was half out of my mind. I had no capacity to take care of Arke. In my place, Father personally raised Arke.’*

The Marquess of Bright spoke with a somber expression. Deep guilt emanated from his shadowed face.

*’I know you’re angry at Father. You’re probably disappointed in me too. Because I couldn’t help Arke when she was struggling…… I’m truly ashamed.’*

The Marquess muttered bitterly. He blamed himself for failing to act as a mediator.

*’Whenever Arke did something wrong, I just shielded her unconditionally. Father, on the other hand, became stricter. And the stricter he became, the more Arke went astray…….’*

The Marquess of Bright bit his lower lip, as if overwhelmed with emotion.

*’What Father did to you is an inexcusable wrong. And what he did to Arke, hurting her, is too. However…….’*

After a moment’s hesitation, the Marquess carefully continued.

*’It’s not that Father didn’t love Arke. Rather, he loved her too much. I hope you can at least understand that much.’*

*’I understand what you mean.’*

The more you love someone, the greater the sense of betrayal. Just as I was disappointed in my mother, who was always away from home when I was young, the Duke of Bright was likely disappointed in his granddaughter’s misdeeds as she kept causing trouble.

Above all, Lady Bright was by no means innocent. There were certainly parts where she was unfairly branded a villainess by malicious people, but she also committed wrongdoing herself—causing disturbances in the shopping district, using violence against others, and so on.

As the Crown Prince had said, Lady Bright was a villainess who was both perpetrator and victim. And the Duke and Marquess of Bright were the same. They were both perpetrators toward Lady Bright, and at the same time, her victims.