Chapter 30

˖:✧ ⑅•.⋅༻♔༺•⑅ ✧:˖

“Dahlia, what are you looking at? You can’t look anywhere else but me because I’m your one and only fiance.”

“I was just looking at the flowers in the garden. Are you jealous of flowers, Curtis?”

Curtis chuckled, pulled Dahlia into a hug and kissed her head. They heard a faint cheer from the crowd when he kissed her.

They were using their day off and decided to throw a tea party. The venue was within the school. They could have decided to use a place from the palace but the school gave them special permission to use it as a venue to allow both lower and higher rank nobles to attend without hesitation.

“I envy them. They get along so well.”

“My fiance never says a word to me, only gives me gifts instead.”

“Mine too.”

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

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“I’ve always wanted to get close to you but you always make me feel like an outsider.”

Dahlia sipped her sweet milk tea as she watched Betty shed a few tears. The sweetness of the tea that ran through her throat all the way to her body was comforting.

“Don’t ignore me!”

Betty revealed by her own actions that her tears were nothing but crocodile tears. She yelled at Dahlia like a demon.

Dahlia put down the cup she was holding, making Betty flinch slightly, helping her regain her composure to start acting like a weak girl again.

“I am not your sister. I told you, right? I have already broken off any affiliation I have with the duke. I am now the first princess of the Kingdom of Estoria. I don’t think that a noble such as you could carelessly talk to me like that.”

“Onee-sama, please stop lying to me like that.”

“Lying?”

“Yes. You’re just making that all up. There’s no way they’re real.”

Betty evilly grinned for a moment but the expression on her face quickly changed to that of pity.

“Onee-sama is not a real daughter of the duke. You’re an illegitimate child. You bear no resemblance to Father, and that alone serves as proof.”

The people around the two froze at Betty’s startling words.

“Daughter of Duke Stewart. Insult my fiancee any further and I no longer will be able to forgive you.” 

As expected, Curtis couldn’t stop himself from interrupting. However, the foolish Betty was undaunted by his threat and continued, as if whatever she said was the truth.

“You have been deceived, Curtis-sama. Look at this.”

Betty took out a music box, a memento from Dahlia’s mother, that she had taken away from Dahlia a long time ago. The moment saw this, Curtis’ eyes grew fierce.

“This is something that Florence-okasama gave to me before.”

“Impossible. You were taken in by the duke after she died.”

Curtis cut her off but it only made Betty’s smile deepen.

“Curtis-sama. It is indeed true that I came to the duchy after Florence-okasama died. However, just like I said, Onee-sama is an illegitimate child. That’s why I knew about Florence-okasama before I even came to the duchy. She has always treated me very well.”

It was a roundabout way of saying that Dahlia’s father was a man without an unknown background who came from the commoner’s area.

“That was why she gave me this.”

On the lid of the music box was the crest of the royal family of Estoria.

“In other words, I should be the one who should be recognized as a royal member of the Kingdom of Estoria, not my sister.”

Curtis rolled his eyes at her words. Betty smiled at Curtis, believing that she had finally convinced him, muttering ‘Now you know’.

The people around were stunned by her unreasonable reasoning and logic.

“My aunt has always been sick and never went outside since she married. She spent most of her time in bed.”

“She only pretended to be someone who’s sick. A cunning woman like my Onee-sama.”

“There are witnesses to prove my statement. Come out.”

At Curtis’ order, several servants came out. They were the one who had served the Duke of Stewart before Andrea had dismissed them.

The fact that the witnesses were conveniently here meant that Curtis had been keeping an eye on Betty and had expected this to happen based on her movements.

“We have been serving the Duke of Stewart for a long time. The former duchess has never once left the mansion ever since she came to Woodria. If you have any doubts, you can ask the people in the city.”

“The former duchess’ red hair was very unique and rare. If she were to go out of the city, I’m sure that a lot of people would remember her.”

“She kept it as a secret.”

Betty retorted in desperation. The servants shook their heads in unison.

“Living in an unfamiliar, strange land only made her sick more. She wouldn’t have the time and strength to commit adultery.”

Betty glared at the servants with a sour face. However, Curtis’ pursuit wasn’t done yet. Next came another group of servants. They were the servants who had been kicked out after making Andrea and Betty angry.

