CH 185

After the venue exploded into a flurry of whispers and stirs, things calmed down, and everyone stared at the prince.

“The victim is Primrose! The girl standing right next to me! She had to experience all kinds of harassment!”

The prince put an arm around Primrose’s shoulder while fervently explaining everything in detail. All of it pertained to insignificant incidents such as her being pushed down a stairway, her chair being dirtied, and her being thrust aside.

I tilted my head in confusion.

….They didn’t brand her with a hot iron or some such? The bullying of girls sure is lame. Yet, the noble boys had tried to mark me with a hot iron and turn me into their slave, no?

“…The criminal…who schemed all of these atrocities…is you! Scarlet!”

Once the prince finally reached his punch line, a loud chattering filled the venue while everyone simultaneously stared at Damsel Scarlet.

＊

Damsel Scarlet’s face went pale, but even so, she boldly lifted her face, and responded to the prince, “Prince Elias, what kind of farce is this supposed to be?”

“You are a farce! Scarlet! Fearing that your position as my fiancée would be stolen by Primrose, you harassed her so as to keep her away from me, didn’t you!?”

“…Do you have any proof? You are not accusing some commoner here. Accusing me, the daughter of a Duke, without any proof whatsoever would be preposterous, even for you as first prince, do you not agree?”

Damsel Scarlet’s voice was trembling. It looks like things were proceeding in the same way as in the shojo game.

――According to the story I’ve heard from her, Damsel Scarlet will be expelled from the academy, moreover beaten up by the male students who bear a grudge against her, and commit suicide, or she’ll be disinherited by her family as someone who brought shame to her family’s reputation, get banished to a foreign country under the pretext of studying abroad, and die on the way after being murdered by bandits, if Damsel Scarlet appears as villainess.

By the way, in case I play the villainess, it looks like I’d die after some secret maneuvering in such a wretched state that it’d only invite pity.

I see. A battle, huh? If the pampered crybaby prince were to be the strongest in the academy, he’d likely be able to kill everyone with ease, even if they all came at him at once. Ah, if the capture target Sword also fought, it might be possible to have a slightly more gorgeous battle, maybe?

…is what I thought while watching the accusation scene with my arms folded. Now then, I wonder when’s the perfect time for me to enter the stage?

After listening to Damsel Scarlet’s words, the prince smiled in a way like a horse that was having a flehmen reaction. …I can only see him as the villain here. That’s really a prince? Seriously?

“Of course, I do! Primrose witnessed it! Until now she had remained silent as she feared you, but at last she opened up to me with a heavy heart! And I, as the first prince, will become the backer for her testimony. With this you won’t have any objections, right? …Direck, arrest Scarlet!”

“Please wait! I――”

“――Yes, Your Highness! Shut up, you wench! No one is going to believe your nonsense anyway! Realize the pain you caused Rose!”

The muscled lackey took big strides towards Damsel Scarlet while interrupting her words and hurling insults at her.

Whoa, he’s definitely a sadist who loves to torture those weaker than him. He’s totally looking down at her with a sadistic smile on his lips.

The muscle buffoon tried to grab Damsel Scarlet’s shoulder who was trembling despite remaining steadfast.

….It’s now or never!

“!!…Gyaaaaaa!!”

The muscle buffoon crouched down while holding his hand.

I had burned his hand as he was about to touch Damsel Scarlet!

“…Could I have you desist from touching Damsel Scarlet with your filthy hands?”

At once, everyone’s eyes focused on me. And everyone simultaneously drew back.

…Hey, why are you pulling back FROM ME!?! Well, whatever. It’s stylish if you look at it like a drama act.

＊

Damsel Scarlet looked back at me with a face on the verge of tears, yet full of relief.

…Still, her face immediately cramped up as soon as she saw me being all smiles. What’s going on?

“…Indra…” The prince groaned.

“Damsel Scarlet is my friend. If she’s being treated as a criminal for no reason, I’ll adopt appropriate measures, you know? Luckily, Instructor Sword isn’t present right now. …So there’s no one here who could stop me, you see?”

The instant I said so, everyone tried to get away from me as far as possible for some reason. Somehow everyone has gathered near the doors. Why?

Hmm, it’s kinda like I’ve become the leading part of a drama, but this doesn’t really sit well with me.

＊

The prince kept rambling, apparently flustered, “R-Rose is your little sister, isn’t she!?”

“Yeah, that’s why I know her quite well. Did you hear the tragic story of the Earl’s noble daughter Indra Springcoat…and do you know why she became a commoner?”

The prince remained silent. Meaning, he knows about it.

“Primrose being unable to keep manners is all because of Indra, Primrose being unable to properly greet others is all because of Indra, and Primrose’s way of eating being a total mess is all because of Indra…well, everything and anything was blamed on me. And once I was gone, Damsel Scarlet became the new target for all those ridiculous claims, I guess.”

I walked up to the stage while keeping my eyes on the prince. The prince gradually retreated while looking uneasy as if he lost all of his earlier eagerness.

“Aren’t you way too conceited about being loved by Damsel Scarlet? It’s pretty much set in stone that a pampered crybaby prince…a brat, who can’t beat me in anything, will be removed from the succession line and become 『a commoner who might have been a prince in the past』, and yet you say you’re going to back Primrose? Don’t make me laugh, snotty brat. …Your reason for blaming Damsel Scarlet really pisses me off as it reminds me of Primrose’s trashy scum of a father.”

…Recalling the events from back then still makes me furious.

“――That guy truly blamed me for each and every little problem. Even when Primrose tripped over her own feet, I was faulted for having been too far away to catch her. I remember how he expressly visited my room and barked at me, 『You dumb bitch. Didn’t Primrose get injured because you weren’t by her side to prop her up!?』. And right now you’re trying to do the very same to Damsel Scarlet, aren’t you?”

Probably understanding that my anger level had risen sharply, Primrose’s little goonies drew back when they saw me climbing on the stage.

A small boy swiftly hid behind Primrose, and a boy with a delicate face fell over and peed himself.

And from behind, I heard…

“…As I thought, Indra is much scarier than any demon or demonkin…”

“I fully agree with you on that…”

…such mutterings.