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“Did you tell her about what happened today?”
Pavel’s face turned into four different colors at Vasil’s question.
The Empress had coyly ignored the crown prince, treating him like a gentle herbivore, but not Pavel.
He was very scared of Vasil.
The way he saw it, the crown prince was a beast with sharp claws hidden behind a gentle façade.
“I, uh, I didn’t mean to run off and tell her that… I mean, that… The Young Viscountess Sabrina found out, didn’t she, and if the Bright family finds out about this…”
‘Why am I making excuses for this?’
Pavel, who had been stammering incoherently, stopped. He couldn’t understand his behavior.
‘I felt like a kid who was caught snitching and had to come up with a bunch of excuses.’
“Calm down.”
Vasil grabbed Pavel’s fidgety shoulders. He looked at his half-brother with a pitying look on his face.
“Even if you hadn’t told her, she would have known anyway.”
“Well, wouldn’t she?”
“It’s only natural that you should consult with Her Majesty the Empress Since your affairs might be exposed to the public…” Vasil said in a calm tone, “So don’t bother looking for me, it’s unnecessary.”
What? Wasn’t he close to the Young Viscountess Sabrina? Pavel narrowed his eyes at the crown prince’s attitude. If the Young Viscountess Sabrina and the Crown Prince were not in cahoots, then things might be easier than he thought.
“You know, brother….”
“But,” Vasil interrupted. His golden eyes glinted with amusement.
“If you touch Young Viscountess Sabrina over this, I will be very angry.”
Pavel swallowed dryly as he watched Vasil’s face move closer to his own. Leaning down, Vasil whispered softly in his ear, “Do you know what I mean?”
Pavel smiled stiffly as he moved away again, he stared at his brother who seemed so calm as always.
He nodded quickly. Vasil looked at his brother with confidence and knew that he had understood his warning.
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go inside. I’m tired today, too, and I think I’ll call it a night.”
With that, Vasil patted Pavel on the head and turned away.
“Bro–brother!”
Pavel cried, as he stood dumbfounded, staring at his receding backside. Faced with those cool golden eyes that had lost their warmth, Pavel stood on his tiptoes to hide his trembling body.
“What business do you have with the Young Viscountess Sabrina?”
“Well,” Vasil paused. His lips curled into an arc as he thought of the girl who smelled of nameless wildflowers and pure water.
“I don’t know yet.”
⚘
Tak, tak, tak.
“I can’t… I can’t write this. This is crazy.”
After an hour of struggling with the stationery Sophie had brought me, I finally put down the fountain pen that had been plaguing my desk.
“What’s wrong with me?”
I asked, wondering if I had contracted some kind of letter-writing disease. Strangely, when I tried to write the letter, my mind kept jumbling and jumbling, unable to compose even a simple greeting like someone who forgot how to write.
“What can I do?”
I had last sent a letter about two weeks ago, so by now the butler and nanny must be anxiously awaiting news from me.
‘No way! It’s too dangerous, the road to the capital is so rough, how can I send a young lady alone, not before this old man dies!’
The butler and nanny were horrified when I first told them that I was going to the capital, and that I was going to do it alone. But they couldn’t break my stubbornness.
‘We don’t have the money, young lady! Where can a poor heiress to an estate that doesn’t even have a townhouse in the capital afford to have an escort and a chamberlain?’
‘Still, you have to take someone to serve you…’
‘If you have the money for that, I think it would be more prudent to add to my travel expenses.’
It’s only natural that the more people you move, the more money you spend.
The two of them, who had fiercely clung to my intention of going to the capital as flesh and blood, crumbled in the face of a practical problem. It was that our estate had no money for a long time.
The air was good, the water was good, the hunting ground was good, but that was it. There were no specialties to speak of, nothing to attract merchants or tourists, and that’s the way it should be.
It was surrounded by mountains on all sides, the land was inhospitable to farming, and the geography was not conducive to commerce. There was an ocean beyond the mountains, but it froze over in the winter and was unusable as a port.
Yes. I hate to admit it, but our estate was dying a slow death, like grass withering in the garum.
‘Lady, don’t hate the viscountess too much, she may be free spirited, but she’s not without her own share of difficulty.’
The butler said it was for the sake of the estate that her mother took up mercenary work, and, as he said, even now she sends him large sums of money once in a while, when she remembers about it at least. But the money she sends isn’t enough to save the dying estate. It’s like pouring water on poison.
