“Welcome back, Prince Cecil!”
As soon as I returned to Halm Academy, I called Bertia to the salon. Seeing her greet me with a beaming smile, I truly felt, Ah, I’m back.
Bertia rushed over to me, and, taking her hand, I escorted her to our table. After seating her, I took the chair opposite her. As usual, Bertia’s maids began preparing the meal.
“I’m back, Tia. Has anything changed during my absence?” I deigned to ask this because I wanted to see how she would describe recent events.
“Nothing at all! The heroine was as cute as ever! Oh, there was an event that seemed to deepen her relations with other capture targets, so I quickly went ahead and broke those flags!” Bertia reported back to me, her face plastered with an expression that screamed “praise me, praise me” and a delighted smile.
It seemed she was boasting to me about how she’d interfered with other suitors to ensure I could get along with Baroness Hironia. But honestly, that mattered little to me.
Bertia, looking up at me with the eager eyes of a dog that has retrieved a thrown stick, was amusing… and cute, but there was something else I wanted to hear from her right now.
“Tia, I’m asking if anything new has happened to you in any way.” Bertia tilted her head in confusion, as if she couldn’t understand why I’d be interested in such a thing. But I think it’d be only natural to be more concerned about one’s fiancée than about a stranger.
“Me? Well, ah! Yes, that’s right! As I wrote in my letters, I’m currently working with Prince Shawn and all our friends to prepare for the cultural festival. We’re coming up with a variety of events to create lots of memories, you know?” said Bertia, cheerfully.
“Is that so?” When I had read about the “cultural festival” in her letters, I was intrigued by her uniquely imaginative and out-of-the-box ideas. However, now that I had other things I wanted to ask, the diversion in conversation wasn’t particularly appealing.
“I actually wanted to have a ‘cross-dressing contest’ as a classic event for the post-festival celebrations. I thought Prince Shawn, with his lovely appearance, would suit it well… but Lady Joanna and the others said it was inappropriate to have royalty cross-dress, so they stopped it.”
That’s why I find these tangents uninteresting…
“Lady Joanna agreed to dress as a man, and I suggested how wonderful it would be if Prince Shawn and she could be a ‘beautiful gender-swapped couple’… This seemed to sway Lady Joanna a bit. So, I proposed that we all join the contest as gender-swapped couples with our fiancés!” She paused, then said, “But Lady Cynthia flatly refused and ended up squashing the whole plan.”
Bertia, what an interesting thing you’re doing…
The mere idea of dressing royalty in drag was funny enough, but to think you’d even try to get Valdo to do it. It was a good thing his fiancée, Cynthia, stopped it, or it could have been a disaster. With his high status, the other students wouldn’t have been able to laugh; they would have been utterly frozen. Knowing Valdo, he might not have read the room and tried to liven things up by imitating a lady’s mannerisms and speech. Had he actually done that… it would have chilled the atmosphere and disrupted the event.
“In the end, we decided to opt for something a bit more normal for the contest, and we’re still considering options now.”
Seeing Bertia hanging her head dejectedly, I wanted to interject with numerous comments… but no, at this rate, I wouldn’t be able to hear the story I truly wanted. Moreover, my frustration with her for not consulting me about anything hadn’t faded.
A course correction was necessary.
“Tia, while that story is very interesting, isn’t there something else you should be telling me about?”
“Eh? Something else? What do you mean?” Bertia asked, genuinely puzzled, furrowing her eyebrows and tilting her head.
Seeing her like that, a sigh inadvertently escaped my lips. I had hoped she would start the conversation, but it seemed I had to broach the topic myself.
“I’ve received reports. You’ve been suffering quite some trouble at the academy, haven’t you?”
For a brief moment, Bertia’s expression tensed. However, she quickly reverted to her usual cheerful smile and started to explain, placing her hands on her hips.
“Ah, that’s not it! See, I am the villainess, so it’s a good thing for me! Of course, being a top-tier villainess, I’m not bothered by such things!!” Her speech suddenly sped up, as if she were trying to obscure something.
“Tia?”
“Especially since I’m the one who started bothering Baroness Hironia! I’ve been really mean to her, you know!”
I didn’t reply.
Along with everyone else, she too probably thought the constant harassment she faced was the handiwork of Baroness Hironia. Thus, eager to ensure that my impression of the “heroine” didn’t worsen, Bertia had quickly began to make excuses for her.
