IFLDMHF | Chapter 140

Episode 140

…Huh? What did they just say?

I couldn’t help but doubt my ears.

No, it wasn’t just my hearing that seemed broken.

“I’m really, really relieved!”

The face, tearful and full of joy, couldn’t be called a lie by any means.

Seeing my flustered expression, the young lady flinched and quickly let go of my hand.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was just so happy that…”

“Young Lady Odin, that’s not your only mistake.”

“That’s right, she’s not ‘Lady’ anymore, she’s the Duchess. Even though you practiced several times earlier.”

The other young ladies around her began to lightly scold the girl called ‘Young Lady Odin’.

Seeing that, I became even more dumbfounded.

Honestly, I thought it was natural for them to harbor resentment toward me.

They had seen me clinging to the Crown Prince with their own eyes, so I even thought they might believe I was pretending to be happy in my marriage out of pride.

But…

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Thinking maybe they were playing some kind of prank, I put on a stern expression. The young ladies, who had been chattering amongst themselves, flinched and exchanged glances.

A moment later, Young Lady Odin spoke up with a resolute expression.

“We already know everything. So you don’t have to hide it.”

“Know what, exactly…”

“The truth is, you don’t like His Highness the Crown Prince at all, do you?”

“…!”

Frozen at her unexpected words, she smiled at me with a pitiful expression, as if convinced she had struck a nerve.

“Thank you for bearing the label of a villainess so that others wouldn’t fall victim to His Highness the Crown Prince.”

To summarize what they revealed afterward:

While Evgenia was practically confirmed as the Crown Princess, the Crown Prince openly approached other noble ladies.

As if they too had the potential to become the Crown Princess.

A war hero and the man soon to ascend the supreme throne—there weren’t many who could refuse the hand he extended.

So despite watching Evgenia’s reactions, many young ladies received gifts from the Crown Prince, danced with him, and became his partners. But afterward, he never acknowledged them again, as if it had all been a fleeting moment of interest.

Up to this point, I didn’t see anything seriously wrong.

It was ridiculous that he flirted all over the place without meaning it, but given his status as Crown Prince, it wasn’t exactly an excessive level of debauchery.

However, the next part was shocking.

At some point, all the young ladies associated with the Crown Prince completely vanished from social circles.

Those who married into provincial noble families or studied abroad at academies in other countries were the lucky ones. In many cases, their families collapsed, and they fled the capital as if running away.

And the young ladies were convinced it was all the doing of the Crown Prince, Kaiden.

“Sir Hillard, His Highness’s aide, is so meticulous that he rarely leaves traces.”

“The ladies who left the capital were our friends, our sisters, our family.”

“There’s no way to stop the things we’ve heard among ourselves.”

Looking at the girls, who seemed to be holding back deep resentment, I couldn’t help but ask out of genuine curiosity.

“But why are you thanking me?”

Saying I protected them by carrying the villainess label and standing against the Crown Prince made no sense to me.

At my question, Young Lady Odin looked a bit hurt, as if saddened that I still didn’t believe them, and said,

“After the Duchess lashed out at the ladies targeted by His Highness, those incidents completely stopped. You may have humiliated them, but later you compensated them to an excessive degree.”

“…”

“I think maybe His Highness was trying to provoke the Duchess, and you were just playing along…”

She trailed off as if asking me to finally admit it, gazing at me.

But I was too shocked to say anything.

‘His expression was strange when I slapped him, so I thought he might be some kind of pervert… but to think it was this bad…’

The Crown Prince, who I had thought was the main among the three male leads, was actually a psycho pervert who tormented others just to get the villainess’s attention.

Now I was starting to wonder what the hell this original story even was.

‘And Evgenia…’

I couldn’t help but be genuinely curious what she had been thinking, to go so far and still obsess over the Crown Prince.

In any case, while unexpected, this wasn’t a bad situation for me.

No, actually, it might be the best kind of situation to take advantage of.

