Chapter 2

“Ah! Really! Lady Bright or whatever, I’m not her!”

“Hick?

I couldn’t endure it. I can’t take this annoyance any longer. When I shouted after losing my patience, the man, startled by my scream, let out a hiccup. A teardrop trickled down his widened eyes.

“It’s driving me crazy, really! Listen to me!”

Listen to me…listen to me…

A loud echo reverberated within the holding cell. The man stopped crying, then stared at me like a startled rabbit.

‘Huu.’

Seeing the man become speechless after getting yelled at, I took a deep breath. I felt like I was in someone else’s mess, and so far I had to put up with it and go to jail for it.

“Listen carefully, Lady Bright’s father.”

I firmly spoke as bluntly as possible. It was rude, but it couldn’t be helped because I didn’t know the man. As I met the eyes of the man who had shrunken back, my shoulders trembled.

“I’m Iris Sabrina.”

The man’s eyes rounded after I clearly spoke each word and it left my mouth. As if dispirited, he asked back in a daze.

“Iris? You’re Iris?”

“…? Yes.”

“Hah!”

Hearing my answer, the man took a deep breath. His body trembled like he had seen a miracle. Then, with no time to react, he came forward and hugged me.

“Iris!”

“Oh my god! W-what the hell are you doing?”

Again! I’m not your daughter!

Damn it, I don’t understand. At this point, it’s kill or be killed. Whether I become a criminal or not, I can’t take this any longer. The moment I couldn’t contain my surging irritation and gripped my fists tightly, the man spoke with a mournful voice.

“Good grief! Iris! It’s me! Dad!”

“What?”

Dad? My dad? What the hell are you saying?

At a loss for words, my body stiffened. Taking a step back, I saw the man staring at me with tears hanging from his eyes.

“Like I said earlier, I’m Iris Sabrina.”

“Yes, Iris! My daughter!”

Your daughter is Lady Bright. I frowned at his excited clamoring face. Oh, don’t tell me we have the same name?

“Is that Lady Bright’s name?”

“No, she’s Arche!”

Said the man excitedly with his nostrils puffed. I couldn’t bring myself to curse him because he looked like a rabbit, so I glared at him instead.

Putting strength into my fists again and agonizing over whether I should hit him, the man urgently shouted as if he had noticed my thoughts.

“Wendy!”

“Huh?”

That’s my mother’s name.

I was so surprised by the man’s words that I let go of my fists. His eyes shone with a look of certainty at my reaction.

“Your mother’s name is Wendy, right?”

“That’s true, but…”

“As expected!!”

With a face full of joy, the man’s body trembled. His eyes glanced at my face with a tint of longing.

“…You really look so much like Arche. No wonder people were mistaken.”

“I’m sorry…I don’t understand the current situation.”

I watched him muttering in an emotional voice while I pinched my temple. The series of incomprehensible situations had given me a headache.

“I don’t blame you, the last time we met was when you were six years old.”

What. I’ve met him? When I was six? Really…

Wait, no way. I still won’t believe it. My steward insisted that there are many crooks in the capital and that I had to be careful.

“You’re surprised. Right, that’s a given.”

When I looked at the man suspiciously, he let out a small cough and reached out his hand.

“I’m afraid it’s a long story so…Let’s go home first.”

What should I do? I agonized over it while looking at his outstretched hand.

However, I had no choice. First of all, my priority is to leave this musty smelling holding cell.

Having made my decision, I expressed my answer by slightly reaching for the man’s fingertips. Immediately, the man broke out into a big smile.

--------

‘Mom, where’s dad?’

Recalling what I once asked my mother when I was very young. I didn’t miss the father whose face I don’t even remember. I was just curious because all the kids I hung out with had a father.

But at my innocent question, the nanny wiped away her tears with her sleeves, and the steward bitterly bowed his head in grief. My mother as well had a very sad look on her face.

‘Iris, your father is very far away.’

‘How far away is he?’

‘Well, it’s somewhere we can’t reach right now.’

‘So we can’t see him?’

‘Well…’

My mother vaguely slurred the end of her words to my question. For some reason, I felt like she was talking nonsense, so I just stared at her. Then, grabbing me by both shoulders with an unusually serious face, she spoke.

‘Iris.’

‘Yes, mother.’

‘I’m really sorry, but…because of your father, you don’t have a father.’

‘Um, I don’t know what you’re saying.’

‘You don’t need to know now. You’ll find out when you grow up.’

‘…Okay.’