But I know, don’t I? That your “meanness” has never quite managed to be truly mean.
In the end, the “meanness” Bertia perpetrated often turned into kindly admonition toward Baroness Hironia, who lacked proper manners, inadvertently making Bertia look good in the process.
Other young ladies also clearly knew that Bertia would not hesitate to play the villain if it meant helping others. Consequently, her reputation had been steadily improving.
“Listen, Tia. As your fiancé, it’s my duty to protect you. So, it’s all right if I handle this situation, isn’t it?” I offered to take over without revealing the true culprit, wanting to keep everything under control. The most pressing issue might be the matter with Viscountess Eirin, but I also wanted to make sure Baroness Hironia got the warning too.
Eliminating threats to my fiancée is my role, right? I smiled reassuringly at Bertia, waiting for her consent.
But…
“No, Prince Cecil! This is a battle among women!! As a top-tier villainess, I must face it head-on!!” Bertia, smiling, shook her head while squeezing my hand under the table.
“But my role to protect you, isn’t it?” I insisted.
“I am fine! I am a strong woman! So, Prince Cecil, you should comfort the heroine when she is beaten and dejected by me! That will surely bring you two… closer together.”
Bertia’s voice trembled slightly at the end. She endured the pain, yet her smile never wavered.
Why? Why won’t she rely on me?
Instead, she seemed to be defending the person who was hurting her.
“Listen, Tia. Don’t you think you should rely on me here?”
“I do not think so! After all, I am a villainess! A villainess does not depend on her capture targets! She always stands alone and diligently commits evil deeds!”
“That’s not the issue here. You are my fiancée. It’s my duty to protect you.”
“If you end up with the heroine, we will break off our engagement. So, there is no duty!”
“But right now, you are my fiancée.”
“But I am a villainess! So, please, don’t worry about me, and think about your future fiancée instead…”
“Tia, can you please stop this?” My voice dropped as frustration built up.
“Prince Cecil…?”
“I’ve said it multiple times—you are my fiancée. And I see it as my role to protect you.”
“But that’s why I… I shouldn’t be in a position where you feel that way about me…”
“Isn’t that for me to decide?”
“But, but that would mean you and the heroine would be at odds! That can’t happen at all!!”
Intimidated by my anger yet with determination in her eyes, Bertia rejected the hand I offered. Her stubbornness only fueled my irritation further.
I could tell her about the other threats that needed to be eliminated, hoping it might change her stance. But at this point, my desire to do so had faded. Whether or not she considered someone an enemy might hold great significance for Bertia, but to me, it was trivial.
The issue at hand was simple—remove any obstacles. Even if Baroness Hironia hadn’t attacked us directly yet, her presence was becoming a “nuisance.” I couldn’t say she shouldn’t be dealt with, even if it was just this once.
“So, you think it’s all right to leave things as they are? If we do nothing, it could escalate further, you know?” From the initial reports during my absence to now, Miss Eirin’s actions had gradually become more aggressive.
Those around Bertia probably didn’t find it “amusing” to protect her.
“I’m fine! I am strong! I don’t need to borrow your hands, Prince Cecil. I can handle my own affairs—”
“Then do as you like.” I found myself saying those words to her since she so stubbornly ignored my pleas. It felt as though something inside my head had snapped.
I had everything ready to protect Bertia, yet as she obstinately refused to take my hand, the anger that had been building inside me suddenly cooled. I felt almost indifferent and finally stopped reaching out to her. After all, if she herself rejects it, what can I do? Continuing to offer my hand to someone who refused to take it seemed like a waste of time. It would be better to attend to as many official duties as I could at that time.
“Prince Ce-Cecil?”
“Sorry. I’ve suddenly lost my appetite, so I’ll take my leave now,” I informed Bertia’s maid, who seemed to be struggling with the timing to serve the meal, and stood up from the table without eating.
Strange. What was I getting so heated about? I’ve been rejected like this before due to my status, with many feeling it was presumptuous to trouble the crown prince.
But each time, I had quickly withdrawn with a “Well, all right then.” And upon reflection, if she herself said she didn’t need my assistance, there was no reason to insist.
Leaving the salon and walking back to the dormitory, I stared at my own right hand. The hand that Bertia had not grasped felt oddly cold.