“Hah… Who would understand what’s in my heart. I haven’t even told my own family.”

I exaggerated a sigh and slumped my shoulders as if I had no choice anymore.

The young ladies’ eyes sparkled.

“Knew it!”

“We actually debated whether the Duchess really liked His Highness or was just pretending!”

“But when we heard that you got married in a hurry while His Highness was away on campaign, we became certain.”

Clasping her hands over her chest as if truly delighted by my marriage, Young Lady Odin spoke cautiously.

“There was nothing we could do but hope from afar that you’d escape His Highness the Crown Prince. But… are you really okay?”

She was asking whether I could handle the wrath of the Crown Prince, who had been acting insane all this time.

Truthfully, even I felt uneasy after only learning today about the strange relationship between the Crown Prince and Evgenia.

Suppressing the sigh that welled up sincerely, I gave a sorrowful smile.

“I couldn’t stay tied to His Highness forever. And… I met someone so precious that I couldn’t give him up, even if it meant betting my life.”

“Ah!”

“Oh my…!”

As expected of their sentimental age, the young ladies all wore moved expressions, clearly imagining some romantic scene.

“That’s a relief!”

“When we saw you speak up to His Majesty the Emperor, we thought it might be true, but now we’re sure you’ve met someone wonderful.”

“You two look so good together!”

For perhaps the first time—or at least close to it—I was congratulated on my marriage to Euclid by people outside of my family.

Of course, I felt very good.

It felt like a bright smile would naturally spread across my face, but I controlled the corners of my mouth.

“Thank you for saying that. I was already planning to, but now I’ll have to try even harder to protect my marriage and the Duke. Though I’m not sure if those above us will just sit back and let it happen…”

With no imperial princess and the position of the Duchess of Basillian vacant, as the Duchess of Rudion, I held the highest status among women in the Empire after the Empress.

Those I referred to as “those above us” could only mean the imperial family.

Moreover, they were all worried that the Crown Prince might harm me, and they must have heard the rumors that the Emperor was uncomfortable with the North and the Duke of Rudion.

The expressions of the young ladies, realizing I had brought up a very heavy subject, turned serious.

But their resentment toward the Crown Prince and gratitude toward me surged more than ever, and they spoke fervently.

“If there’s ever anything we can do to help, please tell us.”

“We want to repay the Duchess for her kindness.”

Just as I expected.

However, I blinked my eyes wide a few times with a surprised expression. Then I gently smiled and slowly shook my head.

“Your words alone are enough, thank you.”

In truth, their feelings and the public sentiment alone were more than sufficient.

“I don’t know if His Highness the Crown Prince will continue acting as he did even after my marriage, but in any case, everyone should be careful.”

“Please don’t worry about us. We’re doing our best not to draw His Highness’s attention. We’re also quietly approaching young ladies who’ve just debuted in society to warn them. The ones who need to be more careful are the Duchess and…”

Young Lady Odin lowered her voice and looked at me with concern as she glanced around.

She trailed off at the end, but I could guess the rest.

‘She must be worried about Melissa.’

Thinking of Melissa made me grit my teeth without realizing it.

If everything they said was true, then the Crown Prince had used someone he had no interest in—Melissa—just to provoke me.

I let out a faint sigh.

“I’ll have to find a way to stop it somehow. If it comes to it, could you help my cousin?”

“Of course!”

“Don’t worry!”

The young ladies’ confident answers brought me a bit of comfort.

At that moment, Young Lady Odin suddenly clapped her hands, as if something had come to mind.

“Oh, there’s one more person to be worried about.”

When I looked at her as if asking who, she replied.

“The Grand Duchess of the Dimondra Principality.”

“The one who supposedly declared they would become a vassal state?”

“Yes. It seems they surrendered in advance, fearing they might become the next war target. I heard the Grand Duchess of Dimondra is quite a famous beauty.”

“Ah…”

“And apparently, the Grand Duchess came directly to the Empire to present the letter of surrender and the principality’s treasures.”