[Episode 6]
Cedric’s grip on my jaw made it difficult to open my mouth. I had no idea how I was supposed to answer while he was holding my jaw like that. Before I could even move my lips, he opened his mouth again.
“When the Ducal House’s wrongdoing is revealed through any means, it won’t end with a mere warning of this level.”
His silver hair, which seemed to swallow the darkness itself, shook as if in anger. With those words, Cedric roughly let go of my jaw. He didn’t forget to add with a look of pity, “Still the same stupid face, I see.”
“Now get lost. I’m about to vomit from disgust.”
At the height of Cedric’s nonsense, I couldn’t even shut my mouth.
Is this bastard crazy?
What the hell was his problem, coming all the way over to me while I was quietly hiding in a corner, only to throw a fit?
‘No, more than that, if my memory serves me right, Cedric should be in his early-to-mid twenties right now.’
The college graduate who had fought with high-school-aged Dietrich with everything he had was none other than Cedric.
‘Pathetic…’
At my peer’s embarrassing, disgraceful display, I was so dumbfounded that I felt half-mad; turning my back on Cedric, I barely managed to shuffle back into the hall. Along with the strange certainty that perhaps all the firewood I’d chopped until now had been to cut that bastard into pieces.
Just before my gore-filled thoughts could escalate further, the clamorous hall stopped the snuff film playing in my head. The announcer shouted loudly that the Second Prince, Icarus, had arrived late at the hall. It was said that he had just returned from a demon subjugation expedition.
Seen beyond the crowd, the Second Prince was… just… just handsome. He too strode into the ballroom with perfect, unblemished posture, as if displaying the dignity of imperial blood.
Shining golden hair sparkled in contrast to the Crown Prince’s black hair, which gave off a neat and calm feeling. His splendid appearance drew the eye with a feel different from the members of the House of Erexion.
The only part that resembled the Crown Prince was his deep, intense red eyes. No, in truth, even those eyes had something different about them. Unlike the First Prince’s eyes, which had settled into a quiet stillness, the crimson light in his eyes was splendid, and there was a feeling of something slightly flippant, a hint of mischief.
But he was definitely not my type. Unlike when I looked at Crown Prince Elius, my heart was still and quiet as if dead.
Icarus, who had walked to the center of the hall, recited a brief word of welcome just as the Crown Prince had done. But feeling a strange burning sensation on the back of my head, I turned around to see that Cedric, who had followed me out from the balcony at some point, was looking down at me with the same cold gaze.
‘Ah, so much for telling me to get lost. What the hell are you staring at now?’
Unable to endure Cedric’s irritation, I glared back at him, but before I knew it, the Second Prince—having finished his greetings—had already arrived before Cedric with his long strides.
“Young Duke of Erexion, it’s been a while.”
“Cedric Erexion greets Your Highness the Second Prince.”
Cedric put away the glare he had been directing at me and showed courtesy before the imperial family. The Second Prince soon turned his gaze away from Cedric as if losing interest and looked at me. His crimson eyes curved into narrow slits. At the ominous feeling that something was off, I was slowly beginning to step back.
“It has also been a while, my lady. If it is alright, I would like to request the first dance from you.”
…Uttering such unbelievable words, the Second Prince extended his hand to me.
My… lady?
In the noisy hall, I must have misheard. By now, the music had changed to a lively melody like a waltz. Unable to ignore the Second Prince, who still had his hand extended, I reluctantly took it.
There was no difficulty in moving my body unconsciously to the beat of the music, but because of my uncomfortable leg, I kept falling behind the beat. Contrary to his flippant attitude and way of speaking, the Second Prince was dancing quite formally, so my awkward steps were hidden by him and looked passable at a glance. Even so, it seemed to bother the person dancing quite a bit.
“My lady.”
“…….”
“My lady!”
“…Yes?”
“Lift your feet.”
“Excuse me?”
Then the Second Prince clicked his tongue as if frustrated, and when turning to the music, he held my waist and lightly lifted me, placing my feet on top of his own. Contrary to his rough way of speaking, his actions were surprisingly careful.
“I said lift your feet, my lady. Like this.”
Before my surprise at being suddenly lifted could even subside, I nearly jumped out of my skin at the title the Second Prince used to call me.
‘“My lady”? What the hell.’
Why does he keep calling Dietrich “my lady”? Wait, does this man know about when Dietrich was the young lady of the ducal house? No, putting that aside, how does he know that I am “that” Roxanne? No, it’s been almost five years since Danae started living as Roxanne, so why the hell is this bastard still stuck in that era?
With my mind consumed by questions that led to more questions, my body was already swaying not to the music, but to the Second Prince’s lead.
