Just as I’d been about to say, “But I’m Lucille,” he’d coughed a few times before saying, “I-I seem to be feeling under the weather. I-I’ll be taking my leave now!” and speeding away.
G-Goodness! He was coughing at the time! I thought he was putting on an act to get out of that situation, but it was actually a symptom of the disease?!
Th-That’s right. It seemed to take some time between the onset of symptoms and their increase in severity, with Leeuwenhoek being an exception because of the curse. So back then, it was already beginning...
In that case, that cat in the town we’d stopped by—the friend of the sick boy—might have been referring to Lord Kanelion when it had said, “I can’t believe that bad guy made that boy sick when he was already suffering!”
In the end, Prince Bernard and Lord Kanelion were taken away by Prince Edgar’s knights, Prince Bernard in a stupor while Lord Kanelion cried, “This is absurd!”
Apparently, they were going to be placed under house arrest and interrogated on the matter until their punishment was made official.
It all happened so fast. The unexpected reveals were surprises too.
As I watched Prince Edgar giving the knights instructions, stunned by what I had just learned, Lord Felix gave me a concerned look.
“Lucille, are you all right?” he asked.
“Huh? Oh, yes, of course.”
Despite my response, his expression remained uneasy.
“Lucille... What do you think of Prince Bernard?”
Now that’s an abrupt question. Prince Bernard, huh? Hmm...
“I feel a bit bad for him,” I said. “He loved Lady Mina so much that he was constantly flirting with her in public, but she abandoned him.”
After all, she’d told him she was leaving for another man, hadn’t she? She was certainly attractive, but her next partner must’ve been quite brave to become her lover even after all of her public displays of affection with Prince Bernard. It wasn’t any of my business, though, so that was the extent of my thoughts on the matter.
“Are you...hurt?” Lord Felix asked. “Prince Bernard treated you so horribly.”
He was probably including the latest disaster in that statement. Prince Bernard had never treated me well to begin with, but today, a simple change in makeup, attire, and posture had been enough to prevent him from identifying me at all. It was proof of just how little interest and respect he’d held for me in the past.
However, today’s debacle had only made me think, Wow, that’s pretty bad. I’d been surprised by the prince’s incompetence, but it hadn’t affected me emotionally at all. That was because...
“To be honest, I never really cared about Prince Bernard anyway,” I said. “As his fiancée, there were times I was annoyed with my situation or had to admonish him as my position necessitated, but I wouldn’t say that I felt hurt by him.”
In order for neglect to be painful, there had to be an expectation of the opposite. For example, if he had cherished me at first but later changed his mind and stopped paying attention to me, then that would have stung, and thinking back to the better days would’ve made me sad. However, there hadn’t been any positive feelings between me and Prince Bernard from the get-go.
Heh heh! Too bad, Prince Bernard! It’s impossible for you to hurt me!
Wait a second... Does thinking that way mean that I was also too apathetic toward my fiancé of several years?
“Did you not have feelings for Prince Bernard?” Lord Felix asked.
“What? Me? Are you suggesting that I might’ve been in love with him? Huh?! Never!”
Where in the world had he gotten that idea from? Under my father’s orders, I’d certainly tried to be liked by Prince Bernard, but I’d never once loved him. After all, how could I love someone who didn’t care about me?! There was no way I’d surrender a single sliver of my heart to him when I already had other people who treasured me.
Oh, but then again, Hinako always said that romantic love isn’t something you “do,” but something you “fall into.”
I’d loved and been loved by a whole host of people, but I’d never actually experienced those kinds of romantic feelings. If I were to fall in love someday, would those feelings swell up, overflow, and hold me captive, even if the person wasn’t interested in me at all?
Hmm, I can’t imagine it. Besides, Hinako was a dreamer, so she was prone to flights of fancy.
“I see... So the rumors weren’t to be trusted. Well, if you weren’t interested in him, that’s good,” Lord Felix muttered under his breath while running a hand through his hair.
I didn’t really understand what he meant, but he seemed relieved, so it was probably fine. Perhaps Prince Edgar’s sudden mention of a curse had made him nervous.
“Oh, but just now, I finally witnessed Prince Bernard display one of his good qualities!” I said, remembering something.
“The prince has good qualities? And you noticed that just now?” Lord Felix looked skeptical.
Beaming, I replied, “It sounds like Lady Mina dumped him in a pretty bad way, and on top of that, he’s losing his royal title because of what she did, right? Even though he is responsible and deserves to be punished.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“But he never once spoke poorly of her.”
I’d expected the prideful and self-centered prince to be outraged by Lady Mina’s betrayal, but instead, he’d merely been dumbfounded. He hadn’t bad-mouthed her, and it didn’t seem like he would in the future either.
It had slightly improved my opinion of him. There was no denying that he had been an awful fiancé to me, but at least he did have a respectful side that I had never been aware of.
No matter how many bad memories you have, if you know just one good thing about someone, that’s what you’ll end up remembering the most when you think back later.
It still wasn’t going to make me fall in love with him, though.
I’m just glad he isn’t going to remain a purely negative memory forever.
As my head filled with those lighthearted thoughts, Prince Edgar returned to his seat.
“Sorry about all of that,” he said. “I wanted you to know the truth behind the disease. Now, let’s move on. Miss Lucille, what would you like as your reward?”
Right, that’s why we’re here!