Since it was now the social season, there were more and more events that I couldn’t avoid. Lord Phillip and I were riding in a carriage together on our way to a ball held by the royal family. I’d never been one for social events and wasn’t looking forward to spending the night surrounded by my acquaintances. However, since Lord Phillip and Rex would be present, I wasn’t too worried.
After we arrived, I greeted the bare minimum of people and danced once. Right when I was saying that I wanted to get a drink and take a break, I saw a woman approach us.
“Oh, long time no see, Phillip.”
I quickly looked up when her sweet voice broke through the chatter. There were few women in the kingdom who could refer to Lord Phillip without honorifics or titles.
“Princess Mirabel...” After Lord Phillip greeted her by name, he whispered into my ear, “That’s Her Highness Mirabel, the sixth princess of the kingdom. Don’t say anything.”
Princess Mirabel, who was the sixth princess in the line of succession, was one of our classmates from school. I heard that she had already gotten married to a member of foreign royalty, so I was quite surprised to see her here. Back when we were in school, everyone knew her to be a selfish person who caused quite a bit of trouble for those around her. Considering how difficult it was for someone to change their nature, Lord Phillip likely thought that she was still someone to watch out for.
Lord Phillip and Princess Mirabel chatted casually for a little bit before she turned her attention to me. “Speaking of which, the two of you made up? That’s a surprise.”
“We...made up?” I unconsciously asked, too taken aback by her sudden comment. At the same time, Lord Phillip’s shoulders twitched.
“Back when we were in school, I happened to hear Phillip and Natalia talking about you behind your back.”
“That’s—” Lord Phillip hurriedly opened his mouth to try to interrupt Princess Mirabel, but she continued as if she didn’t hear.
“I also saw how you heard them and then ran off in tears.”
“Huh?”
I didn’t know that Princess Mirabel was there and that she even saw me. Now that Lord Phillip knew that I’d heard his conversation and fled from the scene crying, I slowly and nervously looked up at him. His face was expressionless.
“I’m truly glad that the two of you made up. I wish you a happy life.”
Princess Mirabel didn’t seem to notice Lord Phillip’s reaction. She simply turned around and walked away. Lord Phillip’s face was pale, and he remained silent even after Princess Mirabel took her leave. Unsure of what to do, I could only stand there nervously.
Eventually, with his face buried in the palm of his hand, he said, “She’s got the wrong idea.” His voice was so quiet that I could hardly hear him. “I didn’t know that you overheard me, let alone that I made you cry.”
“Phil?”
“What happened that day really wasn’t what it sounded like. Not that telling you about it now makes a difference...”
Lord Phillip looked like he was about to burst into tears any moment. I had never seen him look so flustered, and I could only stand there, unable to do or say anything. After a moment, he suddenly grabbed my arm and started to walk off until we found Rex.
“I apologize... I’d like some time alone to cool my head.”
“A-All right,” I replied.
“Rex, I leave her in your care.”
“Have I become her permanent caretaker? Well, whatever. Sure.”
Lord Phillip stumbled off. It made me worried and anxious to see him so off-kilter.
“Did something happen?” Rex asked.
“Actually...” I told him exactly what had happened.
After I finished explaining, Rex murmured, “Oh wow...” with an awkward look on his face. “In any case, this isn’t the place to discuss this. Let’s get outta here for a bit.”
“Huh?”
“It’s an emergency. I feel so bad for Phillip, it isn’t even funny.”
Just what did Rex know? I obediently followed him to one of the resting rooms in the back, making sure to avoid any curious onlookers. Normally, it wouldn’t do for the two of us to take a break from the party. But this was supposedly an emergency, so it couldn’t be helped. We sat down with the table between us, and then Rex leaned back in his chair with a deep sigh.
“So the biggest reason you thought Phillip hated you was that conversation Princess Mirabel mentioned?”
“Yes,” I replied without missing a beat.
“Yikes, yeah, I feel pretty bad for that one.” There was a dark look on his face, which was a fairly rare expression for him.
“To tell you the truth...that entire conversation between Phillip and Natalia you overheard was a lie. Actually, it was more like an act.”