Even in the original story, people didn’t pay as much attention to the Second Prince as they did to the weather. Naturally, he was mentioned in only a few lines. Whenever stories about him came up, it was only to say that he had left for somewhere in the Empire to subjugate demons, or for some continent to participate in some war. It was even explained that he was a person with a savage temperament by nature, who wasn’t very interested in governing the state—that is, in the right to inherit the throne—and was always a bloodthirsty character.
Because of questions that led to no conclusion no matter how much I thought, my mental state was also swaying along with the Second Prince.
When the music stopped, by coincidence, the Second Prince and I returned to the starting point—that is, where Cedric was standing. The Second Prince gently lowered me, who had been standing on his feet. Cedric, watching this scene, glared at me with an even colder gaze.
‘Damn it!’
About to hurriedly greet the Second Prince and leave in haste at Cedric’s murderous gaze—
The Second Prince passed by Cedric and spoke in a sneering tone.
“The education in Erexion is the same as ever. Can the young lady of Erexion still not even dance properly?”
With those words, a long silence began to fall over the hall.
‘Hmm…’
To be perfectly honest, it was a situation where I wanted to say, “So the fuck what?”
Whether the House of Erexion got fucked or not… whether Cedric grabbed the back of his neck and collapsed or not…
They were the ones getting fucked, not me….
But it would be a problem if the people at the Academy found out that I, no, that Dietrich, was somehow associated with Roxanne. The moment people found out why Dietrich “had been” Roxanne, they would learn about the infidelity of Dietrich’s biological parents, and that would soon lead to Dietrich’s shame being exposed.
Even though the fundamental cause was the Erexion Ducal House’s damn foolishness in failing to recognize their own child, people would obviously only criticize Dietrich, calling her a liar and a fraud. Because even in the same situation, understanding and empathy always tend to go to the strong, while blame and rebuke flow to the weak.
The Second Prince merely stared at me blankly, whether understanding the ramifications of the words he had blurted out without thinking or not.
Roxanne was the Crown Prince’s—that is, the Second Prince’s elder brother’s—fiancée. I knew it had been over a year since the engagement. No matter how little interest he had in the imperial succession, who would have thought he was so uninterested in the Empire that he didn’t even know what his brother’s fiancée looked like?
Of course, the current silver-haired young lady didn’t socialize as actively as when Dietrich had been the young lady either. Still, it was incomparable to the time when the young lady’s identity had been completely hidden.
Because of an appearance that didn’t resemble the Duke and Duchess of Erexion at all, debates constantly raged within the ducal house over whether Dietrich was the real young lady. The fact that quite a long time was needed to educate Dietrich, who had grown up in an orphanage from birth, into a convincing young lady was also included among the reasons why Dietrich had not been presented to society.
The Duke of Erexion had prevented the young lady from being revealed to the world for quite a long time, citing Dietrich’s health problems. The rumors that the young lady of Erexion didn’t resemble any member of the ducal house, including relatives, gradually spread and began to connect to the infidelity of the late Duchess.
When the whispers spreading in the shadows began to gain momentum, the House of Erexion presented the silver-haired young lady to the world.
The rumors were rendered meaningless; people who had been flapping their mouths viciously shut up at the silver hair and blue eyes representing Erexion, and above all, at that fairy-like young lady’s appearance, disappearing as if it had never happened.
Roxanne’s debut had been quite the talk of the Empire. I had thought that even the Second Prince, who had been traveling across continents and battlefields, would surely know of it.
But then why is he calling me the young lady?
While the hall was still quiet, everyone’s gaze was directed this way. The first to speak was Cedric.
“It seems Your Highness is under some misunderstanding. The young lady you danced with is not my sister.”
At Cedric’s words, the Second Prince raised one eyebrow as if displeased. The moment he moved his lips to say something, someone hurriedly approached Cedric’s side.
It was Roxanne.
She seemed a bit out of breath from rushing over.
Perhaps because Roxanne, the “real” young lady, had come, Cedric loosened the tension in his stiffened jaw slightly and sent a small smile toward his younger sister. Cedric soon escorted Roxanne before the Second Prince, and Roxanne greeted the Second Prince with a bright smile and a courteous bow.
“I am Roxanne Erexion.”
The Second Prince, who had been looking at the two noble children of the ducal house with silver hair and blue eyes for some time, snickered and spoke.
“I see. My apologies. You looked so close with the young lady beside you that I mistakenly assumed she was the Young Duke’s sister.”
Unless his eyes were crooked, Cedric and I didn’t look close at all.
The Second Prince seemed to lack not only manners but also tact. Moreover, even while saying he was mistaken, he was still calling me “young lady.”