Chapter 33

I carefully braided my hair and put on a newly bought dress. Polishing my fingertips down to the nail, I straightened my posture to advertise that I had become a magnificent lady. I had to show the results of the grueling, blood-sweating efforts I had put into my serious lessons over the past few months.

Today was the day the Prince visited once every three months. Compared to when he used to come almost every day, it had been a surprisingly lonely routine.

“Lady Bertia. Second Prince Dylan has arrived.”

The maid who entered the room bowed respectfully.

It was thirty minutes earlier than the scheduled time. What could be the matter?

“Isn’t that a bit earlier than planned?”

The maid slowly raised her bowed head, her brows drawing together in slight puzzlement. Then she repeated herself.

“The Prince has arrived. Lady Bertia, please prepare to greet him.”

For a moment I stood stunned, then snapped back to reality. I needed to go greet him quickly.

Without clattering down the stairs, I descended slowly and quietly, keeping my back straight. It seemed the daily lessons had unexpectedly taken root in me. Thank goodness.

“Well, hello, Bell.”

“Hyop.”

Perhaps because I was concentrating too hard on my posture and my feet, I had neglected what was ahead of me. With a soft tap to my shoulder and a sudden use of my name, I was startled into letting out a strange noise.

Thinking oh no, I nervously looked ahead to find the Prince standing there with a hand over his mouth trying to suppress a laugh, while behind him stood servants who couldn’t quite hide their wry smiles.

“P-Prince……! Um, a-ah, excuse me!”

When I flurriedly bowed my head, I heard giggling sounds coming from overhead once more.

My face turned pale again. That rough bow was far from a graceful apology. Waaaaah. If Mother saw this, it would be a guaranteed three-hour lecture course……

“You’re just the same as ever, which is a relief. It’s been a while.”

The Prince, laughing as he said this, was as gentle as ever. Or rather……

“It’s been a while. ……Have you grown taller?”

“Hm? I wonder? You might be right, I suppose I have.”

Placing a hand atop his own head, he measured the difference against my height. I had the vague feeling that my height, which used to match his, was being left behind.

Well, I was also right in the middle of a major growth spurt, though.

The two of us entered the drawing room and sat facing each other. When I asked about the Prince’s work, there were too many difficult terms for me to fully understand. It seemed he had been learning a great deal from the Chancellor as well, making his days quite fulfilling lately.

Just listening to it sounded like nothing but endless studying and a world of pure endurance, but since the Prince looked like he was enjoying it, I suppose it was fine.

I certainly could never manage it, though.

“How about you, Bell? Are you getting along well?”

“Well, my teacher is my mother, so I’m receiving very thorough guidance.”

When I offered a beaming smile, the Prince blinked in surprise.

Wondering what was wrong, I tilted my head, and he let out a wry smile.

“Something the matter……?”

“No, it’s just that you seem to be trying quite hard. You’re becoming quite the lady.”

“R-Really……!?”

My true self almost slipped out for a second, but thanks to Mother’s harsh training, it didn’t show too flagrantly. It made me keenly realize that this was how people went about correcting their attitudes.

“Really. It makes me happy, too.”

The Prince smiled as if he was genuinely delighted. Perhaps his preferred type was someone clean and demure. Looking back at the game, the heroine was fundamentally quiet and didn’t assert herself much. However, whenever someone insulted others or degraded music—which was her raison d’être—she would fly into a furious rage as if she were a completely different person.

Or rather, in this world, most men liked quiet and gentle women. If you weren’t a lady, you were immediately excluded from the dating pool. Thinking about it that way, it was only natural that the heroine—despite her commoner origins—was universally liked for her politeness and ability to defer to others.

“I shall strive daily so that I may stand as an equal to the Prince.”

“Fufu, yes. Thank you.”

The Prince looked thoroughly pleased, smiling happily.

I didn’t harbor the slightest thought that a day where I could truly stand as his equal would ever arrive, but since I had the maturity of an adult on the inside, I calmly recited the lines Mother had drilled into me.

“Oh, that’s right, there’s a trip soon.”

Placing a hand against my cheek, I brought it up as a casual topic shift. But contrary to my expectations, the Prince’s expression froze.

While still smiling, the hand he was bringing to his tea paused for a split second. After holding still for a moment, he quietly set his teacup back down on the saucer.

“……Bell, who told you about that?”

“F-Father mentioned it.”

“Hmm. Oh? I wasn’t informed.”

When the Prince slowly looked back over his shoulder, I gave a start. Schwarz was standing right beside the door, where nobody should have been a moment ago.

Wait a second. When on earth did you get there?

Has his stealth skill leveled up or something?