“Huh?”
“You remember how at the time, Princess Mirabel was selfish, the kind of selfish where she wanted to have what others had, and wouldn’t give up until she got it?”
It was true that I had heard rumors about Princess Mirabel’s bad habits. However, I was too distracted by how my heart picked up speed at Rex’s unbelievable words. Everything I overheard that day was a lie?
“Back then, she was only into guys who were engaged or had a girlfriend. One day, she set her eyes on Phillip.”
“What?”
“Phillip is the heir to the prestigious House Lawrenson, he had enough power and influence that he could even reject the advances of a princess. But Princess Mirabel wasn’t the type to give up so easily. Plus, she was the kind of person who wouldn’t think twice about bullying someone or using violence against them, even if that someone was the daughter of a noble family.”
I couldn’t form a response, and Rex continued without waiting for one.
“Back then, Phillip asked me what he should do. If he rejected Princess Mirabel, there was a chance that she would do something to you. So I figured that to smooth things over, he could put on an act and make Princess Mirabel lose interest in him. Then we could fix the issue without any hurt feelings, right? That was what I told him.”
With all of this background information, I could easily put together what followed. The memories from back then flashed through my mind and my chest tightened painfully.
“Princess Mirabel used to pass by the same place at the same time every day. The plan was to have Phillip stand near there and talk at length about how much he wasn’t interested in you and that he wanted to break off the engagement. We chose to have Natalia there as the person he was complaining to in order to make it more realistic. The plan worked out tidily and Princess Mirabel easily lost interest in him... But I didn’t know it had caused such a problem elsewhere... I’m sorry.”
Rex apologized to me in a soft murmur. Now that I had heard the entire truth from his mouth, I felt like I was about to break down in tears.
Everything I heard that day had been a misunderstanding. I realized now that Phillip’s past behavior toward me was due to him trying to hide his embarrassment and feelings. But back then, there was no way for me to tell. So I had easily fallen for Lord Phillip’s act. The thing was...
“After that, I told Lord Phillip I hated him.”
“Oof.”
“And ever since then, it’s been really awkward.”
Thinking back, after I told him I hated him, he replied, “So do I.” That was why my misunderstanding became worse. What did he mean by that though?
“In any case, it’s not your fault so don’t worry too much about it. Phillip and I were the ones who didn’t want to cause you unnecessary anxiety so we kept you in the dark, after all.”
“But...”
“Are you feeling better now that you know what happened?”
“Yeah... I’m fine.”
“Great. Then for now, we should go and take care of Phillip. He’s probably on the brink of death about now.”
Rex was absolutely correct. Lord Phillip was undoubtedly suffering through guilt and self-hatred at this very moment.
“Hey, don’t you think it’s about time to pretend that you got your memories back?” Rex asked.
“Huh?”
“I mean, you already like Phillip, right?”
“Yeah... I do.” I nodded without any hint of hesitation, and he gave me a satisfied smile.
“If you pretend that you got your memories back and then confess your feelings, Phillip’ll spring right back.”
So Rex said, but I started to worry if I really could pretend that my memories had returned. I knew so many of his lies now. It would be unfair if I was the only one who could keep all of my secrets hidden. I felt like this deception would haunt me for the rest of my life if I didn’t do something about it.
“Hey, Rex... If Lord Phillip knew that my amnesia was a complete lie that I came up with to break off our engagement...”
Do you think he’ll hate me?
The words were almost out of my mouth when suddenly, the door flew open with a bang.
“I heard your words loud and clear just now!”
I hurriedly turned around to see Lady Natalia and Lord Phillip. There was a smug grin on Lady Natalia’s face. Their arrival was so unexpected that I forgot to breathe for a moment and froze up like a statue. Even Rex looked shocked, his mouth hanging open.
Did Lord Phillip hear what I said? I’d wanted to come clean about my amnesia, but I never wanted to under these circumstances. But fate was cruel. My bad feeling was on the mark. I was in so much panic I felt like I was about to pass out. After what felt like an eternity, Lord Phillip opened his mouth.
“Was everything a lie?”