Mother, why didn’t you tell me the truth back then?

I sent a resentful telepathic message to my mother who was wandering somewhere in the Empire. My resentment won’t reach her, but at the very least I wanted her ears to itch. She’ll probably just pick her ears anyway.

In any case, all this time I thought my father was dead. The word ‘father’ was taboo at the estate. I didn’t dare to ask and could only guess that there was a sad past that my mother couldn’t tell me.

Well, I didn’t know he was alive and kicking like this. I also can’t believe that I have an older twin sister.

The more I thought about it, the more my nose scrunched. Well, my mother is brazen enough that if I confront her, she’ll probably say something like, ‘I never said he was dead though?’

Anyhow, this man is my father.

With a complicated look, I stared at the smiling man in front of me. Although it has yet to be proven that he’s my real father, his integrity due to his background is greater than I had thought.

The Chancellor of the Empire, Marquess Hermoso Bright.

I was surprised to learn of the man’s identity a little while ago. I can’t believe I was planning to throw such a person to the ground. If I had done something like that, much less going to jail, I would have lost my life.

A person with such a famed background said he was my father, so I became uneasy when I found out the secret of my birth. Wait, no way. It’s still not certain that he’s my father, so I must not let my guard down.

My steward had said the capital is where you could get your nose cut with your eyes open. At any rate, I must stay alert!

“Iris, we’re here.”

Whether or not he knew what I was thinking, the man spoke in a very friendly tone. As soon as his words fell, the carriage came to a smooth stop. Indeed, a high class carriage.

“Wow.”

Immediately after getting off the carriage, I burst out in admiration at the scenery. Showing off its grandeur, it was more beautiful and spectacular than the palace I saw in the fairy tale books I’ve read.

“Master and young miss.”

As soon as we got off, a wrinkled old man approached us. It seemed to be the steward judging by his outfit. He looked at me, then politely bowed.

“Welcome back, young miss.”

“No…I…”

I was about to correct him when he mistook me for Lady Bright, but my self-proclaimed father, who was next to me, interrupted me.

“Iden, this child is not Arche but Iris!”

“…Pardon?”

The steward’s eyes widened at my self-proclaimed father’s words. He looked at me as if it was unbelievable.

“Lady Iris?”

“Yes! It wasn’t Arche in the holding cell!”

My self-proclaimed father shouted excitedly.

“How…Are you really Lady Iris?”

Asked the steward, Iden, taken aback.

“Oh my.”

I nodded my head slightly instead of answering, then unable to hide his surprise, the steward covered his mouth with both hands.

“Go on, don’t keep standing there. Please show Iris to the drawing room first. I guess Wendy didn’t tell you anything.”

“I can’t believe it… No, it’s perfectly reasonable if it’s Wendy.”

The steward, whose eyes widened at my self-proclaimed father’s words, soon nodded his head. Naturally, seeing him say my mother’s name made me feel uneasy.

…Am I really the daughter of this house? So what will happen now? As even the steward reacted like this, I gradually felt that what my self-proclaimed father said is true.

“I’ll take you to the drawing room, Lady Iris.”

The experienced steward was quick on his feet. He calmed his expression and pulled himself together before courteously leading me.

“Wow.”

“Oh my…she was alive?”

I could feel all eyes on me as I entered the mansion. I calmly followed the steward, pretending to not hear the chatters.

The steward is still the only one who has heard of my circumstances from the Marquess, so to them I’m probably Lady Arche. I thought of revealing it, but I had to get out of the current predicament first.

It could be revealed at any moment that I’m not Lady Bright, so there’s no reason to relax.

“It’s really the young miss.”

“Shh, be quiet! She’s looking this way!”

The employees’ reactions were the same. No one showed signs of relief or teary eyes, even though it’s been months since the young miss came back. Most of them looked away, trying to avoid making eye contact.

Considering what I went through today, Lady Bright seems to have a lot of enmities. The reactions from the employees were no different from those in the capital.

“His Excellency will be back with a change of clothes.”

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At a glance, the drawing room was decorated with various decorations and luxurious antique furniture. It was so spacious and colorful that mine would look like a stable compared to this.

“Please wait a moment.”

Leaving behind those words, the steward disappeared. Left alone, I looked around the drawing room with an awkward face as I relaxed on a sofa.

“It’s taking too long to get fresh clothes.”

Staring blankly at the dazzling chandelier hanging from the ceiling, I waited for my self-proclaimed father when suddenly there was a commotion outside.