Chapter 19

I curled my hair more carefully than usual and made sure even the tips of my nails were perfectly groomed. The pale blue dress I had chosen myself hadn’t exactly received the approval of the maids, but I had stubbornly decided to wear it anyway.

Even though I was rumored to be a beautiful young lady (laughs), even I couldn’t pull off an outrageously flashy outfit covered in pink ribbons and frills. A pale, elegant dress suited my sharp features much better. …Probably.

Maybe because I hadn’t chosen the kind of dress they had expected, they went all out with my makeup. After looking in the mirror, I became convinced that this makeup was far too bold for a dress that made such a strong statement.

The heels were a little high, but they were still within an acceptable range.

I repeatedly went over the manners Mother had taught me in my head.

When greeting royalty, I had to bend my knees and keep my head lowered until I was told I could raise it. I wasn’t allowed to speak until someone addressed me first. When walking, I had to look straight ahead, keep my back straight, and hold my chest up. My chin couldn’t be raised too much or tucked too far down. I was only allowed to smile faintly, and I wasn’t supposed to eat too much at dinner…

As I kept going over everything I had been told, Father called out from the other side of the door.

“Bell, it’s almost time to go. Are you ready?”

“Y-Yes, Father.”

I answered stiffly, and the door slowly opened.

Father’s gray hair had been slicked back, and he was dressed impeccably in formal attire. He looked even more radiant than usual.

“You look beautiful. Did you choose that dress yourself?”

“Yes. …Does it look strange?”

Father stared at me for a long moment before smiling warmly.

“No. I think it suits you. Though I do think you could dress up a little more. At your age, isn’t that the sort of thing girls are usually interested in?”

That was true.

If I were an ordinary girl my age, I probably would have loved frills, ribbons, and sparkly things.

But with my mental age being completely out of sync, it was too much for me.

Being a princess at heart only worked until elementary school.

“I think Bell knows herself quite well, though.”

I laughed awkwardly to brush it off, and then a clear, beautiful voice rang out.

Despite its high pitch, it wasn’t shrill. There was a strange weight to it.

The moment I heard that voice, I instinctively frowned.

“Oh my, Bell. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“…Mother…”

Her long, silky hair fell all the way to her waist, its icy gray color tinged strongly with a deep blue. Her beautiful figure could have made a model look twice.

With one hand on her hip and her deep crimson mermaid-line dress swaying around her, she looked like some kind of queen.

Looking at those sharp, strong-willed eyes and vivid red lips, no one would ever imagine that this woman was supposedly frail.

“M-Mother, you’re coming to the party too?”

“Of course. A mother should be there to witness her beloved daughter’s first battle, shouldn’t she?”

Contrary to her intimidatingly strong face, Mother laughed elegantly.

But I had a thought.

Mother was definitely the type of woman who was a predator at heart.

“Don’t you dare lose to some floozy out there.”

There it was.

Mother had an unbelievably foul mouth.

She usually stayed shut away in her room, reading books or admiring flowers, but whenever she opened her mouth, she spewed insults worse than anything you’d hear from commoners.

“I was looking forward to this. I came all excited because I get to escort Cilly today.”

“Oh my, hehe. How many years has it been since I attended a party? My heart is practically dancing. Was the last time when we condemned your former fiancée?”

“You were wonderful that day.”

This was normal for my family.

The head and lady of the Tybus family.

These two had already gone through enough drama involving a former engagement and a public condemnation to make an entire otome game out of it.

Mother was obviously the heroine, but she certainly wasn’t the fragile sort. She must have been the kind of heroine who would sometimes wield a sword and fight back-to-back with the various love interests.

And Father had a few screws loose too.

Father loved Mother more than anything.

After remembering my previous life and realizing that I had barely ever seen Mother, I had once wondered if Father was the type of yandere who had essentially locked her away.

It turned out that he was doing it to manage her health, but even so, his affection for her was pretty extreme.

Once, I had asked Father what he liked about Mother.

“Something I like about Cilly? Everything. But if I had to pick one thing, it would be those moments when my strong-willed wife becomes completely dazed only in front of me. She’s so adorable.”

I still didn’t really understand it, but Father definitely had a few screws loose.

I had gotten goosebumps.

I was still debating whether I should give Father the title of “pervert.”