“Andrea-sama always brings a man home when the Duke is absent.”

“Betty-sama usually comes home early in the morning, right?”

“N-no! You’re all lying!”

Betty yelled at the servants with a bright red face. However, the more mad she became, the more it confirmed that what they said was true. Moreover, the noble students knew more about Betty’s usual behavior than Curtis and Dahlia did.

Of course, rumors about Andrea being a bitch or a slut have always been the talk in the noble’s social circle. Those rumors have not changed even when she entered the Duke’s house.

“She’s a commoner’s child, after all.”

“Shameful.”

“This is too much. How could we let someone call herself a member of a Ducal house? This would question our dignity as nobles.”

The noblewomen watching cursed Betty while their mouths behind their fans. They started to state imprecations as if they were releasing their pent up resentments that they had been unable to let go before to preserve their nobleness.

“Curtis-sama, listen to me! Florence-okasama gave this music box to me with the crest of the Estoria Kingdom! That means she recognized me as a worthy member of the royal family of Estoria! Me! Not my sister!”

“Shut your mouth.”

Betty held her breath as she stared at Curtis’ cold eyes, colder than any of the eyes she’s ever seen.

“You’re nothing but a stranger to Dahlia. How long are you going to call yourself her sister? To think that you even dare to call her name carelessly without asking permission. You shouldn’t stand in front of a royal if you have no manners. You’re an embarrassment to the nobility.”

‘She has no manners.’ Those were the words that Betty once used to say to Dahlia. Betty’s face twitched, and soon she laughed.

“W-what are you talking about, Curtis-sama? She’s my sister. I have impeccable manners. I am a respectable lady. I’m not someone like her, an illegitimate child.”

The noble ladies laughed at her words. Curtis sighed, looking very tired. 

“You never learn. When will you stop disrespecting us? It’s like you deliberately want to get yourself killed. Dahlia Stewart, you stole that Dahlia, didn’t you? Stealing and possessing a royal property with the royal’s crest on it is a crime worthy of death. If you want the ultimate punishment, I will gladly give it to you. Rest assured that I’ll invite a lot of spectators so you won’t feel lonely.”

In other words, it was a public execution. Unlike ordinary death charges, the corpse will be hung and exposed at the gate of the person’s house for a month.

“I didn’t steal it! Florence-okasama gave it to me!”

“Stop it! You’ve been calling her ‘Florence-okasama’ all this time! Your mother is Andrea! Stop calling my mother by her name!”

Betty immediately cried when Dahlia shouted at her.

“You’re bullying me again, Onee-sama. Why can’t you accept me as your sister? Because I have a  commoner’s blood? Curtis-sama, do you see this? This is Onee-sama’s true nature. She’s not suitable for you! But I’m different.”

Betty clasped her hands together and put it close to her chest, begging. “I’m compassionate, unlike Onee-sama, and—”

Curtis interrupted her with a deep sigh before she could even finish speaking.

“This drama is too much for me. I like street performances, but I don’t like clowns who ruin the show for the audience. Besides, a real compassionate person wouldn’t call herself ‘compassionate’. This is just a waste of my time. Garusia, take her away. She’ll be charged with dishonoring members of a royal family. Ah, don’t forget to take the music box. It’s Dahlia’s.”

“No.” 

Betty, whose arms were bound by Garucia, let out a sound as if a frog had been crushed, probably because Garucia’s grip was too strong.

“Release me, you insolent man! I’m the daughter of a duke! You can’t just touch me as you like!”

Betty continued to shout. Later, she said, “I’m a commoner! If you’re a nobleman then you owe us commoners!  You have to treat us well! If you have no sense of noblesse oblige then you’re just a useless noble!”

“If you give everything as the commoners say, the country will collapse. Besides, nobles are also humans. They have the right to choose who they give charity to,” Curtis answered coldly.

As soon as Betty was out of sight, he quickly took Dahlia in his embrace, as if trying to erase Betty’s existence from their minds. He also apologized to the nobles around for causing a scene.

They all accepted the royal prince’s apology and resumed the party as if nothing had happened. As expected of nobles, they knew how to act well during such an incident.

˖:✧ ⑅•.⋅༻♔༺•⑅ ✧:˖

TL: Yo this one is long. Almost lost all my brain cells, like Betty