GIF 5

Chapter 5

Iris reunited Zeke with the other children, handed over the basket with the remaining food, and then found and boarded a carriage heading to the townhouse.

Then, on the way back, she sank briefly into thought.

‘I think I left a proper impression.’

Based on what she had read in the book, the Crown Prince’s ideal type was closer to a sharp, capable woman. Of course, the female lead, Rubinus Cecil, was the exact opposite of him.

Full of mistakes and unable to do anything, yet plucky and lovable. The kind of pitiful woman who didn’t know how to cry properly and only knew how to endure. The kind of common-as-dirt female lead who stimulated the protective instinct.

The female lead, who was utterly far from the Crown Prince’s ideal type, instead captured his heart with the opposite charm.

‘The route where he frowns at first, then gradually starts thinking of her, and because he thinks of her his eyes follow her, and because his eyes follow her he ends up looking after her—that very natural, clichéd route.’

And Iris herself only needed to stay by the Crown Prince’s side until then, catch the moment he cheated with the female lead, extract the alimony, and sail off overseas at her leisure.

‘Since the two of them will be drawn to each other naturally anyway, I won’t have to go to the trouble of scheming like I have until now.’

What an easy job this was. She felt good for the first time in a very long while.

‘Where should I go?’

A small kingdom would be fine, but going to an entirely different empire might not be bad either. Another empire located on the complete opposite side of the continent from the current Parsedes Empire.

Vantroia.

There was talk that the current emperor of Vantroia, Medes Vantroia, had no children, so while there was much commotion over who would ascend to the throne next, it was in fact practically decided.

‘Was that something Jack told me?’

Who knows where that guy picks up such things and carries them around.

She returned to the townhouse by carriage and threw herself onto the bed.

‘They say it feels very different from the Parsedes Empire, so going there to live might not be bad either.’

As it was an empire, the immigration requirements would be strict, but since it was almost on the opposite side of the continent, no one there would know her.

Not Iris the debtor, nor Iris the pitiful divorcee—no one would know.

There, she would live a plain, modest life with the money she had left. Just happily, alone. Raising a cat and Crow together would be fun.

Tap, tap.

Just then, there was a tapping at the window. She rose from the bed and looked at the window. She assumed it would be Crow, but there was some hulking man perched crouched on the windowsill.

“Even if this is the back side, this is a bit much, Sir Loan Shark.”

“Quiet, move over. Ugh, my legs are numb.”

Jack grumbled as he came into the room. In the process, he stepped in a few times with dirty feet, and when she complained, it turned out he was barefoot. Iris found that funny and smirked.

“So seeing you today, you didn’t do anything much?”

“You were watching?”

“Roughly?”

“You’ve got good skills.”

Without another word, she scooped a glass of cold water from the water bucket beside the bed and held it out to him. He drank it down without demur, gulping, then asked.

“So what’s the next plan?”

“I’m going to stay cooped up for about a week.”

“A whole week?”

“Yeah. But spread some rumors for me.”

“Rumors?”

“Yeah.”

She went over to her desk and began picking through the invitations that had come to her. There were invitations from when she had been a countess, and invitations that had come after the divorce.

In high society, she was a kind of clown. A pitiful and beautiful clown. She twisted her lips into a smile as if in displeasure, then picked one invitation and held it out to Jack.

“I’m going here. Spread the rumor that Madame—no, Iris, who is now a lady again—is going to this party.”

“Where is this?”

Jack flipped the invitation this way and that. Then the gold pattern stamped on the dark green stationery shimmered in the moonlight.

“It’s the day of Madame Hestia’s birthday banquet.”

“Why here?”

“Madame Hestia was close friends with the late empress—that is, the mother of the current Crown Prince.”

“So?”

When Jack looked utterly blank and uncomprehending, Iris clicked her tongue.

“Normally it’s a banquet I wouldn’t attend, but I’ve dangled the bait called Iris before him, haven’t I?”

Jack looked at her with a fed-up expression.

“Let’s see whether he takes the bait or not.”

In her room lit only by candles, her ruby eyes caught the light and glinted.

A brilliant chandelier, and beneath it, beautiful noble ladies gathered in twos and threes. Their dresses were like flower petals imbued with life, and also like the gracefully fluttering wings of butterflies.

They gathered among themselves and whispered something.

“Is that woman really coming to the banquet?”

“She may have been a countess then, but now on what grounds…….”

“Haha, madam. Watch your words. You never know, do you? She might find yet another new husband here.”

The noble ladies lightly ran Iris down in her absence and began to bond with one another.

Iris, who had suffered four affairs and gone through four divorces. Though it was said she was merely a victim who had no choice but to divorce because her spouses all cheated, once the number passed four, talk naturally began circulating among the nobles that there must be something wrong with Iris too.

Whispers crossed the line—that she had a body that couldn’t bear children, that she was a woman like a block of wood, that her figure was actually unimpressive, or that she was no fun in bed.

And then, creak, the banquet hall doors opened, and the hot topic on everyone’s lips made her entrance.

“Lady Iris has arrived!”

For a moment, people forgot they had been gossiping about her and stared blankly at her as she entered the banquet hall.

No matter how much they cursed her, that beauty—like an angel descended from heaven and pinned straight to the earth—was not something one could ever grow used to, no matter how often one saw it.

“Everyone, it’s been a long time.”

She smiled cheerfully and approached the cluster of noble ladies. They greeted her naturally, as if they had never been gossiping about her.

Their judgment was that even if she held no status at this very moment, with that beauty it was obvious she would soon find a new husband. Who that might be, how could anyone know?

Perhaps at this very banquet she might hit it off with Madame Hestia’s grandson, Marquis Douglas.

‘A marquis would mean a rise straight to the high nobility, wouldn’t it?’

‘Good heavens, how could a woman who was a commoner go that far? No matter how favorably Madame Hestia regards Iris, marriage is a different matter.’

As quick glances flew among the noble ladies, Iris slipped away for a moment and approached Madame Hestia, the guest of honor of this banquet.

“Madame Hestia, congratulations on your birthday.”

“Come in, Iris.”

The moment Madame Hestia saw her, she clicked her tongue worriedly.

“You’ve divorced again. Didn’t I tell you that fellow was no good?”

“Ahaha, well…….”

“Even when I offer to introduce you to a decent man.”

“It’s all right, madam. You don’t need to concern yourself so much with me…….”

Iris broke into a cold sweat inside.

‘Madame really would introduce me to a decent man.’

What I need is alimony, alimony.

Whether it was worth the effort she had put into courting the madame after entering noble society, Hestia was quite fond of Iris. But what mattered to Iris right now was not Madame Hestia.

‘More than that, the target and the bait…….’

Just then, the entrance began to buzz loudly. Madame Hestia’s maid came running breathlessly and spoke urgently.

“M-madam. H-His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived……!”

“What did you say, His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Madame Hestia shot up from her seat, and the people around her murmured and looked toward the entrance. In the distance, a shock of golden hair came into view.

Iris stood quietly alone in her spot, smiling.

‘He took the bait.’

Things going according to plan are always a pleasure.