“Father, it’s about time…”

This time, a cute child’s voice came from outside.

Will stood there after quietly opening the door.

“How about it, Will? Cilly is coming to the party today too. Isn’t she beautiful?”

“Yes. Mother is always beautiful.”

“Hehe, I know. Today is Will’s first battle too, so make sure you target some useful people. Even just keeping them around you will raise your standing.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Father, Mother, and Will made a perfect family of handsome and beautiful people, along with a beautiful young boy.

Of course, Bertia was a beautiful girl too.

Actually, Father.

I thought you should have complimented me instead of Mother.

But when Will shifted his gaze toward me, my being ignored finally came to an end.

“Big Sister is beautiful too.”

“…Thank you.”

It was the kind of perfect smile that made me want to cry out, “Will!?”

Will had been personally trained by the Prince and had acquired a completely flawless mask (smile).

That suspicious smile reminded me far too much of the Prince’s.

Will had definitely been corrupted by him.

“Well, shall we get going?”

Father clapped his hands, urging us to leave.

Just before we stepped out of the room, Mother stopped and pointed sharply at me.

“Bell, don’t let some random woman steal the Prince from you. Only an idiot throws away an opportunity. Cling to him with everything you’ve got.”

Mother was doing a fantastic job of putting a hole in my stomach.

I felt like throwing up.

“I’ll… do my best.”

If the Prince broke off our engagement, what would happen to me?

I might have to consider the possibility of being disowned.

The ending where no one ever saw Bertia again was starting to seem surprisingly plausible.

“And besides, that Prince is definitely going to grow up handsome.”

Mother’s eyes sparkled.

For the moment, I nearly rolled my eyes back into my head.

Mother, please stop putting so much pressure on me.

“Handsome? I’m jealous.”

“Oh, please. There’s no way he could compete with you.”

My parents started flirting and being lovey-dovey right in front of me.

I stared at them suspiciously, while Will looked at them with eyes cold enough to freeze the air.

Will had long since gone beyond being merely exasperated by his adoptive parents’ lovey-dovey antics and had reached the stage of simply giving up. He had completely turned himself into part of the background.

That was basically what family meals were like too.

“Um, Father, shouldn’t we be leaving soon?”

“Ah, you’re right. It wouldn’t be good to be late. Come on, everyone. Let’s get in the carriage.”

Father escorted Mother, while Will and I followed behind them.

I glanced nervously at Will, secretly hoping he might escort me too.

He immediately looked away with incredible speed.

That hurt.

Inside the carriage, we had a normal family conversation.

Mother was behaving herself too.

She was in her public mode.

I was tense from head to toe, while Will also seemed somewhat stiff.

When we arrived at our destination and passed through the enormous gates, the beautifully illuminated royal palace appeared before us.

Intricate decorations adorned various parts of the castle, glittering as they caught the light.

The doors, which were normally kept firmly closed, had been thrown wide open, and a crimson carpet stretched all the way to the venue.

To put it simply, it looked like the castle from Cinderella.

“Beautiful…”

I murmured without thinking.

Father, standing beside me, seemed to nod.

“The castle at night is beautiful no matter how many times you see it. It’s breathtaking.”

Will was also speechless, staring at the castle with his mouth slightly open.

“This is the first big party for both Bell and Will. There are quite a few nobles here, but since it’s the Princes’ birthday party, people are generally allowed to relax and be less formal. So loosen up and enjoy yourselves.”

Father placed a hand on each of our shoulders and smiled reassuringly.

Will and I both let out sighs of relief.

As expected of Father.

He absolutely adored Mother, but he loved us just as much.

The fact that he treated Will, who was his adopted son, without any favoritism was honestly admirable.

With the tension leaving my shoulders, my posture must have started to sag, because Mother lightly smacked my back from behind.

“Posture.”

“…Yeeees…”

I sensed Father giving a wry smile beside me.

Right.

This wasn’t the time to let my guard down.

This party was important for me as the Second Prince’s fiancée.

And the Prince’s greatest enemy was here too, so I had to keep myself together.

The Prince apparently didn’t like seeing me, his fiancée, together with the Crown Prince, so I wanted to avoid poking at that wound as much as possible.

For now, I just had to make sure the Crown Prince didn’t approach me.

I would only realize a little later that those words had been an absolutely enormous flag.