Furthermore, because he was dressed entirely in black, he looked like he might melt into the shadows at any moment, making it hard to even read his expression. Though it wasn’t particularly expressive to begin with.

“Hey, Schwarz. Did you hear about this?”

After blinking at his master’s words, Schwarz immediately replied in the negative.

“I heard nothing. There has been no report whatsoever from the head of the Tybus household.”

“I suppose I’ll have to have a chat with them later.”

I felt a wave of unease at the eerie smile the Prince flashed.

“Um, did my father commit some sort of impoliteness……?”

“Ah, sorry, sorry. It’s not like that. It’s just that I wasn’t reported to…… you see?”

With the Prince wearing a smile that was unnaturally pristine, I had no choice but to quietly back down.

“If there are any inconveniences, please do not hesitate to let us know.”

Truly.

Because the notion of the Prince coming to hate me behind my back and my family falling to ruin without my knowledge was genuinely no laughing matter. At least facing it head-on would make things easier to understand.

The Prince had this tendency to be scary-cruel at times, the kind of person who would drop you straight into hell without giving you any mental preparation. The type to inflict psychological torment, you might say……

A bit petty?

Unbeknownst to me as I thought such immensely rude things, the Prince twisted his face in bitter sorrow.

“Bell, I’m… sad.”

“Eh!?”

Suddenly? Why?!

There’s no way he heard everything I was just thinking, right? It shouldn’t have slipped out loud. If it had, Schwarz would have already killed me.

Mind-reading magic… or something?

I’ll have to ask Professor Martin tomorrow.

Seeing me bewildered, the Prince offered a wry smile.

Then he stared straight into my eyes. Looking into those pretty blue eyes made me unbearably restless.

“Bell, you see, I didn’t come here to talk to a subordinate.”

“Y-Yes.”

It seemed my inner thoughts hadn’t been overheard after all. That was close. I almost died.

“I came here to talk to my future wife, didn’t I?”

“H-Haah…”

I could only manage a vacant reply.

Of course, I didn’t give that reply because I had objections to marrying the Prince. Oh, absolutely not.

It was just that saying I had no thoughts on the matter would be a lie. After all, my life was on the line here.

Perhaps misinterpreting my response, the Prince slowly let a shadow fall across his eyes.

What is this? That feeling of being about to be murdered by his gaze. This sensation of having stepped straight on a landmine. Laughing off today as my day of doom wasn’t going to work.

“I-I know. I shall become your wife in the future. Yes, without a single doubt.”

I blurted it all out at once while maintaining a smiling lady’s expression. Because I was scared. Because I felt like I was going to die.

The Prince was smiling darkly, with an intensity that looked like he could start emitting black fog right then and there. It was the first time in my second life that I truly understood what a “dark smile” meant.

Then, the Prince, who had been wearing that pitch-black smile, abruptly changed his expression and beamed.

Why was there such a stark difference despite it being the exact same smile? Was it because of our long acquaintance that I could read his joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure like an open book from just a single smile of his?

“Oh dear, Bell. Aren’t you startling me? I was on tenterhooks, worried that your feelings might have drifted away during the few months we couldn’t meet.”

I’m the one who was on tenterhooks, though!?

There was no way I could actually say that, so I kept it to a dry, forced chuckle. This is difficult… The Prince is difficult.

“It is certainly important to accumulate knowledge and take lessons as a lady, but isn’t it fine to drop the formal airs when it’s just the two of us?”

“No, but, to ensure I never slip up in the future, I must constantly be mindful of being a lady… ah, never mind.”

When the Prince’s eyes narrowed with a sharp “Hm?”, I obediently shut my mouth. Is this why people say I’m uncute because I always talk back…? Mostly according to Mother.

“So, you see? You don’t need to think about things like that when you’re with me. I’d like you to talk to me just like you always do. You can be like that in public, of course, but at least when it’s just the two of us.”

Schwarz was standing right behind us, though—wasn’t that discounted? He was blending into the wall with a blank expression, but he was definitely right there. Would he be alright?

However, judging that rebelling against the Prince any further was a bad move, I gave a crisp nod. If the Prince said it was fine, I would gladly take him up on that. Even if Mother got mad at me, I’d use the Prince’s words as my shield.

“I don’t think it makes much difference whether I’m a lady or not, though.”

“No, no. First of all, it’s that phrasing right there.”

The Prince chuckled with amused amusement, seeming no different from how he was a few months ago. Perhaps the Prince himself had been feeling a bit intimidated by the lady I had transformed into.

Oh? I see. So that’s how it was.

Had I really managed to acquire such a flawless lady mask? Even as I suppressed a triumphant laugh, the Prince simply smiled with gentle amusement the entire time.