CH 214

Afterwards, Scarlet placed a finger on her cheek, saying, “Her maids have assured me of Lady Indra being a woman, but even so, her womanly traits are rather weak, I’d say. A pretty elf works at the mansion as a live-in, and she has been treated very kindly by Lady Indra. The same applied to me as well, seeing how Lady Indra accommodated me in everything as soon as I just mentioned some sort of need. Since she was called 『Milady』 and wore dresses back then, I think it is pretty clear that she is a woman.”

“Indra is definitely a guy, no doubt about it. …For you to make passes at another man despite having a fiancé, how bold of you!” Prince Elias spat out.

But after casting a fleeting glance at him, Scarlet smiled thinly, replying, “Oh my? We are engaged in name only, and did you not make passes at Lady Indra’s little sister yourself, Prince Elias? Though it ended with you ultimately getting rejected by her. I did not particularly make flirty eyes at Lady Indra as she is a 『good friend』.”

“What was that!? I was r-rejected, you say!? …Rose merely gave up on me since our relationship was bound to fail! That woman certainly was a little sister perfectly suiting her elder brother!”

The prince’s voice betrayed his bluff.

“Is that so? Her sudden change in attitude when she learned that you would become a commoner was definitely a sight to behold. Besides, her act of you two being torn apart due to a difference in social standing was marvelous as well. Though I cannot believe these to be the words of someone who got tricked by such a woman and tried to entrap me.”

Prince Elias was immediately at a loss for words. Seeing him like that, Scarlet sighed deeply.

…To be honest, my disappointment with that guy is rapidly growing. Rather than feeling sad over being treated so cruelly, I’ve started to clearly see the differences between him and the prince in RosePri. I’m getting fed up with him acting like a spoiled brat, just as Indra had already pointed out. In RosePri, his haughty parts and delicate weaknesses were extremely charming, but…

Since it was a shojo game, the player would be treated kindly by any capture target, but even among all the guys in the game, the haughty part of Prince Elias, which was extremely befitting for a prince and only came out occasionally, made my heart throb. Especially when he said, 『I’ve been trying to conceal my real feelings as I’ve been working strenuously to become a king while wearing the mask of a prince, but even so, I must admit my weakness that I’d like you to know about my real self』.

But, right now I don’t have any such a throbbing feeling. Not at all.

Rather, I feel like telling him to focus on wearing a mask instead!

The prince’s arrogance as he blurted out the same line of 『Your stuff is my stuff』 as a certain big boy, who appeared in a certain cat-robot anime, caused Scarlet’s feelings towards the prince to increasingly cool down.

＊

――And Genius could also sense how Scarlet’s heart was gradually but steadily growing apart from the prince.

She must have been told various things back at home, just like me. Especially since she’s the victim here. His fiancé had swallowed the lies of another woman, forged false accusations against her, and tried to disgrace her in front of many people. It’s only natural for her to lose all interest in the perpetrator.

…Looking at it calmly, anyone would be able to tell that Indra’s arguments were reasonable. Certainly, the bullying against Primrose was unforgivable. But, such things had also been done to other noble ladies of lower social standing, and whenever a commoner enrolled at the academy, they’d experience far worse than that.

And yet, despite knowing all that, we’ve judged an innocent lady of a ducal family without even investigating things properly, got angry at her as if only Primrose had suffered terribly while having turned a blind eye on all the past bullying.

If Scarlet had not gained Indra as her ally and meticulously written down everything that could be used as a proof as she felt herself in danger, she’d have been judged on false charges and embarrassed in front of everyone then and there. She’d have been fully blamed for a crime she didn’t even do, and should have been forced into submission by experiencing unjustified violence through a brawny guy.

Rather, Scarlet is clearly the victim here. …And yet, Prince Elias not only doesn’t apologizes for his rude conduct, but he doesn’t even believe that he’s done anything wrong.

＊

As far as Genius knew, Scarlet should have had feelings for Prince Elias 『in the past』. She always looked sad whenever he treated her coldly. Genius was also aware that she had been crying behind the prince’s back.

But, her current eyes were filled with a cold and indifferent glint. As if she was looking at someone who had disappointed her.

Genius hated Scarlet. He thought that she wasn’t suited for Prince Elias, and he had also told the prince so.

But now Prince Elias would be discarded by everyone, if Scarlet gave up on him. Genius, let alone Prince Elias, hadn’t understood that Prince Elias was in a position where he had to work hard in order to become suitable for her, and not the other way around.

＊

“Please allow me to apologize for our rude behavior from the other day. I am well aware that it is late, but I would like you to know that we feel truly sorry,” Genius lowered his head.

…Indeed, it wasn’t just Prince Elias who didn’t understand, but the same also applies to me, Genius laughed at his own foolishness. If Scarlet abandons the prince, I’ll become unable to stay by the prince’s side. Of course, I must completely reform the behavior, which I’ve adopted towards her so far.

Up until today, he’d never bowed his head at Scarlet. But, at this point, their positions had already reversed.

“Oh my, what might be wrong for you to suddenly apologize to me, Lord Genius? …Well, I can guess the gist of it. I suppose you have also been told all kinds of things at home. I also had several discussions with my parents. Anyway, then allow me to answer you right here and now…that little apology of yours comes way too late.”

Scarlet folded her arms, driven by her rage as to how he dared to do this now after all this time.

“Sir Cell apologized to me at the party’s venue, and then further visited me together with his parents to apologize once more. I only accepted his apology on this occasion because he looked like he truly regretted his own, reckless behavior and because he apologized right away. …But, I did not receive a single apology from anyone else involved in this whole affair. ――Not to mention my mother, but even my father flew in rage when they heard of this. By the way, my parents assessed my abilities very highly for having gained Lady Indra as an ally on top of becoming her friend, and having also acquainted myself with the great Hero 【Thunderclap Whitefang】. Therefore, my parents do not believe that I disgraced House Chaudgal’s reputation with that incident.”

＊

――Yep, that point alone took a huge load off Scarlet’s heart. She had always felt anxious as she didn’t know whether she was loved by her parents.

After all, her game character had been exiled for having “sullied the family’s reputation.”

Scarlet’s current parents consisted of a strict mother and an eccentric father, but both were kind to her. Yet, Scarlet believed that they’d remove her from the family if they had to make a decision between the ducal house and their daughter, since both of them were genuine nobles. For this reason, she had devoted all her efforts into becoming a completely faultless ducal daughter.

But far from getting angry at her and driving her out of the family for having stained the family’s reputation with this incident, her parents had actually apologized to her for having chosen such a failure as her fiancé. That made her truly happy since she finally knew that she was cherished by her family.