With no money coming in and plenty of money going out, it was only natural to tighten their belt. They had less than a dozen vassals now, compared to the more than twenty when she was younger.
‘When was the last time I spoke to them?’
She had to travel two days before she arrived in the capital. It had been ten days since she’d arrived as a guest of the Marquis of Bright, so thankfully it hadn’t been two weeks yet.
‘If anything happens, or even if nothing did, please tell me!’
‘Okay, okay, do you think I’m like my mother?’
‘Even if you can’t, you should still try to contact me once every two weeks.’
I was supposed to send my nanny a letter every two weeks, but now I’m about to break my promise. It’s not like I have a disease that prevents me from writing letters, I’m just probably tired of it because of my mother’s irresponsible approach to communication, where no news is good news.
On the way to the capital, I kept my promise to the nanny and tried to find a post office in each city to write and send a letter at intervals to ease her worries, but once I arrived in the capital, I was unable to do so.
Everywhere I went, I was mistaken for the Young lady Bright, I met with families I didn’t expect.to be related to mime, and I was frustrated and angry with the butler and nanny who kept the truth from me for so long.
It’s all well and good for them for being loyal to my mother, but they should have at least told me something before I left the manor.
‘A knight’s body is their own property, and if you don’t have enough…’
‘No, it’s more than enough! I think it’s enough for a few months’ budget for our estate.’
‘Let me know as soon as you know where you’ll be staying while you take the selection tests. I’ll find the time to go up there somehow.’
But now that I think about it, I was supposed to give her the address as soon as I knew where I was going to stay while I was taking the Knight selection test, but I can’t do that. If they see the address, they’ll realize that I’m at the Marquis’ house.
“Hmm.”
Should I just say I’m fine? Or should I tell them all about what happened in the capital, and they’d be mad at me for not telling them sooner? I thought about it several times a day, but I couldn’t come up with an answer.
I was scared of what the butler and nanny would do if I told them I was staying at the Bright’s House, and I felt bad about breaking my promise if I didn’t tell them, but my heart was leaning even more toward keeping my stay at the Bright House a secret.
“I don’t know anymore!”
I said.
‘I give up!’
Eventually, I rose to my feet as if to flee, for I knew that I would not be able to keep it a secret if they found out.
I guess it’s another day, and another failure to write to the butler and nanny.
“Miss Iris.”
“I’m in a good mood, and I haven’t wielded my sword in a long time, so I thought I’d give it a try.”
“My lord wishes to see you.”
“His Excellency?”
Why is he back so early when the sun is still up? One thing I’ve learned during my stay at the Marquis’s residence is that the Marquis of Bright is a very busy man.
As a minister, it was already routine for the Marquis to leave early in the morning and return late at night. He rarely rested, even on holidays. To be precise, he never took a break. To the point where one wonders when on earth he ever rested. The Marquis of Bright spent most of his days in his office or study.
“A diplomatic envoy has called to tell me, my lady, that he has a gift of fine tea.”
“Oh, yes.”
Even in the midst of his frenzied activity, the Marquis of Bright took time out to dine or drink tea with me. I felt a little sorry for him, trying to get somehow close to his long-lost child, but I couldn’t help it.
Duke Bright and Marquis Bright had never been grandfathers and fathers to me, just uncomfortable old men, especially after learning of what the Young Lady Bright had been through from the crown prince’s recount seven years earlier.
“Where is His Excellency?”
“He’s inside the Mansion”
“Let’s go.”
I straightened my clothes and started to leave the room, but Sophie stopped me in my tracks.
“Excuse me, miss.”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Well, actually, His Highness the Duke is at the Mansion as well. ”
I could see why Sophie was clutching at her hand like a starving puppy. After what happened in the cloister the other day, she’s picked up on my dislike of the Duke of Bright.
“My master said that if you’re still uncomfortable, you don’t have to force yourself.”
“It’s okay.”
“What?”
“I had something I needed to tell those two anyway.”
I smiled at Sophie, who looked uneasy, and her brown eyes narrowed,
“Let’s go. Take me to them.”
Sophie led the way into the hallway, and, after blinking, I followed her.
She led me down into the stairs. If I didn’t know, I didn’t really mind, but now that I knew we were family, we couldn’t continue to live like this. So whether I like it or not, It was time for a confrontation.